The evening ball was proceeding perfectly. The servants knew fully well that their king would not tolerate anything less. After he had inherited the throne, King Alden III had made a quick example of anyone who thought that nothing would change compared to the rule of his father. The old man had been soft.

Under his rule the kingdom had expanded and prospered. He had made enemies in the process, but that was nothing either a public execution or a silent assassin couldn't fix. But that was not something to dwell on tonight. This ball was all about his younger brother's engagement.

He rose from his throne when the annoyingly loud voice – he was a bit of a mind to fire that man – announced, "Prince Milford and his fiancée!"

"Ah, brother!" He embraced his only remaining blood-kin with a strong pat on the back. "It's about time you showed your face here. I was already starting to think you wanted to hide your beautiful bride from me."

And a true beauty she was, indeed. Golden hair and sea-green eyes with just enough make-up to enhance her natural looks. A frilly pale blue dress that made him curious what kind of shapes it hid underneath. Feigned modesty was a virtue also in the court, but there was yet to be a woman not willing to discard it completely for the chance to share the king's bed.

"This is Dana," Milford introduced her. "She's the youngest daughter of the Earl of Relington."

Dana curtsied deeply. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

Alden didn't remember there even being an earl in Relington. Where was that anyway? "Your father could not accompany you, my lady?" he asked politely, masking his ignorance.

She brought one hand to her chest and lowered her eyes, like the whole subject pained her. "He died in a fire four years ago. I was the only survivor."

"Oh...I'm sorry for your loss. If there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

She smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

He held out his arm to her. "May I have the first dance?" Almost as an afterthought, he gave Milford a confident grin. "You have nothing against it, right?"

"Of course not." His brother didn't look very happy about it, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. Alden was firstborn and the king, and also Milford better do exactly as he said.

The musicians started a new song and other pairs smoothly moved aside as he led his beautiful dance partner to the middle of the floor and placed one hand at her back. She stumbled a little at first, probably not used to the latest dances fashionable in the court, but quickly caught to his lead.

"Your eyes are very enticing," he whispered to her ear. "Gentle, yet carrying so much sorrow and death in them. Forget my brother. I can wash away all your pain."

"Your Majesty..." she breathed out. "Would you wash it all away...with blood like you always do?"

He heard a gunshot. That was the last thing he realized as the world drowned in a crimson haze. The noise and the numb pain spreading in his chest.

~*~*~

Dale was born to be a servant, and he didn't mind in the least. The earl and his family always treated their servants and the peasants living in their lands with kindness and dignity. He especially liked the earl's daughter – they were almost of the same age and had played together since they had been little.

But then the war came, and the invading soldiers left nothing but corpses and ashes behind as they attacked the manor. No, it was not even war. The assault had come out of nowhere.

He found Dana's body burned beyond recognition, the exotic glass slippers she had received from her fiancé as a gift half-melted next to her. He couldn't even cry, too overwhelmed by the suddenness and brutality of the events.

Months later, he learned that the attack had been due to the order of King Alden III of the neighboring country. Apparently, he was expanding his nation and the local nobility could either agree...or die. Peace talks had been held, and their king had agreed to the new borders in fear of losing all his land.

Dale didn't care at all about nations and kings. Whoever the king was, it never had seemed to affect them in any way. But how could this foreign ruler so carelessly take the lives of those he had loved? He would not let it be. He would -never- forgive that murderer.

The security in the castle was too tight. There was no way he would get close enough to the king as a servant. So he came up with another plan. It was a crazy plan, one that relied completely on how he had learned to act like a girl of nobility because Dana had liked to play pretend that he was her sister and had dressed him up in her clothes. But it worked. Prince Milford, the brother of the king, took a fancy in him, never knowing his true identity.

Milford showered him both with genuine attention and gifts. He took him out to hunt despite his retainers protesting that he should not do such a thing with a lady. They walked in the woods for hours, and when Dale's feet – unused to walking in women's shoes – started hurting, he carried him back. He listened and held him when he finally cried over the deaths of his family.

He never made any inappropriate advances and dodged the crude jokes other men made about his chastity with his woman. And the day he proposed he also admitted that he probably would never be carnally attracted to "her". If that was something Dale – or Dana, as he knew him - could live with, he would gladly stay with him the rest of his life and provide for him anything he could ask for.

For a moment, he had admittedly been tempted to accept that offer, to reveal the truth. But his revenge was more important. Milford was only the means to get close to the king. And the ball to celebrate their engagement was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

The only thing Dale regretted, as the king's blood stained his gown and his ears still rang with the sound of the gunshot, was that he might have actually fallen in love with the prince.