[ E D I T E D ]

♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 25//: Do I know you?♕✿~♕✿~

I stare at the spot that the mysterious man was standing at seconds ago. How did he disappear so quickly?

His words ring in my ears. Soon, Lady Madison. Soon. What did he mean by that? That we would meet again?

Pursing my lips in slight confusion and curiosity, I turn away to face the ballroom doors. The orchestral music reaches out to me and I hear the tiny sounds of glass clinking and polite talking. Taking a deep breath, I step towards the doors.

The guards stationed by the doors don't question who I am or what I'm doing here and open the doors without hesitation. I step onto the top stair of a grand staircase, and my breath leaves me instantly.

The scene below me is of glitter and luxury. The women are dressed in extravagant ball gowns varying in color and design. There's pink, blue, purple, orange, yellow, black, every color you could possibly imagine and more. The men are dressed in similar outfits like that of the man who escorted me. They're dressed in simple suits with different colored ties and other accessories to show off their House colors.

Like a ripple in a pond, party-goers start to notice me and look up at me with curious stares. I feel heat rush to my face as the noise dies down, and even the orchestra comes to a stop.

I spot Ahren in the crowd, and I swear my eyes bulge out of my head. Unlike the other males in the room, he is dressed like a prince. He's wearing a uniform similar to what he was wearing in the family portrait I saw so many weeks ago. A black and red colored mask shaped into a flame adorns his shocked face as he stares at me just like I stare at him.

Then, my awed moment is shattered as I notice the suspicious looking king next to him.

Remembering that I'm supposed to blend in with the crowd, I quickly gather my skirts and walk as fast as I can while still looking dignified down the stairs. As I reach the bottom of the grand staircase, everyone slowly returns back to their business, and the music starts up again.

Looking around, I notice the most beautiful sight ever: the food.

Small, bite-sized desserts seem to shine on this table. I notice many treats I have never before seen in my life. It seems that the treats are all dressed up as well, with glittering ornaments placed delicately on each small dessert.

As I look at these in wonder and amazement, I don't look where I'm going, and suddenly crash into someone.

Pushed back by the force I bumped into, I feel myself start to fall. I close my eyes to wait for the impact to come, but it doesn't.

Instead, I feel someone grab my hand to stop me from falling.

Hesitantly, I open my eyes to see a man not much older than me smiling down at me.

I take in his appearance in surprise. He's dressed in a clean, white uniform with medals adorning it. He has tousled brown hair that gives him the look of a young boy and behind his mask, I can see glittering green eyes that shout mischievous. His handsome features make me guess that this guy has had more than 1 girl clawing for his attention.

I regain my senses, and pull myself out of the man's grip. "I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going and-" I continue rambling on as the man stares at me blankly before bursting into laughter.

I stare at the man in confusion as he doubles over, still laughing. Some party goers around us were looking at us in annoyance. Well, this was taking away the purpose of blending in the crowd.

As I'm about to back away and escape to the food table, the man suddenly grabs my hand.

"Wait. I'm sorry. It's just that it was quite funny to see you so nervous after having to converse with these people," the man tells me while gesturing with his head to the stiff Silvers around us.

I cock an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you Silver too?" I ask before I can stop myself.

The man just shrugs. "Just because I am a Silver doesn't mean I need to be proud to be one," the man says in a hard tone.

His words make me slightly confused. How could he not enjoy being Silver? He had power, he had strength, and his blood made him better than the rest of the majority population, the Reds.

I stare uncertainly at the man. For all I know, he could be a whisper who is reading my mind right now. Or he could be a telkie who might as well just choke me in the air at this moment.

The man must notice my apprehensive stares as he breaks into a charming smile. "I'm not going to do anything to you, if you're worried about that."

Hm, I still don't trust him.

But he's nice so far, so I'll be easy on him for now.

"I'm Theron, by the way. From Piedmont," The man introduces himself.

His words turn gears in my head, and I gasp in realization.

"You're one of the princes from Piedmont?" I ask him. He nods.

Of course I just had to crash into one of the princes here for an alliance.

"And you are?" Theron asks me curiously.

I open my mouth to answer, but snap it shut again. I couldn't tell him my name. He might tell the king and then the king would know for sure that I had attended the ball against what he had told me not to do.

"I...um," I start off weakly as Theron looks more confused with each passing second.

"I can't tell you my name," I finally tell him. His eyebrows rise, but he wears an amused smile.

"Ok. I do like mysterious women. Beautiful ones, too." Theron winks at me playfully and I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Whatever," I scoff at him.

He smiles at me once more--gosh he smiles a lot. He's like a ray of sunshine or something--and holds out a hand towards me.

"Can I have this dance, mi'lady?" He asks in a polite voice.

I cross my arms defiantly and look away from him. "No," I reject him in a flat voice.

But I feel his hand grab mine and his arm wrap around my waist as he pulls me closer to him into a basic dancing position. I feel myself blush at the sudden contact and avert my eyes from him to try to hide it.

"Why did you ask if you weren't going to give me a choice in the first place?" I mumble my question at him as we start to sway to the music. I feel Theron shrug.

"I've been told it's considered gentleman-ly to ask," he jokes. Despite myself, I can't help but let out a small laugh at his answer.

We continue to dance in silence for a few more minutes. I feel calm in the presence of Theron, whose presence was protective and loving like that of an older brother I never had.

"May I ask, are you one of the fine ladies participating in Ahren's Choosing?" Theron's voice breaks into my thoughts. I nod in reply.

"Well, no wonder you didn't want to dance with me. You wanted to save all of those moves for Ahren," Theron comments lightly. I stumble in shock and Theron pulls me upright with steady arms. He cocks one eyebrow at my flushed face.

"What?" He questions. I sputter before being able to say: "I-I'm just his friend here. Nothing more, nothing less." Theron looks at me before scoffing.

"Sure. That's what they all say," Theron tells with a knowing look. I purse my lips and slap him playfully on the arm. He pretends to be in pain as he rubs the spot gingerly.

"Ow. That hurt. Both here and here," Theron says as he motions to his arm and heart. I roll my eyes at him, but a smile breaks onto my face.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, if you will excuse me, I want to eat some of the desserts that are tauntingly staring at me. Goodbye, Theron," I say with a clumsy curtsy. I turn away from him and rush to the table of food.

Not a lot of people are here, and I'm surprised. I mean, it's food. As I browse through the choices, I look up to try to find my friends.

I soon recognize the flaming hair of Rose and look on with worry when I see she's dancing with Nick. I was happy for her, but I was still worried about her for if she might get caught.

A flash of green makes me look to the side to see Addaline talking with one of the servants wandering around the ballroom with glasses of champagne and other alcohol. Addaline has a small smile on her face as she converses with the man.

I notice Tara talking to some of the other girls, like Emily and Victoria. I smile at all of my friends as I turn back to the desserts. As I continue on my quest for finding the perfect dessert, I see a figure come to stand by me in my peripheral vision.

I glance up and gulp when I notice it's Ahren. He's not looking at me, but looks at the desserts instead. A still-full glass of champagne is in his hand as he casually stands there.

I look away from him as fast as I can. Ok Madison, just pretend you don't know him. I try to do so, but I feel him looking at me, causing me to shake under his inspection. Please don't recognize me, please don't--

"Do I know you?" Ahren asks me. I glance at him again and see he looks genuinely confused.

"Um...No." I say quietly. Ahren doesn't seem to believe my answer as he continues to look at me with wonder.

He smiles at me suddenly. "Well, I don't get why I don't know such a beautiful lady. What's your name?"

I feel myself blush again as I take in his comment. But I finally will myself to gather my cool and I smirk at him, trying to appear confident or whatever the heck you call what I'm trying to do.

"I don't give my name out to random gentlemen," I tell him. His eyebrows rise, but he smiles back at me, for some reason looking amused.

"But won't you tell me? I am the crown prince of Norta," he says. I cross my arms at him.

"Your title won't make me give you my name. Now," I grab a delicious looking chocolate treat. "I will be going. Enjoy the party, crown prince of Norta."

I breathe in and out as I walk away from Ahren. That was hard to do. Why did he have to make me so flustered?

I quickly stuff the chocolate goodness inside of my mouth. It burst into flavors and I find myself moaning at the different layers of sweetness. The amount of sweetness was perfect and I don't think I've ever had anything better.

I turn around to get seconds but then realize Ahren is still there. Yep, not going back there for a while.

But as I go to turn away, Ahren catches my eyes. He smiles warmly at me as he takes a small sip of champagne and I see him push himself off of the dessert table to start to walk towards me.

As my heart beats faster with each passing second, I try to find a way to get out of this situation. Ahren gets closer and closer, and my mind starts to turn off with each step he takes. I couldn't talk to him again, I couldn't take my chances and let him find out I was here.

And then suddenly, 4 shots ring out accompanied by 4 bright flashes. The lights sputter, then go out, enveloping everyone at the ball in darkness.

The screaming comes next.

♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~

Dun dun dun.

I was actually able to update today since I have some spare time. I wanted to write this chapter for the longest of times. And now I have finally done so.

Also, random thing, has anyone seen Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them? I am so excited to see it tonight! If you haven't noticed yet, big Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling fan here.

Just so you guys know, the next chapter might take a little while to come out. Since Thanksgiving is coming up (and boy am I excited because FOOD), I might take a little, teensy rest before updating.

Anyways, have a great rest of the week guys! Luv you all

Glass_Sword