-A Royal Food Fight

(Caroline's POV)

"Will you be my queen?" Were the words that fell out of his mouth. They rung in my head over and over as I stood frozen in my spot, unmoving. What do I say? How do I respond to this? My misery quickly ends when Stephan speaks up first. Although, it's not the words I would have chosen.

"She's going to become my wife." Stephan said putting his hand around my waist, snapping me out of my trance.

"Um, no." I began removing his hand. "I'm running against my will, in a competition, with a whole bunch of petty princesses, to try to become your wife." I snap unintentionally.

"Well when you put it like that it sounds bad." He said quietly.

I roll my eyes and continue to speak. "Not to sound rude or anything, but why?" I ask curiously.

"Well, as you know already, I am old enough to take my spot as king. I would like to have my kingdom under my control as soon as possible. But, I can't unless I have a queen. You know... with the whole having to balance power and stuff." Gabriel says nervously. "Don't worry! This will be temporary, unless it does become permanent..." He trails off. Did he just imply we might fall in love? Am I hearing things now?

"So, let me get this straight. You want me as a temporary fill in for a queen you do not have yet because you want to rule over your kingdom?" I query.

"Yes...." He says sounding a little unsure of what I might say next.

"OF COURSE I'LL DO IT!" I shriek in excitement jumping into my best friends arms. "It'll give me something more productive to do instead of wondering around bored all the time." I say happily.

"But Caroline, what about the competition? Surely in order to run a kingdom you have to be in it. You can't just leave to run another kingdom." Stephan says, shooting a glare towards Gabriel.

"Ok, first of all, I can run his kingdom from the comfort of my own. Second, if I did have to leave, I wouldn't even really care. And finally, why do you care? Its not like we're married." I say getting a little defensive.

"Fine, you win. Do as you please." He says and turns around to walk away.

"I will." I retort before he was out of ear shot. I turn to Gabriel and smile. "Sorry for Mr. Grumpy Pants." I apologize.

"No worries. Is he always like that?" He asked, amusement laced in his voice.

"Only on the weekdays." I joke.

"Ah, I see." He says chuckling.

"Have you seen my parents yet?" I ask.

"Yes, I did. I spoke to them before I came to find you. Still as nice as I remember. Its refreshing after spending years with generals screaming in your face." He said smiling.

"Did you tell them about you asking me to be your 'temporary queen'?" I asked using air quotes.

"Yes, I did. You mom jumped at the idea and said I can ask you. Your dad on the other hand, he looked like he was ready to call all of his armies and tell them to throw me in the dungeon, and leave me there to die slowly." He said laughing a little.

"Dads, am I right?" I joke and notice that Gabriel had stopped laughing and began look a little sad. So I did what any good friend would do and 'accidentally' poured chocolate on him.

I mean, come on. We did it all the time growing up. Plus there was a chocolate fountain right next to us.
But it did seem to cheer him up because he let out a big laugh and wiped the chocolate from his eyes so he could see.

"Its on Mayers!" He said with a determined look on his face.

Soon enough, my chocolate brown hair was literally chocolate hair now. I retaliated by cupping my hands in the chocolate fountain, letting it fill up, and launching the small pool of chocolate right onto his perfect suit. After Gabe threw a chocolate covered strawberry and I managed to dodge it, it landed in one of the princesses perfectly curled, blonde hair.

It quickly ended up in a full on chocolate fight between all of the younger princes and princesses, while the adults had quickly retreated to the edge of the Ballroom trying not to mess up their dresses and suits. Some adults had scowls on their faces while others had looks of amusement. It ended up being two teams. The Princes vs. The Princesses. We had each taken our own side of the Ballroom, not only throwing chocolate covered goods anymore, but food as well. I even saw the huge turkey that was the main course of the meal, take flight across the room.

My parents are not going to be happy...

-----

"I EXPECT BETTER FROM YOU TWO!" My mom shouted.

When everything started to get a little out of control and parents started to leave, pulling their children out of the heated battle. Soon enough everyone was gone but Gabriel, Stephan, Michel, and me. My parents were currently shouting at me and Gabe while we stood there covered in chocolate and the meal that was on the table. Stephan and Michel were a little bit further away, their parents also having a go at them.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" My dad asked in a scary calm voice.

"Sorry." We both mumbled looking at our feet.

"Good, now Caroline, Prince Michel had a proposal for you, but never got a chance to say in front of everyone so instead we will hold a ceremony tomorrow were he will do it there. You will attend. Once you have cleaned up, I will be upstairs to talk to you." She said sternly sending me a slight glare.

"Yes mother." I mumble still looking at my feet.

"Now, as for you Prince Gabriel, I should inform your aunt and uncle about this but since you are technically a king now I won't." My mother said.

"We expect you have learnt your lesson now. Do it again an you will be responsible for cleaning up the mess yourself. You are dismissed." My dad said and we quickly hurried off to our rooms.

By the time I had left the Ballroom it was safe for me the travel around the castle because all of the chocolate had hardened and all of the food that wasn't going to stick had fallen off. But I still was very careful when walking. The part of my dress that would normally drag behind me was now in my hands. When I walked in my room Celeste was already there, mouth and eyes wide open in shock.

"I didn't know it was that bad." She said still in shock.

"Chocolate Wars like old times." I said smiling.

"He's only been back for a day and everything's already back to normal." She said shaking her head with a slight smile.

Well... not everything....