Demetrius touched the one piece of jewelry I had. A ring that had the royal family crest on my right hand that glowed a second. Then he slipped it off. "Take this off, and no one will recognize you as Prince Erik. But as you may need to interact with people as a prince, put it back on, and you will be seen as Prince Erik again." He slipped it back on.
"How will I mix with the others if they don't know who I am?"
"Decoys." He grinned.
"Decoys? People pretending to be me? How will that work?"
Demetrius waggled his eyebrows. "How many people from Blethos have you met?"
I shrugged. "A few."
"Masks." He waved at a table, and five ceramic decorative masks appeared. "Five young men in masks will be at the ball as well. All will be told that only one is the real you. The thing is, none of them will be. They will be instructed to speak very little to the guests and listen to what the people say to them. All the while, you will be serving drinks, tasty party things, and whatever while listening as they are away from the fake princes."
I nodded as I was starting to understand his plan. "And this will work?"
"Of course, it will."
I grinned at his misunderstanding. "The ring, I mean."
Demetrius frowned. "What is it with you humans? You doubt me now? After all, I've done."
I shrugged with a grin. "We are human." I agreed. "And humans can't do what you do, so naturally, we ask for proof about doing something we can't imagine."
"Fine." Demetrius stood sighing wearily. "Take the ring off, put it in your pocket, and go into the hall. When the guards notice you, they won't know you. What will happen?"
"I'll be chased."
Demetrius nodded. "Well, you'd better dash around a corner and put the ring on before they get there. Once back on, you'll be Prince Erik again."
I like this idea. I slipped my shoes on. "Okay. Let's try it."
"Just remember," Demetrius cautioned, "their weapons are real and can really hurt you, so don't waste a lot of time in the game."
I nodded, slipping the ring from my hand, and stuck it in my pocket. I took a deep breath and stepped into the wide hall. My room was in the family portion of the castle. It was patrolled, but there were no guards right there. For anyone to get to this part of the palace, they had to come a certain way, I knew of a passage no one really knew and opened the hidden door and crept down a flight of narrow stairs which led me to a lower floor.
Opening the door, it let me into a study my father and now my brother used. All castles had passages, but I knew them all. The reason was that if we ever were attacked, the royal family had an unknown way out to escape. Another hidden door, another passage, and I came in another part of a hall. Here, there were guards as I came out from behind a large decorative plant. Stepping out.
"Halt!!" A guard shouted at me. "Who goes there?" His sword was drawn instantly. I knew him! He knew me.
"Stop him!" His fellow guard, someone I also knew, commanded, and they were instantly in pursuit.
I didn't waste time; I took off down the hall. Wrong move. Other guards were posted in that part of the castle and reacted as the first two, swords drawn and came after me. If I didn't know the castle as I did, I was going to get caught. I rounded a corner and ducked into a room I knew held supplies. I put the ring on again. Then stepped out as the guards came rushing around the corner.
"Sire." The same guard I had been asked to know who I was, stopped. "Be careful, your highness. A stranger entered the castle. You should return to your room until we find him." He took his fellow guard's arm. "See that Prince Erik is safely returned to his quarters."
The second guard nodded. "Of course, sir." He bowed slightly. "If you will, please?" His hand pointed the way I knew well. "No one breaks in. At least they haven't for some time."
"Was the person young, old, fat, skinny?" I asked.
The second guard frowned. "Young, I guess. He sure took off like a young man."
I nodded. "Probably just a kid that wanted to see the inside of the castle. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. Was he carrying anything?"
"No, but that doesn't excuse unauthorized access to the palace." The second guard stated. "You should return to your room. I know you can defend yourself..."
I grinned at him. "Of course you do, I licked you a few times."
He smiled at that stifling a chuckle. "That was luck, sire. That was all. Wait until next time. I won't be so...easy on you."
I nodded as we headed back to the stairs to lead us back upstairs. "Oh, really? Three times? You were taking it easy on me." I jabbed him in the gut lightly. "Believe that if it helps you sleep." Like I explained. Many of the guards were more than guards. Most were friends. Delbert was one.
Back in my room, I shook my head, looking at my ring. Then I glanced around. Demetrius was gone.
"Demetrius?"
He came out of the shadow. "Guards were in here a few times, looking for a stranger." He emphasized the word stranger.
"You were right." I nodded, chuckling. "Delbert didn't know me, and we've spent a great deal of time training. Sorry I doubted you."
Demetrius nodded and shrugged. "Well, you're only human." He chuckled.
"That's big of you to be so forgiving," I said. Then I looked at him seriously. "Why are you doing this? Helping me out like this."
"You asked me to," Demetrius stated simply.
I nodded and sat down. "There are a lot of people that need help. I'm sure others have much greater causes than to find love."
He grunted as he sat across from me. "True." He sighed. "But... how do I explain this?" He thought a moment. "There was one of my kind that told someone that asked the same question. There are servants that deserve to be princes and princesses. There are princesses and princes that deserve to be servants. We do that, too. But every once in a while, someone impresses on us the need to help. Your sister-in-law was one of those. She deserved help to find love and a way out of miserable existence. You impressed the one who helped her to get out of that situation with her stepmother and step-sisters, impressed her enough to ask me to help you. Love will always find a way to help if you can find it. It's best of emotions. I'm just here to help you in your search." He said as if were totally logical.
"And what do you get from this?"
He shrugged. "Balance. A happier world? Some situations will require a little magic to rectify. So why not?"
I liked his answer. Then I smiled at him. "Thank you."
His smile broadened. "And that's one of the reasons as to why I'm helping you." He reached over and patted my knee. "Now, tell Christian what's going to happen. That you will be at the ball. You can be presented to King Alexander; you will be there but unseen. The reason is to find out what the others are really like and decide who's best. Tell him of the decoys and give him the masks. Things will start to settle into place."
I nodded. "The ball is to be in Blethos."
Demetrius nodded. "As it should be."