I rubbed my eyes aggressively. I still felt slightly fatigued but I needed to get up. The clock on the nightstand read 7:08. I slid myself out from under the covers. My feet rubbed the fuzzy hotel carpet. I wondered if the royals had any carpet or if it was all tile and hard wood, maybe they had rugs. Regardless, I had to get up. I grabbed my sweatshirt again and the room key.
"Where are you going?" I heard a whisper in the dark.
"To get coffee?" I answered. I wasn't sure if it was Savannah or Michelle.
"Can I come with you?" I think it was Michelle, it sounded like it was coming from her side of the room.
"Sure." A figure moved in the other bed, it was Michelle. I pulled my zip up on and cuddled in close. We quietly left the room. "Are you excited for tonight?" I nodded.
"I guess. More nervous I think."
"Why?" I looked at her.
"This is a big deal." She nodded a little.
"I know you probably don't want to talk about it anymore but I just have to tell you, Autumn, I haven't," she stumbled for words. "You haven't been so intrigued by someone in a long and you didn't even look at Erik the way you look at Prince William. I mean you two have riveting conversations that you two seem to be the only ones that understand. You have a lot in common."
"But we also have a lot, not in common." I pointed out. We made our way into the breakfast hall. We got coffee first.
"I'm aware but those things aren't as big as you think they are." I laughed.
"Do tell."
"Good morning girls." We looked over our shoulders, it was Pam.
"Morning Pam."
"Surprised you're up so early."
"Busy day." Michelle smiled. I leaned in close.
"The Prince invited the four of us to the royal Christmas ball." Pam smiled brightly at us.
"She knows about him?" Michelle snapped her head to me.
"I told her when she came and got me from the dance studio. My little melt down was partly about him." I trusted Pam with everything really.
"Oh perfect!" She looked at Pam. "Then can you please tell Autumn that if she wants to be with him, to be with him."
"It's not like that." I said before Pam could speak. Pam grabbed my hand.
"You know I can't tell you want to do, but I can advise you to listen to your heart, and your friends. The world is full of endless possibilities, don't shy away from them because you don't think you're good enough. Always try, and if you fail, at least you can say, 'I did my best and I tried'." Pam always gave the best advice and knew just what to say. I nodded. She squeezed my hand. "Have fun girls." Pam walked out of the dinning hall with her coffee.
"Wow." Michelle paused. "Does she always give that great of advice?" I laughed.
"Yes, yes she does." We scooted down the line. I grabbed a bowl of eggs and I put cheese on top and mixed them. The warmth of the eggs started to melt the cheese. Michelle grabbed a yogurt and we sat down.
"As I was saying before, those differences you find so big, really aren't in the grand scheme of things."
"I have to disagree but prove me wrong." She stirred her yogurt, I'm not sure why it was just vanilla but she always did it.
"The distance thing, you could move here, or he has the option of, what's the word? Abdication!" I took a bite of my eggs. "If he has feelings for you he has the right to be with who he wants, the law can't dictate who you love, too much. So what you don't have money, he does and if you're together you'll share it."
"Michelle, I appreciate the sentiment but I just, I can't. I can't ask him to do any of those things."
"Why not?"
"Because, we are not a guaranteed forever thing, even if married." Michelle sighed. I felt like I failed and destroyed her. "I'll tell you this, I will enjoy my time with him while we're here today. Okay? Tomorrow we just get back on a plane and go home. If he can find me in a hotel, he can find me in California too, if it's really supposed to me." She smiled softly.
"I like that." I nodded.

We trooped back up stairs to the room. Savannah was up and watching tv, not quietly either. Vanessa was out!
"How was breakfast?" She muted the tv.
"Good." I handed her a milk and a single serve cereal bowl, Frosted Flakes. Her favorite.
"Yes!" She ripped the top off like a kid.
"No!" She looked at me. "You are not about to make a mess in our bed." Savannah acted as if this was such an imposition. I rolled my eyes at her as she scooted off the bed. She made herself at home on the desk so I crawled back into bed.
"I don't make a mess." She mumbled under her breath.
"You spilled wine on your shirt last night." I looked at her.
"I don't remember that." She acted as if it never happened.
"Well your shirt sure does." Michelle and I giggled.
"What are you watching?" Michelle changed the subject.
"How to make a Prince fall in love with me." She joked.
"Then I'd suggest watching Autumn and not the TV."
"Ohh that's good." Savannah pointed her white, plastic spoon at her.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny."
"We only joke because we love you." Michelle crawled into my bed and locked me in a hug.
"No you don't, you love to make fun of me!"
"You just made fun of me!" Savannah cried.
"I'm a hypocrite, what can I say?" I laughed as Michelle pulled me over. "We should climb into bed with Vanessa and see how long it takes her to wake up."
"You know she's going to kill us, it's not even 9 am and she's going to claim she needs her beauty sleep for the ball." Savannah now pointed her spoon at me. Michelle and I still laid there wrapped up together.
"Yeah, yeah." I tried to wave my hand in dismissal.

We bummed around the hotel for the next few hours. All of us decided it'd be best to take a shower before tonight. We were all out and done by 1. By about 1:30-2 we started packing up all our makeup and hair products we brought with us. Luckily Michelle was a chronic makeup hoarder and packed far too much of it almost every trip. I'm sure the team at the castle had some things but we liked our own stuff. We all had on jeans and a T-shirt. We got into the elevator, the door was almost close when a hand jotted in. The doors opened again. Hannah walked on. She looked at all of us and the bag.
"What are you guys going?" Her attitude was wearing on my nerves, more than usual.
"A picnic in the park." I answered quickly. She wrinkled her nose.
"Boring." Someone flicked my arm behind me.
"Yeah well, that's we wanted to do today." She rolled her eyes and walked out when the doors opened again. I huffed. Once Hannah was ear shot Savannah hit me.
"Why did you do that? We could have totally bragged about going to the ball at the castle with the Prince!"
"And if all the other girls found out? Do you know the drama it was cause? Four of the 14 girl troop gets invited to a ball at the castle. Strange?" She stared at me for a moment.
"Okay, yeah, I get it." We huddled just inside the hotel lobby doors. The snow outside looked appealing.
"I'm going outside." I told them. I sat anxiously on the bench outside the hotel. I thought maybe the cold would calm my nervous but it only seemed to make them worse. Someone sat down next to me.
"Why are you tapping your feet?"
"I'm nervous." I looked at Michelle.
"It's going to be okay." She assured me. "Remember, you promised to have fun and make the most of tonight." I nodded. "I hope you follow through with that. You deserve to have fun. You take care of us too much. We never take care of you." I smiled.
"That's just how our friendship goes, there is always a mom of the group, I'd be her."
"Well mom, your kids are old enough to not need a babysitter. Have fun. You really deserve it, and I think Prince William really enjoys your company."
"His isn't horrible." I looked up at the clean blue and white sky. "I'm going to miss this." Michelle sighed.
"Yeah, me too." We didn't talk for the rest of the time. We just stared up at the sky and waited for the limo.

We got to the castle and the limo driver let us out. He opened the door for us, I think he was the same one from yesterday. A tall, blonde lady stood at the door and waited for us. She didn't speak to us she just waved us to follow her. The castle looked so beautiful. I took in all the paintings, vases, and other things we passed on the way. I wanted to touch them all but I'm sure they were worth more than everything I owned, combined.
"This place is beautiful." Vanessa whispered. I nodded. I couldn't even form word to describe these pieces. I'd like to think I have a broad vocabulary but none of the words I knew seemed good enough for any of it. Maybe the trash can, but that's about it. Even that was beautiful. It was about knee high and had golden flordias hand painted on it. That was prettier that me! We got to the room and 4 girls stood inside. Our dresses hung on a rack in their bags. I set the duffle down, my shoulder hurt from caring so much stuff. Our names were at each table that ladies stood at, we got our own hair and makeup person. I felt famous. The women with my name was very beautiful, her hair was short with bouncy, black curls. Freckles sprinkled over her nose and her eyes were a piercing blue. I walked over to the table.
"I'm Grace, it's nice to meet you Autumn."
"You too." I sat down in the chair. "Oh, that bag has my makeup in it. Do you want it?" She nodded. I grabbed everything that was mine and brought it back to Grace.
"Show me a picture of what you're going for." I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket and started to google pictures.

After long hair and makeup sessions that felt like a blink of an eyes and a few snack breaks, it was finally time to make our way to the ball room. The four of us looked incredible.
"Can I bother you for a picture of all of us?" Savannah asked her stylist.
"I'd love to." She had an accent but it wasn't English, it was a New York or Philadelphia accent. It was cool that had someone from the States working here. The four of us huddled in close and smiled. She took a few pictures and handed Savannah back her phone.
"Alright, let's go!" Vanessa clapped. I just stared at the door.
"Are you going?" Savannah whispered.
"Should we even be going?" I turned to face them. "I mean we are at a royal event because I ran into Prince William in a tea cafe on accident. I mean we have known him for a dot of a second."
"He really makes you nervous, doesn't he?" Michelle looked at me.
"It's not him, he's the prince of a country. There are proper rules and etiquettes to follow and he just lets me break half of them. Let's us break them. We don't have to curtsy, he insists on Hayes instead of Prince William, he invited 4 American dancers to a royal ball. I mean what is happening?!" I panicked.
"Why do you always have to over think it?" Vanessa put her hands on her hips. "We are only going to do this once. They will have another balls, he will meet other Americans. We will only get this one ball and we are only going to meet one Prince. Take the opportunities given to you and run with them Autumn. You're luckier than most girls I know." I drew in a deep breath. "You know I'm right." She assured me. My shoulders relaxed and I laughed.
"Plus, you look hot in that dress. I mean I'm feeling a type of way for you." I playfully pushed Savannah.
"Shut up." We all laughed. "Okay, let's go." I opened the door and we all made our way down the hall to the ball room. The ball room looked beautiful. There was a touch of Christmas all over but in very elegant taste. I think the most beautiful part we're all the people inside.
"We're going to wander." Michelle squeezed my arm. I watched them walk away. I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. My senses were overwhelmed.
"Hello." I looked to my left at Prince Hayes and smiled. "You look," he paused. "ravishing." Hayes whispered breathlessly. I curtsied.
"Thank you." I glanced him over. "You don't look so bad yourself, your highness." A soft smile spread on his face. My eyes wandered around the room. "I am so out of my comfort zone here."
"I think you will do just find, Autumn."
"You have to say that, you have to justify your decision to invite me and my lunatic friends." Hayes softly shook his head.
"No, I truly believe that." I felt my face grow warm. Not that he could see my blush under all of this makeup. "I am worried about your friends though." I looked behind me to see all three of them tightly linked together like they were when I got lost.
"Yeah, they worry me too." I smiled at them. They all waved at us.
"Do you want to meet my parents?" My eyes widened. "It's not as bad as you'd think."
"You know them, of course it's not that bad." Hayes laughed.
"Come on." He linked his arm with mine and guided me towards the King and Queen. They stood alone with each other towards a corner of them room. "Mother, Father, this is Miss Autumn Leon. Autumn, this is King William and Queen Rachel." They bowed their heads to me.
"Hello your majesties." I curtsied.
"Wow, you said hello instead of hi and curtsied, I'm impressed." I glanced over at Prince Hayes.
"I know how to use google." He smiled at me. I quickly looked down at my shoes and back up at the King and Queen.
"Pleasure to meet you." Queen Rachel smiled.
"The pleasure is all mine." I felt like I was in a dream. The King gestured to the side.
"Walk with me Autumn." I widened my eyes a little. I hesitated, looking for the right words. 'Um, sure' and 'yeah, okay', we're not the right words. I glanced at Hayes. He didn't seemed phased by this in the slightest.
"Of course." We headed towards the outskirts of the room. He walked with his hands behind his back like Prince Hayes often does.
"Prince William talks about you quite often." He shared his sons secret with me.
"I'm flattered." I smiled.
"I do have to admit, I had my reservation about inviting people we didn't know to the ball but Prince William insisted." My heart knocked at my throat. I felt even more out of place now. "Im glad he did, you and your friend are quite extraordinary." A wave of relief washed over me.
"Thank you, sir."
"I hope you know, Prince William thinks very highly of you." I nodded. "I can see why too." I smiled. The King was a very rich man. Not in wealth but in personality and heart. I could see where Hayes got it from.
"If we're sharing secrets I have to confess I was horribly terrified of coming tonight, not only because my friends," I gestured to them. "could get out of hand but because I didn't think I'd fit in or be welcomed." I drew in a deep breath. "I have found that, that is not the case." King William smiled.
"The royal family of Baltaver welcomes you and your friends to our home. Also, if I might add, you fit in splendidly." Those words gave me a feeling I hadn't felt in forever. That feeling of finally putting the last piece of the puzzle into place. A feeling of completion and satisfaction. My heart and face felt warm.
"Thank you." I said softly. He nodded.
"I heard you met William in the tea shop."
"Sort of, it was an accident."
"An accident?"
"I was lost, that's all."
"It's okay to be lost, as long as you stay true to yourself on the journey."
"I, I was just physically lost." I stuttered a little.
"I think you're more than physically lost, Miss Leon. I also think that Prince William might be with you." I looked at King William.
"What do you mean?" He leaned in closer.
"In due time, my dear, in due time." He spoke softly. King William straightened himself out and gave a small nod. I followed his gaze, he was looking at Prince Hayes. Hayes gave me a soft smile. I returned the gesture. "Tell me Autumn, how long are you here for?"
"We leave tomorrow after noon."
"Tomorrow. That's so soon." I nodded a little.
"Yes. A little too soon."
"Why do you say that?" We still continued to walk around the room. My eyes never left Prince Hayes.
"I just don't think I've seen all the parts of Baltaver that I've wanted to see yet." I looked back to the king.
"You can always come back." I smiled at him. This visit to Baltaver was a once in a life time thing. I could never afford to come back. A slow ballad started to play. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a beautiful wife to ask to dance." I smiled as I watched the King make his way to his wife. Even after years of marriage he still had a profound love for his wife, I hoped for that one day.
"You must be new here." I heard a rich English voice from behind me. I slowly turned to face a guy about my height. He wore a flat black tux with slicked back hair.
"Uh," was all I could manage to stay. "Yes." I finally got out.
"Well, pleasure to meet you. Can I get a name?" I went touch my hair but stopped, I knew better, Vanessa would yell at me.
"Autumn. Autumn Leon."
"I'm Count Edward Winterhaven."
"Oh!" I sightly recognized the name. The last name for sure but I thought Hayes mentioned an Edward. "So how are you related to Prince William?" His face melted from a smolder to an annoyance.
"He's my cousin." He almost snarled. Now I remember, they used to go to that Deli together when they were kids.
"Whats wrong with Prince William?" I felt like I was walking on eggshells.
"Edward." I heard Hayes behind me. My anxiety seemed to have sweat itself out.
"William." Edward gave a plastic smile.
"I see you've meet Autumn."
"Yes, how unfortunate for me." I gritted my teeth.
"Edward-" Hayes started.
"Please, no. I have no time for you or this whores antics."
"Maybe you should bite your tongue." I snarled.
"Maybe you should mind you manners to royalty." I huffed. Unfortunately, he was right. I was out of line for talking to a Royal in such a manner. I bowed my head a little.
"Maybe you should bite your tongue, clean off preferably." I smiled smugly. Hayes stood strongly behind me.
"Smitten with the help, are you William?"
"I'm not the help." I hissed a little.
"Oh my mistake." He mocked. "They usually hire American as the help since they aren't nearly as intelligent." I gritted my teeth.
"I think this is the moment in which you bite your tongue clean off." I said between my teeth. Count Edward scrunched his face.
"You're quite rude."
"Look at the kettle calling the pot black." Hayes defended me. I couldn't help but smile. Edwards body stiffened.
"Your highness." The Queen stood behind Prince Hayes. I curtsied.
"Edward," she sounded unpleasant. "William, would you please entertain yourselves. I need to borrow Miss Leon." My eyes widened. I hadn't noticed the slowly song change into more of a socializing song. We walked into another corner of the room. "I hope my husband didn't scare you too much." I shook my head a little.
"Oh, no." She smiled softly at me. "He's nice."
"It's nice to finally meet you Autumn. My son talks a lot and very highly of you." I smiled.
"I've heard."
"He's never been very spontaneous or diligent with someone." She spoke clearly. "It's nice to see him want something, someone again."
"With all do respect your highness, I think we're just friends." I said softly. She gave me a very motherly smile.
"You may think so my dear, but I know differently." I tired to avoid from biting my lower lip right now.
"How so?"
"That's a secret for me to know." She whispered.
"But I live in California and he is a Prince," I babbled on. The Queen grabbed both my hands in her.
"Fairytales may not come true, but dreams do and with that anything is possible." Her voice was soft but her words strongly impacted me.
"Anything?" I repeated.
"Anything." She agreed. Suddenly the thought of the dress popped up in my mind.
"Can I ask you about this dress?" She glanced down.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I nodded.
"Yes, but why did you have it made?"
"There are some secrets about my son, I must keep to myself and let you discover for yourself." I smiled at her. The songs changed and another slow song came on. The Queen was beautiful and I sort of got lost in the moment between us. "I think someone would like to dance with you." She whispered. I looked over my shoulder to see Prince Hayes.
"Can I barrow her mother?" The Queen dropped my hands.
"Please do." She smiled at the two of us. Hayes offered me his hand, I graciously took it. We walked out to the dance floor and started to dance.
"I hope they weren't too hard on you." I smiled.
"No, not at all." I smiled up at Hayes. His eyes were warm and inviting. I glanced around the find my friends. The three of them were on the side and Count Edward was talking to Savannah, she seemed to be annoyed with him. "It seems that Count Edward has found the wrong girl again. 0 for 2. Guess he can't catch a break." Hayes laughed and followed my eyes.
"He's not very good with women." I looked back at him.
"And you are?" I joked a little. Prince Hayes's cheeks grew pink.
"Well, no. I don't try much, I guess."
"I think you do alright." I said softly. The corners of his mouth slowly turned up. I licked my lips softly. I wanted to kiss him but it wasn't appropriate. I dropped my gaze.
"It's a shame you leave tomorrow." I nodded.
"I wish I could stay, a little longer."
"That makes two of us." I smiled. Prince Hayes really could be charming, he might just be Prince Charming but still none the less a prince. The slow song was over and we walked to the edge of the dance floor. People stared at the two of us. "I hope you don't mind, but I do have to go socialize." I shook my head softly at Hayes.
"It's your job, I understand." He smiled.
"Wait for me?"
"I can't promise in this spot, but yes." Prince Hayes nodded and left my side.

I glanced around the room. Everyone was interacting with one another or gliding along the dance floor. I think this was the first time I felt like I was watching a performance and not partaking in one. I looked outside. The snow fell gently from the sky. Being from California I didn't see snow, I slowly made my way to the windows. A gazebo with Christmas lights sat in the back of the courtyard. I scooted to one of the employees standing around the room. She was the one who let us in earlier.
"Are there doors leading back there?" I pointed out side. The women looked at me.
"At the end of the room." She whispered and pointed towards the Christmas tree in the corner.
"Thank you." I smiled at her and made my way down the room. At the end, like she said were a set of doors that lead out to the snowy wonderland. I glanced back for a second. No one would miss me, they didn't even see me now. I slipped outside, the cold air engulfed me, it almost felt nice. The ball room was slightly warm with all the people inside. I stood just outside the doors and caught as many snowflakes in my hands. They were so beautiful and small and then they melted. I curled my hands together. Goosebumps started to form on my shoulders. They were the only thing, along with my face that was exposed to the cold air completely.
"Hello." I jumped and looked at Prince Hayes. "Sorry." He smiled.
"It's okay." I shook my head a little and look back out at the snow.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked softly. I drew in a breath.
"Well, it doesn't snow in California, so." He nodded.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" I looked at him. He looked at me fondly.
"Sure." I smiled shyly. He gestured to the path that headed to the gazebo.
"Earlier, you asked me about an antique shop. Why?" I looked at Hayes quickly but back out to the path. I clicked my tongue
"Uh, there's a picture of my mom, she's sitting outside a store that looks just like that one. On the back she wrote 'best place in the world'. I never thought much of it or really asked where it was from."
"Had she ever been to Baltaver?" I drew in a deep breath.
"She has never left the States to my knowledge."
"You should go in." I sighed. I wish I could.
"I leave tomorrow." I softly reminded him.
"Why didn't you say anything yesterday, we could have gone in." He paused. "Or today, you could have stopped in your way to the castle."
"For one, it's not really on the way." We sat down in the gazebo. It was beautiful. "I don't really talk about my mom." William shrugged of his jacket and handed it to me. "Oh, thank you." I slipped my arms in, still feeling his warmth.
"Why not?" I searched for words for a moment.
"I don't know much about her. My dad sometimes talks about her but he really misses her and sometimes I can't help but feel a small piece of him resents me because he lost her."
"It's not your fault." Hayes assured me.
"You have to be angry at someone and grief isn't a person." I played with the dress in my hands. "Sometimes Jenny talks about her but never when my dad's around." I looked at Hayes. "My boss actually was friends with my mom in high school. She told me a little about her earlier, but people have a hard time talking about her. I've been told she was one of the greatest people in the world."
"Well if it's any consolation, I've met her daughter, if they were anything alike, she was a wonderful person." I smiled softly at Prince Hayes. That was the biggest compliment a person could give me, my heart just soared. We were silent. The lights that hung from the outside of the gazebo seemed to sparkle.
"Do you always have lights up?" I pointed around at them.
"No, just at Christmas." We fell silent again. "Sometimes I catch my parents out here." His voice was so quiet I barely heard him.
"Doing what?" I whispered back.
"Dancing." He smiled.
"With no music?" Hayes shook his head.
"My father hums a lot, I'm sure he just hums something."
"Sometimes, that all it takes." I stared back in at the castle. I watched the people dancing twirl around on the floor. "It's like watching a moving painting."
"Sometimes it's nice to look from the outside in. You see things differently."
"I think we see the bigger picture and then the little pieces become more cherished because we've seen what a beautiful imagine it can create." Despite the cold, the air felt different between us, like the Christmas lights were glowing because of us, not for us.
"You make for really good company." Hayes said softly. I turned and smiled at him. I really enjoyed spending time with Prince William. He was very different from anyone I'd met before and not because of his title. "Come on, let's go back in, it's cold out."
"Just five more minutes?" He nodded with a smile.
"Fire more minutes."