Chapter 4 

Aubrey sighed as she stared at the woman in the mirror.  She had made her hair too red.  Running a hand through it, she watched as it turned to a deep, dark auburn.  One that, although beautiful, would be less noticeable in a crowd.  Her eyes were next.  The blue was too noticeable.  Many people had blue eyes, but none as bright as the ones she currently possessed.  She blinked twice before considering the new color.  Dark green was better.  It fit with the hair and was not very eye catching.

Stepping away from the mirror, she smiled.  Better, much better.  With her new disguise, she could easily hide herself.  It was a game they played at her parties.  They would all attempt to discover her, while she did her best to stay undiscovered.  She never came as herself; her true colors were saved for her journeys.  As she began to turn away, she hesitated.  The light blue gown fit her well, but the color was at odds with the new hair and eyes.  Twirling, she closed her eyes a chuckled.  The everyday routines she had when she was home were some of the most joyful times of her life.  It kept her grounded.

"Aubrey!" someone called out causing her to stumble in her haste to make it towards the door.

Flinging it open, she smiled at Ainsely. "I am ready."

He held his arm out.  She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and began walking down the corridor with him.  "Love, you forgot to change your slippers to match the green of your gown."

She glanced down, ready to morph the color from the former blue, but, as it turned out, the color was already the dark green of her eyes.  "I hate it when you do that," she mumbled.

Ainsely smiled down on her.  "You could do the same to me."

"I know.  It is because we share the same heritage, but I do not try it on you.  I am fine with keeping my magic to myself."

"Yes, well, I have to humor myself with changing small things as your slippers because I cannot change my own."

He said it in a joking manner, but Aubrey could hear the underlining angst.  He could not even magic his own clothing.  Anything to change his appearance was against his curse.  Tightening her grip on his arm, she looked up at him and smiled.  "I will trade you curses.  You can have mine and I will take the burden of having to look beautiful."

"You are already beautiful and you know it," he told her still not mollified.  "If you would only let people see your true self instead of masking yourself behind these disguises.  I know what people have done to you, but not everyone is that cruel."

"It is in the past, Ainsely," she replied absentmindedly while thinking of how to lessen her brother's unease.

"What was it you were doing the night you came here?"

"Stealing a dreadful painting from a man, I only did it because I wanted to test my skills in breaking into a manor.  I actually met-" she stopped and glanced at him with anger.  "You did that on purpose."

He chuckled, finally able to forget his own pain.  "It is not my fault you cannot tell a lie.  It is also not my fault you seem to answer when your attention is elsewhere.  Like I previously said, your curse is not so bad."

"Only being able to tell the truth is a horrid thing.  You may not think it, and others may not either, but how do you think I feel?  I cannot keep a simple secret because of this.  I give out information that could hinder our family; how could you say that this is not a curse?"

"It may be a curse," he conceded, "but you are going about the wrong way to cure yourself of it.  It is not a life hindering ordeal.  You could live without telling a lie."

Her eyes watered as she thought about the things she had caused with her words.  Ainsely may have been right about her curse not being life threatening, but it was something that hindered her.  She did not stay home in fear that she would learn something that could bring down her family.  She could not allow others to trust her for she could easily slip up as she had only minutes ago.

"It is my choice on how to handle this curse.  You choose to lie in wait; I choose to do something about it.  We always handled things differently.  You are the type of person that will sit back and wait for the perfect opportunity.  I take a more abrupt approach."

He chuckled.  "Abrupt is a nice way to put it.  Hurry along now, Mother is in frenzy.  It seems that no matter what she does, she cannot start the party."

"Mundane matters?  Or does it have the feel of something a little more?" she asked curiously.

"More," he answered, "but not meant in ill attempt.  Whoever is causing it, does not realize that they are."

"Either a person who does not realize their true power or one that has the magic swirling about them and made a wish."

"I bet on the wish," Ainsely said in a challenging voice.

She shook her head.  "I think that the outcome can be in either direction.  I am betting on a person who does not know their own potential."

Ainsely crooked an eyebrow and held his free hand out to shake.  She regarded it before shrugging and shaking his hand to seal the deal.  Their usual wager was a few coins, mayhap a small embarrassment she would have to put herself through.  What she was not expecting, was his next words.

"If I win, you must stay home for a week.  Remember, Aubrey, you already shook on it."

Nathaniel looked around the room and wondered why he was here to begin with.  He had only moved here recently, and the only festivities he had been to were the large balls the citizens threw.  He could not deny the fact that they were amusing events, and he had found many women to his liking, but at the moment, he wanted to be elsewhere.  He wanted to find his unknown woman.  He wanted to learn more about the swirling eyes that had held him captivated. 

Giggling caught his attention.  Turning towards the group of girls, he watched the man in the middle of the crowd smile at each one equally.  Nathaniel had to admire the man, whoever he was, he exuded charm, but he distributed it evenly.  Nathaniel could tell from his vantage point that each of the women surrounding that man was all equally complimented on.  One in the crowd caught Nathaniel's attention, though.  He could not explain it, but he felt drawn to her.

Looking at her features, he knew it was not because of her looks.  While she was not ugly, she was also not beautiful.  She was plain compared to the others that surrounded her, but he could not move his attention away from the subtle way she moved or from the way that she smiled up at the blond haired man with love.  Jealousy flashed through him before he threw it off. 

What was wrong with him?  Mere minutes ago, he was fantasizing about his beautiful thief, and now he wanted nothing more than to kidnap the red-head across the room.  Was he really as flighty as Harry had thought?  Just as the thought crossed his mind, the woman turned toward him.  Her dark green eyes widened when they connected with his.  He saw what looked like recognition pass through them before she blushed and looked away.  Nathaniel decided that he was flighty, for he could not stop himself from crossing the room.

The closer he got, the more her features came into view.  He was wrong before, she wasn't plain.  She was beautiful. Now that he focused completely on her, he noticed the way her chin tilted up with defiance, the way her eyes sparkled with humor and mischief, the way her lips curled up in a knowing smile.  He wanted her, but the feeling was different than the one he felt with other women.  This was the warmth that flowed through him when he met his thief.  Was that it?  Could this woman in front of him somehow be the thief that had scaled his home and stole the painting? No, this woman in front of him did not possess the flashing eyes as the other had.  It could not be her.  So, why did he feel this odd reaction towards the woman?

Stopping on the outskirts of the crowd, he stared at her.  By the way she was fidgeting; she knew that his eyes were fixated on her.  How long would she be able to keep her eyes from his when she knew he vied for her attention?  She glanced in his direction briefly before darting her eyes away.  Nathaniel let out a chuckle.  She was like a scared filly.  One whose fear was ill placed if she thought he would actually harm her.

The man with the blond hair glanced in Nathaniel's direction, obviously picking up the tension between the two.  The man frowned at him before looking down on the woman and whispering something a little too close to her ear.  She let out a laugh and shook her head.  Snagging her hand, the two made their way towards him.  It was at that moment that Nathaniel placed where he had seen the man before.

Therefore, as the two drew closer, Nathaniel had no choice but to bow his head.  "Your Highness."