by Alex Tryst

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Copyright © June, 2009 by Alex Tryst. All Rights Reserved.

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Once the princesses and their guests returned from their cruise, the palace hosted events before Layla and Hannah’s school began again. A few days after their return the royal family held an international gala at the National Gallery of Art for the foreign dignitaries from all the Embassies in the area, so Layla and Hannah headed over to the palace with Anastasia that afternoon to prepare. As usual, the princess had several designers provide options to the two blondes for the evening and then had a stylist on hand to complete their looks, so they were dressed appropriately.

Upon arrival at the National Gallery of Art, Hannah went inside with some of the palace staff ahead of the royal family while they waited to be announced. Since Layla had been officially introduced to the public, she had to remain with Anastasia for her first official introduction at a palace function. When the time came, Matthew Franks took the duty of announcing the family. All the guests gathered in the main gallery, as was tradition to greet the royal family.

“Honored guests, may I present the royal family. Her Royal Highnesses Princess Caroline, Princess Camille, and Princess Victoria,” he said first, allowing the three youngest to walk in together.

Meanwhile Layla and Anastasia waited off to the side. “Are you ready for this?” the princess asked.

Layla nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Just hold onto my arm and walk in with me. Then when my parents come in we all bow to them. That is all there is to it.”

“I can do that.”

“Good. Here we go then. Take my arm,” she instructed. Layla took her fiancée’s right arm since the princess needed her left for her crutch and waited for the announcement.

“Her Royal Highness Princess Anastasia and the Princess’s Consort Layla Stone,” Matthew announced loudly.

When they walked through the open doors of the gallery, the entire group began to bow as they slowly passed by them. Layla found it incredibly odd that everyone in the room bowed their head out of respect for her girlfriend. It was in that moment she once again was reminded exactly who she had agreed to marry. Her fiancée was the heir to the throne and a beloved member of the royal family to almost all who knew her. It made her proud to be on the arm of such a fine woman. At the end of the hall, they turned and waited with the rest of the princesses for the queens to be announced. While they did so, the blonde turned to her fiancée and asked, “Since when did I get the title Princess’s Consort?”

“Since the world figured out who you were. People will call you that until we get married, so you may as well start to get used to it,” she said with a smile. “Here come my parents. Remember to bow,” she reminded.

“Her Royal Highness Queen Lauren and Her Majesty Queen Alexa II.”

The whole room bowed deeply at the entrance of the queens, including their daughters. The public display made it obvious how much the four women respected their parents by the public display. Layla followed suit along with them, knowing it was expected, even though she had never seen any of them greet their mothers that way.

After the queens’ entrance, the party officially began. There was lively music and equally lively conversation in the main hallway of the gallery for a while before dinner was announced. The princesses were interspersed throughout the guests for the meal. Layla sat next to her fiancée the whole time and did her best to converse with those around her even though she wasn’t sure what the most interesting topics were for such an event. Everyone seemed excited to meet her, which made her feel good. She did notice, however, that there was no dancing going on even though there was a floor dedicated to such purpose. However, it became obvious what protocol was when Queen Alexa and Queen Lauren took to the floor first, and then shortly thereafter people joined them.

Layla looked on as couples filled the floor. She did love dancing, but she knew Anastasia wasn’t able to participate. It was something they had never been able to experience together and wondered if they ever would. The redhead’s right leg had healed well, but the other one still left her using assistance to get around. It somewhat saddened her to think they may not ever share that simple pleasure.

Anastasia could read the thought across her girlfriend’s face as she gazed out onto the dance floor. It was something she longed to do as well but knew she couldn’t at present. Looking around she hoped Camille would at least come through for her on her behalf, so the blonde could at least have some fun. However, it was not her sister she saw coming toward them with obvious intent.

Queen Alexa smiled at the pair of them as she came closer. “Layla, are you enjoying yourself?” she asked.

“Yes. Thank you, Alexa.”

Extending her hand she said, “Stasia loves to dance, but until she is able, I would like to at least try to step into her shoes. I would be honored to fill my daughter’s duty this evening if you will oblige me in a dance.”

Layla smiled brightly at the both of them before standing. “Thank you, Alexa. I would love that.”

Holding hands they slowly made their way to the floor. Alexa smiled down at her future daughter-in-law as she wrapped an arm around her waist and clasped her hand. As they began to move to the music, Alexa smiled down at her. “I would just like to tell you how beautiful I think you look this evening. You do Stasia great credit.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a blush.

“Stasia would like nothing more than to be the one who was escorting you around this floor this evening. She has a great fondness for dancing. This is especially difficult for her to have to be on the sidelines watching her fiancée in the arms of other people.”

“Fortunately you are only her mother,” she joked.

Alexa nodded. “It will be just a matter of time before someone other than I or one of her sisters asks you to dance. I would like to encourage you to dance with anyone who has the nerve to ask you. You will by my daughter-in-law very soon and will become another mouthpiece of this family by extension. We oblige people whenever possible. You will not have to fear anyone being inappropriate, but at the same time it is our job to be accessible to constituents. You are an attractive girl, and I think you are going to be extremely popular with people. You are so genteel and sweet that you have a profound effect on those around you. You might as well use that for the greater good to advance the family’s agenda.”

Layla nodded. “Of course.”

Anastasia watched her mother and fiancée from afar as they moved around the floor together. She knew her mother was extremely fond of her prospective bride and was grateful they had support that was lacking in her Layla’s family. She knew that eventually she would have to do something to temper the ire that had been ignited by the announcement of their engagement in the media. She didn’t want Layla or someone close to her to get hurt, because of the rage that consumed Layla’s father.

Several songs passed before Anastasia saw her sister, Camille, approach Layla and the queen on the floor and ask to cut in. Alexa obliged her own daughter with a large smile before returning to the table where Anastasia was sitting. “She is utterly charming,” the queen noted as she took a seat next to her daughter. “You could not have picked better.”

“I am glad you approve.”

Alexa nodded. “Whole-heartedly.”

For the rest of the evening, Layla was engaged in dancing with a plethora of people. Anastasia was sorry she was missing out on a lot of the fun by not dancing, but she felt fortunate that her fiancée seemed to be making an incredibly good impression in her first official outing with the royal family. When it was time to leave for the night, Anastasia and Layla tried to find Hannah, so they could all return to the house together, but Madeline told them that she had left early with Princess Camille. Both women were surprised and amused by the development but thought nothing more of it as they headed for home. All was quiet upon their arrival, so they went to bed. As they were lying together in the darkness in each other’s arms, Layla asked, “Do you think I should call her? I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“She is with Camille, so she is perfectly safe. I am sure they are just over at the palace. The staff will take care of her. Who knows? Maybe they are off canoodling,” she joked.

“That would be amusing. She’s changed a lot in the last year, mostly since meeting you. I do wonder if that is coincidence. I don’t really know what she’s thinking anymore. I thought I knew her when it came to this stuff.”

Anastasia shrugged. “People sometimes do not even know themselves. We just have to accept her as she is, regardless of what that entails.”

“I know and I do. She’s the best friend I’ve ever had, and I love her completely. Nothing could ever change that.”

The following morning the two were sitting at the breakfast table when Hannah strolled in wearing her outfit from the previous night and a bright smile. “Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning. Are you just getting in?” Layla asked even though the answer was obvious.

She nodded as she plopped down into a chair. “What an exciting night. It was a blast, Stasia,” she said.

“I am glad you enjoyed yourself. You left a little early, though,” she mentioned with a grin. “Where did you go?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” she playfully chastised.

“We really do not know. We were just told that you and Camille had left together.”

“Camille,” she sighed with a sparkle in her eyes. “I think she found her Washington charm.”

“What happened?” Layla asked with a laugh of her own seeing her friend’s response.

“Well, she came up to me at the gala, and we started talking. I could tell she was nervous but finally got up her nerve to ask me to dance.”

“You danced for quite a while at the gala,” Anastasia mentioned. “I actually did notice that.”

She nodded. “I think she started picking up confidence while we danced. She was so sweet the whole time. Later in the evening she asked me if I wanted to go back to the palace for a walk in the gardens.”

“That is my girl,” Anastasia teased with a smile. “She has seen me do that through the years.”

Hannah nodded. “I sensed that was a signature Washington move, and why not? It’s the perfect ploy. Those gardens can be incredibly romantic. Well, it took her a while to get up her nerves again once we left, but she finally put her arm around me as we walked. I wasn’t sure she was ever going to go for it, but I could see how much she wanted to kiss me, so I made it easy for her. She’s has a natural ability in that department,” she chuckled. “I actually couldn’t believe that she had never kissed anyone when she told me later. She didn’t seem like a novice.”

“I can’t believe you kissed her,” Layla said.

She shrugged. “She wanted it. It was so obvious, and I have more experience in that area. Of course I thought it was just going to be something innocent, but you should have seen her. I gave her the opening, and she ran with it. My God did she run with it,” she moaned. “I think she’s spied on you through the years, Stasia, and picked up some of your moves. We started kissing, and the next thing I knew her hands were under the hem of my dress.”

“Wow. Sounds like she really did go for it. I hope you were not too offended by her forwardness,” Anastasia said. “She needs to learn how to respect women. I hope you taught her what the word no meant.”

Hannah shook her head. “I wasn’t offended, more amused by it. She must take after you, Stasia. She has some incredible little moves,” she joked.

“Hannah!” Layla exclaimed.

“What? I’ve gone further with boyfriends than I did her, but a little tutorial went a long way. She’s a fast learner and unafraid to take instructions. She’s going to make some girl very happy.”

Anastasia smiled at the assessment. “I knew she would be. She just needed the right motivation. Does this mean you are dating my sister now?”

Hannah shook her head. “One make-out session does not make me her girlfriend. She’s too young, but still it was fun,” she mused.

Anastasia laughed while Layla just shook her head. “I’m glad you at least enjoyed yourself,” the blonde said.

Continued in Chapter 13

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