Schneizel watched the throngs of nobilities dancing on the magnificent ballroom. The orchestra was playing a slow waltz. To pass the time of waiting for his brother, he imagined that they were like slaves, pirouetting to the whims of the conductor on the stage. He smirked at the realization and continued to sip his red wine slowly. Just then, his six-year old brother, Clovis, sat beside him, cheeks glowing rubicund with embarrassment or youth - he didn't know - but at least his " always proper" brother looked quite rumpled. The second prince grinned slyly and poked his brother in the ribs, meaning to either annoy or startle him. However, the younger did not seem to care much at all but fixed his large blue eyes into his brother's face. He looked shocked, to say the least. Schneizel laughed merrily, leading others to think that the second prince drank too much.
"Did she use you so hard that you ended up looking like that?" Schneizel put his goblet to his lips and slipped an arm through his brother's waist. "Did she do this to you? Or perhaps she forced you to kiss her?" He asked, bending closer until his face was just inches away from his brother's. Clovis looked so stricken that he quickly drew back and laughed again. "Oh, brother, brother! You are so innocent!"
"But I am only six years old." The younger one whined, releasing himself from the grip of his older brother and scooting away. "You're older than I am and you know so much!"
"That is why I am asking you what she did to you..." He sighed and flipped his hair. "Is that so hard to understand? As your older brother, I must take care of you and your future..."
Clovis gripped his hands tightly. "Well... She... She talked to me in a really sweet manner and then she... Well, she... She kissed me on the cheek..." He said in a small voice. "You don't have to laugh so hard, brother! How rude..."
"I was just taken aback on how a six-year old girl could possibly think of doing that to a prince like you..." Schneizel placed a hand on his forehead for emphasis. "The things they teach to girls nowadays... Anyway, she's a pretty little lady and she's right for a prince, brother. Why don't you try your luck and court her?"
Clovis blushed slightly. "We're both too young for that, brother... Besides, she doesn't seem to like me much. And that's not my choice, anyway. It's father's and I leave it solely to him!"
Schneizel shook his head and sipped his wine. "Fine... If that's what you say, Clovis..."
Presently, Audrey Deneuve and her father, Reginald, came forward and bowed. Schneizel could not help but fix his eyes on the young girl curtsying before him in a most graceful manner. He thought about the goddesses of the Greeks his tutor had taught him and decided that this girl was among them. She did not belong here but up there, in the heavens, among the stars and angels. She was worthy to be praised and bowed down to, just because of her beauty, wit, and charm. No wonder his younger brother was laid to silence by the mysterious Audrey Deneuve. He was astonished to note also that her eyes were looking directly at him, as if they bore a hole through his flesh that revealed his innermost thoughts and feelings. It did seem indeed that she knew. For in that moment, she winked at him most beautifully and he found it rather hard to resist not to wink back in return.
"We are to go now, my dear Princes." Duke Reginald said. "We hope to see you again."
"O-of course..." The older prince managed to say, eyes still fixed on the girl. "You may take your leave."
Audrey smiled sweetly at the two princes. "When will I see you again, Your Majesties?" She asked playfully. "I hope soon... Very soon..."
The voice of the little girl still echoed in their minds even though she had long been gone. Schneizel could only look at his brother with a confused expression. Clovis smiled widely in return, as if to taunt his older brother.
"She plays wonderfully, doesn't she?" Clovis said, slowly returning to his former self now that she has gone. "It's like she twists us around her little finger. She draws a thin cord through our necks and slowly draws it closer and closer until she strangles men to death. Isn't that right, brother?"
Schneizel held his newly-filled goblet of red wine to his lips. "I guess she does... A femme fatale, that's what she is, Clovis... That's what she is..."
- - - - -
Gabriella la Britannia sat on her son's bed later that evening, reading a story to him from an ornately-designed story book. Clovis sat up in bed, drinking the remainder of his milk. The room was shrouded in darkness, save for an antique lamp on the prince's bedside table. Outside, the full moon engulfed the elaborate gardens in moonshine.
"And they lived happily ever after. The End." Gabriella said, shutting the book in the process. She kissed her son's forehead. "Good night, my love. Sleep well."
"Mother," Clovis said all of a sudden. "What does femme fatale mean?"
Gabriella looked at him confusedly and asked, "Where do you obtain such obscene words? Such words should not be uttered by one so young as you, my love."
"Will you tell father now?"
"Of course not. It is just a secret between the two of us... Now quit thinking about that and go to sleep. I'll tuck you into bed now."
"But, mother, what does it mean?" He insisted while his mother pulled the covers closer to him. "Why is it so obscene?"
"I don't think you should use such words, Clovis. They are not fit for you. Where did you hear it, if I may ask?"
"Will you scold him, mother?"
"So it's a he now, Clovis?"
Clovis hid half his face behind the covers and bit his lip. "Y-yes, mother... It was the second prince, Schneizel... He said it to describe Audrey Deneuve..."
Gabriella smiled lovingly. "Your brother now was just exaggerating. Go to sleep, dear. It's getting late."
"Yes, mother."
Clovis ducked behind the covers and smiled to himself. Audrey Deneuve was more than beautiful. Surely, the word femme fatale fitted her well...
- - - - -
"Don't you just cringe, brother, when you remember that scene?" Schneizel asked his younger brother while he took a sip of wine. "You were very embarassed and flawed and shocked and... Who knows what else? Your aura was destroyed into a million pieces!"
"Shut up, Schneizel, and just move your pieces! I'm done with my turn." Clovis replied haughtily. It was driving him insane whenever his older brother talked about that party six years ago to celebrate Lelouch's birth. That night was the only night when he had been utterly speechless in front of a person, and a beautiful girl at that. His older brother had coined the term femme fatale to describe her then. And now that he fully knew what it meant, he could completely agree with Schneizel on that subject.
Schneizel smiled. "Are you sure you want me to move my pieces now? You're sure you don't want to change your previous turn?" He drained his goblet to the last drop. "You always get agitated whenever we talk about her, doesn't he, Lelouch?"
"Of course." Little Lelouch piped in his small voice. He was observing the match between his two brothers. "But who is she anyway?"
"Clovis was just your age then. Six, isn't that right, Clovis? Yes, he was, if I remember correctly... He was sulking then in the staircase because nobody was paying attention to him. Father called him a little later and introduced him to a duke's daughter who is the same age as he is. That's when he started acting really strange and--"
"Shut up, I tell you!" Clovis yelled in rage. He did get really sensitive whenever the topic came about. "That's a pack of lies, Lelouch! Don't you go believing him. And I don't want to review my pieces, Mr. Schneizel. I see nothing wrong with them. It's your turn already."
"Are you sure?" Schneizel taunted, an eyebrow raised. "If you're really sure then..." He moved his Queen to an empty space, and... "Checkmate."
Lelouch clapped happily while Clovis clutched the table with both hands and looked at the board disbelievingly. "Tha-that can't be! That's impossible!"
"Oh, brother... You have always been such a dunce in chess..." The older prince teased. "Well, pardon me but I have to take my leave now. See you around, Clovis..."
Lelouch sat down on Schneizel's chair and re-arranged the white pieces. Clovis watched him in silence, still bewildered. He could not believe his eyes. He knew that he was in the lead, winning in fact. Schneizel's pieces were reduced to a mere six and he still managed to beat him? Clovis could not get his mind to believe that. The maid came presently to where they were playing and handed the two princes a few snacks on a silver tray and also left two glasses of freshly-squeezed lemonade.
"Pray, tell me, brother..." Lelouch said as he arranged the pieces. "Is she really beautiful that she had power over you? To which flower would you associate her with?"
Clovis glared at his younger brother. "You should stop asking questions if you know what's good for you, kid."
The third prince of Britannia stood up and went inside the bleak castle.
- - - - -
Author's Note: Whee! Second chapter... Hmm...?