Anything written in italics means it is spoken in Finnish. Do I know how late this is? Yes, I do. I am so sorry I got so behind with these stories. I hope you like the story! Also, I plan on writing one long story for the month of December. I'm not sure what fandom I should write it in, so let me know if you have any thoughts. I have a google form link on my tumblr if you want to respond that way! Otherwise let me know in a review!

-owl

"Presenting Her Majesty, Queen Eadlyn Schreave de Koskinen, and His Highness, Prince Consort Eikko Koskinen!" The page called.

Eikko walked into the room with his beautiful wife next to him. It was the end of October, and Eadlyn had decided to host a masquerade ball in honor of the long forgotten tradition of Halloween. She had planned it all herself, the decorations, the food, the dress code. And it was a masterpiece.

Eadlyn had invited all the men from the Selection, barring Baden Trains, Burke Renn, and Jack Ranger, to the ball. Only a few had responded that they were going to be attending, though. Kile, unfortunately, was still in Bonita, as per Eadlyn's 'banishment.' However, Hale, Ean, Fox, and Henri had said they would all be there. Eikko was looking forward to seeing all four of them again, especially Henri, who had been his closest friend at the palace.

Eadlyn had designed their outfits for the night. She was wearing a deep red, nearly maroon, dress. It had a full skirt and a boat neckline, with sleeves that reached her elbows. Her mask was black satin with detailing that matched the color of the dress.

Eikko himself had been given a black suit with a tie and pocket square the same color as her dress. His mask was the same red as the tie and pocket square. Stitching was in black, giving it great contrast and completing the look.

Returning his attention to the room in front of him, Eikko was amazed. Eadlyn had told him about the decorations she had been using, but had told him he needed to wait until the night of to actually see it.

The ballroom had been covered in resplendent shades of burnt orange and mossy green.

After taking in the room, Eikko's attention shifted to the people in the room. Eadlyn's parents were sitting at the head table, they were in matching outfits of gray. Ean and Hale were talking to Kaden by the windows. Fox was standing with Henri, though they weren't talking, and were facing the same direction.

To open the ball, Eadlyn had told Eikko that they were going to have to dance in front of the crowd. While he was not the happiest about being in the center of attention like that, he had made peace with the idea when he had gotten married in the first place.

And so they spun around, in a simple waltz. Eadlyn's dress was nearly tripping him, but Eikko couldn't help but smile. It had been quite a while since he had gotten the chance to dance with his wife.

As soon as the 'ceremonial' (the first dance) part of the ball was over with, Eikko made his way over to Henri and Fox. Both men gave him a bow as he approached.

"Prince Consort Eikko," Fox greeted him, a smile on his face as he used the title in a mocking — but kind — way.

Eikko shook his head with a grin on his face. "Ha, ha, Fox. How are you two?"

Henri smiled his traditional large smile. "Good, good."

Fox nodded. "Not bad. We will need to find Eadlyn to thank her for the invitation. Do you know when she might be less busy?"

Eikko looked across the room to where Eadlyn was talking with the Swendish queen. They seemed to be in serious conversation. "I'm sure she'll make her way over here, but for now she seems busy."

"Fox!" Dowager Queen America called from where she was sitting. Mason was no longer there, but across the room, talking to Aspen Leger. "Come over here a moment."

Fox nodded, and, with a nod to Eikko, he crossed the room to America. Now Eikko was left with just Henri.

"How are you doing with the job?" Henri asked. "I can imagine it is a very difficult thing."

Eikko shrugged. "I don't do too much, to be honest. Eadlyn and I together don't have much work as we now have a constitutional monarchy. The few things that we do need to worry about, Eadlyn takes care of most of them."

"I'm sure that she is grateful for just being there for her, happy to see you every day."

Eikko nodded. "Yeah. I also know that she would be happy to see you often, too. You did become a close friend of hers."

Henri frowned. "How long has it really been since I was here?"

"It's been at least three months since the wedding. Again, that was an amazing cake you made. I think you've ruined all other cakes for Eadlyn now."

Their conversation was cut off before Henri could respond by both Eikko being called away by Osten, and Kaden walking up and taking Henri's attention. With a small wave, Eikko parted from Henri and made his way to his youngest brother-in-law.

"What can I help you with, Osten?" Eikko asked.

Osten smirked. "I need your help."

This couldn't end well. "What do you need my help with?"

Osten's smirk got bigger — if that was even possible — as he finally told Eikko his devious plan. "Mom is keeping too close an eye on me for me to do anything fun. I need you to distract her so I can get my prank started."

"Two things," Eikko said. "One; why are you so insistent on pranking tonight? Two; if I do this for you, I'm exempt from the prank."

Osten tilted his head as he thought about Eikko's words. "All our sources have said that Halloween was a time that people often caused mischief. Besides, this party is too boring. And I suppose you can be safe, just, go talk to my mother. Oh, and take this. When I arrive, put it on." Eikko was handed a piece of thin plastic, folded up into a nice sized square.

With a sigh, Eikko followed Fox's steps from earlier as he approached America. They were in the middle of a conversation about the great work Kile had been doing in Bonita when there was a loud crash.

Eikko knew that this was what Osten had meant by his arrival. Quickly unfolding the plastic poncho Osten had given him, Eikko looked at the sound.

The entire room whipped their heads to the source of the noise to see a teenaged boy (who Eikko knew was Osten) dressed in a drab black suit with a featureless black mask, draped from the ceiling by a cord around his waist. Directly beneath him was the vent cover he had made fall to make his entrance.

"TRICK-OR-TREAT!" He yelled, throwing handfuls of fine glitter around the room, somehow managing to coat every person there.