All Held the Royal Family!

Iyana slowly raised her gaze to the prince. Her gaze burning with hatred, but now annoyance was mixed in.

This was all so unnecessary.

The last thing she wanted to do was socialize with the very kingdom that ripped her heartlessly away from her family. Beneath her fixed frown was confusion. She was captured and assumed that she was to become a servant-not a visiting princess. "Fine."

Annoyance bursting out above all of the others. A smile tugged at the corners of the prince's lips, but fell to surface. "I'll put on a show. I'll be your perfect little servant who is happy to be here. Sound good?" A small amount of sarcasm crept in her tone. She held his gaze.

"Perfect" Dominick stared back. Dominick felt his temperature rising to a low heat the more he stared at Iyana.

A few seconds passed before Iyana lowered her gaze to her feet. "Let's just go..." She mumbled, ready to get this over with.

Turning around, the prince breathe in sharply. Mixed feelings had begun to colored his face. He had no intention of allowing his own emotions to betray him yet. "Come on. You are to stay at least two steps behind me." Dominick spoke again before turning and walking toward the exit. I hope you're prepared for this. I know your pain, but-

A guard stood by the door waiting had drawn the prince's attention. A frown showed his change in emotions. "Don't tell me that I'm going to be guarded in my own home from this point on." The guard stood up straight in a swift motion as if he been caught slacking on the job.

"The Queen order, Your Highness. I'm to escort you to the dining room.

Prince Dominick rolled his eyes. "Very well. Escort away." He waited until the guard moved ahead before following.

Despite the cruel situation she was in, Iyana had found a silver lighting in the dark cloud that surrounded her: the over protection of a royal heir.

At least he is getting what I got. Inwardly, she laughed at the Dominick's discomfort. However, the similarities between the two kingdom was enough to restore feelings of anger. Iyana sighed, a little louder this time, receiving a glance from the prince. She reluctantly waited until he had taken two steps before following.

As they walked, she internally groaned at how emotionless he was treating her. She understood that he was angry at her parents for his enslavement. But when she imagined him as a prince, she haven't pictured him like...this.

I thought I at least treated him like he was an actual person. Not some creature willing to do my every bidding. This is my price-my payment for being the Princess of the Velvet Crown Empire.

The walk to the dining room had not taken long. Upon entering, the prince took a seat at the opposite end of the table from his parents. He motioned for Iyana to take a seat beside him as well.

She glanced at him quickly, making eye contact before looking away and sitting down. She avoided contact with everyone, admiring the room as she sat. Despite her position, she still was amazed by the fanciness of her situation.

The Luna Crescent Queen and King watched as their son took his seat, followed by the princess of their rival kingdom. A bell chime was heard just as a waiter announced that dinner was served. Servants, who wore light blue uniforms, step forward and places several moon designed plates in front of each diner.

The main plate, which held the main course of cinnamon chicken, rice, and some green vegetable, sat in the middle of the arranged plates for each individual. A light wine was brought next by an young waiter, who poured the wine in each cup.

A small smile touched Dominick's face as he looked at the food. Its been so long since he last tasted food from his home land.

Next, the servants moved from the king's table to the other tables below the royal's one. The formal princess settled in her seat a little, looking around at the many faces of the people around her. She was entranced by the people of Luna Crescent. To her, they seemed like a lively bunch compared to her kingdom's people.

"You were smaller since I last saw you, Princess Iyana." The King spoke in a cheerful tone as he raised his cup toward Iyana. His deep voice filled the dining room.

Hearing the king speak, she glanced up, willing herself not to make an ill face. She didn't raise her glass, she wasn't sure whether to speak or not.

"Harry, please." The Queen lightly slaps her husband's right arm.

Looking up from his plate, Dominick smile turned downward into a slight frown. What was his father up too? He wondered quietly.

The movement was enough to attract Iyana's attention. Glancing over, she noticed the frown on his face and smiled internally. Even though the tides have turned, Dominick is still going to come to my rescue, huh. She thought, slightly amazed.

"What?" He drawn out the 'a' for a few seconds. "She's sitting at my table, and I'm going to talk to her." The king turned to his wife as if his reason was well-explained.

The Queen, only slightly offended by her husband's remark, gave the King a disapproval look before saying: "I'm only saying that our son has her as his prisoner, no matter how silly you men are with these sort of things." Her long slender right hand made a small circle at the end of her sentence.

Dominick shook his head slowly. He knew just where this conversation was going: the wedding of the Moon Crescent King and Queen.

Their wedding wasn't the typical arrangement marriage. In fact, it was well known that the King had captured a runaway girl. That girl turned out to be the Dominick's mother-Diana, in her teenage years. King Harry fell in love with Diana the moment he rested his eyes on her. However, at the time, Diana was upset about being captured. She haven't given the King any let way despite his many offerings. After some time, the two fell for each other after an argument neither one could remember. From that day onward, the two has lived an interesting life, in which the memory of the forgotten argument still played a part in their bonding.

Not that the prince didn't already know, but this was his celebration not theirs, and he had no intention of allowing Iyana to learn much about his parents yet.

"Now wait here, you-" The King started to send a retort statement back, only he was interrupted by his son.

"Parents!" Dominick had half shouted. Once he received both of his parent�s attention, he continued. "Let's not do this. Tonight we are celebrating my return. So let's celebrate not bring up ghosts of the past." The king and Queen smiled at each other, and then the king stood with glass in hand.

Meanwhile, Iyana watched in silence wonder as the members bricked back and forward.

"Our prince is right. He's home again. The end of his slavery is at end, and we have so much more to celebrate. Today we eat and be merry under the watchful eyes of our moon Gods, Apollo and Luna. Everyone eat! Someone turn up some music, so we can dance our hearts out!"

How funny. Iyana found herself holding in a laugh at how easy the situation was resolved.

Everyone raised their glasses and shouted in agreement. Merry music was played, and small chatter could be heard. Dominick proceed to eat, as well as Iyana. Dinner proceeded with desert in the form of some cake cookie. The plates were removed once the royal family had finished. The king then asked his queen to join him in a dance.

Dominick watched them go before turning to Iyana. He took a drink from the light wine. "What do you think of my kingdom?" He was curious to know the extent of what she thought.

She didn't want to be completely honest and say she was amazed at everything here. No way I'm giving you that satisfaction. "Well, its certainly, livelier here than back home... that�s for sure." She said softly, looking at the people dancing.

Dominick studies her emotionless expression, noticing that she was avoiding his gaze once more.

"It's different." She said, hoping that was a satisfying answer for him. She didn't want or need to go into detail.

Wrapping his cup around his hand, Dominick took his gaze from the princess."That's not the answer I wanted, Iyana" Dominick sounded slightly unhappy. He couldn't read her stone expression, but her answer had not sounded like something she would say. Her response had lacked that one emotion that belonged specifically to her. "But I'll take it for tonight. I'm too tire to press you for a detailed one." Bring the cup to his lips, he drink.

Dominick then returned his gaze to the dancers, among them were his parents before speaking again. "You will come to enjoy yourself here, maybe not as much as I enjoyed yours. Then again, I had a very good reason for enjoying my stay at your kingdom."

A small bit of annoyance crept over her face, she certainly wasn't going to enjoy it here. But, when he mentioned why he enjoyed her stay, a softened expression came to her eyes. Does that mean that I did make it bearable for him? He looked away and she sighed.

Honestly, she had always like Dominick�s eyes. They were bright and inviting, despite his cold exterior, she was able to read them from a glance, and to her, his eyes was telling her a different story. Once she had seen from time to time, but she, herself, wasn't able to confront such assumptions.

He returned his gaze to her, to find her staring at him. He held her glance for a minute before looking back at the dancers. "Once I feel that I can trust you, you will be watched as you make your way around the castle. You will learn to take care of me, and I don't expect you to make any mistakes. You will rise early, at least four hours before I do, to make sure everything is in order before you bring me lunch. I rise at noon, so do try to be quiet when you enter my room to hang up my clothes for the day." Dominick took one finally drink of his wine.

When he continued talking about her instructions like nothing happened, a slight hint of annoyance crept over her face, which grew more and more obvious.

Goodness...I didn't make it that hard, did I? It was my parents...not me...don�t tell me you're blaming me for all of this? If I had a say, I would have let you free. I thought you knew me better... She thought, panic rising inside chest her a little bit.

Dominick arched an eyebrow. She settled it back down and scolded herself for caring what he thought.

"Bridgette will get you into the required attire, however, you do understand that you are bind by my rule? Because if you break it, I must inform your father, and his life will become much harder than when I left." He returned his steady gaze to Iyana once again.

Iyana's expression remained unreadable as he spoke, glancing over at him from time to time. Then, when he brought her father into this, something inside started to snap. Not quite, but almost. She looked up at him, not bothering to hide the hatred that was written across her face. Her hands were clenched into fists underneath the table, and her fingernails were cutting into her palm, causing her to winced, just slightly, as it broke skin. "Don't." She said between gritted teeth, trying not to yell.

The prince watched Iyana normally compose and calm demeanor slowly changed. Her nostrils flared, and her once gentle eyes had become something of an coming storm. Her facial features seemed to darken slightly as her hands clenched closed. Dominick could see the rage building behind those eyes. Her unblinking eyes glared at him as if he was the most hated person in the world. It unsettled him. Her tone had turned impassable and firm. Dominick remained quiet unable to look away from her at the moment.

"Use my father as an excuse to get me to do what you want." Another one of her nails broke the skin and she winced again. "Look here, my kingdom is my life. You kill my kingdom, you kill me. So go ahead, attack my only true home... just remember you'll be losing a precious little servant in the process."

Once she had finished, Dominick shifted his gaze from hers. Her words had not angered him, but to look at him with such hate and rage had made him slightly angered. She finally shows her anger. And to turn my threat around... Placing his empty cup onto the table, he leaned forward in his chair. Keeping his voice steady, he spoke. "That's the first real response I got out of you since we arrived here. You should be careful how you speak to your future king. I may actually take you up on that offer." A taunting edge laced his voice.

Iyana's anger only flared more at his comment. Pushing his chair back, he stood up. His gaze never turning to her. "I don't want to see you for the remaining of the night. Someone will show you to your room." Turning his back to her, he walked away from the table.

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Then tried again. She wanted to rant, to give him a good punch to the jaw, but instead she settled for, "I'm sorry..." Dominick came to a quiet halt.

She turned away and nodded to the servant, whom waited nearby patiently. When they started to walk away, she stopped, and turned to Dominick. "I'm not sorry for me... I'm sorry for you."

A smile had begun to touch his lips, only the smile never reached his lips for the words of Iyana stopped it. This he had not expected, nor did he expected her following words: 'I'm not sorry for me... I'm sorry for you.' He wanted to make a cunning comeback, but found that his mouth had gone distastefully dry. He heard her footsteps as she walked away. A feeling of regret taking hold of him. Every impulse in his body told him to go to her. To ask her to forgive him for his treatment of her and his sour words as Dominick, her servant, not as the prince. At the same time, he couldn't.

She sighed and took a step forward to make sure no one could hear her, "I know you better than anyone here Dominick, and I can tell you�re not truly happy." With that, she turned away and followed to servant out of the ballroom.