(Note: I didn't know whether or not to do the 1990's Rodgers and Hammerstein's version on Cinderella (i.e. my favourite version) or to do the 2015 one as well as umming and ahhhring over what era to set this in. As you can see - I don't know what I was going for either )
"Oh my god, you're the Prince!"
That was something that Charles never thought he would say when he was suddenly led away from the ballroom quite swiftly in the arms of the handsome stranger he met in the woods while going for a roam a week before.
He thought the man, who was with a hunting party, was something much less, not the bloody Prince that his stepmother and his step siblings talked about. Of course, nearly everyone talked about Prince David as the one usually seen at parties and balls respectfully, but Charles never thought he would be meeting, or have met, the younger Prince Nicholas. Or really, danced with him.
"Maybe? I'm not really "the Prince", just one of many around the world." Said Prince offered as Charles gaped at him before shaking his head in bewilderment, his sparkling blue suit with butterflies and silver trim scattered across the shoulder and collar glimmering in the low light, his glass boots on display under tapered trousers, silver glitter tangled in the dark curls of his hair.
"You said you were an apprentice. You aren't an apprentice. You also said your name was Las, like Legolas from Lord of The Rings."
"Hey! Apprentice monarch is still an apprentice! I am still officially learning my trade." Prince Nicholas defended, looking quite sheepish as he looked Charles up and down, eyes practically causing Charles's stomach to tie itself in knots like it did when they first met. "Okay, so I lied a bit, but forgive me for saying this, I took you for a mollycoddled servant boy, now I can see you just didn't want to disrespect me."
"Fat chance of that, just never been too impressed by anything, not even you, even if you are a prince." Charles snorted and he saw Prince Nicholas grin. They stood in silence for a few moments before Charles offered his hand in truce. "No more surprises?"
"No more surprises." Prince Nicholas shook his gloved hand, before pulling him closer. "Also, Lord of The Rings is a respectable choice for comparison, as is the Marvel franchise. Both are equally good to draw from in a moment of desperate need."
"Obviously, you have to be very desperate to pull from Marvel." Charles wittily remarked, rolling his eyes despite the fact he was in front of literal royalty right now. If his stepmother were here, she would have killed him on the spot or at least, beaten him like that one time.
"I'll have you know that Marvel movies are sacred in this palace." The Prince replied, sounding scorned, but still smiling. It just made Charles's own smile wider as he playfully covered his chest. "Should I watch out for snipers in the near future or…?"
It pulled a genuine laugh out of both of them, the music from the ball quite distant behind the curtains they'd snuck through as the party continued on without them present, voices floating through here and there as they stood, watching through the crack of light.
Eventually, however, Prince Nicholas turned to Charles and pointed in another direction, seeing Grand Duke Benjamin and some others looking for him, most likely to present him to his mother and father, the King and Queen. "Come on, this way. I want to show you something…that is if you want to, of course."
Honestly, Charles should be at home right now. He should be at his place by the fire making mulled wine for when his stepmother, father and siblings returned, or in bed reading a book by moonlight. Or cleaning the garden walls now no one was there to throw eggs at them. Not at a ball sneaking off into the palace gardens with some random prince.
Now he /is/ here, with a prince, who wants to sneak off with him from a royal ball into the palace gardens and he's definitely not saying no to that. "Where are we going?"
"Trust me. Somewhere better than here." Is all the Prince says before they're walking side by side and right now, that's all Charles ever wants to feel, even if it's most likely just for tonight and he'll never see Prince Nicholas again.
Point is, however, that he'll remember this. He'll remember all of this, today and tonight, for the rest of his life.