make me remember.

three

"prince valdemar barlowe of the western kingdom," atlas says, extending an arm to show which of the four princes currently in front of me, he is referring to. 

i nod, meeting the eyes of the western prince. he is the tallest of the bunch with light skin and blue eyes. his hair is dark brown, and curls at the ends, framing his face nicely. he smiles at me, bowing before me to show his respect. he is wearing a collared shirt, along with a dark coloured suit, making me question my decision to wear trousers and a sweater. 

"prince valdemar," i say, stepping forward to shake his hand.

"queen maire-grace," he says, before offering me a crooked smile as i correct his pronunciation of my name. "my apologies. maire-grace," he repeats my name, but changes the pressure as i told him to. 

"and this is prince atticus hart of the eastern kingdom," atlas continues, introducing them one by one. this one, prince atticus, is as tall as they all are, but he stands out due to his auburn coloured hair. i can't seem to determine if it has been coloured, which i can't imagine he would have had done, but the colour is so vibrant and perfect, i have a hard time believing it to be real. his facial features are sharp, and he's slimer than the rest but still of a wide build with broad shoulders. all the princes have been trained from they were very little, especially alongside their armies and their bodies show the results of years of hard work. 

"prince atticus," i repeat his name, bowing my head and he returns the gesture. 

"then, prince graham curran of the southern kingdom," atlas says, and the third prince steps forward, lunging into a deep bow. his hair has been shaved into almost a buzzcut, like you would see on a soldier from one of the royal armies as it is a requirement for them to keep their hair short. i bow down to him as well, just not as throughly as it seems the tiniest bit overdone. 

"prince graham," i say, offering him a smile. "one of my nobles share the same name as you," i say, looking to my side where graham is standing. graham walker has been one of my closest friends since we were children living back in norbery with the others. strange to think that he is the only one of my friends left, the one who never actually went behind my back. i shake my head, clearing it of those thoughts before trying to move back into reality. 

there are four princes currently in front of me. four princes inside the privacy of my own castle, my own home. each of them, as bexley said, are dreamy, as much as i would hate to admit it. however, they all look the same to me. they each wear a crown on their head, ones that symbolise their royal status, surely, but as they are silver and not gold, it also symbolises that they have yet to become kings. the crown on my head is golden, and i have yet to experience them not sneaking glances at it. they seem like entitled boys, rather than experienced royal princes. they know what is expected of them, and they perform those tasks without much thought to it. 

bow to the queen, smile, shake her hand and step back. 

"and lastly, prince caden crawford of the eastern kingdom," atlas says, and i move my head up to meet the eyes of the last prince and suddenly, i am holding my breath. he is about the same height as the first one, prince valdemar, perhaps just an inch or two taller now that i get to really take a look at them. his hair is pitch black, darker tha any i have ever seen before, his eyes piercing blue as he stares down at me shamelessly. i'm tall, around five foot seven or eight, so taller than most of the women inside the castle, but he easily towers over me. 

"prince caden," i say, suddenly realising that i'm staring at him as well. he doesn't reply. actually, he doesn't even move. he simply just stays put where he stands, staring back at me as i frown, waiting for his response. 

after a few seconds, tearing my eyes away from his, i turn towards them all. "welcome to the northern kingdom," i say, and this time, i am the one forcing a smile. "rooms have been prepared for you all on the top floor. servants will escort you to your assigned chambers, two of them staying with each of you to tend to your needs. those of you who brought your own servants, i don't allow foreign staff to work inside my walls, so they have been time off during your stay here and will be tended to, as well. if there's anything, please refer to either atlas or graham." 

i look to my right, looking over at atlas to see if i have forgotten anything. he frowns at me before clearing his throat when he realises that i don't see the issue in what i have just said. "yes, we expect you to be tired from your days of traveling, but you are welcome to join us for dinner this afternoon in the dinning room." 

he sends me a short glare, which i ignore, before nodding in the direction of the doors and excusing us. i walk out first, knowing that he is following closely behind me. 

"what was that?" he hisses, lowering his voice to ensure that no one overhears. 

i turn to him, continuing to stride down the hall. "what was what?" 

"prince caden," he continues, bending down to my level. "you stared him down," 

"there are strangers inside my castle, atlas. he stared at me, and i stared back. do you expect me to just stand down while they roam freely inside our home?" 

"not everything is a battle, MG." atlas sighs, running a hand through his hair. "i know this is hard for you, but please, just attempt to be friendly. those princes represent our closest alliances, and whether you like them or not, we need those allies to protect our kingdom." 

"i'm aware," i say, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "i just..." 

"wait up!" graham is suddenly behind us, running towards us. we both come to a halt, waiting for him to catch up to us. 

"weren't you going to stay back to ensure that everything went smoothly?" atlas asks. 

"well, we have..." graham pauses as he rubs the back of his head. "we have a situation," 

"which is the exact reason you were staying behind. to ease any situations that may arise with showing the princes to their rooms." atlas says, clearly already annoyed. 

"stop staring at him," i tell atlas, my mouth twitching into a smile as he looks at me, his eyes burning holes into my head. "okay, let's try counting to ten and taking in deep, calm breath. okay, your royal highness?" i raise my eyebrows at him, holding back a laugh. 

closing his eyes, clearly about to kill me with his bare hands, he takes in one deep breath before focusing back on graham. "what is the situation?"

"MG assigned each prince two servants, correct?" graham says, glancing back towards the entrance hall. both atlas and i nod slowly, unsure where he is going with this. "well, apparently both the servants assigned to prince caden's service were excused and assigned other tasks," 

"he excused his servants?" atlas says, with a deep frown. 

graham shakes his head. "no, he didn't." he leans his head to the side. "apparently, bexley did." he pauses, before continuing on. "and well, she assigned herself alongside evelyn."