surviving the crown

chapter nineee

chapter nine - Falling in Love

Ugh, was it really the day of the ball already? How did it come up so fast? Cole sighed to himself as he sat on his bed. The only thing he was somewhat looking forward to was dancing with Haven. She had proven to be funny, optimistic, and extremely sweet. If he was being quite frank, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Cole groaned and dragged himself out of bed and went to look at himself in the mirror. His hair was matted and he had purple beneath his eyes. He would have to put on a bit of makeup. Great. All he had to do was get through breakfast and lunch and then it would be the ball. And then he would get married. He called a servant to his room, wanting to just get everything over with, he could sleep for years if he were given the chance. Did everyone else feel like this?

The servant had just finished his hair and put on the little makeup that he needed when it was time for breakfast. The guards opened the doors for him to walk through, Cole glanced around the room at everyone—Akari was sitting next to a strange man who was muscular but didn't have broad shoulders, Kenji. He had arms and legs that were slightly too long for him. Meeko, who Cole had befriended in his time at the palace, was sitting beside one of his advisers—Flit. She was taller than most with long black hair down to her waist, auburn skin with brown eyes that could melt even the coldest of hearts. And Margaret had shorter wavy blonde hair with blue eyes. She was abnormally short, but she moved with so much confidence and grace it was uncanny. And then there was Haven. Haven had wavy red hair that was gorgeous and blue eyes the color of the ocean. And she had freckles from being out in the sun so often, although she wasn't tan—she was quite pale actually.

Cole was seated beside Haven and Margaret—who was at the head of the table. Breakfast was okay, it was awkward besides the kingdoms talking within themselves. Cole tried talking to Haven but he always made it really awkward and Haven just smiled at him sweetly.

Cole was never good at showing people his feelings. Whether it was his grandmother, Haven, his friends, or an adviser. He always just found it easier to show nothing at all. That's why most people never wanted to be around him, he was too boring. Or people thought he had anger issues—which was probably true.

Breakfast went by extremely slowly and was very awkward—everyone tried to make conversation but somehow it always became weird. Cole exited the room along with the rest of the royals and headed down the hallway towards the front of the palace. He needed some fresh air if he was going to survive the three hours until lunch and then the six hours until dinner after that. And the ball.

The rest of the day was a blur of talking and waiting, and even more waiting. He had changed into his tunic and tailcoat two hours before he had to leave. He didn't want to be late. The ball would be a masked ball, so nobody could see anyone's faces. Although anybody could probably assume who was royalty. But Cole knew he could easily find Haven with her fiery red hair and dazzling blue eyes. Or maybe she would try to find him? Maybe. Cole was still thinking about Haven when Princess Bianca walked in.

"Cole," oh great. "Get off your butt and get over here, it's time to head over to the ballroom. Unless you're just going to skip? Anyways, I'm not walking with you, I'm gonna go with Charles."

"Alright, you go hang with your boyfriend and I'll be right out," Cole had seen Bianca talking with Prince Charles quite a bit lately, he was certainly handsome. Strawberry blonde hair with freckles and blue eyes like Queen Margaret.

"Hey! Stop making fun of me, you have a girlfriend."

"Haven? She isn't my girlfriend, Bianca. We're just friends," Cole wished it were different. Maybe tonight would change things...

"Whatever. And you should probably start heading to the ballroom or you'll miss the announcement."

"I will, thanks."