Ravishing

Milo:

The prince came running down the stone steps, hopeful that the girl would have waited for him in the garden. He was late. He wouldn’t have been late, had it not been for his father who had pulled him to the side. The king had wanted to speak to him about his betrothed, the princess of Cralea. The whole time, Milo had not stopped thinking about the young lady, Evie. She was perhaps the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before, and he had surely seen plenty. Something about this girl was different, however. Milo had had many girls before her, yet he had so easily grown tired of them, as a prince was expected to of course. 

When his father had finally finished speaking, Milo’s servant boy had come to remind the prince of his promise to meet the beautiful girl in the rose garden under nightfall. It was a brilliant plan. Everyone else would be too busy at the ball to notice the missing prince, and no one would be able to tell it was him in the garden, not without all of his constantly following servants present. No, he had forbidden anyone to disrupt them, except for emergencies.

“My lady?” the flustered prince finally breathed as he stepped around the bushes otherwise hiding this part of the grounds from sight. As he turned the corner, his breath almost stopped in his chest. The lady turned around, a single rose in her hand and a beautiful dress crinkling softly with her every move. Milo smiled and collected himself quickly before bowing slightly.

“You are…” He couldn’t quite seem to find the words for how lovely she looked in that moment. “Ravishing” he concluded and took the free hand to kiss it. He still felt like a young boy whenever he saw her.

“Oh, and I beg your forgiveness for being late, madam” he continued quickly. He cursed his father for holding him from seeing the girl. He could just imagine how she would have looked as the sun was setting.

Andy

Andrea laughed loudly at the man’s joke, although it was nowhere near as funny as the laughter made it seem. However, it had worked. Her slightly-too-loud laughter had gotten the kings attention and she noticed his eyes on her as she sipped her wine, happily flirting with the otherwise useless man in front of her. Lord John had money and would have been a good match for anyone other than herself, but she wanted more than that. She wanted power. And, the most powerful position she could think of was a queen’s. Andy glanced over at the porcelain doll by the king's side. The queen looked made of stone where she sat, a perfect disposition, listening but barely speaking a word or looking at anyone. Andy had spoken to her many times as her lady in waiting, but she found her excruciatingly dull. No, once Andrea was queen, she would never be like that. 

Andy finally allowed her eyes to lock into the king’s and smiled at him before looking away, letting her face flush slightly. She knew the king, and she knew that her laugher and flirting would make him jealous, make him crave her more. He loved feeling like he accomplished something, and so, Andy made him feel he had to win her again and again. 

“I want to dance” Andy told her brother, who was seated next to her, as she stood up and motioned to Lord John. The man quickly stood and took her arm to lead her to the dance floor.