THE PARTY

It was later in the day and Clarisse had come to Adriele for a *prescription* for her supposed *sleepless nights*.

"Hey, Adi"

"Yes, Clarisse what can I do for you!"

"Ah, don't be so distant"

"I didn't mean it that way"

"Well, I see you are getting ready for the dinner party held for the birthday of Elder Rovero"

"Hmm" she nodded.

Adriele was indeed doing her best to look presentable, this was her first official party after the wedding, well she had gone on a few tea parties with the Queen but there were not many people there just women and some ladies which she didn't quite fit with. She was sitting in front of the mirror, while Naina was doing her hair. She wore a lengthy bright yellow gown, with light blue and gold designed at the ends. Her hair was being pushed up and rolled into a bun and various pins to hold it up, when Naina was done she excused herself from the room to let the two girls talk.

"You look so beautiful" Clarisse commented with a superficial smile. Which didn't go unnoticed by Adriele, she had seen this look many times from Clarisse but decided to ignore it. She didn't want to overthink it and destroy the little bond they were trying to form. She also thought maybe Clarisse was acting on Queen Eleanor's words and she was putting in a lot of effort, she didn't want to destroy that, she actually felt touched by her efforts to make things right between them.

"Thank you"

"Well, I wanted to gossip a bit, are you sure Prince Darren would not be attending the party.?"

"Well, I don't know, he didn't mention it and he hasn't come back to change yet," she said chuckling. "Hey, gossip, Queen, why are you not dressed yet? There will definitely be a lot of trendy topics to gossip about at the party you know?"

"Yeah, I do but I don't feel well, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, so I was wondering if you could get me something to help me sleep, while you guys are having fun"

"Oh, that's bad, but let me see if I have something" Adriele moved to a cupboard beside the bed and opened up a drawer, after shuffling for a few minutes, she came back with a round white bottle and gave it to her. "Don't take more than one, it could make you delusional and cause hallucinations" she went further to explain

"Okay, I will do as you have said, go for your party now " and with that Clarisse left the room.

Not long after Clarisse left, Darren came into the room and found Adriele at the dressing table checking out herself, he signaled Naina and another servant who was with her to leave quietly, which Adriele didn't notice until Darren was standing behind her.

"Your Highness," She said startled, and began to get up but Darren put a hand on her shoulder and made her sit down.

"There's no one here, could you please call me by my name"

"Your Highness?"

"Darren, it's Darren"

"Ok, are you going to the party?" Adriele asked

"No, not interested" He answered casually

"Ok".

Darren pulled out a little rectangular-shaped box from his pocket, opened it to reveal a diamond necklace. He put it around Adriele's neck and pinned it at the back.

Adriele is surprised by this gesture of his.

" What's this for, your high..., Darren," she asked looking at the beautiful necklace.

"Hmph, how rude, it's supposed to be *thank you, Darren,*" he pouted

"Sorry, Thanks" she felt embarrassed, she just didn't expect it.

"Well, I might not be attending, but you still need to look gorgeous, you represent me you know" he grinned, Adriele just nodded.

"The others are ready to go, go join them".

With that Adriele gracefully walked out of the room and Darren smiled as he watched her leave.

---------------

" You look awesome!" Harley complemented Adriele

"And so do you" Adriele returned the compliment.

"Marriage is doing you good, I see. Oh, when will I get there?" Harley said with a dreamy look.

Adriele shook her head with a smile and flicked her head, "Come down from those clouds honey" she teased.

"Good evening ladies," Killian interrupted Adriele and Harley bowed to him in respect but not before the twinkle in Harleys' eyes was noticed.

"Good evening, your Highness" they chorused

"You look, stunning in that outfit, Princess Adriele," he said with a smile

Oh, right I am a *PRINCESS* now.

"Thanks, Your Highness"

"What about me, Your Highness?" Harley said pouting as she felt left out. Others might feel embarrassed to say that because it might look like they are seeking attention, but not Harley she is very thick-skinned. And again, she was seeking attention.

"You look, lovely as always, Princess Harley".

Killian said as he looked at the little girl, when she pouted, she looked really cute. She wore a green off-shoulder gown, her silky blond hair was let down to cover her back, she was as tall as Adriele so much that when they stood together, you won't be able to tell who was older, but her chubby round baby face always gave her away.

" The carriage is here, this way" Killian motioned for them to get in, he held his hand out and helped Adriele get in and then did the same for Harley.

When the three of them were seated, the carriage started to move.

Harley on the other hand was lost in her own world, reminiscing about what just happened.

"His hands are so soft, it puts all those snobbish Princesses to shame," she thought as she stole a glimpse at Killian, he noticed it and stared back at her, causing her to quickly look away shyly. He frowned inwardly, he had noticed the girls' odd behavior around him for a while now but he couldn't figure out what it was, "Was she repulsed by me, or does she know about my illness? humph".

Adriele noticed the kind of tensed atmosphere "Is there any update about the plan, your highness?" Adriele asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence and she also wanted to know what had been decided.

"Well, I proposed it and they were thrilled, we'll take action in two weeks"

"Ok," she said, she wasn't really happy that she took part in orchestrating people's deaths, but then there's a saying that goes *ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR*

When Killian had proposed the idea, some of the Generals had not even been willing to listen but after seeing the draft they became interested in it.

Harley who had suddenly come back to earth gave Adriele a nudge, wanting to know about this plan of theirs and Adriele just whispered something to her and she calmed down.

All through the trip, they talked a bit, about how parties like this were likely to go down. And surprisingly Killian was cool with it, he even joked with them about some. He wasn't like the other men who wanted women to just sit still and look pretty, and this gave Harley a feeling of warmth