They deserve it all.

Chapter 19

The Ball's tonight. I don't know what I'll wear, but they were said to come within the next hour. Larien has given me twice my dose in medication per my request, he didn't asked why, I didn't tell him. But I cannot make any mistakes, I can't afford it, not tonight, not when I'll finally introduce myself.

I wait in my room, my foundation has been smeared on nicely, I already have on my gloves and under garments as they had already been provided. My curse is covered with cloth and chemicals, just the way it should be.

"Behave tonight, will you?" I whisper softly to my other Willow. "If you do, I'll reward you greatly and it'll satisfy the rage that you'll might have to endure."

My other Willow is deathly allergic to injustice, and injustice there will be. A Royal Ball will be there again since that of my father's, the Halls and walls filled to the brim with Nobles, High Nobles, servants of those, and much more crawling around, searching for a taste of pure Royal alcohol, or the freshly top dishes made. But best of all, fresh meat, there will be a new Royal that, when matched or not, will be crowned and will rule. Now whether I'll be great or not doesn't matter too much to those who are rich enough to elope and run away from the vows they have made and the loyalty they're supposed to have, all that matters is that they have some sort of control over me, when they won't get that, then them being in my favor will be enough as well.

I promise.

When I walk in the room, all eyes are on me, I smile, slightly, trying to make eye contact with all of them. I see people I knew, new people, I see people who have seen me at my worst and vise versa, I see old classmates, old professors, I even see the brother of the Seagrave Kingdom with his family, the whole bunch together like apples in a basket.

"Your Royal Highness", he bows and kisses my hand as he does. It's his father, the old man who used to take one look at me and then divert his eyes to something else, something less disturbing. "It's nice to meet you again."

I smile and mumble that it's nice to meet him too, I don't mean it, I'd rather gouge his eyeballs out and look in the hollow of his skull than to see those eyes again. He used to be scared of me, not because of the way I look, but because of the power I held over his life, the way he had to consider someone like me, to be someone like him, the way I could just jump in and influence the course of the following actions, the fact he had to see more of me than he'd like, the fact I had more power than he wished I had, the fact I was friends with one of his boys and disdained the others.

"I'd like you to meet His Majesty."

His son, Elias, he walks up to me, his head is held unusually high. He'd always been full of himself, that was clear as glass is, but not like he is now, he's become King, his father stepped off and so not only Elias's position grew, but so did his ego and he. He's taller than me, not a whole lot, maybe 3 or 4 centimeters, though he used to be shorter. His hair has grown so much that it almost touches his shoulders and it's the crown on his head that keeps it out of his oddly perfect face. His onyx eyes are exactly symmetrical to each other, his nose, straight when I look at him yet big enough for his face to not slide to a more feminine side. His pointy ears that stick out, decorated in gold strings and his perfectly structured hands with the most beautiful ring on it, gold with a large crystal right in the middle. But it's the way that he looks at me that makes me think he is the symbol of a perfect man.

I curtsy, dip my head and give him my gloved hand.

"Your Majesty."

He smiles, slightly, cautious of making a face. Weirded out to think that I am the girl he quarreled with.

My father violently and powerfully gives his old friend, the former King, a big slap on his back and invites him to meet someone he knows.

Now only Elias and I stand here. I don't know what to say, I'd rather run away or disappear into thin air. But I can't, so I put my hands on my stomach and smile again, this time brighter.