Lilith's attitude toward wearing a dress relaxed only after she saw the smiles it put on her male friends faces. Nerissa had shoved the girl into a pretty white dress that was very silky and incredibly similar to the purple dress she had put on herself. Iolaus did not fail to compliment them as they took their seats. Jason was at the head of the table, of course. Though Nerissa usually sat to the Prince's right, she gave the seat to Lilith and took the seat beside Iolaus who was to Jason's left. Hercules winked at her from across the table, making her giggle softly.
"Feeling better?" he mouthed to her.
She just nodded for her answer.
Ophistus shuffled into the room behind the servants pushing their dinners in on metal carts. Jason sighed when he saw his tutor.
"Alerting me to my over-packed break schedule before I eat will only make me sick," the young man groaned.
The older man remained unfazed as he moved over to stand next to the Prince's chair.
"The ball scheduled for tomorrow night-"
"When did this come up?!"
"It was scheduled last month, Prince Jason. I sent a letter-"
"I never got it."
"You must stay through the duration of the ball."
"But-"
"Your friends are invited."
Jason stopped arguing at that statement and smiled around at the group. Lilith and Iolaus started grinning. Hercules looked pleased as well, but refrained from giving a reaction as Nerissa took the news as if it were nothing. She was obviously used to events popping up at random when in Corinth.
The servants finished placing dinner on the table as Jason turned to look up at Ophistus.
"Well, if they are going, fine. I'll stay, but do I need to have a date?"
"Why not?" Ophistus asked, furrowing his eyebrows," Don't you want to go with Lady Nerissa? The two of you have always made such a great pair!"
Nerissa let out a light laugh.
"Yeah. Great. Like when we accidentally set that cake on fire."
Jason laughed loudly.
"Or accidentally shot an arrow through the roasted pig!" he added.
"And when we accidentally got Jason's father stuck in a helmet meant for Ophistus- I mean..."
The teenagers all laughed while the tutor narrowed his eyes at Nerissa's admission. Her rubbed his chin in thought.
"Now that I think about it, the two of you did kick a melon into a salad, covering all the guests nearby at one conference."
Nerissa and Jason shared a mischievous, yet joyous look before shouting in unison:
"MELON BALL, Salad Style!"
Their friend laughed while Ophistus just sighed.
"Maybe the two of you should attend with different individuals. And please try not to ruin this ball..."
Lilith looked between Jason and Nerissa.
"Why do you both have to have a partner?"
"Well," Nerissa started, taking the question," As ruler of Corinth, it makes Jason look good to have a date. For me, if I attend without an obvious date, I have to spend the entire event trying to avoid men. And they get pretty persistent. When I've attended with Jason, no one dared approach me on an intimate level."
Those in the room nodded in understanding before Jason looked over at Lilith.
"So, will you help me out once more, Lilith? After the time you pretended to be my wife, this should be fun, huh? And no strings attached!"
The short blonde smiled and nodded.
"Sure."
Nerissa appeared to be the only person to notice the slight blush on Lilith's face. Smiling, the young woman looked between Iolaus and Hercules.
"Who wants to be my date? Either of you? It'll be a bit of work..."
Iolaus shook his head.
"As much as I would love to, I can't pass up a chance to find a royal beauty for my own. Besides, I'm on a break. I don't want to work."
He didn't notice the amused expressions that lit up the faces of all in the room at the idea of him flirting with women way beyond his league. Hercules smiled at Nerissa. The girl blushed slightly, feeling the warning signs of his attractiveness. Yet, she had no choice but to go along with the charming smile on his face.
"I'll go with you. I'm willing to put in a little work to keep you happy."
Lilith made a suggestive noise in her throat and wiggled her eyebrows at Nerissa, but she received a bread roll to the middle of the forehead and a pinch on the arm in response. Ophistus nodded, now knowing how things would work out for tomorrow.
"I will hold a dancing lesson in the afternoon tomorrow to prepare-"
"We know how to dance!" all four attending told him.
The man just sniffed in reply and left them to eat their dinner. After a moderately rowdy, yet completely enjoyable meal, the group parted ways to sleep.
The group slept in late and lazed around for most of the next day until they had to get ready for the ball. Nerissa found a new dress from her mother on her bed after lunch. It was a vibrant pink made of satin. The sleeves were just pink see-though fabric that attached to gold wristbands. All the princesses were wearing similar dresses recently. Pink slippers waited by the edge of her bed, matching the dress by one hundred percent. After putting on the new outfit, she met Hercules outside her room. He was cleaned up, his hair still slightly wet from a bath, and was in his normal clothes. Nerissa grinned at the thought of her mother cringing at the idea of her daughter's date wearing clothes he always wore. The thought please the girl very much. She caught Hercules assessing her outfit. She tilted her head questioningly.
"Is something wrong with the dress?"
"No, the color just reminds me of my mother."
The girl bit her lip.
"Is that...bad?"
Hercules eyebrows shot up.
"No! It's nothing like that. You look...uh...incredible."
Nerissa rolled her eyes and laughed. Reaching out, she grabbed her date's hand and they began walking toward the throne room. Stepping closer beside him, she clung to his muscular arm. It was very warm.
"So, how am I supposed to act exactly?" Hercules asked, glancing down at her.
"All you need to do is act like I'm the love of your life and pretend that you'll beat up any guy who touches me. Plain and simple."
The tall blonde nodded and smirked at her.
"How do I act like I'm in love with you? Should I kiss you?"
He jokingly leaned down and kissed her cheek. Her face erupted in heat, something that caused him some slight satisfaction.
"T-That should be enough."
Her friend just laughed at her reaction. His amusement blended into the sounds coming from the throne room as they entered the hallway. Nerissa jumped and yelped as a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and almost strangled Iolaus, who was the culprit.
"Relax!" he told her, blocking a punch to his abdomen," It's just me. I am just so ready to party. Have you seen all the pretty royal ladies? I mean...wow."
Nerissa exchanged a look with Hercules, both grinning. Hercules leaned in front of Nerissa to grab his best male friend and shove him toward the awaiting party.
"Well get in there and get those girls!"
Iolaus nodded and saluted the two of them. They followed him into the moderately packed party. There were people everywhere and a banquet table sat off to the right side of the room. It had an innumerable amount of food on it. Nerissa led Hercules toward Jason and Lilith, who were talking to some rulers near the throne. As they made their way over, they were stopped by a young man in royal blue robes with pitch black hair that fell into his eyes. He bowed to Nerissa, ignoring Hercules.
"Lady Nerissa, I am Pavlos. Son of the King of Athens. Might I have the honor of-"
"No, thank you," Nerissa interrupted," My date, Hercules, and I are trying to get to our friends."
"I would just like a moment of your time."
Pavlos reached out to grasp Nerissa's hand, but was unable to as Hercules moved her away from him.
"Maybe another day," Hercules told him, giving him a heavy and almost painful pat on the shoulder.
They moved away from him. They were stopped by at least three other men before the guests began to understand that she was with someone. Reaching their destination, Nerissa grabbed Lilith's arm casually. The short haired girl smiled and turned her head slightly to her friend, pretending she was still listening more to the person Jason was greeting.
"I know," she said, patting her friend's shoulder," I saw all those boys. Lucky Hercules is here for you."
Nerissa agreed and leaned toward Lilith's ear.
"Go get Jason to dance. He prefers that to greeting everyone."
The shorter girl gave her a thumbs up before snagging her date away from his guests and pulling him onto the dance area. Nerissa looked over at Hercules and held out her hand to him. He took it and kissed it, making a few guys in the room who were watching them groan from jealousy.
"Shall we dance?" he asked.
"Indeed."
They danced for a long time, preferring the company of each other than the company of others. Every now and then they spotted Iolaus getting ignored by a girl. Jason and Lilith stuck near them until Ophistus forced them to meet a few people. After getting too tired to keep dancing, Nerissa waited by the throne as Hercules got drinks. While she watched the guests mingle with each other, she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She turned to see a young man with brown hair and piercing blue/green eyes. He bowed to her.
"Lady Nerissa, correct?"
She nodded.
"Yes. I am sorry, but if you are here to ask for a dance, I am rather exhausted. My date-"
The male smiled strangely, causing Nerissa's internal warning signs to go off, her sentence dying. She backed away from him slightly, her hand landing on the arm of the throne.
"Hercules. Yes, you both seem very...close. He is very protective of you, is he not?"
Nerissa swallowed hard, glancing around the room trying to spot Hercules. She couldn't see him.
"I...suppose? I haven't really known him very long or anything...Just a month."
"That is good enough for me."
Nerissa leapt away from him as he lunged for her, but he caught her wrist and pulled her against him. She was about to ram her elbow into his side, but he pulled a dagger on her. Turning her back toward him, he pressed the dagger to her throat and tied her hands together with his free hand. She tried to struggle, but he was uncharacteristically strong for a mortal. Almost as strong as Hercules. She grimaced, feeling the cold metal against her throat. The man's breath went down her neck, making her shudder.
"Don't make me kill you sooner than is necessary," he hissed to her.
Guests nearby were alarmed and were pointing and whispering.
"LUCIUS!"
Nerissa's eyes snapped to her left where Hercules stood, glaring at the man behind her. His fists were clenched and he looked prepared to spring. Jason was beside him, looking incredibly disgusted. Iolaus could be seen whispering to Ophistus, who slipped out of the room. Nerissa assumed it was to get the guards. The man, Lucius, laughed. The sound was high and maniacal.
"Hello, little brother. Had you forgotten about me? Too bad, because now your girlfriend will have to suffer for it."
He tugged on her and she had no choice but to move back with him toward the back exit. Hercules stepped toward them. The girl had never seen him so angry.
"Let her go."
Lucius sighed and pointed the dagger at his brother.
"I can't. I have very specific plans for this beauty and they require your presence and no one else's...elsewhere. If you bring anyone with you to get her, I'll kill her on the spot."
Nerissa tried to take that moment to stomp on his foot. This only caused him to almost strangle her with the hand that didn't have a dagger. Lucius laughed at her.
"Nice try, sweetheart."
He kissed her cheek, making her not only gag from lack of air. Looking back at his brother, Lucius gave him a sickening smile.
"If you want to try and save her, you'll find us back where I almost got rid of Pollux. Understood?"
In two rapid movements, Lucius stowed away his dagger and pulled Nerissa up into his arms. Multiple shouts went up in that moment as he swept out of the room.
"Hercules! Jason!"
"NERISSA!"
"GUARDS!"
The kidnapped girl tried to keep shouting so they would be easy to find, but at one turn, Lucius stopped and took enough time to hit her on the back of the head to knock her unconscious.