The Princess Needs A Prince

[Chapter Eleven]

We arrive at my favorite bookstore. I raise my hands in the air. "Here we are! My favorite place," I say excitedly. We rush in as soon as possible before any reporters notice us. But of course, that would be impossible. Ian trots closely beside us. I know that the guards are present, I just can't see them.

When we walk inside, I see a wide eyed Kate. Her mouth is parted and she quickly rushes to my side. She pulls me away and gives the boys a dreamy smile.

"Kate?" I ask, worried.

"Nayla. They look way better in person! Like seriously. They're drop dead gorgeous!" She 'whispers', if you can call it that. I'm sure that everyone could hear her.

"Kate, your drooling," I tease.

"I better be," she laughs. "Save me a boy, will you?" She pleads.

"How about you can choose from the five that are left?" I say. One will be mine. She squeals as I giggle. "Come on, I'll introduce them to you." I tug at her arm. "Boys? Meet my friend Kate." She hides behind me slightly. Her excited voice is replaced with a nervous grin.

"Uh, hi, nice to meet you," she says. I almost laugh, but she nudges me in the rib. Instead, I cough.

"Kate, meet Jae-Hwa, In-Su, Hoshang, Aala, Cepos, and Xavier." I say. A mouthful.

They give her warm smiles and polite greetings. She looks as if she could faint any second. Literally. Before she does, I ask, "Kate, where are they?"

"Oh? Um, they're at the usual spot." She says, in a daze.

"Alright gentlemen, I want you to meet some important people." I lead the way and smile at their confused and nervous looks. I walk through the familiar aisles.

"Oh! The princess is here!" I hear.

"Really?"

"Don't lie!"

"Yeah, lying is bad!"

"I'm not! Look!" A head pops out from behind a bookshelf. Her cheeks are pink. "See!" She points. Don follows after. They look shocked. Tommy hides behind Grace.

Hazel looks very happy. "Princess!" He shouts and runs to me.

"Hello children! I brought some friends with me. They're all princes." I gesture to them with my head. The boys looked surprised by my important people. Never less, they have friendly grins.

I give, interesting introductions.

"This is Prince Xavier, he likes to have some scruff on his face." I give the children a, that's-so-weird face as I scrunch my nose. They giggle. Their toothy grins showing brightly. Xavier laughs and gives me an are-you-serious face. I just shrug. Like I said. Interesting.

"He's Prince Cepos, and he has super soft hair!" I exclaim. "Just like Rapunzel." They 'oooh' as their lips form into a circle.

Cepos just chuckles and says, "Soft, yes."

"This man is Prince Aalaahdith." I say. I lean close to the children and put a hand up to my face to 'whisper'. They lean closer too. "He doesn't speak much because he just turned back into a prince. Just yesterday he was a frog!" They jump in excitement and play along.

"Did you kiss him?!" Hazel asks eagerly. I laugh. We almost did.

"Well, you'll have to ask him," I touch the tip of his nose. When I look back at Aala, his ears are pink.

"Prince Hoshang is this man right here. He has three very pretty sisters and a cute little brother." I say. I can see that Hoshang is the happiest among the boys.