"Princess y/n, your father is waiting for you in the ballroom" your butler calls from the doorway
The night was about to start and you couldn't afford to be late unless you'd want your father to give you an ear full the next morning
"I'll be out in a moment."
You answer back with a small smile, he nods and leaves shortly after
You let out a small sigh before putting on your mask for the masquerade ball, and some jewels from your jewelry box, one of these jewels were a silver necklace with a black diamond attached to it's end
With one last look at the mirror, you saw yourself dressed in your gown, with your feathered mask and jewels for a final touch. And with that your good to go
Sat on a throne beside your father, you lean against the palm of your hand as you take in the sight before you, music came to your ears as the musicians played their instruments with expertise, and the nobles mingling with each other with glasses in their hands while others keep to themselves in the sidelines, with a few guards here and there
Nothing out of the ordinary, just another boring party your father insisted you had to attend
you continue your observations to fight through your boredom and something catches your eye.....
*Someone* catches your eye, a tall figure amongst the crowd surrounded by young women, his hair was a light brown and behind his mask were eyes with a striking emerald hew, you stare at him with intrigue
You try to remember if you've met him before, but you couldn't recall, but he still seemed familiar. Leaning to your right you whisper to your father
"who's that over there father?" You pointed to the masked man
"oh? He's a grand duke from the neighboring kingdom, he's the one who gifted you that necklace"
You trace the silver along your neck as you keep your eyes on the man still staring a little too much
Your father chuckles as he sees the expression of awe in your face, but you didn't mind him and just kept looking at the man as if in a trance
"I see he caught your eye, why don't I call him over-" your father implies as he was about to wave a servant over
You cut him off as you roll your eyes and take a glass from the servers tray beside you and take a sip, your eyes now focused else where
But you find yourself looking back at the man you saw before, dressed in his black suit with a broach on his chest
Before you knew it he looked back at you sharing your gaze, his lips curl into a smile revealing his dimples, and you couldn't help but look away from embarrassment
You could feel his eyes still on you as you try to pretend you weren't just staring, but you both know it wasn't working
You try to distract yourself again with your thoughts instead, thinking of your studies or the garden just outside the window and you succeeded but failed to notice the figure who now stood Infront of you
"Princess y/n," you heard an unfamiliar voice "I don't think we've met formally." He gently smiled in your direction, dimples on either side of his cheeks
breaking out of your daydream you look up at the figure you tried to avoid, he was looked even better up close with his youth shining through his mask, you cleared your throat to gather yourself and stood up
"Correct," he leaned forward to take your hand and kissed the back of it oh so gently, "I came from the kingdom of Deneva up north im here for official bussiness,"
Talking about politics was a bit of putting but he was still good with holding a conversation you even laughed at his jokes here and there, everything was going smoothly not until you could saw him smirk a little as his eyes trail down to your chest
You shyly put a hand over your chest to shield from his wandering eyes you were about to tell him off but,
"I see the letters and gifts I've sent reached you"
You could feel your cheeks tint as you forgot he gifted your necklace to you, He chuckled at the gesture like he didn't mean to, but he still looked at you with a little seductive gaze making your the tints in your cheeks darker
Your father croaked gaining your and Liam's attention to him,
"I see you two are getting along nicely," he grinned, clearly pleased from the interaction
"why don't you two dance together, I think you would make I wonderful pair" his grin grew only bigger and it made you want to choke him
"Father I'm not-" "Seems fine with me." Liam said interrupting you, "that is, if you'd take me as your partner?" He held out his hand to you, his eyes almost pleading for you to say yes,
But who are you to resist?
You smiled at him but his smile was even bigger when you took his hand
Your father jumped up his seat chuckling at the sight and made an announcement
"Everyone please settle down!" The crowd soon fell quiet awaiting for the kings speech, the music seemed to be put to a stop as well
"Make way for the princess and grand duke!"
The crowd follows with an applause, and your father giving instructions to the servant beside him
"Well?" Liam tilted his head toward the center of the room coaxing you to follow, you simply nod and begin making your way
The crowd waits in anticipation watching as both of you take stance at the center, the servant passes on the messages of the king to the musicians and soon music began to fill the room again
With your hand on his shoulder, and his arm around your waist you start to gracefully sway to the music, but your partner seemed a little tense
Liam was focused and followed your movements closely but he stepped on your foot
"Ow!" You cry out "Sorry sorry! I'm just a little rusty!" He nervously laughs, but agitation lingers on his voice when he spoke
"it's fine here, just carefully-" you move your hand to his lower back to guide him better but you feel something odd
His arm quickly grabs yours, the sudden force shocks you and so does the crowd you could hear them start whispering to each one another
"Apologies, I didn't mena to hurt you." You gulp as you place your hand back on his shoulder and try again, but after a while he steps on your other foot, "Ow!"
"Well, this isn't going well." Liam's eyes drop as the agitation in his voice becomes more prominent
"We can still-" you try to distract him, but it doesn't seem to work
he pulls you in closer until you chests were pressed together with no room for extra movement "what are you- Liam let go!" You struggle I'm his hold starting to feel a little agitated yourself but you couldn't push him away
You hear your father cry out in pain as you witness a servant stab your father with a knife right on his chest the cold steel deep in him, guards no where in sight
"Father!" You cry out trying harder to get out of Liam's grip to no avail, people panicking and starting to scream
"I think I'm done dancing." Liam sighs and pulls out a gun from his lower back and aim it at the ceiling shooting three bullets in the sky
Everything falls silent, tears starting to well up in the corner of your eyes still trying hard to get away "Let go of me!!!" Your tears now falling your hands hitting on Liam's chest helplessly
You heard him chuckle, less gentle than the way he did before like he was mocking you
Taking his fingers to his lips he whistled and the glass windows broke all in unison shards of glass shattering in a million pieces unto the floor as pirates came flooding in
The nobles cry out in horror as each of them were bound to ropes and sacked on the head you could only watch it from a far unable to do anything
One last time you resist Liam's hold, this time bearing your teeth and nails clawing at his arm around your waist and he lets go crying out profanities
You try to run but Liam grabbed your wrist, the pressure making you wince
"Oh your not going anywhere, Princess" his voice low and threatening
He takes off his mask and now you see it, the king of the seas the most wanted pirate in the entire kingdom. Damon.
