Rage and anxiety perfectly described the prince of Pègre as he and his sisters walked arm-in-arm into the grand ballroom of the Soleil castle. He was trying his hardest to stay calm for Bianca's sake. He didn't want to upset his sister. It was proving difficult when he noticed the rest of the girls who were trying to win Prince William's hand.

Bianca and Hazel are better than all of these girls - Nico thought to himself. There was no way William would want to pick anyone but Nico's sisters as the others looked either a. slutty, b. scary or c. scared.

Nico was really starting to panic now.

Noticing his angry twitching, Hazel asked him what's wrong. "It's nothing, Hazel, don't worry." was his reply. He followed it by a pretty convincing yet undeniably fake smile. Hazel decided not to push him any further.

The guests were all stood around, waiting for Prince William to make his appearance. Nico was getting anxious to meet this guy. He wanted to see what his sisters might be getting into.

Finally, after around an hour of waiting, the prince finally made an appearance. And it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Nico was astounded.

He was announced then the doors were opened and the prince entered the ballroom. He was dressed in a deep blue which emphasised the bright colours in his eyes. His expertly crafted silver crown sat atop his perfect golden curls, his head held high to make sure it didn't slip.

Nico had not accounted for feeling this way towards the prince. He couldn't hate him. How could anyone possibly hate Prince William?

Nico shook himself out of his little trance. Maybe he couldn't stop his feelings, but he could hide them. Nico was very good at that.

When the time came for the princesses to introduce themselves to the young prince, Nico linked arms with his sisters and walked with them into the line of other possible brides. Nico stood next to them as they waited for the prince to head down the line towards them.

Princess after princess was introduced until finally it was Hazel's turn. She was introduced and she curtsied, a soft blush on her face.

The prince barely noticed her. Nico was torn between being angry or feeling relieved.

Then it was Bianca's turn. She introduced herself and curtsied to the prince. Will seemed to be paying a lot more attention to Bianca than he had the other princesses.

After what seemed like an eternity, William looked over at Nico. He stare at the younger boy for a while before speaking. "What is your name, boy?" He asked. His voice was beautiful. It was filled with authority and it took a lot out of Nico to not swoon over the boy.

Instead, he turned all his feelings into anger.

"Don't talk to me like I am a peasant! I don't live in your kingdom, you are not my Crown Prince and you definitely cannot tell me what to do!" Nico snapped. "I am Nico di Angelo, Crown Prince of Pègre, younger brother to Princess Bianca and older brother of Princess Hazel."

Nico watched the prince's mask slip for a second to reveal a face of hurt before he righted himself.

"Ah Prince Will. I see you've met my son, Nico. I do apologise for him. He is quite reluctant to let his sisters go. Don't listen to his though, he won't do anything to you if you decide to marry one of my daughters." Just when things couldn't get worse, Hades interrupted. Great - Nico thought and rolled his eyes.

Prince Will nodded before moving on. Nico didn't bother seeing where the boy went. He took his sisters by the arm and led them away from the other guests.

"You don't actually want to marry that boy do you?" Nico asked his sisters. They shook their heads and Nico let out a relieved sigh.

"But you know that if he picks one of us, we'll have to marry him?" Bianca said and Nico nodded solemnly.

After a while of the siblings just standing in a corner, ignoring everyone else and just talking to each other Bianca and Hazel walked off together, Nico just behind.

Just Nico's luck, they bumped into Prince Will.

Will started talking to Bianca, barely even looking at Nico and Hazel.

After a while, Nico couldn't take it anymore. He interrupted Bianca and Will's conversation by stepping in front of B and getting in the prince's face. "My dad's not here to hold me back now, pretty boy. Just know that I do not make false threats. If you pick B or Hazel as your bride, prepare yourself for a world of hell!" After that, he turned on his heels and stormed off, taking his sisters with him.

**********

a/n
sorry for the wait between chapters. I would make some lame excuse about being busy or whatever but the truth is I have just been too lazy to write.

I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter than the others but I hope you enjoy it.

vote/comment

thank you
~Em