Regina did not want to dance with Crown Prince Aaron Artem, her future brother-in-law and potential past and future murderer.


    Regina did not want to do many things, including but not limited to: socializing, wearing giant skirts, crawling through hedges, and being forced to listen to lengthy monologues from people more powerful than her.


    However, what Regina most wanted to do was not die, so she managed something that she hoped was a smile and replied, “I would be happy to dance with you.”


    It was, Regina reflected, not entirely untrue. She was happier to dance with Crown Prince Aaron Alpin than have him execute her on the spot.


    However, this was a feeling she would soon regret.


    “Then I am happy,” said the Crown Prince, as he smoothly moved Regina into position, “to have the opportunity to learn more about my new… sister.”


    “I do not know why,” Regina automatically responded, mind racing with what the man who had her killed in her prophetic dream could possibly want to know about her, “I am very… boring.”


    The look in Prince Aaron’s eye made a cold drop of sweat start at the base of her neck.


    “I have been,” Regina added, trying hard to keep her voice sounding helpful, “compared to porridge, the color beige, and a large rock my uncle once tripped over in the Sheridan garden.”


    “Porridge?” said the Crown Prince, almost musingly. “I admit that I am very interested in your… tastes. Is that a food you enjoy?”


    Regina froze in place, only barely managing to avoid falling because Prince Aaron was both skilled and strong enough to maneuver her body before she could start moving again.


    Was Artem’s brother trying to determine how to best poison her?


    If so, she needed to find a way to convince him she was neither a threat nor of any interest at all.


    “Absolutely,” Regina said, trying to look as though she enjoyed the blandest food in Carcosa as much as she enjoyed evading the persistent grasp of death. “I once won a contest in my family for both regurgitating and resembling the most bowls of porridge.”


    The look of mingled confusion and distaste on the Crown Prince’s face somehow resembled what Artem’s face might look like if Regina had confessed she preferred more subdued jewels.


    Unsure of what to say next, Regina added, “Still, I do enjoy other foods. Plain bread. Boiled potatoes. Fried dough. If it is as bland and unseasoned as my person, I practically stuff it into my gullet!”


    “Do you,” said the Crown Prince, with what Regina was sure was a thinly veiled look of contempt – or worse – curiosity, “refuse other foods if they are not as inoffensive as your favorites? Is that why you have taken neither food nor drink tonight, even though you appear as if you will faint?”


    The Crown Prince, Regina numbly realized , was trying to poison her.


    He was also, she realized in dawning horror, staring closely at her face for her reaction to her question.


    “No, never mind,” the Crown Prince said softly.


    If Regina had not known better, he almost sounded tired.


    “It is not always easy to perform to an audience,” he said, which Regina thought was an odd distraction from his previous question.


    Even so, Regina was too grateful for the change of topic to care.


    In fact, if Regina was not convinced Crown Prince Aaron Artem – her future brother-in-law – was trying to murder her, she might have even agreed that pretending to be something you are not to everyone around you was exhausting.


    However, the last thing Regina wanted to do was sympathize with a man who she was increasingly convinced was after her death – or at least, would not be displeased by it. For even if Prince Aaron was not actively trying to murder her, he kept asking questions that probed at her weaknesses.


    Yet why, Regina thought as she forced a smile upon her face and let her possible murderer twirl her around, does the Crown Prince wish to murder me? I should not be in his way anymore, since we are no longer engaged and I should not be framed during this second engagement ball. All I want to do is get married to Artem –


    …To Prince Artem Alpin, the only other remaining prince in the kingdom and thus, the only other possible contender to the position of King in Carcosa.


    The sheer idea was absurd – after all, Artem was sweet and gentle and about as power-hungry as a jewelry loving squirrel. Regina could not imagine Artem ever trying to depose his brother to be the highest power in the kingdom.


    Yet if Prince Aaron suspected that Artem could become his rival for the kingship due to outside forces manipulating him…


    Forces such as the cunning and power-hungry manipulators in Regina’s Sheridan family…


    Regina felt sweat roll down the back of her neck as she realized how the man currently holding her would benefit from her death – and Artem’s sudden lack of support from the Sheridan family.


    “So,” she finally said as Crown Prince Aaron’s blue eyes drilled holes into her, “are you also a fan of unseasoned beige delicacies?”


    “I admit,” said Prince Aaron, as he seemed to keenly eye the way Regina flinched as they got too close to the shadows at the edge of the dance floor, “I have previously had a hard time seeing the appeal.”


    He carefully spun her back into the light and Regina could only hope that he did not notice the way her shoulders involuntarily relaxed.


    “I hope that this dance will help bring me closer to understanding,” he continued, his gaze still fixed on Regina in a way that reminded her of her father staring at a particularly difficult piece of accounting.


    “You say,” Prince Aaron said, in a strange musing tone of voice, “that you will be someone who sits in the background without stirring trouble.”


    That was not in fact what Regina had said, but she was very happy to have that be the interpretation of her words.


    “Oh yes,” she said, her eyes wide and hopeful. “I pride myself on my ability to blend in with the wallpaper.”


    “Was that why,” her future brother said in that same strange yet even tone, “you were tossing the items around your room? So that you could more easily find the wallpaper?”


    Regina froze for a moment, feeling as though she had been plunged in the same ice-water bath her maids had forced her into this morning to ensure her complexion would be as poreless as possible.


    How did you even discover that? A part of her wanted to shriek. When I ransacked my room for poison, only Henrietta was nearby! Were you somehow lurking as well?!


    Yet someone like Crown Prince Aaron Alpin, the heir to the throne of Carcosa, did not need to do any such thing to find out what Regina did inside his family’s palace… or perhaps even out of it. He had more than enough power and gold to command a small army of spies, particularly at the seat of his family’s powers.


    As her parents had warned her, all eyes would be on her once she became engaged to one of only two princes in Carcosa.


    She just did not know that some of those eyes would belong to a Crown Prince with the motivation to murder her.


    Swallowing hard, Regina smiled and said, “I am a very… particular kind of person which must be why… why Artem and I match so perfectly! Just as Artem would not abide by a single misplaced gem on his jewels, I cannot stand badly placed furniture in my rooms. After all…”


    Staring into Prince Aaron’s eyes, Regina told the most outrageous lie she had ever heard in her life.


    “I am,” said Regina with the full force of her sincere desire to live, “allergic to other people’s design decisions.”


    Prince Aaron stared at her, momentarily stopping all movement.


    “Yes,” said Regina, thinking of how other people placing objects that might kill her was a deadly form of an allergy. “The very thought of other people arranging the spaces I inhabit makes it difficult for me to breathe.”


    Prince Aaron spun her almost viciously before pulling her as close as her voluminous skirt would allow.


    “Yet,” he said silkily, “you claim to love everything my brother has designed for you.”


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    “Of course I have!” said Regina, truly offended. “Artem’s designs are the only ones that do not harm me. That is why he is my perfect mate!”


    For the first time in her dreams or reality, Regina had the odd pleasure of seeing Prince Aaron look genuinely startled.


    “It is true then,” Prince Aaron said and Regina was not sure she was meant to hear it. “Then I must…”


    The Crown Prince closed his eyes and took a deep breath before staring at Regina once again.


    “Tell me,” said the Crown Prince, his voice as grim as his expression, “how you feel about remote country estates… preferably ones surrounded by guards.”


    By the blood, thought Regina in horror. She had somehow convinced Prince Aaron to want to send her into exile again, probably with another convenient carriage accident.


    Yet before Prince Aaron could further terrify Regina with the prospect of exile followed by a highly convenient carriage accident…


    “As much as I love remote country estates,” an increasingly beloved voice brightly interrupted, “I believe my sweet sea-urchin has spent the night waiting for me.”


    Regina spun around so sharply that it was a wonder her ankles did not snap - though even if they did, she would consider it a price worth paying for the vision before her.


    For there - looking resplendent as the sun in a suit of gold and white that perfectly matched her own gold-and-white gown - stood Prince Artem Alpin.


    “My love,” Artem said, even as he extended his hand out to take Regina’s own. “Have you missed me?”


    “Yes,” Regina replied, suddenly almost giddy with relief. “You are the one and only person I have waiting for this entire evening.”


    For a moment, Prince Aaron almost looked – uncertain, his cold, handsome face suddenly wavering, as though he were uncertain whether he truly wanted Regina by Artem’s side.


    Yet in the next, his habitual hauteur reasserted itself and the crown prince offered Regina’s hand to his younger half-brother.


    “May you enjoy this night,” Prince Aaron told Artem, “and not regret any of the others to come.”


    “I would never,” Artem said, and then took Regina’s hand and twirled her around until his handsome, giddy face was all she could see.


    “Artem,” Regina whispered, relief flooding through her, “you are here.”


    “I am,” Artem gently replied. “Will you forgive me for my tardiness? I had much to arrange this evening.”


    At Regina’s puzzled look, Artem just smiled, winked, and raised his hand…


    …And Regina laughed as the orchestra suddenly switched over from a sedate waltz into an instrumental version of the song that he had serenaded Regina when he had tried to sneak into the Sheridan town house.


    As pleased as she was surprised, Regina had to ask: “How long have you been working on this song, Artem?”


    Artem proudly responded: “Every day since I heard of your engagement request to me!”


    “Oh?!” Regina cried, despite herself. “But it has already been a month since I asked my family to change my engagement partner from the Crown Prince to you! Did you really spend all that time on a song for me?”


    “Of course I did,” Artem said, even as a blush began to bloom on his fair cheeks. “How else could I thank you for actually choosing me?”


    The unexpected poignancy of Artem’s words stopped Regina in her tracks, before he gently led her to dance once more.


    “Is that why you like me so much?” Regina asked, her eyes suddenly darting all over Artem’s flushed face. “Because I chose you even though I could have married your brother and become –”


    Well, not queen, since any engagement to Prince Aaron would have ended with her dead – but it was not as though Artem knew differently.


    “I love – not merely like – you for many reasons,” Artem said, even as his warm blue eyes met Regina and sent a thrill down her spine. “I love you because you are strong and bold and firm and decisive and always know what to do in every situation.”


    Regina, who had just spent the day making a fool of herself as she had attempted to dodge death at every turn, awkwardly laughed.


    “So,” she said, flustered by both Artem’s sincerity and misunderstanding of her, “my choosing you has nothing to do with how much you love me?”


    Artem’s face was as flushed as ever – but suddenly, his gaze were far more heated than before – and his face closer than ever as his shining brooches migrated down and gently parted her voluminous skirt, allowing him to pull her closer.


    “My sweet sea urchin,” Artem whispered as Regina’s cheeks went flaming red. “To be chosen by you is the deepest pleasure in all the world – and I want to repay you in every way possible.”


    For a moment, Regina was tempted to set aside her caution, set aside her propriety, even set aside her constant anxiety and fear – to simply give herself up to this shimmering moment and lean into Artem and –


    Then she heard a very heavy cough come from the crowd – more specifically, from Robin Buren, who coughed a bit more before he discreetly gestured at the enormous crowd of nobles staring at her…


    The enormous crowd of nobles who were obviously Regina up to see any weakness in her social armor --


    And who would not hesitate to take advantage of any mistakes she might make.


    “I take payment in both cash and credit,” Regina ended up babbling, even as she asserted her self-control and her skirts to brush Artem father away. “What is your preferred method?”


    Artem’s hang-dog look spoke volumes in return, although he smiled bravely after a few minutes.


    “Usually I just pick something out from the Alpin treasure room and transform it into jewelry as needed,” Artem said. “So if it is payment you need, I will repay you when we have as soon as we have a private moment. Though perhaps…”


    Artem smiled so sweetly that Regina wanted to pummel Robin Buren for his interruption of their sweet moment, even if he meant it kindly.


    “Perhaps we can even share other things?”


    Regina stared at Artem’s incredibly soft, delicate, beautifully-shaped lips and promised, “Yes – as soon as we are not surrounded by the most powerful nobles in the entire kingdom.”


    …That was when Regina realized she had never wondered why those very same people were here.


    After all – she suddenly wondered as she and Artem continued to dance – why would the most powerful dukes and marquesses from territories all over Carcosa come to the capital city to witness the engagement of a second prince?


    It made sense that the Dukes Neville, Buren, and Kuzey would travel from their far-away home territories to witness the engagement and then wedding of Crown Prince Aaron Alpin – after all, he was to be their next king and his bride their next queen. It made perfect political sense for them to want to be present for such events.


    Yet why would actual dukes and marquesses care about Artem’s marriage? He was just a second prince that absolutely no one considered a serious contender for the throne or other forms of political power… at least so far. So the most prominent noble families of Carcosa – the Nevilles, Burens, Kuzeys, Poissons, and La Belles – could easily have sent mere representatives instead of their heads.


    What made actual powerful dukes and marquesses and other nobles come flocking to the capital for Artem’s engagement…?


    Yet before Regina could ponder on this question for much longer, she found the music winding down and the dance ending. Blinking hard, she saw Artem take several steps back from her and deeply bow – which reminded her to gracelessly curtsy.


    Then, to Regina’s surprise, Artem slipped his hand into his trouser’s pockets and took out a delicate velvet box…


    “Lady Regina Sheridan,” he said, his formal tone undercut by his sweetly blushing face, “will you do me the honor of exchanging engagement rings with me?”


    Which he opened to reveal a ring… a lovely golden band studded with precious stones that was perfectly suited to Regina’s more delicate tastes.


    “Of course,” Regina said, suddenly feeling a rush of warmth overtake her again, overcoming her past fears. “I will cherish your ring forever.”


    “Just as I will cherish yours,” Artem said – and with his words, so sweetly meant, Regina suddenly realized that she had forgotten to bring his ring with her.


    In fact, Regina did not have anything that could serve as his present, though a present always needed to be exchanged – privately or at a ceremony – to mark an engagement accepted by both parties.


    Her parents had brought an elaborate ring for Artem to suit his tastes – but Regina had left that on her dresser table as she had rushed about to avoid her murder… and she had no brooch or watch or tie-pin or gem-studded cravat to give in its place.


    Even as Regina watched Artem’s hopeful smile begin to falter as no present of any kind appeared, she wanted to slap herself for her own stupidity.


    ‘How could I left his engagement gift behind?’ she internally howled. ‘Not only is Artem hurt by my thoughtlessness, his family will be upset by this snub and… and by the blood, what will my own family do now that I have humiliated them?!’


    Yet before Regina could make a hasty plan to tear into her skirt and fashion an impromptu cravat to give to Artem as a wedding present – her homemade gift might make him happy, even if her family killed her for being an idiot afterwards – she saw Artem’s face change as he winked.


    Then he gently placed his beautiful present on Regina’s ring finger…


    Even as Regina realized her other hand – once clasped in Artem’s own – now held something… heavy.


    Slowly, Regina turned her hand over, opened her fingers –


    And almost dropped the engagement ring in it before Artem held her hand steady once more.


    “This is,” Regina said, staring at the object that was now going to serve as Artem’s engagement present, “the largest and shiniest ring I have ever seen.”


    “I will never take it off for the rest of my life,” Artem vowed, even as he extended his hands out so that Regina could slip on his new engagement ring.


    As she did so, she stared at Artem’s face, which seemed paler than before but otherwise unchanged.


    ‘How,’ Regina wondered, ‘can Artem look so calm after creating this enormous ring at a moment’s notice? Magic this powerful and instantaneous always carries a physical cost. Yet he looks nearly unchanged.’


    A sudden question darted through Regina’s mind.


    “Artem,” she murmured despite herself, “just how powerful are you anyway?”


    Artem just blinked and cocked his head, looking adorably confused.


    “Excuse me?” he said sweetly.


    Yet remembering just how many eyes were on them, Regina decided to smile at her fiance –


    Her handsome, charming, kind-hearted fiance… who might have more than a few surprises up his sleeve.


    “Never mind,” she said, and let herself relax in Artem’s arms before she smiled more sincerely. “I have no more questions except this –”


    Laughing, she asked: “My dearest Artem, will you dance with me?”