pietá

The woman in red

Nobody was happy to see Elliot return to the castle so late. The other royal young men in the building were especially unhappy to see him return with (Y/n) at his side. And with so many gifts, it was enough to provoke visible jealousy within the 3 young princes. As they could only curse themselves for not getting to the girl first.

(Y/n) loaded her gifts into Elliot's father's carriage, per his request. From there the dark haired boy accompanied her until they were both seated in the carriage with the other prince's. Elliot quickly took a seat next to the girl and Ezra sat on the opposite side; earning malicious glances from Gossamer and predominatly William.

By now it was growing more crowded. And this surely was to be the most uncomfortable ride of them all.

The girl held her hands in her lap and tried to avoid touching the blond male to her left while also trying to give Elliot his own space. Ezra kept his hand on the seat behind her. Discreetly touching the female's hair without the other men noticing.

(Y/n) realized about halfway through the ride how much she was staring at Elliot. The young man pretended to not see her staring, trying to mask his joy. (Y/n) didn't give a particular emotion when looking at him. But she was looking, and that meant she was thinking over something which was fine with him. It was hard for Elliot not to give in and look at her as well. On one occasion they made eye contact, only to have Ezra painfully pluck a strand of hair from her head. She glared at him but he only smiled and apologized. There were no more secret glances after that.

Madison was the farthest away of all the kingdoms. Resting near a cliffside, the entire village overlooked the ocean. As they neared the distant kingdom, the lot of carriages noticed that there were other horse drawn rides entering the town as well.

It was only when they were in the town did they know why there were so many other carts.

People stood on sidewalks and outside shops. Talking and even dancing as music played from a small band on the street corner. There were crimson red decorations on every building and light posts.

William sat up in his seat and leaned forward a bit to see out the window at the unusually bustling town. Clearly there was a celebration or some festival going on. And it wasn't small either.

"Oh no..." William leaned back with a heavy sigh. Due to the fact that there was a party at the castle meant there would be a delay in their trip back to Harlem. Like everyone else, he was tired of being in a cramped carriage for hours on end. And like every one of the prince's, he was tired of having to share (Y/n)'s attention.

Since there were so many horse drawn carriages trying to reach the castle it took longer than intended for them to get to their destination. Everyone was able to let out a sigh of relief when they ultimately reached the castle doors. The group piling out of carriages all at once and stretching their bodies.

King Spencer and the other two rulers grouped together with William and their sons in order to get past the people at the door. This was an invite only party being guarded by a royal staff member checking invitations. Once King Spencer and his group reached the staff member and requested to meet with the king of Madison they were informed as to what the occasion was about.

It was the king and queen's anniversary. Their 25th anniversary to be exact, and they were going all out with some of their closest friends and relatives.

King Spencer knew they couldn't just arrive and ruin their celebration. He spoke amongst the other two rulers and William. Eventually deciding the civil thing to do would be attend, keep to themselves until everyone was gone, and then inform the king and queen of the news.

So they were escorted inside.

In the castle there were plenty of guests. Some idly standing in the halls chatting, others roaming about the building, but a majority of the attendees were located in the ballroom. This being where the large party of people ended up.