Jace sighed and tapped his foot impatiently. He wanted this night to be over with as quickly as possible. His regiment had been stationed in this town for nearly a month and it was nearing time to move to another soon. In celebration the town magistrate put on a grand ball and invited all the nobles from any town within a hundred leagues. It would be a stuffy affair that Jace had the pleasure of avoiding since he joined up for his years in the army. Leave it to a pompous magistrate to want to garner royal interest by throwing a party for the Vilkas prince. Little did he know his efforts would go completely unseen by Jace's parents and were nothing more than an annoyance for him.

Paxton was busy carefully combing his hair into place in front of a mirror. He adored the glamour of any party or ball. Being a full blooded wolf and a close friend to Jace earned him a lot of attention. He turned away from his reflection to look at his friend. Jace had slung himself over the foot of the bed to wait for Paxton to finish primping. He was wrinkling his suit, but he couldn't care less.

Paxton clucked disapprovingly. "Get up; you are ruining your suit. I will not been seen with someone who looks a wrinkled mess." Jace merely sat up. Paxton sighed and tugged his friend to standing before he began straightening Jace's suit. "Honestly, you are a Vilkas prince, you ought to look like one or people will talk."

Jace patiently stood still while Paxton tugged at him and adjusted his collar. "I don't care what people say. You know very well the only one I care about will not be there."

"Oh, hush, you know she is safe where she is and will be waiting for you when this blasted war is over. Imagine her face when you come back to her as a tried and tested war hero." Paxton admonished. After smoothing down an errant bit of Jace's hair, he deemed them both ready. "Now, put on a smile for all the people who are waiting you see you at your party."

"This party is for the regiment as thanks for protecting the town."

Paxton turned them towards the door and herded Jace out into the hall. "You know that is a load of bosh. This party is for the Vilkas prince first and his regiment second."

The hall where the event was taking place was the largest in the city and even then it was filled with all the people who had come. The prince's entrance did not go unnoticed and almost immediately a group of three women came up to introduce themselves. Paxton gallantly chatted with all of them while Jace looked over the rest of the room with disinterest. Whoever had decorated had done a superb job, even he could admit that. Great garlands of gold and silver hung in perfect rows across the ceiling and the crystal chandeliers had be decorated with similar wreathes that caught the light and made everything gleam.

"These lovely ladies wish to introduce me to some other of their friends, your highness. I'm sure you will not mind if I wander off for a bit." Paxton already had an arm around the waists of two of the girls.

Jace frowned. He had told Paxton that he did not want to be left alone during the ball so that he would not be cornered and forced into boring conversation. "Pax," He began while glaring at his friend's wide smile.

"Excellent, I knew you would be a sport, old friend. I'll come and find you in a bit." Paxton did not give Jace a chance to say anything before leading the leading the girls away.

Jace groaned and ran a hand down the side of his face in frustration. It had not even been five minutes and he was already tired of this ball. It was too bright and loud and there were too many people dithering about. He had never much cared for balls, but he found his patience for them ran even shorter since having to leave Carmine. Now everything reminded him of her. She would have enjoyed the sparkly decorations. He would have loved nothing better than spinning her about on the dance floor. After finding his soul, all the other women in the room all seemed wanting and quite plain in comparison. He looked at the large ornate clock that was hanging on one of the walls. Three hours, that was all the time decorum dictated that he should stay. It was the soonest he could leave without being seen as impolite. He could make it three hours…he hoped.

"Great party isn't it, Jace?" Samuel asked. The other soldier had come up to stand beside Jace. The small man barely came up to Jace's shoulders. It was a common point of ridicule for Paxton to hit on. Maybe it was better that Paxton not run into Samuel at any point during the party. Jace didn't feel like breaking up a fight. Samuel was as level headed as they came, but Paxton knew exactly how to aggravate him.

"Never been one for parties," Jace replied tonelessly.

Samuel laughed, showing off his dimples. "Come now, that can't be true. I'm sure you've seen your fair share of lavish balls what with growing up royalty and all."

"And I've had more than my fill of them."

"I'm sure there are more than enough lovely young ladies here tonight that would be more than willing to change your mind, eh?" Samuel playfully nudged Jace in the side with his elbow, but the glare that Jace turned upon him was enough to wipe the grin from his face.

After that Samuel went away to find a more amiable conversation partner. Jace didn't blame him. He had already decided that he would be as taciturn as he pleased at the ball and hope that the majority of people would steer clear of him. For the most part it worked, but a few of the braver ones attempted conversation but were soon dissuaded as Jace would not make any attempt to hold up conversation. The only conversation he made was with the town magistrate to thank him for his kindness in preparing such a lavish ball for the regiment, and even then his tone was clipped and uncomfortably formal. He didn't give any thought to offending anyone; it didn't really matter. He would be leaving the next day and moving onto the next town with his regiment and he cared little for what anyone thought of him. He didn't care about much anymore. He wanted to finish out his time as a soldier and go back to find Carmine.

"Oh, Prince Jacinth, is that you?" A girlish voice cooed and a tiny gloved hand found its way to his arm.

He turned to look at the young girl and tried to keep a frown off of his face. A small brunette was beaming up at him. She was overly made up, almost distastefully so, but it did make her look older which was probably the goal. Parents sending their daughters into society to find a husband, Jace had seen it done many times before. The little pink roses in her hair matched the ones on her dress and their color went with the blush that was artificially placed on her cheeks. She was looking at him as if expecting him to remember her from somewhere, but he could not place her. Her face was vaguely familiar, but not memorable.

"Don't you remember me?" She asked in that annoying girlish voice that was also familiar. She must have been someone who had tried vying for his affection at one point or another. "I'm Mable Chiot; you came to my house for tea and dinner."

Chiot. That got his attention. He remembered now. She was the young girl who clumsily flirted with him while he was trying to find a way to see Carmine. The memory of that night still made a small burst of anger flare up inside of him, but he forced himself to smile at the girl. She might be able to give him some news on Carmine and how she was faring. "Ah, yes, now I remember. I bumped into you outside of the tea shop."

Mable giggled. "Yes, that's right. Would you care for a dance?"

Obviously the girl had not been schooled in proper etiquette – it was never proper for a lady to ask a man for a dance. Regardless, Jace accepted and offered her his arm. When he had arrived he was determined that he would not dance with anyone, but he threw all his intentions away at the chance of hearing about Carmine. He did not have to contribute much to the conversation as Mable seemed perfectly happy to prattle on all on her own.

"My family came here for the ball. I had no idea that I would run into you here. It is a pleasant surprise, to be sure. Mother says that it is always important to make new friends on occasions such as this, but I think talking to old ones can be just as rewarding. Not to say you are old, of course, because you most definitely are not. I'm just saying that we have been friends for some time I think, and it is good to catch up."

Jace would hardly consider them friends, but that was not a sentiment that would get him what he wanted. "Yes, it was quite a surprise to see you here as well. Did your whole family come with you then?"

Mable nodded. "Mother, father, and Ivan are here somewhere too. I bet Ivan is near the food tables; he is such a glutton. Mother has tried and tried to get him to be interested in anything other than clocks and food but the dullard refuses to be involved in anything that's not boring. I hope that I am never as boring as he is. I can't imagine that any girl would ever want to marry someone like him. Father is worried that he will never find a good wife and carry on the family name."

"He is the son of a Lord, some women will find that more than enough reason to marry." Jace commented.

"Do they really?" Mable seemed shocked at such an idea. "I never want to marry a man who is boring just for his title. When I marry, my husband will be handsome and strong just like all the heroes in my books. I don't think I can love anyone who does not treat me like a princess every day."

The dance ended and Jace didn't care to be persuaded into another with Mable. Luckily, she had other ideas. "I'm sure mother would love to see you again. Let's go find her."

At first Jace thought that would be a bad idea considering their last meeting did not go well. Then again, if anyone could give information on Carmine, it was Lady Chiot. The only question was if she would be willing to talk to Jace at all. She was a proud woman who was not afraid of much, and he figured that she would somehow use Carmine to manipulate him if she felt she could. Jace would have to be careful around her.

They found her with a group of other mothers to the side of the room. It was common occurrence for like-minded mothers to gather together to watch their daughters and sons maneuver the ballroom. There was always an unspoken competition to see whose offspring could catch the most attention. Jace was sure that Lady Chiot had just won that competition when her daughter brought over the Vilkas prince. The lady straightened up and gave her companions a triumphant glance as she introduced Jace and her daughter. If she bore any ill will towards Jace, she did not show it.

"Your highness, what a pleasure it is to see you again. I had no idea that this party was being thrown for the benefit of your regiment." She said cordially.

"The magistrate thought it was an appropriate show of thanks for our presence in his city. It is rather a grand gesture for something as inconsequential as protecting the city." Jace replied with equal congeniality.

Lady Chiot smiled coldly. Jace had not expected her to forget their last encounter and was not surprised to see she hadn't. "Your regiment left so quickly from our town that we did not have the chance to do anything quite to extravagant. It's a pity, there are many in the town that miss your particular regiment."

Jace clenched his jaw as he evaluated the woman before him. She was speaking of Carmine, he was certain of it. If she was going to divulge any information about his soul, it would not be in a crowded ballroom and it would not be given freely. "Then I hope my regiment will be able to return soon on another rotation."

"I wouldn't fret over it too much. While you are missed, most understand that it is necessary for you and many have gone on knowing that your return is not a likelihood that will come about any time in the foreseeable future. I know of a few that are glad that your regiment has been assigned elsewhere; because you can do more in large cities such as this of course." Lady Chiot still wore the tight lipped smile that left the other ladies wondering what her relationship with the prince could possibly be to have them speaking in such a way.

Jace wanted to demand a straight answer from her on how Carmine was faring. From the way she spoke, it seemed as if Carmine had moved on and had all but forgotten about him. But that wasn't possible, she said she loved him. One didn't just forget being in love. Jace had briefly thought that Carmine only said she loved him because it was what he wanted to hear. He thought she had moved past fearing him as a wolf, but what if he was wrong? The way Lady Chiot spoke brought all the doubts to the surface and he wanted nothing more than to go back and find Carmine to prove that she did choose him and that her feelings were real. But he couldn't and Lady Chiot knew it so she continued to play her little game.

"You remember that particular servant of mine you seemed to take some interest in?" Lady Chiot asked and Jace feared for what she would say next. "I think you will be glad to hear that she is happily married with her first young one on the way. Isn't that such happy news?"

"Married?" Jace choked out. Carmine was his soul, she belonged with him! It had to be a lie, but why would Lady Chiot tell such a vicious falsehood?

"Oh yes, you remember our servant Nathaniel? The two of them were such good friends growing up; a marriage was only to be expected. We are all very excited about having a new baby around the house. Come along, Mable, I think we should go see what your father is getting up to." Lady Chiot held out her hand for her daughter. She knew exactly what she was saying. If she wanted to get revenge on Jace for hurting her wrist and shouting at her, she had done so in the most violent of ways. There was nothing she could have said or done that would hurt him more than the news that Carmine was married and having someone else's child.

"But, mother," Mable tried to protest, but her mother wouldn't have it. With a kind goodbye to her friends and a small bow to Jace, Lady Chiot swept her daughter away.

The ball was too much now. With barely any apologies made to the host or any explanation to anyone he passed, Jace hurried out of the building and back to where he was staying at one of the nearby inns. He did not even bother to remove any of his clothes before he threw himself onto his bed and screamed into his pillow. He was angry at the army for making him leave his soul behind. He was angry at Lady Chiot for telling him so coldly that his soul had married another. He was angry with himself for not doing more to ensure Carmine's love. But more than anything he hurt. It was a raging fire in his ribs that caused such an acute agony he felt nothing could soothe.

Paxton returned a few hours later and found Jace still curled up on top of his covers fully dressed. "Jace, what happened? You left so suddenly that everyone was worried. Are you ill?"

"She's married." Jace croaked. His voice was raw and rough from the torment that was going on inside.

Paxton stepped closer and removed his suit jacket. "What was that?"

"She's married," Jace repeated louder as he sat up. He slammed his fists down on his thighs violently. He wanted to do something, there was so much energy raging inside of him and he had no idea what to do with it. "My soul has married someone else who is not me and is having his child and I'm stuck in this cursed regiment for nearly two more years and it's not fair. She said she loved me!" His voice broke as he repeated his words more quietly, "I thought she loved me."

Paxton shook his head and sat next to his friend. He didn't know what to say. When a wolf found his soul, she became his whole world. What could he say to alleviate the pain of a loss like that?

"Who told you that she is married? Perhaps it is a lie." Paxton offered. They were in a far away town where no one knew Carmine so any news was probably unfounded.

"The Chiots were at the ball. I spoke with Lady Chiot."

"That old hag?" Paxton scoffed. "She probably just wanted to get back at you for what you said to her that one night and figured Carmine was the way to do it. I wouldn't put much faith in what she says."

"But what reason does she have to lie?"

Paxton shrugged. "Perhaps she is just a bitter old woman who likes to see other people hurt. I wouldn't take her word as truth. Wait until you can confirm her story for yourself before jumping to any conclusions. I would believe Carmine over Lady Chiot any day, and if she said she loved you, believe in that."

Jace let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, when I return in two years when I am out of this blasted regiment I can go back and find Carmine and Nathaniel and their happy family. I think that just may be enough to kill me."


Just a little point about how I write: I am always further along in writing than I am in posting. It's a thing I do just in case I need to change a point in the story I won't have to change it after it's been posted, and because sometimes I write obscenely quickly and get through like five chapters a day. In the case of this story, however, as of right now it is finished. So updates will probably be about weekly now until the end.

Big thanks to everyone who follows/favorites/reviews. I love getting the emails that say someone likes my story. They always brighten my day!

Special thanks to Lishishi for all the wonderful reviews! I love reading them and often read them two or three times because they make me smile.