Lady Monroe

The Great Room was decorated in a way that I had never seen before. It was like all the Halloween decorations that existed were put into one place. Back in Paloma, we never celebrated Halloween. It was a poor province, and the children couldn't just go door to door to ask for candy when the citizens didn't even have bread. This made me all the more excited to celebrate Halloween properly.

I adjusted the cowboy, or cowgirl in my case, hat on my head as I walked past the tables filled with all sorts of treats. There were all the candies you can imagine, cakes, three kinds of chocolate fountains and too many more goods to even count. The walls of the room were covered in what looked to be fake cobwebs, and several lanterns were scattered through the room. Instead of the usual orchestra that I imagined would usually provide musical entertainment for Royal balls, there was a DJ blasting out dance music through the speakers. I bopped my head along with the rhythm as I walked to where a group of other Selected where standing.

Rania was dressed in a blue ball gown, adorned with white roses. It was strapless, but she covered up her shoulders with a white, lacey vest. Her hair was curled and half up half down, and blue accessories adorned her wrists and ears. Even her eyelids and nails were painted blue. She had told us that she was going to dress up as Cinderella, and she sure looked the part. She was laughing at something Arizona said, who had on a strapless, blue mermaid gown. Scales covered the hem of the dress, and along with the shells in her blonde braid and the blue makeup on her neck and her eyes, it was obvious that she was dressed as a mermaid.

I smiled as I joined them. ''What's so funny?'' I asked as I reached for a glass of champagne. Rania was just about to tell me as another mermaid dashed towards us, but this one had a crown of shells in her brown hair.

''You're a mermaid too!'' the Princess exclaimed as she excitedly pointed to her purple strapless dress, that also seemed to be covered in scales. Her makeup was more colorful than Arizona's, and she looked as beautiful as she always did.

Arizona nodded and beamed at Yasmin. ''I guess we're matching.''

My eyes scanned the room and my gaze stopped when I saw what was entering. I had just taken a sip, which came out immediately as I sputtered, ''Holy crapshell on a stick.''

My companions followed my gaze, and Rania's olive skin turned into a shade of red. There he was, the Prince of Illéa, without his shirt. He was holding onto a trident, obviously dressed as a seagod. His pants were dark brown, adorned with golden scales, and he had one some sort of shoulder armor, attached with a leather band that was crossed over his chest. Similar looking armor covered his wrists, and that was it. That was all he was wearing. His torso, his muscular torso was completely uncovered. He had a smirk on his face as he looked around, obviously very comfortable with what he was wearing.

I had to admit, the Prince had balls. And I liked it.

''Jeez, Ian,'' I heard Yasmin mutter beside me. ''Excuse me, girls.'' She smiled apologetically at us and sauntered over to her brother. His personal guard, Officer Bates, was following him, who was dressed way more appropriately than his Prince. Officer Bates, or Tristan as he had told us to call him, seemed to be dressed as a Prince. He had on a white costume, with a blue sash swung over his shoulder. Tristan had come up in our conversations several times, and me and the other Selected had concluded that he was quite a sight to look at.

''Well, he's not shy at all, is he?'' Arizona commented, an amused smile playing on her lips.

''Nope! He has the body for it, why not show it off?'' I shrugged as I finally realized I still had some champagne dripping off my chin, and I hastily wiped it away.

The Prince conversed with his sister for a few moments, before walking up to us, leaving his sister with his guard.

''Ladies,'' Killian bowed, the smirk never leaving his face. ''You all look lovely tonight. Let me guess, a cowgirl, a mermaid and a.. princess?''

''I'm Cinderella,'' Rania stated, barely able to make eye contact with the shirtless Prince.

''Ahh, a classic. Well, I hope you enjoy yourselves, and allow me a dance with you later on.''

''Oh, I'm just letting you know, I'll be challenging you to a dance battle. And I'm very, very good.'' I warned him.

Killian's smirk grew broader. ''I can't wait.''

Lady Aenwyn

''Catherine Earnshaw, didn't think I would find you here.''

I turned to find Killian smiling at me, half naked I might add. I had been lingering by the snacks, still too shy to approach the other Selected, even after a few weeks in the Palace.

''I'm glad you recognized the costume. I was afraid it would be a silly idea,'' I admitted. The book he had read to me on our date, 'Wuthering Heights', had been on my mind ever since that night. I couldn't resist dressing up as the heroine.

''Have you even seen my costume?''

I chuckled lightly, which seemed to surprise him. ''What are you even supposed to be?''

''I am Poseidon, God of the Sea,'' he answered in a low voice, while thrusting his trident in the air. All the while keeping a straight face.

''Ah. That's impressive.''

He grinned, and handed his trident to a passing butler. ''Keep this safe for me.'' He turned to the DJ, gave him the thumbs up, before turning back towards me. He bowed, stretching out his hand. ''May I have this dance?''

The music had changed from a booming bass to a slow violin. I carefully took his hand, but I couldn't help the discomfort that flashed on my face. Killian noticed, and his brows furrowed. ''You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm not forcing you.''

''No, I know. Trust me, I want to,'' I smiled at him as the tension slowly left my body. It was a slow process, but every day I was closer to my discomfort when touching him disappearing.

He led me to the dancefloor, and his hands dropped to my waist as he guided me in our dance. I tried to remember our dancing lessons from Miss Arabella, and despite stepping on his toes a few times, it seemed to be going smoothly. I was lost in our movements and the mesmerizing music, and the way his green eyes seemed to look into my soul.

We came to a sudden halt as the song ended, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. He let go of my waist and bowed again. ''Thank you for doing me the honor of the first dance, Miss Earnshaw.''

He marched over to Rowan, who was glaring daggers at me before Killian had turned to her. She immediately plastered on her best smile as Killian took her with him to the dancefloor. Rowan's costume was as intimidating as her personality. She was wearing a black lace dress that was short in the front and long in the back, with her shoulders exposed and a low neckline. She had on a lacey mask, a glint of victory in her black lined eyes as she was the second girl to dance with Killian. Her hair was in a bun that reflected a cob web. She made a perfect spider.

I walked back to my hiding spot by the snacks, and watched as the other girls started joining Killian and Rowan on the dancefloor, accompanied by guards who were allowed to join the party. I purposely avoided all eye contact, dreading to be asked to dance with one of the guards. I was only planning on letting one man get close to me.

Lady April

I had just finished my dance with the Prince, and was looking at the array of Halloween themed cupcakes with Evelaine and Olympia. ''How can anyone choose? They all look delicious.''

I fiddled with the flowers in my bright red hair, the flower crown adorning it growing quite heavy. I had chosen to dress as Mother Nature herself, and my maids had made me an incredible dress that looked to be made out of a tree. A flower necklace was put around my neck, and with the purple heels that had flowery straps around my legs, they did a great job.

Olympia's Egyptian styled eyes glinted as she looked at the selection of food in front of us. Her eyes were lined with black and gold eyeliner, topped with blue eyeshadow. Golden bracelets were adorning her arms, and they tinkled with every step she took.

''Cleopatra looks like she's going to devour every last cupcake,'' Evelaine joked with her ever present serious expression on her face. She checked if the hairsticks were still pinned into her bun, the ends of the sticks matching the red of her geisha costume.

''I would go with the jack-o-lanterns. The filling is delicious,'' a voice beside us said, and we looked up to see the Prince eyeing the cupcakes. He saw our surprised expressions, and grinned. ''What? Princes eat cupcakes too. And all the dancing is making me crave one.''

I saw Olympia's cheeks flush at the sight of Killian, something I had noticed happened to her every time she saw him. I was sure that she was hiding something about their date, but I wasn't planning on pressing her. If she wanted to tell us, she would.

Evelaine grabbed one of the orange cupcakes, and bit into it. ''Meh. I've had better.''

Killian seemed unsure as to whether Evelaine was joking or not, which was a struggle we all had with her. I noticed that her coffee brown eyes were basically glued to his defined abs. In fact, her gaze had barely left his torso from the moment he stepped in the room. I tried to hide the grin that crept on my face as I realized that Evelaine was pretty much a pervert.

The Prince was about to grab a cupcake for himself when Monroe rushed over to us and yanked his arm. We were all surprised at her boldness, Killian included.

''Are you done with all the slow dances? Because we still have that dance battle.''

Killian grinned and set down the cupcake he was about to bite into. ''Are you sure about this? You have not seen my real skills on the dancefloor.''

''Prince or not, I am going to whipe the floor with you.'' Monroe grinned. I had to give it to the girl, she knew how to have fun. It was something I admired in her.

''Okay, then. If you insist on loosing, let's do it.'' Killian strolled over to the DJ, and the music changed to a fast paced dance song with a heavy bass.

All of us gathered around Monroe and Killian, who were standing across from each other on the dancefloor. The Plastics looked annoyed at the spectacle, probably jealous of Monroe. The rest of us were all giddy and excited though, anxious to see the Crown Prince show off his dance skills.

Monroe started dancing, and to say it was hilarious was an understatement. She clearly didn't give a crap of what anyone thought, and was just having a ball. Killian watched Monroe for a few seconds before he joined, and we erupted into cheers.

Killian moved with such confidence, that even though his moves were dorky, it looked good. His feet were moving on the beat, and his arms were flailing around as well. I looked around at the other girls, and from the expressions on their faces, we were all charmed. It was refreshing to see the Prince letting loose and having a laugh, though it was apparent that he was still trying to impress us. It was working.

Monroe took a break from her dance to pull some of us onto the dancefloor with them, even taking Yasmin's hand and pulling her along. Yasmin was standing with Princess Bea who was dressed as a monarch butterfly, and she laughed as she also pulled her along. Before I knew it, most of us had joined Monroe and Killian, dancing along with them.

So that was part one of the Halloween Ball! There will be a part two, as I really wanted to incorporate all the girls. Don't worry, there's more dates coming after this!

All the costumes are on my pinterest, I made a seperate Halloween board so you can see them in one place. I HOPE YOU ALL WERE ABLE TO HANDLE KILLIAN'S COSTUME. And who caught the subtle couples costume of Trismin? They're basically dressed as Ariel and Prince Eric. Cute, right?

Oh and Killian's dance moves are also pinned to his pinterest board. For those of you who can't access pinterest, just youtube 'tom hiddleston dancing in south korea'. That's basically how I imagine Killian dancing.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had two exams last week, and two more in the coming three weeks, so I don't know when I'll be able to update again but hopefully in a week.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought of this chapter and keep reviewing!

~wolfofstark