Eventually the ball was forced to go on, despite the strange orders of the stranger.

The prince no longer concerned himself with the queen and was now "mingling" with the princesses. It sure was a sight. The other princes were pushed to the side like cattle and had to watch him flirt with all the candidates. Apparently they weren't allowed to come anywhere near as long he was occupied with them.
The queen witnessed quite some indecencies going on, but she heard the voices behind her encouraging it. The parents of these girls actually wanted them to marry this revolting boy? Hands were going where they didn't need to be and she heard equally disturbing remarks from the prince's mouth, yet everyone was happy about it?

At the other side of the room she noticed another character, dressed in the same kind of clothes as the prince, but with a whole lot more decoration going on. It was a man in his late 30s, or early 40s, with a far from welcoming appearance. Considering all guests were parents with their children, this had to be the prince's father. He and this boy had a similar face, though the father had a stronger jaw and red hair. The queen couldn't decide who looked more intimidating.
His eyes were focussed on the princesses as well. It was outrageous as it was obvious, but nobody seemed concerned about it.

Who on Earth were these people?

She wasn't going to get any answers speculating things by herself, she just had to find the nerves to ask someone. Preferably someone who didn't hate her, which was going to be difficult, but she was the only one who seemingly didn't get the gravity of the situation, and if there was a good reason for her to be on her toes, she'd like to know. Everything was just so unreal about this scene, she hoped it was some kind of set-up with actors, specifically scripted to lure her out of her cave and tease her. A stretch, but not impossible. She'd rather have it be a joke than.. this.

She noticed a familiar face and approached a lady she recognized as "queen Karen" from the "Karen Kingdom". Talk about an egomaniac. She couldn't believe her husband agreed to that name. The queen remembered her very well, they used to meet often at bonding balls when they were still princesses. More often than was desirable, Karen pretty much disliked people as a rule. With a personality like hers, it surprised her she got married at all.
As expected, the red-haired Karen was not happy to see her.

"Ah.. Anna-Marie." she greeted her with a disinterested face.

"Queen Karen." the queen responded and she gave her a bow, "..I.. em.. require more information about that dark prince over there."

"..Are you serious?" she replied.

"Surely I wouldn't make this request if I weren't."

"This is why people can't take you seriously..!" she whispered angrily, "That's prince Larie.. He and king Kanker are from a faraway land, they recently invaded the country..!"

"Oh my!"

"They've already slaughtered two entire kingdoms..!"

"Dear heavens! Why are they at this ball..? Why aren't we joining our forces to stop them..!"

"H-hush your mouth! His men are everywhere!" Karen hissed.

"..I apologize.." the queen muttered.

"They got an army big enough to black out the sun..!" Karen explained, "That kid alone fights for 50 men.. We all know they're going to invade our kingdoms and kill us eventually, so we're all just trying to get them on our side before that happens. Everyone with a daughter is competing to match her up with Larie, that's the only reason this ball exists..!"

The queen looked over to the kings and queens, watching their offspring from the side. So that's what's going on. This whole ball with princes and princesses -of who most looked younger than the usual 16 years old- the unusually large crowd, the standard invitations that even reached her; this whole bonding ball wasn't even supposed to happen. They just hastily arranged it for this prince. Knowing all this made the situation even more sad. Everybody in the room was fearing for their lives, and they were willing to give away their poor daughter's freedom just to save their own kingdom. They were hiding behind a face of fake glee. What a terrible ball this was.

Was it really worth it? Why didn't they just run if they weren't able to take on this king? Maybe it was her mentality to run, that's the only option she'd have. She couldn't imagine herself selling off her daughter to a brute of a prince, just to protect herself. But what did she know, really. Her kingdom had no people that needed protection from anything and she had no daughter.
She decided to let this subject slide, she was not in the position to argue.

"Why are they even attacking us..?" the queen asked.

"Because they get some kind of thrill out of taking lives for the heck of it? They never do anything with the land they conquer. They don't take treasure or bribes, they don't care if you beg or cry, they just want you dead... and you better keep that in mind, 'queen' Anna-Marie." Karen snarled.

"..What is that supposed to mean?" she answered.

"You could've had us all killed with your ridiculous act! But I wouldn't stay comfortable, if I were you, the prince is probably going to tie up your corpse up in a tree tonight..!"

"I.. didn't think-"

"When do you think! Again wasting everyone's time like this, know when you're not wanted..!" she grunted. It didn't take long for Karen's familiar colours to show during the conversation. The queen felt 13 years old again, standing eye in eye with her bully.

"I'm sorry, but I'm allowed to do what I desire, am I not?" the queen snapped back.

"No, you need to be a SOMEBODY for that, you wench!"

Shortly after Karen finished her insult, a heavy hand landed on her shoulder and pushed her down onto the floor. The crowd surrounding them jumped up and gasped in surprise. It was one of the prince's guards ordered to follow her around, right on cue, and by the way he positioned his weapon, not about to perform a peaceful breakup. The queen didn't hesitate and quickly jumped in front of the guard. The conversation was unpleasant and she disliked this woman, but Karen did not deserve to get physically assaulted.

"Sir, what are you doing!" she scolded the guard.

"She insulted you." the tall man responded.

"W-w-well, come on now, you still don't-"

"I have my orders, Your Highness!" he interrupted her, and aimed his spear at Karen.

"WAIT." the queen shrieked, "She didn't do anything, we were just conversing!"

"I know what I heard!" the guard insisted.

"But.. it's up to me to decide whether or not I feel insulted, sir!" the queen said with a stern voice, "Now please step back! THAT is an order!"

The fallen Karen looked up at her, but didn't look grateful for her attempt to save her life. In fact, she looked at her as if she were insane. But the guard appeared unsure about what to do next.

"..Forgive me, Your Highness, but I think I need to consult the prince." he replied. He then grabbed Karen and dragged her over to his master, who was still busy doing his thing on the dance floor.

The queen started to break out in nervous sweat. This was not going well. If the prince was indeed a tyrant, nothing good was going to happen in the next few seconds. Did he not demand death to anyone who would speak ill about her? Even though she still questioned the genuineness of this demand, the guard looked like he was about to do it. It was enough reason for worry. She either had to persuade the guard during his small travel time to the prince, or the prince. She didn't want someone to get punished because of mere words, that was ridiculous.
She quickly ran after the guard holding Karen and grabbed hold of his cloak.

"Please, sir, none of this is required! The prince is occupied, we don't have to cause a commotion over such a small issue!" she stammered.

"Prince Larie! Your Majesty!" the guard called, ignoring the begging queen.

"No, stop it, I-I-I.. command you?" she clumsily added.

But it was too late, the guard had received the attention of the prince. He looked annoyed to be disturbed, but at the sight of the scared queen Karen in his grip, became eager to come over. The queen could hear the guard swallow as he properly positioned himself for the approaching prince. It seemed like his boss was making him nervous as well.

"Prince Larie! This woman insulted queen Anna-Marie!" the guard informed him, and threw Karen onto the ground in front of his feet.

"Hm. Really now." the prince replied.

"IT'S ALRIGHT! Quite alright! Quite alright, indeed, a misunderstanding, really!" the queen quickly jumped in.

The prince turned his head to the queen, but his face was that of disinterest. His silence didn't motivate her to say much more, but what else could she do? The guard was not convinced by her reasoning, so the prince was the only person left.

"Er.." she began, "Well-"

"She called the queen a wench, Your Majesty." the guard interrupted her.

"Oh?" the prince replied.

"And a nobody, Your Majesty."

"Ah." the prince concluded.

"She reminded the queen of her low position in this land, Your Majesty."

"Hmm." the prince nodded.

The queen looked at the floored Karen. She hadn't said a word this entire time, nor had anyone else in the room. Why didn't Karen try to defend herself or play along with her? If she and the queen would both tell the prince it was a misunderstanding, wouldn't that solve the problem? But for some reason she gave up the moment she hit the floor. Not even her husband was saying anything to defend her, he was just standing back there, doing nothing besides putting on a concerned face. The queen couldn't believe these people, none of them tried! They let their daughters get fondled and their queens get dragged!
Well, what kind of person would she be if she just stood there and said nothing. This would be easily solved, she knew exactly what to say, the prince only needed to give her the chance to speak. She took a deep breath and turned to the prince.

"Young prince, this is n-"

But before she could continue her sentence, the prince took a dagger and jammed it into the bottom of Karen's jaw. It fully disappeared inside her head. The queen let out a loud scream.
Unfazed, he removed his knife and watched Karen's lifeless body slump onto the floor. Her husband started crying in the background, but didn't dare to get anywhere near his wife as long the prince was still there. The queen covered her mouth with both her hands, trying to stop herself from making any more noise, but her screams were now replaced with heavy breathing.

The way this boy killed a respected queen in front of everyone, without hesitation or regret..! He didn't even blink when he took her life, it meant nothing to him.
Queen Karen was right. She was very much right. The only way she could've been wrong was if the prince and his father were worse than she described, and that was a scary thought. There was no reason to doubt her to begin with, but she hoped that her story was a slight exaggeration. After all, they were all together in a room, talking, drinking and dancing; how can you turn that into a murder case? But this was not a party. This was a messed up hostage scene and she walked right into it with her stupid head, just because she had to show up and brag. Why did she do this, it's nothing like her to do something like this. It was such a desperate move and now she was stuck in an even more desperate situation because of it.
What was going to happen to her? If the prince indeed planned to take her life after playing his game, what could she do to stop it? There was just her out here. Surely none of the guests were going to fight for her. None of them stood up for queen Karen.

She started shivering at the sight of the dead woman on the ground and the smiling prince looking down on her. His was filled with sick satisfaction. He then turned to the queen.

"I did it! I solved the problem!" he proudly said.

Was that supposed to "lighten up the mood"? His comment just made him appear even more deranged. Without saying another word, he headed back to the princesses waiting for him and business continued as normal. How. His guards picked up the dead body, and took it outside. She had no idea what they were going to do with it, but she didn't want to think about it. She had to get out of there.

The room was now filled with terrifying glares, but they were not aimed towards the prince.