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Henry hated balls. Everyone was always decked out in their finery that cost more than what the average citizen made in a month. And, of course, everything had to be new because God forbid someone saw you in the same outfit twice. All the wasted money could go to better causes- like building better housing for low income citizens or funding hospitals. But no, instead, there had to be a ball to celebrate his birthday. No one had asked him if he even wanted a ball for his birthday! It just happened because the nobility expected it and they would want an excuse to party at the expense of the crown.
At least Henry got a hand in planning it. He chose a masquerade ball, so that he might mingle without being hounded by potential suitors the whole time. It was almost unheard of for a prince to be unwed at 25, but being the spare, no one actually cared all that much, especially since his sister-in-law was expecting. The line was secure.
As Henry got ready for the ball, he took stock of himself in the mirror. Blue eyes met him as he scanned what he was wearing. Bea had helped him pick his outfit. It consisted of a black waistcoat and jacket with a feather motif that matched his raven inspired mask embroidered on in black thread shot through with silver that caught the light when he moved. His shirt was an almost sheer material that shimmered when he moved. His slacks were plain black. He wanted to blend in more than stand out with his outfit choices tonight. It was a night off from being a prince- he didn’t even have to wear his crown. The mask hid most of his face, almost like a cowl. It was edged with feathers and the nose came to a sharp point to resemble a beak. The only thing visible would be his mouth and his eyes. He couldn’t really do anything about the blond hair though.
Henry sighed as the start time for the ball drew near. He was getting himself out of part of it by being fashionably late since his presence wouldn’t be announced. Once the ball was in full swing, he went to gather Bea. She was resplendent in a full length white dress covered in feathers. It looked like she was floating on a cloud. Her swan motif was completed by a rather large headpiece that depicted a full swan neck above the mask. It was a cleverly disguised two-piece so the mask could be removed separately, if the need arose. Anything that wasn’t covered in feathers was covered in a fine white glitter.
“Looking splendid as always, Bea,” Henry greeted.
“You have to say that just because you’re my brother,” she snarked back.
“I don’t have to say anything I don’t want to. When have social conventions ever kept me from being mean to you?”
“Point taken. You don’t look so bad yourself. Glad to see you do actually know how to clean up on your own.”
“Hey! Just because I needed help picking out an outfit, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to put it on!”
“You didn’t know how to tie an ascot last week.”
“Yes, well, I normally have help with those things.”
“Tell me why I know how to tie an ascot when I don’t even wear the things.”
“Because you actually give a damn about fashion?"
“You’re hopeless,” Bea sighed. “Come on, let’s get this over with. Grandmother will expect to see us in the ballroom soon.”
Henry sighed. The whole reason they were doing this was to appease their grandmother, who was beholden to the court. She had a hard enough time fighting for control that giving in to the small demands of a ball to celebrate the prince’s birthday was an easy enough concession to make.
Ever since the king died, the court had been pushing for their mother to take over the throne. The problem with that was that their mother had never had a real interest in ruling. And even less of one since their father passed. What the family actually wanted was for Phillip to take over in the near future. The queen wasn’t the fondest of that idea for the sake of appearances. Even though Phillip was ready, had a wife, and had a child on the way, it still wasn’t enough for the court. They expected proper succession so that other kingdoms wouldn’t judge them. Henry thought that was the stupidest thing in the world and told anyone who would listen.
Henry and Bea entered the ballroom together with little fanfare. That was the beauty of everyone being in a mask, they didn’t have to announce themselves or be announced. They just got to be one of the regular nobles floating through the room. The decorators had outdone themselves as they somehow managed to do every time. The room was festooned with garlands of real greenery, the air smelling like the outdoors. Ivy climbed the walls and columns while spring roses and lilies decorated table tops. The table settings were done in a dark green that was reminiscent of moss. This was all in a nod to the theme of the evening, which Henry had requested to be nature. He was happiest when he was outside riding or just sitting under a tree. He often got into trouble when he was younger for running off and hiding on the palace grounds to avoid his tutors. It’s not that he didn’t love learning, it was just that the palace tended to get stuffy after a while and the outdoors was so much more pleasant.
Bea quickly broke off to go socialize with some of her friends she recognized, even with the masks. They were all various birds and looked like a menagerie from a distance. Henry smiled to himself, glad that at least one of them was enjoying the ball. He kept to the edges of the room and gradually made his way over to the refreshments table. There were some savory canapes as well as small bites of various desserts. One end was taken up by a massive cake that he specifically requested not to be made. He sighed. At least it looked to be vanilla and not chocolate.
--
Alex loved balls. It was an excuse to dress up with Nora and June. And a themed ball was even better. He had spent weeks figuring out what animal to represent at Prince Henry’s birthday party after his mom told him that he, June, and Nora would be representing their country for the event. They were to make an appearance and not cause an international incident. Piece of cake. Dressing up was just a bonus.
Alex briefly wondered why he hadn’t met the prince before. Their countries weren’t on bad terms or anything. Somehow they were never at the same social engagements. Until now. He wondered if he’d actually get to meet Prince Henry. It was a masked ball, so he wouldn’t be able to recognize him immediately. Alex had seen pictures of course. Henry somehow made looking like a classically handsome prince not annoying.
His chosen outfit was a moss green suit with a dark brown shirt and a reddish orange tie to match his fox mask. His mask covered the entirety of his upper face with a little black nose protruding just above his. The tie had a white stripe that was reminiscent of the belly of a fox. Nora had chosen to be a black cat. It was unclear to Alex if she was supposed to be a regular house cat or a panther of some kind. Her outfit was a black pantsuit with a black shirt that shimmered under the right light. Her mask was complete with whiskers and a headband with cat ears. June had opted to go with a monarch butterfly. Her orange dress had black lines and white spots to emulate. Instead of a mask, she had decided to use makeup to match the wing pattern. Her look was completed by a headband with antennae attached.
The day of the ball was a frenzy of the three of them getting ready together. Alex was ready first because he didn’t have any makeup to put on. The girls took a little longer. He did sit with them and assisted in making sure lines were even and holding makeup palettes for them. He enjoyed these moments with his best friend and sister. Whenever the world got too chaotic or he was feeling particularly anxious about something, they were always there to talk him down and support him.
June was a given. Even though they were five years apart, she was always a constant in his life. They did everything together that he was old enough to do. She had her own life but always made time for Alex. Nora was a later addition. Their parents became friends when Alex was in middle school. She fit seamlessly in with the two siblings. The three of them quickly realized how much chaos they could cause together, much to their parents’ chagrin. Society went wild with speculation about them. There were rumors every other week that Nora was dating one or both the siblings, which, gross. Nora was like a second sister. He and Nora talked about it once during high school. It was pretty clear that neither one saw the other that way. He wasn’t sure if she and June had had a similar conversation, but given the fact that nothing had come of it in the many years they’d known each other, he didn’t think anything was going to happen. They used the rumor mill to make bets from time to time for entertainment.
Once the trio was ready, they made their way to the ballroom from the guest rooms they had been given. The ball was already in full swing by the time they arrived. Since it was a masquerade ball, none of them were announced. They didn’t have to play the part of the children of the First and Second family of the neighboring country. They could just pretend to be regular high class people for the night. Alex was living for the anonymity. He didn’t have to be quite so polished.
The ballroom was decked out in various shades of nature. The decorators had clearly leaned hard into the nature theme of the night. Everything was some shade of green or brown. It was the perfect camouflage for him. He hadn’t intended for that to happen, but it was a nice bonus. The three of them mingled around the room, complementing people on their outfits and being complimented in turn. It became clear that some people weren't trying to conceal their identities with how they talked. Alex was very careful of what he said in any given conversation. If pushed, he just smiled and mentioned that giving away too many details would spoil the fun of the evening. Depending on who he was talking to, that either earned him a polite laugh, a blush and giggle, or an eye roll.
Alex gradually made his way toward the refreshments table that ran along one side of the room. Servers were scattered throughout the room handling drinks. He snagged a glass of something alcoholic from a passing tray. It turned out to be champagne. That seemed like a bit much for a birthday party. Honestly the whole thing was a bit much. The trio typically only had small parties that included close friends and family. And they were much more likely to have meat pies in one of the lounges than canapes in a ballroom.
In one of the corners, a rather impressive cake loomed. It was covered in buttercream flowers and designs that made it look like a massive bouquet. There were several platters of smaller desserts scattered around it. Alex spotted macarons on one and made a beeline toward them. He loved macarons. He took a quick look around, making sure no one was paying attention to him before he took several more than was probably polite and tucked himself out of view of most of the room behind the cake. The only problem with his plan was that he ran face first into someone already standing behind the table. He managed to catch himself from falling. Unfortunately his treats didn’t fare so well.
Alex looked up at the person he’d bumped into. Whoever it was, was wearing a gorgeous raven mask with what appeared to be a simple black suit. On further inspection, the jacket had embroidered feathers and the shirt was some shimmery material that mimicked the oil-slick blue sheen of raven feathers. The mask was large and detailed, down to the shiny beak that sat over the nose. The eyes staring out were electric blue, the color popping due to the black of the mask. Said eyes were wide in shock.
“I am so sorry,” Alex began. “I was just trying to find a hiding place to eat a probably inadvisable amount of macarons.”
“Oh, don’t let me stop you,” the mystery man said. “Though it appears you will have to fetch more. Allow me.” Mystery man swept off to collect more desserts. Alex watched dumbfounded. He also couldn’t help checking the guy out. He liked what he saw. And he wasn’t getting in between Alex and his treats, so that was a bonus.
Mystery man made his way back toward their shared hidden corner. He had managed to find an actual plate and it was piled high with macarons, as well as some of the other desserts from the table. Alex took the offered plate.
“Thank you,” he said.
“It’s no trouble. If you’re anything like my sister, nothing gets in the way of her and some sweets.”
“Pretty much sums me up,” Alex laughed. “How do you know the prince?”
“Ah, well, we’re distantly related. My grandmother insisted on me attending tonight. What about you?”
“I’ve never actually met him. My mom sent me, my sister, and my best friend in her place.”
“No more details?”
“It’s a masked ball, I’d spoil the fun with more details.”
“Yes exactly, that’s the point of these things, no one knows who you are besides obscenely rich.”
“And when you’re all obscenely rich in a given setting, no one cares about it anymore.”
“See, you get it. All of this is too much for one measly birthday.”
“Well, the prince only turns 25 once.”
“Yes but maybe the prince didn’t want such an extravagant party.”
Alex was starting to get a little suspicious of who his mystery man might be. “Oh? What do you think the prince would have wanted?”
“A charity event if it was going to be this extravagant,” Maybe Not Such A Mystery Man answered immediately. “Or some low-key thing with a couple of friends and my sister. Like a quiet night in with some meat pies and drinks.”
“Mhmm, and what charity would you want to make your party for?” Alex was feeling a little smug at the prince’s slip of the tongue.
“I’d make the charity one that helps the poor and sick. I want the crown to do more for its people.” Definitely Not A Mystery Man, now revealed to be none other than Prince Henry, froze. “That is to say, I would hope the prince would choose something like that.”
“Nice try, Your Highness,” Alex chuckled. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.
Henry looked away shyly. He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him up. It really wasn’t a bad look on him. “I was really hoping to get through the night without anyone but my family knowing who I was.”
“Like I said, don’t worry about it,” Alex reassured. “And hey, fair’s fair, I’m Alex Claremont-Diaz.”
“Oh! You’re the son of the president of the next kingdom over!”
“Should I be worried that you know who I am?”
“Not at all, it’s just that you’re probably one of the few people who can understand my stresses and will actually listen. Societal pressure and all that. And you’re about my age, right?”
“Yeah I get that. And yeah, I turn 24 soon.”
As the two of them continued talking, they gradually moved closer together so they could talk more easily over the noise of the crowd and music. No one tried to look for them. They found out they had a lot in common- they both had a passion for helping their people, a strong competitive streak, similar reading habits, and annoying sisters.
“Older sisters are worse by far, they think they know everything and try to boss you around more than your mom does,” Alex said.
“Absolutely not, younger sisters are worse,” Henry shot back. “She bosses me around, regardless of our ages, and insists on getting everything her way because she’s the baby.”
“Ok but is your sister annoyingly perfect at everything?”
“No, but what she lacks, she makes up for in being literally everyone’s favorite.”
“That can’t be more annoying than mine.”
As they argued good naturedly, they started gesturing wildly with their arms. Neither one of them noticed how close to the cake they were getting.
--
Henry didn’t know what happened. One second he’s playfully arguing about siblings, the next, both he and Alex are falling. He wasn’t sure who tripped over who during their “argument” but it was now ending with them on the floor and his birthday cake falling toward them. It seemed to happen in slow motion, but surely happened almost instantaneously. The entire dessert table crashed on top of them, with the cake doing the most damage. The only thought that Henry had was that his grandmother was going to kill him if the embarrassment didn’t manage to get him first. Somehow, Alex had landed on top of him in quite the compromising position.
Vanilla cake was everywhere. There was dyed frosting in his hair and raspberry filling down the front of his suit. Alex didn’t look any better. He had taken the brunt of the cake in the fall. Alex quickly sat up and looked around in horror. Henry didn’t know what to do and didn’t have the energy to get up. By sheer luck, both of their masks had stayed on.
The entire ball ground to a halt. The string quartet that had been playing in the corner screeched to a stop as the entire room gasped and looked their way. Henry stared at Alex as everyone else stood in stunned silence. No one was hurt, thankfully. They both realized it was an accident at the same time. Both of them tried to keep their laughter in, to no avail. Alex started laughing first and then Henry was a goner. They laughed so hard, tears ran down their cheeks to mix with the ruined cake.
Soon they were surrounded by various servants who rushed to the scene to help with cleaning up. The two of them were ushered into a side room off the main ballroom to get as much cake off themselves before making their way back toward the residential wings. By that time, Bea and he presumed June and Nora had caught up with them. None of them looked nearly as amused as he and Alex did though. Once the situation was explained and the girls realized exactly what happened, they joined in on the laughter.
All of them used this as an excuse to bow out of the ball early and went back to their respective rooms to change. Alex took the time to introduce his sister, June, and their best friend, Nora. They made plans to meet up in one of the residential parlors later. As Henry and Bea made their way toward their rooms, Bea shot Henry a look.
“So, was it really an accident?” she asked.
“Yes, Alex and I just got a little carried away. No need for an international incident. Though Grandmother may not see it that way. How furious do you think she’ll be?”
“Probably not too bad if she sees you and Alex getting along. I may have let slip to one of her staff where we’d be so I expect a visit from her. Just try not to shove Alex into anything else.”
“He shoved me!”
“Does it matter?”
“I suppose not. We really were just messing around. He figured out who I was pretty quickly.”
“You’ve always been terrible at hiding your identity at these masked balls. Someone usually figures you out before the night is done. Just be glad Alex was cool about it.”
“He was. He immediately told me who he was. I’m glad I got to finally meet him. It’s a bit odd that we haven’t crossed paths before, being of similar ages and the children of the ruling family.”
“I’m sure Grandmother had some say in that. You know how she feels about the Claremonts and how they came to power.”
“Is voting so abhorrent to her? Listening to the people she’s responsible for leading?”
“Hey, don’t come after me! I’m just reminding you of why you and Alex probably haven’t met each other until now.”
“You’re right. Well, in any case, this was one hell of a first meeting.”
“First impressions?”
“I like him. We’re actually quite similar.”
“Of course you do.”
By this time, they were at their respective doors. Henry took the opportunity to wash up. The suit and mask were a lost cause unfortunately. Maybe he could clean them up later and donate them. His grandmother would never let him wear it again. As he got cleaned up, he thought about what Bea said. He really did like Alex, possibly more than what a friendship would entail. From the little that Henry had seen, Alex was quite attractive. They had similar goals in mind for their kingdoms. He was fun to talk to. Henry had no idea if Alex could possibly feel the same way. It was an open secret that Henry preferred to date men over women. It didn’t keep the women from trying. Or his grandmother from trying to set him up. That was probably a contributing factor of the ball.
--
Alex was royally screwed and he could tell June and Nora both knew it just by looking at their smug faces. He fell hard and fast when meeting potential partners. It didn’t take long for interest to build. Somehow Henry was his exact type. If you’d have asked him what his ideal type was a week ago, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you. But somehow Henry was it. He obviously cared for his people, was extremely earnest, witty, and very easy on the eyes. Or at least the parts that Alex had seen. He couldn’t imagine that Henry had an unattractive face. Not with eyes like his. It would be sacrilege for eyes like that to belong to an ugly face. Not that Alex was shallow enough to only care about someone based on their appearance, but it certainly didn’t hurt.
The trio made it back to their rooms to change. Alex took extra time to make sure there was no trace of cake left on him. Since he had landed on top of Henry, he’d gotten the bulk of the cake on him. He took the time to shower and take stock of himself. Luckily nothing was hurt but his pride. It was lucky that few people actually knew who caused the cake to fall. His mother wouldn’t have to worry about someone publishing a story about a cake gate or whatever ‘witty’ headline a newspaper would come up with.
Once he and the girls were cleaned up, they made their way to the appointed parlor with the help of some staff. Henry and Bea were already there, probably because Alex had taken extra time in the shower to scrub all the raspberry out of his hair. He also spent a not insignificant amount of time picking out what to wear. But if anyone asked, he’d blame the raspberries. He had finally settled on simple slacks and a plain button down. It was still nice without looking like he was trying too hard. It seemed Henry had the same idea to dress down. Henry looked good in black pants and a blue sweater.
Alex had been right, those eyes were paired with a beautiful face. Pictures didn’t do it justice, though that might have been him being biased. The five of them gathered on one side of the room in front of a lit fire. There were drinks and a small selection of finger foods laid out. Somehow all of them managed to click. Conversation flowed easily between them. As they chatted, Alex snuck glances at Henry. He even managed to catch Henry doing the same thing. Suddenly, Bea announced that she needed to use the bathroom. June and Nora quickly jumped up saying the same thing. They quickly left the room and Alex didn’t miss the wink Nora threw his way.
“They couldn’t be less subtle if they tried,” Alex deadpanned.
“I don’t know, I thought it was funny how hard they tried to make that look casual. Sisters, am I right?”
Alex laughed. “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.” He looked over at Henry in time to catch an intense stare. Alex gulped. “Should we be taking advantage of their absence?”
Henry smiled. “That would just be proving them right.”
“OK but just this once they can be right. Can I kiss you?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Henry moved toward Alex. He paused right before making contact. Alex gave a small nod and closed the last bit of distance between them. The first kiss was figuring out how they fit together. They bumped noses before figuring the angle out. The second kiss was exploratory; learning about each other and how their lips felt against each other. The third kiss was the reason songs and poems were written. Henry grabbed at his hair to hold his face still as he deepened the kiss. When they finally came up for air, Alex knew he had a dopey expression on his face. The only consolation was that Henry had a matching one.
“Ok so maybe sisters can be alright,” Alex conceded.
“Don’t ever tell them that.”
“Too late dear brother, we heard you!” Bea sailed into the room with June and Nora in tow. “What was that about sisters being right?”
“I thought you heard us?” Henry asked.
“Just wanted to see if you’d repeat it. Apparently you can only be tricked with words once a night.”
“Hey! I didn’t trick him, he slipped up!” Alex protested.
“Which makes it worse,” Bea snorted. “By the way, we ran into Grandmother and managed to intercept her before she could walk in on you two presumably going at each other like animals. You’re welcome!”
“We were not going at it like animals!” Henry yelled.
“Alex’s hair says otherwise,” Nora said.
Henry looked over at Alex. They both blushed and looked away from each other.
“Guilty as charged,” said June. “So what are you two idiots going to do now?”
They looked at each other again. Apparently Henry didn’t have an idea either. Alex wasn’t sure where they’d go from here. Clearly they liked each other well enough. His mom might have something to say about how they got together and optics, but she ultimately wouldn’t care. He wasn’t so sure that Henry’s family would be quite as understanding.
--
Henry glanced over at Alex in a slight panic. They hadn’t really discussed anything beyond their mutual attraction to each other. Henry knew he wanted to give them a shot at a full relationship.
“Alex?” said Henry, hesitantly.
“Yeah?” Alex replied.
Henry took a deep breath. “What are we going to do next? Because I really would like to try a relationship with you.”
“I would too. Who’s going to care if we do?”
“Well, my grandmother might have something to say but she really doesn’t have any power over me.”
“I was afraid of something like that. Will you really be ok?” Alex moved closer to put a hand on top of his.
“Yes, I think so. No one really cares who I date other than her. And that’s really only because she has an outdated sense of everything. The Court has their line of succession so they won’t care.”
“Noted.”
“Right,” Bea interrupted. “As nice as this is, can we go back to our little party now? I didn’t get any food before you both decided to smother yourselves in frosting.”
Alex and Henry both laughed. Everyone sat back down around the fire; this time, Henry and Alex sat right next to each other. They kept sneaking glances and looking away shyly until Nora threw a piece of cheese at them and told them to knock it off.
Henry couldn’t remember a time when he felt happier. He had had relationships before, but there was something special about Alex, he could tell. He thought back to a conversation he’d had with his mom forever ago. She mentioned how she knew his dad was the one for her pretty quickly. Maybe that ran in the family. Henry didn’t think there were any guarantees in life, but he felt pretty good about where he and Alex were headed.
As the evening wrapped up, Alex and Henry made plans to meet up to go on a proper date. There was a small argument over whose kingdom the first date should be in. Alex finally gave in to the argument that it was Henry’s birthday, so he should get dibs on the condition that they could have a second first date in his kingdom. Henry began thinking about where he wanted to take Alex. The opportunities were near endless with his station. He shied away from anything too public or showy. Both of them had talked about how much they disliked using their privilege.
Eventually, the girls retired for the night. Alex and Henry stayed in the parlor talking about anything and everything. They continued to find things in common and things to argue about good naturedly. They shared some more quiet kisses and cuddled for a while. Henry thought that it was the perfect end to a perfect birthday. He had to admit to himself that maybe balls weren’t so bad after all, if they got him a boyfriend.