The Fiercest Craving

by Max Jager

  "Then will you honor me with your company at tonight's ball?" inquired Brek once he had regained his composure.

  "But of course. Meet me at six in front of Sylpher, okay?"

  "As you wish, princess," he smiled.

  5:55 p.m.

  Cerina had her second most elegant ball gown personally delivered to her by a servant from Serann's palace. Consisting mostly of pink satin and encrusted with pearls, ribbons and other frills it exhibited elegance and beauty without going overboard in either category. Making her exit from Sylpher Hall, she found that Brek had already been waiting for her outside by a nearby fountain. He sported a blue tuxedo complete with gold-encrusted buttons and the Ventare coat-of-arms.

  She smiled and approached him. "I told you six o' clock didn't I? How long have you been waiting?"

  Brek glanced at his watch. "Only fifteen minutes. It is a crime to make a lady wait."

  Cerina assumed a pouting look. "And how am I supposed to feel for making you wait?"

  "Ambivalent. Detached. Unemotional. Impassive. Need I list more, milady?"

  Cerina crossed her arms and turned her head away jokingly. "I get enough of that kind of talk at the palace. Don't talk to me like you're my servant."

  Playing along, Brek moved his hand to his mouth and gasped. "But how could you not know? X stands for your Excellency and Y for, err, Yeoman."

  Cerina didn't need to think to know that Brek was referring to the gender-determining chromosomes.

  "And you must be, hmm, Brainwashed And Really Demented," she countered.

  "Charmingly Eccentric," Brek attempted, only to find that his date wasn't paying attention to their little game any longer.

  "Oh for crying out loud!" Cerina cried.

  Brek turned his head to find four different news crews and several independent reporters gathered around the ballroom entrance to Serann Hall.

  "This is ACN Lifestyle reporting live outside of Serann Hall on the Ventare University campus located in Greenshire Province. We are awaiting the arrival of Princess Cerina Serann and her date to this regal event organized as part of the campus' Pre-College Orientation program. And here she is now!"

  Within seconds, a mob of reporters and some curious students were on them, microphones outstretched, desperately asking for "one second" of their time.

  "It seems Cerina's date is none other than Brek Huffington, son of the Baron of Greenshire. An excellent choice if I do say so myself," came the voice of the reporter they heard earlier.

  "Get us out of here, please," Cerina entreated to Brek.

  "As you wish, milady."

  Brek cleared his throat and the crowd around them went silent.

  "Ahem, Cerina and I will be happy to answer your questions—," (This drew a glare from Cerina.) "But first, it seems my date needs to use the Ladies room. So, if you'll excuse us— Oh, and be warned, if I find any one of you following us, I assure you that I'll have my father's security force all over you like a pack of hounds."

  The hollow threat appeared to hold water with the crowd, and they parted to make way.

  "How about we ditch this joint?" Brek suggested in a whisper.

  Cerina sighed. "I couldn't agree more."

  "Then follow my lead."

  Brek took Cerina's hand and briskly began walking in the direction from which they had come.

  "Care to sprint?" he asked.

  "Not in high heels," Cerina conceded.

  In a matter of seconds, Brek swung her around and gracefully picked her up in a princess carry. He then tapped a device on his left ear.

  "Ready the transport," he ordered.

  "And what of your duties at tonight's ball, young master?" came the response of an elderly man over the receiver.

  "The media intends to make Miss Serann's and my life a living nightmare," answered Brek.

  "I am quite impressed, young master. You didn't seem the type capable of charming women very effectively."

  Cerina raised an eyebrow and Brek scoffed. "When I want your opinion on such matters, I'll ask it, Edward."

  "My apologies, young master. The transport will arrive cloaked at the designated location in one minute. Until then I wish you a successful evasion."

  Brek tapped the device again and continued to run with Cerina in his arms.

  Cerina smirked. "Incapable of charming women, huh?"

  "Is charming not akin to deceiving, milady?" Brek replied tactfully, enticing laughter.

  "Maybe this is why you're the first man I've ever begun to fall for."

  Brek blushed.

  "This?" he inquired in a puzzled tone.

  "You're clever but honest. Debonair but true-intentioned. I daresay every guy in my high school class asked me out with the aim of getting me in bed at some point."

  "That doesn't sound like a terrible proposition," Brek admitted.

  Cerina opened her mouth to respond before shouting ensued from their rear.

  "Miss Serann! Mister Huffington! We only have a few questions! We promise we won't take too much of your time!"

  "As if," Brek and Cerina said in unison, much to their amusement.

  They eventually reached a seemingly abandoned sandlot at which point Brek let down all ninety-two pounds of Cerina, panting. As if on cue, what appeared to be thin air nearby opened up into the spacious interior of a cruiser. Brek motioned for Cerina to enter first and quickly proceeded in after her.

  "Destination Alpha 3!" he commanded.

  "Aye sir," acknowledged the cruiser.

  By the time the cruiser had started to take off, other cruisers presumably belonging to various news stations and gossip channels already surrounded them. Still, with the single press of a button, Brek evaded them all as they sped into the night sky.

  "Oh dear prince, do tell me where we are headed, for it is a crime to kidnap a princess," Cerina began to jest.

  "We're already here, dear princess." Brek replied only moments later.

  The cruiser touched down on a large slab of stone. Brek led Cerina out by her hand and they proceeded up a large flight of stone steps, savoring the cool and sweet night air. When they neared the top, Brek covered Cerina's eyes.

  "I assure you, this is unlike anything you've ever seen before. Welcome—" he uncovered her eyes—"to my moonlight garden."

  Cerina had indeed not seen anything like it before, neither in the palace nor in the most beautiful places on Aezar. Roses by the thousands dazzled under the moonlight like rubies… and sapphires… and emeralds. She inhaled the even sweeter air as they slowly made a beeline for the rustic wooden bench in the center, sheltered by a canopy onto which all varieties of roses crept like ivy.

  Beside herself with bewilderment, she gazed into Brek's eyes.

  "It's… beautiful," she whispered.

  The moonlight shone in his hazel eyes, and they gleamed as though they were a mirror into his mind. Cerina read it clearly.

  Their beauty is no match for your own.

  Arms curling around one another, they embraced.

  Then so did their lips.

  And so did their tongues.