* ´ ᴵˑ worthfuls , alice bingley & athan beaumont & sebastian moran.
she watches the blonde man and his curly - haired friend dip his head down along with the rest of the crowd, and yet alice can’t take her eyes off him. he’s captivating. the room of people before herself and mason rise back to their feet, and she forces herself to smile as she looks around at all of them, but she wants to look at him. she wonders what his name might be, she wonders if he’s good at dancing. she wonders what his laugh might sound like. she needed to talk with him as soon as possible.
finally, with her hand on mason’s arm, the pair of royalty descend the staircase and the party resumes. the hired orchestra starts to play, people who were talking before start to talk again, and that feeling she normally gets at parties like this sets in. this is why she wants to leave. the loudness, the inevitable comments about how people didn’t know her kingdom had a princess . . . but then the blonde haired man from earlier is right in front of her and mason. alice starts to smile as he speaks, takes note of how lord beaumont’s friend can’t stop staring at hers. she wonders if mason has noticed this.
“ it’s a pleasure to meet you, lord beaumont, mister moran. ” hand withdraws from mason’s arm as she curtseys, head bowed. after she’s back upright, her hands fold in front of her, smile remaining. lord athan beaumont. his surname sounds familiar, she’d likely end up going home and asking her brother or father why it sounded so familiar. “ i’m princess alice bingley. this is my friend, prince mason greene. ” she turns to look at him, but gaze is soon drawn back to athan. “ on behalf of our kingdoms, thank you for coming tonight. we hope the evening meets your standards. did you travel far? ”
he's definitely been staring for way longer than he should , only coming back to reality when he feels alice's hand on his arm , guiding him back to the bottom of the steps as everyone in the room bows before them. mason's met his fair share of beautiful royals thanks to his parents insistence that he find himself someone to marry soon , but no one , not even close could compare to the man who stands just a few steps behind lord beaumont , someone who is meant to merely linger in the shadows & yet , he's the first bright light mason's ever seen in a long , long time. he offers the guard a smile & bows before the lord just as alice does , his eyes continuing to look at sebastian , grinning. apparently , the feeling is mutual as he catches the guard staring back at him in a similar way & it seems as though both lord athan & alice have been having their own little staring contest too. i wonder if we're going to make it to our reservation now ?
❝ yeah . . . what she said. ditto on that. ❞ mason remarks in regards to alice's proper thanks & manners , maybe a little too flushed & overwhelmed by everything happening before them. he feels like someone injected a large dose of adrenaline right into his veins , making him feel giddy , yet anxious all at once ━━ the last thing he wants to do right now is fuck everything up for him & alice & yet he can’t seem to stop talking. ❝ hopefully you both didn't travel all this way just for this party. we have plenty of parties throughout the seasons , but this isn't even in our top five. ❞ to be honest , none of them are , but he had to strike up a conversation in some way. mason catches sebastian's gaze again & his usual comedic ways falter a bit , bashfulness now setting in. it's strange how one man can make him feel like that , but it's also a bit thrilling. he wonders of alice is seeing all of this & if she'll tease him relentlessly for him later. ❝ either way , can we get you guys something to eat ? to drink ? ❞ before they can answer , mason makes a hand motion towards a nearby server to bring the two men some food & wine , his smile softening , turning to look at alice for a moment & shoot a wink her way. ❝ i hope it's alright that i offer your friend some wine , lord athan , ❞ mason grins , cheeks burning as he gestures toward sebastian. ❝ mister moran , i know you are not royalty , but you should be treated as such when you're here. i hope you'll be alright with some small hors d'oeuvres & endless choices wine. it's the least we can do for your trouble in getting here & for your particular effort in keeping lord athan safe along your journey. ❞