by Madison Faye
And everything else just sort of faded away.
She wasn’t real. She couldn’t be. Blonde, willowy, her blue sequined gown trailing behind her as she swirled and smiling at a few other girls in regal looking gowns. She was talking to the redhead, actually, and Magnus, before she turned along with another fair-skinned girl with black hair and a silvery white dress and moved away, leaving the poor redhead to Magnus’s clutches. I followed the blonde though, gritting my teeth as the light caught her big blue eyes, sparkling under the chandeliers, and her smile sent butterflies crashing through me.
Holy. Shit.
“Cade.”
I heard my brother but couldn’t respond, my eyes just locked onto her.
“Dude.”
I blinked as he shook me, shaking my head and turning to him.
He frowned. “The fuck was that?”
“Cas.”
He heard the tone in my voice and shut his mouth.
I didn’t say a thing, I just turned back to her, and this time, his eyes followed mine.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“Who the hell is—”
We both froze as we watched King Lucian himself step forward, beaming at this gorgeous creature and then placing an arm around her and hugging her close.
Oh, shit.
“That, dear brother,” I said slowly, putting the pieces together. “That is King Lucian’s daughter, Princess Ilana Morningstar of Avlion.”
Caspian whistled lowly.
“Well, this is going to be a problem.”
This was going to be a big problem.
Because I knew right there that the same lightning I’d just felt had hit Caspian too. She’d caught us up like a damn spell, and with one look, I knew were both thinking the same thing.
She was it. She was everything. There was no denying it. We’d given up on finding the one thing we were looking for, but there in that ballroom, just when we’d least expected it, she’d found us.
Something told me, King Lucian’s virgin, oldest daughter, was completely off the table when it came to being shared by the two of us.
Well, except I had no idea how wrong I was.
3
Ilana
“We shouldn’t have just left her alone with him, you know,” Adele muttered under her breath as my father left us to go mingle with some other dignitaries.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as I turned back to her. She was talking about leaving Imogen with Prince Magnus back there, after he’d come striding over and zeroed right in on her. Yes, the man had a reputation as long as his — well, as long as that other bit of reputation, if the tabloids were to be believed. And if we’d been anywhere but our father’s palace, surrounded by people, and guards, and all that, then no, of course I wouldn't have left my younger sister alone with him.
“Imogen’s a big girl, she can handle herself.”
“It’s him handling her we should be worried about,” Adele muttered.
I laughed, my jaw dropping. “Wow, Adele Snow! Where’s this sassy version of you coming from?”
Adele, our cousin by way of our father’s brother, the king of Berne, was usually much more reserved than she’d been since she’d arrived earlier in the afternoon to attend the ball that night. She was usually softer and quieter, but tonight, she’d been edgy, and sharp-tongued about all sorts of stuff.
“Sorry.” She looked down, sighing.
“No, it’s fine,” I smiled, putting an arm around her “You okay, though?”
“Yeah,” she made a face. “Just stuff with Mallory.”
I made a stink face at her, which made her laugh.
Neither of us liked her stepmother, the new queen of Berne. After all, Kathryn, Adele’s mother, had been loved by everyone who met her. Kind, gracious, regal and just so freaking classy all the time. A car accident had claimed her almost ten years ago, though, and a few years after that, Lorne, her father, had met and quickly married Mallory.
…We’d called her the “wicked stepmother” ever since we were little girls, and the name fit like a glove.
Mallory was everything Kathryn hadn’t been — cold, cruel, vindictive, vain, and full of petty jealousy and insecurity. She’d married a king to be queen, but she’d been quite firm from the start that she hadn’t done so to be someone’s mother. As sweet as our cousin was, Mallory had zero interest in her. That was, until she’d gotten older, and started turning into the beautiful young woman she was today. At that point, Mallory had gone from total disinterest to keen meanness towards her.
It sucked, and I knew everyone saw it. But my uncle Lorne was under her spell, it seemed.
“Sorry, Adele,” I gave her a harder squeeze.
She waved me off, smiling. “Eh, it’s fine.”
“Well you look freaking amazing tonight, if that helps”
She grinned. “It does, thanks.”
“Would some bubbly help even more?”
“Definitely.”
I laughed as I linked my arm through hers and steered us towards the bar. Tonight was looking better already. Was I going to find my prince charming tonight? Nope. But I was going to drink champagne with my favorite cousin, listen to some classical ballroom dancing music, and try not to worry about the fact that I was only twenty-one and already somewhat jaded with the idea of love.
“Oh, shit.”
My arm suddenly jerked as Adele stopped short in her tracks. I turned to see her face pale, which was saying something considering the usual tone of her alabaster skin.
I frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I— yeah, it’s fine.”
Her head whirled back to me for a second from wherever she’d been looking. “Actually, I need to go.”
I shook my head. "Wait, what?”
I followed her eyes across the room, and I froze as I saw the dark-haired, bearded, ruggedly handsome man in all black staring right at her from across the ballroom.
“Um, someone you know?”
Adele said nothing, her chest quietly rising and falling.
“Adele?”
She shook her head, turning back to me. “Uh, yeah, no. I mean, I’m not sure.”
I raised a brow at her. “You know you’re not making any sense, right? Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I just need to go, now.”
“I’ll come with—”
“No, Ilana,” she gave me a quick look. “I'll catch up with you later, okay?”
She slipped away, scurrying out of the ballroom. And then I was alone, shoulders slumping and my fun night of blowing this whole thing off with Adele withering under the hard gaze of the mystery guy from across the room.
Wonderful. First Isla, then Imogen, and now Adele. Which meant now I was alone to wander this dumb ball. It was definitely time to get some champagne.
“It's a sad day when a princess as beautiful as yourself finds reason to frown.”
The voice teased over me like silk and whiskey, sending a shiver down my whole body. I swallowed, feeling my head swim slightly under the sheer manliness of that voice before I turned.
My heart flip-flopped.
I’d been positive I wasn’t going to find my prince charming that night. Fate had decided to step in with a sense of humor by sending me two Charmings.
Literally.
At first I thought I was seeing double, until I focused on the two gorgeous, staggeringly handsome men dressed in crisp tuxedos standing in front of me.
Of course, I knew of the Charming brothers of Marland, but I’d never met them. And of course, they were handsome in pictures in tabloids and on news websites.
Tabloids and websites had not done them justice.
Because here in the flesh, both of them standing right in front of me with two sets of piercing blue eyes lancing right into me, their presence enveloped me. And yes, I’d known they were good-looking guys, but up close, a foot away from them?
They were freaking gorgeous.
The identical men were built like linebackers — broad shoulders, and muscled arms and chests that filled out their tuxedos. Strong jaws, split by two slightly cocky, and for lack of a better term, charming grins, and two pairs of intensely melting blue eyes.
“Um, hi,” I said, cringing a little at how lame a response it was.
“I’m Cade,” the first one said in a smooth, velvety baritone. “And this is my brother Caspian.”
“The Charming brothers,” I said, nodding politely. “I know you. Well, I know of you. I guess we’ve never met. I’m—”
“Princess Ilana,” Caspian finished for me, his eyes burning right into me and sending a shiver through me. “And how in the world is it that we’ve never met?”
I smiled to hide the eye roll. I mean, what a line, right? That and the first one about “a sad day when a princess frowns.”
I mean, please.
I’d heard it before. I’d heard them all from so many different princes over the years, at functions, or fundraisers, or dinners, or balls like this. Gems like “I didn’t know King Lucian was a thief, but he stole the stars out of heaven and stuck em in your eyes!”
Seriously I knew the lines, and they did nothing for me, even from gorgeous, heart-stoppingly sexy guys like these two.
“Just shook out that way,” I said cordially with another plastic smile.
The two of them were just staring at me, neither saying a word.
My brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, is there…” I trailed off.
“Sorry,” Cade chuckled, shaking his head. “We’re not, uh, we’re not usually tongue tied like this, it’s just that you’re—”
I laughed, cutting him off. “You know what, you can save them, okay?”
The two of them frowned.
“Pardon?” Cade said a brow raised.
“Look, no offense, really, I’m just not...” I shrugged. “I’m just not that girl.”
A smile teased Caspian’s lips as he glanced at his twin before narrowing those eyes on me.
“And what girl might that be?”
“The one that falls for lines like that?”
He laughed, and even his brother seemed to grin a little.
“Well you’re in luck, because we’re not those guys.”
“And which guys would that be?”
“The kind that uses lines like that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t born yesterday, and trust me, I’ve heard every one that princes like you can come up with.”
Cade smiled, shaking his head before his eyes met mine. “See, if asked you if it hurt? You know, when you fell out of heaven?”
I had to smile as I rolled my eyes at the cheesy line.
“Now, that’s a line.”
“Good, we’re agreed.”
“But,” I gasped as he suddenly moved towards me, his strong hand boldly and quickly moving to my waist, lingering there and sending heat radiating through me.
“But if I told you that you were the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen in my entire life, that you take my breath away?”
I melted. I wanted to see it for the line it was, but as I just lost myself in those eyes of his, and let those words melt over me, I wasn’t so sure it was a line.
Maybe he was just drunk?
“I—”
“That’s not a line,” he growled.
I’d barely had time to catch my breath, or even begin to formulate words back, when suddenly, another hand slipped over my other hip, pulling me from Cade and against Caspian. I gasped as I fell into him, and all I could think was how bold of them this was, for this being a formal dance. Not to mention, for my father being less than fifty feet away.
“And if I were to tell you that for the first time literally ever, I had butterflies coming over to talk to you? If I were to tell you no girl has ever gotten my blood pumping so hot or my head all turned around as you have?”
Caspian leaned in, and I shivered as I felt his lips almost touch my ear.
“That’s not a line either.”
And then he was pulling back — both of them were, leaving me breathless and spinning, wondering what in the world had just happened. I knew what lines sounded like. Or at least, I thought I did. And I wasn’t interested in men with lines, that’s for sure. But these two? I was fairly sure they’d meant every single word they’d just said, as insane as that was considering I’d literally just met them.
I paused.
Maybe they were insane? Like, legitimately inane? They weren’t that big in tabloids, after all. Not like Prince Logan or Prince Magnus. They were famous, of course, but they kept distance from the press. And I suddenly wondered what that meant about them. One of my sister’s was currently with a beast, the other with a legendary bad boy. But those two had well-documented stories in the papers and tabloids. These two though? Well these two I realized didn’t really have any “reps” I knew about.
They could be anything.
I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my nerves. Line or not, man had those words hit me deep inside. I could feel my pulse still racing, my head spinning, and heat teasing through parts of me I was embarrassed to admit even to myself.
“I should,” I swallowed. “I should be going. Wonderful to meet you both. Enjoy the ball,” I finished quickly, whirling to start to march away and hoping my voice hadn’t quavered like I thought it had. But I only made it three steps before two hands grabbed me — two, a hand on each arm — stopping me.
“Hang on.”
I turned, the heat flushing back into my face as two sets of gorgeous blue eyes lanced into me.
“You really still think we’re giving you lines?”
I bit my lip, studying both of them. “Your Highnesses, no offense, but of course you are.”
They both frowned.
Oh what, liked I’d wounded them. They were really rolling with this act.
But at the same time, I could feel the little thrill shiver through me. I mean, they were gorgeous, and it wasn’t every day a girl had two crazy handsome princes — twins, nonetheless — fighting for her attention, lines or not.
“You’re both princes, and I know the crowd you run in. And while I’m a little flattered, I’m sorry but I’m just not interested.”
“Yes you are.”
My eyes snapped to Cade, my jaw dropping.
“Excuse me?”
“You are,” he said plainly, grinning. “Interested, that is.”
“I beg your pardon!”
“Have a drink with us, Princess,” Caspian growled.
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s—”
“One drink,” he murmured, stepping close again. “A drink, and if you still think we’re just feeding you bullshit, you can walk away. Hell, you can kick us out of the ball.”
I raised a brow. “High stakes.”
“You haven’t heard ours yet.”
A grin teased my lip as I bit it slowly.
“Yours?”
“Our terms,” Cade growled with a quiet smile. “If you don’t enjoy yourself and still think that we’re giving you lines after a drink, you can kick us out of your father’s ball. But if you do enjoy yourself,” he grinned as he moved closer, and I could feel my breath catch, a salacious tease tickling down my spine and deep between my legs.
“If you do enjoy yourself, well…”
Cade just smiled as he trailed off.
“Well what?”
Caspian chuckled. “Why don’t we get that drink, and we’ll cross that bridge after.”
I felt that forbidden heat creep back into places it shouldn’t have as I caught my lip between my teeth and darted my eyes between them.
Yeah, it certainly wasn’t every day a girl had two handsome princes fighting over her.
They both turned, putting a hand out.
I hesitated.
This was becoming scandalous. Two princes who wanted to whisk me away and ge
t drinks with me? This wasn’t exactly suitors ball etiquette, that’s for sure. Far from it.
Powerful hands enveloped mine as they turned and led me towards the bar, my heart pounding and my body tingling in a weird anticipation that I’d never felt before.
It was just a drink, after all, why was I getting so tingly?
And besides, I thought to myself. What happened if one of them did end up being as charming as his name suggested? These two seemed close — best friends besides being twin brothers. I knew it wasn’t going to happen — of course. But say I did find my prince charming in one of the Charmings that night. How could I find whatever I was looking for in one and send the other one away?
How could I choose?
Funny to think now how I didn’t have to worry about that at all.
4
Caspian
She looked nervous as she sipped her champagne, the three of us lingering near one of the bars around the ballroom.
Nervous wasn’t good.
Fuck, I didn’t know what was good, I guess. I doubted either of us knew what would happen when we’d approached her. What, that she’d instantly look at us and proclaim she had the same insane feelings we’d had with one look at her? What, that the crazy-person lightning that’d hit us had hit her too?
No, clearly Cade and I were fucked in the head. Clearly, going up to a princess like her, together, and telling her she was our dream girl or whatever verbal vomit we’d spit up before wasn’t the smoothest move.
The thing was though, we weren’t trying to be smooth. We weren’t trying to game her or give her lines like she thought.
We were just fucking captivated by her.
So no, we didn’t know what we were going to say when we went over to her, or what would happen, because it was all secondary. The primal need to just be near her had taken over. And now here we were, probably weirding her out in a major way.
Wonderful.
“So, you two are here looking for soulmates?”
She said it sarcastically, but I could barely concentrate on her words. My eyes were still lost in those eyes, in the dimples at her cheeks, at the soft skin of her neck. The way her hair twirled and twisted up on her head like it was held in place by magic.