JEREMY met his court a few hours later, and to say that everyone was a bit confused would be an understatement. There had been no conflicts, there had been no life-changing occurrences as far as everyone knew. There had been no reason.  But Jeremy would answer their questions soon enough.

The King was standing in the front of the room, arms crossed, pacing. "Ladies, gentlemen. I've called you all here for a couple of very important announcements. As you know, a couple of weeks ago the Prince of Barguil was kidnapped by The Nameless. The terms of his release were that a few of the laws be changed," Jeremy took a deep breath and prepared himself to go one. Instead, one of the men of the court interrupted him.

"You surely cannot be considering changing our laws to save a Prince from a different country, your majesty." The man who spoke was a high-level noble, one of the ones who had been close to Jeremy's father, but not close to the current king. Jeremy did not care for him or his opinion.

Jeremy sent a glare in the man's direction and opted for ignoring him. He paced the room until he was in front of the only empty chair in the room--Michaels chair--and rested his hand on the back. "The first one is a very controversial topic, and I know that many of you will not agree with this, but it is not up for debate. I will be repealing the ban on same-sex marriage and same-sex couples. I know--"

Chatter erupted in different spots in the room, arguing, yelling, Jeremy couldn't focus on one this, not that he really wanted to. The king allowed the shouting to continue for a few seconds before he was fed up. 

Jeremy slammed down his hands on the long wooden table and the sound echoed throughout. The room went silent. Jeremy was scowling, his breathing uneven and heavy. "The decision is final, understood." No one made a sound. No one dared speak up against the king, even his advisor who was standing in the corner with a large scowl on his face. "The Laws will go into effect exactly fourteen days from today. No one, and I mean no one--" Jeremy took another break in his speech to glance at his advisor, "--gets to change that. Another law that is going to be changed, is the age of the draft. There will be a vote on this..." 

The King explained the situation further. The draft age would be moved up to 21, but there would be a vote on whether or not it would go into effect or not. Jeremy told the court to talk amongst themselves for a bit while he recollected himself.

He took a deep breath and walked to the window in the corner of the room. It had been a long time since he had been that demanding since he had taken on the role of a real king. It was not something he was used to, but it was not something he hated. Being in control made him happy. 

Jeremy barely had a second to himself before the Squip was on him, pulling him to the side. On his face was a deadly scowl, and Jeremy would have been scared if he was not so tired. "Your majesty, I would severely advise against these decisions. They are not--"

"It is to save Michael and it has been a long time coming. There is nothing you can say or do to change my mind."

"Sir! You cannot!"

Jeremy grabbed his advisors chin roughly, staring at him in the eyes with a new type of ferocity. His voice was low and threatening."Talk back to me like that one more time and I will have you removed from your position." 

It was the first time the Squip had been afraid of Jeremy. 

--

THE surprise that Antoni had presented to Michael was completely unexpected. He had taken the prince to a tailor, one that worked for The Nameless, or more specifically had been bribed into working for them. The man worked vigorously for a few hours, tailoring a suit for Michael, not speaking a single word to him. 

Antoni did not explain why this was happening. The Tailor did not explain, both of them just did. Michael was intrigued but terrified. 

Immediately after Antoni tossed Michael back onto the dirty floor of his cell, no words spoken between them. 

He left Michael wallowing in his questions for almost two weeks. It was one day shy of two weeks, and Antoni had returned back to his cell again, Michaels new suit in hand. He didn't say anything once again, just unlocked the door and tossed the newly tailored suit at him. Michael took the hint, and as soon as Antoni had gone, he was changing into the suit. 

The suit was decent quality, not as nice as he was used to, but he couldn't complain. They were fresh clothes. It felt nice to be out of the ones that had been stained with his blood and sweat. It made him feel a little cleaner. 

Things moved fast after that. Antoni returned and pulled him from his cell. leading him down the hall and outside. He placed both of them into a neatly decorated carriage. He recognized the colors of a royal family but decided it wasn't his place to ask questions about that. 

Once they were seated Michael finally gained the courage to ask Antoi about what was going on. 

"Think, Your Majesty, What was supposed to happen in a few weeks from your departure?" Antoni smiled a sickening, threatening smile.

The Prince wracked his brain for answers, important dates, and that's when it hit him. The Ball. Jeremy's courting ball was tomorrow evening.  Had it really been that long already? Michale's eyes widened and Antoni seemed to see that he finally caught on. 

"You are in luck. The ball happens to be a masquerade. ." Antoni paused and took out a red mask from the bag next to him, adorned with red jewels and feathers. It matched the red cravat on Michaels suit. He tossed it to the Prince. "Since you happen to be rather recognizable as of late, your face needs to be aptly covered."

Michael took the mask with caution, regarding it curiously. He regarded Antoni with question. "Why are you doing this?"

"Oh, you will see. We'll enjoy the festivities for a bit and then we'll announce you to the crowd. Including your beloved King. We'll see how it goes from there."

Antoni was a threatening man, even when he was not trying to be. and even more so in a suit. He was not a man you would ever want to threaten. Or question. Michael didn't dare question him. 

Michael was completely at this mans mercy.

-- 

THE Ball was crowded. The king had invited a majority of the ladies and men of the court from varying countries.

The ballroom was decorated nicely, the ladies were dressed up in lovely dressed, most of them set up to impress the king. The men accompanying them were dressed up just as nicely.

Being back in the castle was a nice sense of familiarity. But it didn't help shake the dread that was brought on by Antoni's presence. 

The Prince couldn't find Jeremy in the crowd and he longed for him, even after all he had done. It had been too long, and not under his own control. At least when he was leaving for Barguil he had the choice to come back. Now he couldn't. As the night dragged on Michael had been approached by many, most admiring the intricacy of his mask, but Antoni had stopped him from speaking. Always stepping in for him. The whole night he had never been left alone once.

Michael saw Jeremy a couple of hours into the ball, and like always he was star struck by the man. The King's personal tailor had gone all out this time. The suit was a navy blue, a color that made the man's eyes even more stunning than before. His pins were on the collar of his cloak, the admiral pin amongst them. His cloak was a lighter blue and was longer than necessary. It pooled around his ankles like waves on a beach.

His mask was overly ornate. Sitting on the top of his head instead of his face. The king moved with the elegance of a blue-bird.

Like usual the prince found himself unable to keep his eyes off of him.

Antoni caught on and he tugged on Michaels sleeve, "Enjoying the view, aren't you?"

Michaels' eyes grew wide and he tore his eyes away from Jeremy. He didn't say anything.

The night dragged on, time seemed to go slowly. Michael couldn't calm his nerves, as time passed. He was becoming even more terrified of Antoni's plan.

Nearing the last hour of the ball, when things had started to slow down, Michael was beginning to think that Antoni had just brought him here to tease him, perhaps tease the king. All Antoni had done was keep Michael in the corner of the room far away from Jeremy. 

But just as he was thinking that was all Antoni had brought him here for things took a turn for the worse. There was a loud sound and the room seemed to shake. There was an explosion near the large doors near the front of the room. The people started screaming as smoke filled the room. Michael covered his mouth with his hand and attempted to run, but instead, Antoni grabbed his arm, sneering. 

"Not so fast, your Majesty." 

Antoni's voice faded and all Michael could hear was people screaming, shouting, begging to get out. He couldn't see anything, he felt blind. Antoni still had a grasp on his arm, tight, and he was leading him somewhere. 

The Prince could feel them going up some sort of steps, slowly and carefully, until eventually, they stopped. Michael didn't like this feeling at all, it was the least he'd been in control for the past couple weeks, he was so vulnerable. 

A few seconds later, the smoke cleared, and Michael could finally see the chaos that ensued. The two of them were at the top of the grand staircase in the front of the ballroom. Michael could see the terrified faces of the guests. The doors were being blocked by masked soldiers, presumably Nameless soldiers. No one was being allowed out of the room. 

Michaels' eyes scanned the ballroom floor for Jeremy, and he found him standing in the middle of the room, his guards flanking him, with his advisor at his shoulder. 

When the room was finally completely cleared of smoke, all eyes were on Michael and Antoni.

Antoni smiled. This is what he had been waiting for. "Hello!"