Charmaine tapped her fingers impatiently against the arm of her chair. The ball had begun an hour ago and neither of her new playthings had made an appearance yet.

Couples swept across the floor, all shooting her nervous glances, wondering what else they could try to please their princess.

She was close to giving up when the double doors at the back of the ballroom opened once more, revealing Lord Lebroski and his children.

Selene had been right: Charmaine did like her outfit choice. Perhaps between them she and Selene could start a trend for doing away with corsets. She could already see a number of the young women in the ball room eyeing the two of them enviously; maybe breathing wasn't as overrated as she'd feared.

Charmaine smoothed down the folds of her own floaty sapphire and ebony gown as she got to her feet. Her eyes met Selene's across the ballroom for a second before Selene's flitted upwards, to her tiara. Charmaine smiled, climbed down from the dais and turned her attention to Helios. Without meeting Selene's gaze again, Charmaine stalked up to the family, the crowd parting for her like a sea. All three fell to the floor in low bows and Charmaine waited impatiently to pick themselves back up again.

"Your highness, please allow me to introduce myself and my family. I am Lord Lebroski. This is my son, Helios, and I believe you are already acquainted with my daughter, Selene."

"And your other son, too, Lord Lebroski," Charmaine replied with a smile. "I am disappointed that Elliot has once again avoided the ballroom. Maybe you can try to conjure him up for me for tomorrow night? In the meantime, I would love to be better acquainted with your son. Perhaps he would do me the honour of asking me to dance?"

There was a pause; none of the trio seemed to know quite what to say. Charmaine resisted the urge to take her focus off of Helios, who had turned as pale as the marble wall behind him. Lord Lebroski regained his composure first.

"Helios would be honoured, Princess." He gave Helios a sharp nudge in the back for good measure and his son stumbled forwards, only remembering at the last second to lift his arms to take Charmaine into hold.

Smiling, Charmaine let him lead her onto the dance floor. As with the previous evening, all eyes turned towards her and her partner. Helios was on the receiving end of more than a few hostile glares, but he was slowing starting to regain his composure. He straightened his posture and the hand he had placed on her back was firm, almost possessive. He made an attempt to lead the dance, but Charmaine put a swift end to his efforts by twirling them across the floor.

While they danced, Charmaine let her focus drift across the room. Last night's mysterious stranger still hadn't made an appearance. The ornate marble clock in the ballroom showed that it was nearly eleven. If he could only stay until twelve, he was running out of time to make an appearance.

"My sister gave me the every strong impression that you weren't interested in becoming better acquainted with me," Helios said at last, breaking the silence that had spread out between them.

"I'm not," Charmaine replied with a dazzling smile, meeting his eyes once more. Shock registered across them, and something that might have been pain. "But your sister needed to be put in her place and this was the most interesting way I could think of to do it."

"So I'm collateral damage?"

"Not entirely. Dancing with me is hardly going to hurt your prospects with the other young women in the room - you've just become the most desirable male partner in this place. You might want to sort out your jacket though. And your hair."

"So you're doing me a favour?" He didn't sound like he believed her. Good. Maybe he would prove to be a faster learner than his sister.

"Yes and I am hoping that you might do me one in return."

"How can I be of assistance, Princess?" He was taking this rather well, she was almost impressed.

"I would like to know what became of Elliot."

"Elliot." His jaw clenched. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. We haven't heard from him in months. Not since he set sail along the river of tears with a band of pirates."

"Pirates. Mercenaries. Your family do enjoy coming up with outlandish scenarios, don't you? It's a pity you can't fabricate anything believable - for your own sakes." With a bored sigh, she dropped her hold on his shoulders, even though the song wasn't half way through.

"I wouldn't bother," she declared loudly to the closest girl, who was now watching Helios as though he was the top prize at a fair. "He was just telling me all about a nasty disease he picked up from a woman in the scarlet quarter. It doesn't sound as though it's curable."

With a smug smile, she turned to return to her dais. But a figure in the crowd caught her eye first.

Elliot?

She looked closer, but Elliot was gone. In his place, she found the stranger who had charmed her last night.

"I was beginning to think that you'd stood me up," she said, approaching him at once.

"What man would ever dare do that, Princess?" He gestured to Helios, who was now standing in the only empty patch of ballroom, everyone else going to great lengths to stay as far away from him as possible.

"A foolish few insist on testing me. Luckily most have enough sense to know their place."

"I'm afraid I haven't worked out where mine is yet, Princess."

"Well tonight, it's beside me, of course," she said holding out her arm, which he took immediately. "Although you really do need to stop calling me Princess. I thought we went through this last night."

"I'm sorry... Charmaine. I will try to get used to it."

"And you'll tell me your name in return?"

"Maybe tomorrow," he replied with a coy smile.

He was good. He knew how to hold back just enough to keep her interested, but played along so that she wouldn't get too frustrated and move on.

Besides her friends at school, Charmaine had only met one other person who could play her so well.

So how did the man beside her manage to act so much like her former best friend, while looking so completely different?

Magic? Maybe the twins should have accused Elliot of running off with sorcerers instead of pirates. But if this really was Elliot standing beside her, what was he doing in disguise? And how could she trick him into revealing his true identity?

"So if you can't tell me your name, can you at least tell me where you're from?" Charmaine asked as she led him through the crowd and out onto the veranda.

"I'm from the town," he replied cautiously. "I live less than an hour from the palace."

"And what do you do?"

"I help around the house; nowhere near as glamorous as your daily life, but I keep things running."

"Is it what you want to be doing?"

"No..." Hesitant. Because his answer might give him away or because he was ashamed?

A soft violin melody floated through the night air, the only hint that there was a party going on in the palace behind them. "So If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?"

"Right here, of course." He smiled at her, like she was missing a joke and looked up to the sky.

"Be serious."

"Beautiful night, beautiful music and beautiful company. What more could I possibly ask for?"

She turned towards him, realising too late how close they were. He seemed surprised too, and moved as if to take a step back, but she stopped him with a steadying hand on his arm. The closeness was nice; familiar. She wasn't ready to let him move away from her just yet.

"Charmaine..." her name came out as a low growl; a warning, or a plea?

"Why did you vanish last night?" she asked, hoping to distract him into staying close.

"I am here due to the immense generosity of a friend, but he can only allow me to stay until midnight."

"What would happen if you stayed later? I'm sure he couldn't mind too much."

"It's a little more complicated than that, I'm afraid."

"Maybe I can help to un-complicate it." She traced her fingers along his arm as she spoke.

He laughed. "I'm afraid this one is out of even your control, Charmaine."

She sighed.

"What are your plans for the Lebroski twins?" he asked after a pause, surprising her.

It was Charmaine's turn to laugh. "I'm just having a little bit of fun. They're withholding information about someone who was once a dear friend of mine and I fear they may have done something terrible to him." She watched his expression carefully as she spoke, but he didn't react at all.

"Maybe you should check that this friend needs your help before tormenting two potentially innocent citizens?"

"I would, if I could get in contact with him - which is where my doubts as to the twins innocence comes into play."

"Would this friend want you to intervene on their behalf?"

"I don't know anymore." She searched his face again, but there was still no reaction. "I guess that depends on what has happened to him. When we last spoke, he would have wanted me to be kind. To leave them alone; he wouldn't have wanted anyone upset on his account."

"You make him sound very noble."

"He was the best person I have ever had the fortune of knowing. I really hope to be reunited with him."

He opened his mouth to reply, but broke off as the clock began to chime. "It would appear our time together has come to an end for the evening."

"You're sure you can't stay a little while longer?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied with a bow, starting to retreat.

"But you'll be back tomorrow?" she called out after him.

"I wouldn't miss it." He was already at the door. Her body felt cold from his absence. 

"Charmaine," he added, his hand resting on the handle. "I think you should do what your friend would have wanted and leave the twins alone." She nodded mutely, her mind too busy to formulate a response. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, she sprung into action; he wasn't getting away so easily tonight - she was going to follow him.  

{Voting for the FairytaleCommunity Retelling Awards: People's Choice Award is now open! If you've enjoyed Princess Charming (or Mirrored Snow, you can vote for more than one story!) please go to https://www.wattpad.com/313558752-the-fairytale-community%27s-2016-retelling-awards and comment with the book title, author name (makexbelieve) and why you want to vote for it (don't worry, this bit can be as short or long as you want, although if you put lots of detail in it might encourage someone else to check out my stories!) I've added the link to this chapter as well.

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