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Zander knew he was extremely late and his parents wouldn't be happy about that, and there was no doubt in his mind that his parents were looking for him. But after having spent a number of hours playing billiards at a pub in the city and after having drank quite a bit, Zander really didn't care. He just wanted to make an appearance and see his bride to be, Princess Elena.

The limousine that Zander had called to request a pickup pulled up in front of the large manor that belonged to the Falkland's. Hearing the driver get out of the car, Zander quickly opened the door himself and stumbled out, almost falling to the ground. "Sir? Are you okay?" the driver asked, cautiously reaching his arms out to attempt to catch the intoxicated prince in case he fell. Zander began boisterously laughing as he used the car to support himself while he stood back up. Once fully upright, Zander look right into the eyes of the driver and smiled. "No kind sir, I am fine. I shall be going inside now. Have a good night." Zander slurred. The driver didn't move, instead, he watched the prince attempt to walk up the front steps leading into the large house.

"Where have you been, Zander?" Looking at the entrance doors, Zander's mother stood there awaiting her son's arrival. She didn't look happy at all. Laughing again, Zander turned and sat down halfway up the stairs. Zander's mother quickly rushed down the stairs to greet her son. "What is the matter with you? Look at you! You look like a ruffian."

She was right, Zander wasn't at all presentable for a ball. He had dressed in a very nice black tuxedo earlier in the day with the intent to be at the ball on time. But when he had been told that there was a game of billiards awaiting his arrival, Zander's mind quickly let slip the fact of the ball. During the time spent at the pub, Zander had undone his tie and unbuttoned the top four buttons of his dress shirt. The tuxedo had gotten slightly wrinkled from excessive jumping and being grabbed. He also smelled like cigarettes and beer.

"You are lucky Prince Reynald is in there. Princess Elena didn't have anyone to dance with, so Reynald took her onto the floor." Zander's mother said.
"Zander! Get up off the stairs and make yourself presentable." a deeper voice boomed. Zander turned his head to look up the stairs. Standing where his mother had been previously was Zander's father. He wasn't exactly the forgiving type, so Zander's appearance and previous activities wouldn't go unpunished.
"Oh. Hi daddy." Zander hiccuped, laughing about his hiccup.

Getting a bit of help from his mother, Zander rose to his feet and almost fell down the stairs, but quickly caught himself. He calmly walked up the stairs and stood in front of his father who immediately began buttoning his shirt and tying his tie quite forcefully. "You reek of alcohol." he said to Zander angrily, not intending for his son to reply to the statement. After making him at least look decent, Zander's father grabbed onto his son's shoulder and guided him into the ballroom. The ball, which had already been going on for some time, looked as if nobody had even taken notice of Zander's absence. This didn't surprise Zander as he was used to not being the most appreciated prince in the royalty side because of his defiant actions. His father let go of his shoulder once inside and was left alone. Zander watched his father walk back over to more rich-looking people and engage in a conversation that he must have abandoned to find his son. Zander scoffed and walked over to a chair against a wall and sat down. He rested his elbows on his thighs and put his face in his hands, sighing heavily. The alcohol was starting to get to him, and looking for Elena right then might not be a wise decision.

Reynald sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah..." He kissed her fingers, softly and closed his eyes. "It won't happen again... I simply won't talk to them." Unlike most children of royalty, he could be incredibly rude and disrespectful when rubbed the wrong way. It was his life and he would choose how to live it. The biggest decision he had to make was who he was going to marry or whether he would be married at all. That was not up to them. "It will be this way... soon. When this is all over." He smiled reassuringly. He tried to forget his own problems in the face of hers, but when they were having the same problem it was difficult to be of much comfort. "You aren't marrying Zander, I'm not marrying Victoria.... Although i do feel for her... She's on her own down there now." She was probably being bothered by her parents while Reynald was up here with the one he wanted to be with... "Maybe I should at least talk to her. She'll probably be happy to know im not going to let this happen..."

"Me too," Mimi smiled, his words taking her back to the moment. "I was?" She giggled, remembering her mass of auburn curls and strangely transluscent skin, even then. It was a good job that she hadn't been sent to school in a lot of ways; she hardly looked like other children. With a small sigh, she drew circles in the ground with the tip of her shoe as she tried to push more thoughts of what was to come from her mind so that she could simply carry on enjoying the moment. "Mhm, you were such a handsome little boy too. I remember when you first caught my gaze and I felt like I could drown in your beautiful eyes," she smiled as she played with the root under her fingertips. Even from that first day she'd felt a strange draw to him, although being as young as they were she could have never explained it as love.

Miriam closed her eyes when she felt his soft lips on her neck, her hand reaching up to hold the top of his arm. He showed so much love and tenderness towards her, something, which she knew she could never forget. He treated her as though she was a porcelain doll, so delicate and with a love that ran deeper than any fake engagement ever could. "Mm?" Mimi murmured, enjoying the feeling of his fingers in her hair. "I'm wearing that perfume you bought me before our wedding," she smiled as she opened her eyes to meet his. When their gazes locked, her heart stuttered again, his eyes glistening enchantingly in the darkness. "I really love you," she whispered and gently pressed her lips to his, lingering for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I think our wedding had to be one of the happiest days of my life," she whispered as she rested her chin upon his shoulder.

Quickly sitting up, Zander realized he had passed out. He chuckled at how intoxicated he was, even if he was gradually recovering from the night's activities. Looking around the ballroom, Zander didn't see Reynald or Elena. Those two being the only people he would really like to see at such an event, Zander reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

Zander didn't bother sending a text message to Reynald for the sole fact that Zander figured Reynald wouldn't have allowed himself to get dragged to such an event. So instead, he began pounding the keys on the keypad of his cell phone, typing out a message.

"Princess Elena, I know I'm late to the ball, but please forgive me. Also, I am rather drunk, so I would like to invite you to my house tomorrow to make up for lost time if you are available."

Hitting the send button, Zander rose to his feet and returned the cell phone to his pocket. Seeing that his parents were occupied with other guests, Zander quickly made his exit out the same doors he came in. He didn't care that he had missed the ball, since he had had a much more enjoyable time at the pub. He did care that he had missed Elena and didn't get a chance to even see her.

Suddenly, Zander stopped. Hadn't his mother said that she had seen Reynald dancing with Elena earlier that night? Zander quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and composed a new message, this time to Reynald.

"Hey. I'm at the ball, are you here?"

Mimi couldn't help but laugh when Zeke said that she were strange; that was definately one word for a younger version of herself. She'd always thought she looked weird as a child, but in a bad way. Like there was something, just a little off about her appearance. She supposed she still felt the same way about herself now.

Enjoying the closeness of him, Miriam closed her eyes again, taking in the sounds of the woods and his own scent. She knew what he meant when he'd said that she smelt good; she felt exactly the same way about how he smelled. It was such a familiar scent, something, which she knew would comfort her even if she were about to face her darkest fear. When he mentioned the arranged marriage however, her body immediately tensed - she couldn't help it.

"It won't be the saddest moment," she murmured softly, trying not to get overwhelmed by the thoughts of marrying Trent. "Signing the divorce papers will.. I-I don't think I'll be able to do it," she sniffled, reaching a hand up to wipe away a tear. "My life won't even be worth living if I have to spend it with someone that I can never love. I want to be with you Zeke, nobody else. And I can't stand the thought of you being with Elizabeth either. The thought of it makes me want to scream, throw things, do anything to stop the weddings from going ahead." Mimi took a breath, trying not to get worked up. "I'm sorry," she whispered, letting herself relax once more. "I don't want to make this harder for you, but you're the only peron who understands."

"You don't have to worry about Zander... I promise." As far as Reynald was concerned, between his best friend and Elena, it was obvious who he'd put first and, considering that keeping Elena from marrying Zander was essential for his "happily every after", it meant putting himself as well as Elena before him... "Especially now... We're alone together now, just try to forget about it, okay? There's no ball, no arranged marriage... It's just us right now." He sighed as he felt his phone rattle in his pocket. He took it out and flicked the screen before pressing 'okay'. "It's Zander... He wants to know if i'm here..." He said, before pressing 'reply'. "What shall i tell him? I could just say my phone finally broke later..." He laughed a little at that last part. "He'd believe that."

"Hey, don't you dare say that." Reynald said, sternly, pulling away so he could look her in the eyes. "This is not your fault. It's our parents who decided to pull us apart, blame them." He said, a little more softly. "If he get's hurt, it's because of them. He knows that..." He didn't want Zander to suffer because of this but he certainly was not going to allow Elena to blame herself for it if he did. She was having enough trouble dealing with it as it was.

"Well, when we're married you won't ever have to worry about that stuff ever again. The only time you'll have to dance is with me at parties you actually want to go to." He said, his voice now soft and comforting. "I promise..." When her phone went off too he sighed, guessing it was probably her parents wanting to know where she had gone. When he heard it was Zander he was just as concerned. "He's drunk? ... Well... Tell him you're not available?" That probably wouldn't be very good for Zander... He didn't seem like he was having as much trouble with this as they were. He knew Zander liked Elena... Maybe not enough to propose to her, but enough not to mind this arranged marriage. "Maybe I should talk to him..."

Mimi had to bite on her bottom lip when he asked her not to throw things around, her mind conjuring up the same image of her throwing an all out screaming match, led on the floor, arms flailing and legs kicking. "I promise, I won't have a tantrum," she giggled, running a hand through her hair; she loved how he could make her feel better without probably meaning to. Trying to hold onto that thought, she glanced at him through the darkness and then back towards the house where she knew that the party must be in full swing by now. "I'll try and stay strong," she murmured, her pale green eyes tracing patterns in the ground beneath her feet. "You will too though, yeah?" The last thing Miriam wanted was for Zeke to crack up too, although she knew him well enough to know that he probably wouldn't. He'd always held a strength, another part of him which always drew her to him.

When Zeke asked her what she wanted to do, Miriam shook her head very softly, her eyes trained on the house. Her parents would be arriving soon. "Maybe we should head back," she whispered sadly, hanging her head in slight shame for even suggesting the idea. "I mean, I don't want to, but m-my parents.." She supressed a shudder, knowing they'd probably cause a scene when she came back with her husband.

[[S'fine XD]]

Mim glanced at him when he spoke, her brows furrowed slightly. "It's not that I don't want you to be spotted with me," she said quietly, covering his hand with her own. Although it was that... but it wasn't the way it sounded. With a small sigh, she tried to get straight how to explain it in her mind, before thanking him as he helped her up. She wasn't ashamed to be with Zeke, but she knew that both of their families would have something to say if they were seen appearing out of the woods together. But then, they'd probably have something to say if they saw them appearing out of the woods alone.

"It's going to be a fuss whatever we do," she murmured, giving his fingers a light squeeze. "Maybe we should just go back together. If we stick to the back of the house, there won't be many people to see us if we just slip back inside." Mimi glanced back towards the party and smiled at the next thoughts that flickered through her mind. "I feel like some kind of master ciminal or something," she giggled and ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe we should just scale the walls and get it over with."

Nicolette had started to get restless; standing there for almost fifteen minutes with no company beyond the almost empty champagne glass she held in her hand. There had been a few offers to dance, but most of the men who seemed interested enough to come up and ask her appeared to be looking for something more than she was willing to give away. A few friends of her parents had come by and greeted her, but she wans't nearly enthusiastic enough to hold their attention. Every question she was confronted with was matched with simple answers, or a nod- only acknowledging the inquiries. Where was Jared when she needed him? But she couldn't spot him amongst the crowd, her gaze drifting towards the entrance every few seconds hoping for a glance of the man she loved.

What was that? She saw movement in her direction, then saw his handsome face along with a grin that would've caused any angel to fall from grace. Luckily for her, she was no angel. "Hey, thought you weren't going to come." He pondered, seeming to be distracted by something.

Nicolette wasn't going to press the matter, "I wasn't, but then I realized how it would seem if I started to ignore the others. Gotta keep up a good image so that the press doesn't invade my home again." She chuckled, "Never going to sneak out that window again. Did you know that there's still a small news crew waiting in that forest?" A broad grin invaded her calm facade as she remembered why she had actually come to this party. "And what happened to Mr. Not-gonna-be-caught-dead-at-that-party?"