I stood outside a building that seemed to be taken straight from a story book. Large dark castle, hollow and looming before me. I swallowed hard, wondering what awaited me inside.

"Well, are you coming?" the Prince looked down at me from the other side of the draw bridge leading to the palace doors. I looked down into the stinking, dirty water of the moat (highly unnecessary) that surrounded the black brick structure, wondering if any poor unsuspecting maidens had been dropped into the grey, murky abyss. The possibility made fear stir in the pit of my belly. 

Before I even had time to blink, the Prince was standing next to me, his arm clamped on my elbow gently.

"I promise I won't bite," he said with a smile, pure white teeth flashing in the sun. The absurdity of the statement, coupled with where we were, made me laugh so hard I didn't even notice when he led me across the moat and to the doors. When I finally calmed down, I was surprised to find myself staring straight into the eyes of a brass knocker in the shape of a dragon's head. The Prince patted my back.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" I shook my head as he led me inside a castle of, what I thought, impending doom and torture.

                        "There's not much to tell," I said to Constantine's request. "I was born on July 5, almost eighteen years ago. Lived with my mother for some time, nobody knows who she is, then I was given up for adoption at the age of five and have lived with my mother ever since. I went to a public high school with my friends Thebes and her brother Cairo, and my other friend Shahana who's an orphan living in a convent. Last year my new stepfather convinced my mother I had tried to seduce him, because in fact I had turned down his advances, she kicked me out and I became a stripper. Live in my own apartment, make my own money. My mother and I reconciled two weeks ago and she reclaimed me as her daughter. But I refused to move back in with her unless that pig moved out. Of course she sighed and told me she couldn't do that but would help my expenses. I declined."

Constantine stared at me like I was fascinating him. We sat together in his large room (suite really) on his Emporer sized bed decked out in only black, eating grapes and cheese as he listened to my boring tale. He was lying across the bed on his back, his hands behind his head. As I watched, he rolled onto his side, grabbed a grape I was about to take and popped it in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully and once he swallowed he said,

"Adopted? And they still call you their 'princess'?"

I laughed.

"Actually, I don't even really know how I became a princess. Until five days ago I was just a run of the mill stripper and then one day I took a private gig, became kidnapped, and engaged to a King whose first name I don't even know!"

Constantine narrowed his eyes but 'interesting' was all he said. I bit into a cube of cheese and steered the conversation around to him.

"What about you?"

"I've already told you everything about me. The rest is best saved for another day." I nodded, popped another cube of cheese in my mouth, and stood.

"I best be going now. It was nice meeting you."

Constantine slid from the bed, smiling.

"It was nice meeting you, too, Princess Aidan."

I returned his grin and held out my hand.

He looked at it, grinned wider, then took a step forward and pulled me into his arms. Before I knew it I was on my tiptoes and his head was bending toward mine and then...

he kissed me.