Prince Gregory and his younger twin sisters Emerelda and Ruby were from the kingdom of Banderole. The kingdom of Banderole was right next to the land of Starlem. Ever since Prince Gregory was a young boy, he did whatever he was told. He didn't stand up to anybody and always kept to himself unless he was spoken to.

            He especially listened to what his sisters said. Never put up an argument or objected to what he was told. With his clean-cut chestnut hair and his luminous chocolate eyes, he was absolutely charming, but a quiet charming. His twin sisters Emerelda and Ruby differed from his looks.

            They both inherited their great-grandmother's features. They both got their names from their appearance, large emerald eyes and naturally curly ruby-red hair. They were absolutely slim and thought very highly of themselves. They let everyone know who they were and how they should be treated. They were absolutely spoiled, getting everything they ever asked for.

            Their spoiled attitude was the thing Christopher disliked so much about them. Their brother's shy attitude didn't help matters; he hated how he didn't stand up to his sisters. He recalled once when he visited them last spring, he never said a word when they had asked him to do things for them, and he had done a lot of things for them.

            Christopher was still waiting at the dining table for Charlotte's letter to come in, when his mother came back in.

            "Darling, I think they have waited long enough, they've been  waiting for over half an hour, reading Charlotte's letter can wait, now please come and thank them for coming to see you," she said to her son.

            Christopher looked out the window one last time to see if the pageboy had arrived... but there was no sign of any pageboy outside. He let out soft sigh before getting up. "Alright, I'll go, but if they start acting up again like last time, I am not going to hesitate to leave, understood?" he asked looking at his mother.

            She nodded in understanding. Christopher straightened himself up and made his way to the drawing room where a quiet Prince Gregory was looking out the window and his two sisters who were fussing over whether they heard him coming or not.

            Before going into the drawing room, Christopher stopped in front of the door taking one last deep breath as if he was facing his doom. He finally opened the door and stepped inside.

            Emerelda and Ruby looked at him excitedly, since the last he had seen them, they were girls, now they were young women. Gregory turned around feeling his presence in the room. Emerelda and Ruby looked at each other secretly letting the other know that he had grown handsome since the last time they saw him.

            Emerelda was the first one to speak. "About time, I dare say, I'm glad you gave us the pleasure to see you in your time of need," she said giving a small curtsey. "It's been almost too long since the last time we saw you last spring," said Ruby flashing her best smile at him.

            Christopher gave a small bow to each of them telling himself it wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. It was going to be worse. Gregory still hadn't said a word but just looked at Christopher solemnly. "To what do I owe this surprising pleasure," Christopher forced himself to say.

            Emerelda and Ruby looked at each other once more. "We heard about your sorrowful predicament," Emerelda said compassionately.

            "We hope it hasn't caused you too much heartache," said Ruby. Christopher looked at the both of them looking at him, the pity clear in their emerald eyes. He didn't want anyone to pity him, it was absolutely none of their business whether he was in heartache or not. He started to regret ever agreeing to greet them.

            "Look at him Emerelda, it's clear in his eyes that he's been in a lot of heartache," said Ruby looking over to her sister. Christopher wanted nothing more then to escape out of the room, but something about Gregory urged him to stay. Gregory still hadn't said anything, he just looked weary.

            Christopher tried to meet his eyes, but Gregory just looked away. Ruby noticing where Christopher's eyes had wandered cleared her throat. "Don't mind Greggy, he's just a little worn out from the trip," said Ruby.

            "So Christopher, have you heard any news from her, your fiancé I mean, is she dying, is she getting better?" asked Emerelda looking over at Gregory. Gregory avoided everyone in the room and turned back to the window.

            "She is actually getting better, thanks for asking," said Christopher through gritted teeth. He didn't like discussing Charlotte's condition to people who didn't care if she died or not.

            "We aren't going to stay for long, so I was thinking we take a walk in that meadow you always take everyone," said Ruby raising her eyebrow at him. Of course when she said everyone, she meant every other girl he'd taken. Christopher tried to think of an excuse but before he could say something, Gregory spoke for the first time since Christopher came into the room.

            "I don't think that would be a good idea, you two should be ashamed of yourselves asking him when he clearly doesn't want to, leave him be, get your things, we're leaving, sorry for taking so much of you time," he said to Christopher before leaving  the room.

            Christopher looked at the shocked faces of Ruby and Emerelda. He was shocked as they were. He had never heard his cousin speak to anyone like that. Christopher followed Gregory out the door leaving Emerelda and Ruby.

            "What happened?" asked the queen once she saw Gregory storm passed her. "I have no idea," said Christopher.

            "But, I'm going to find out," said Christopher and left his mother with the bewildered look on her face. Gregory walked passed the guards standing outside the main entrance. He finally stopped when he heard Christopher's pleas to stop.

            "Are you okay?" asked Christopher once he reached him. Gregory nodded silently the solemn expression still etched out on his face. Christopher looked at him carefully trying to tell whether he was telling the truth. "We need to talk," said Gregory finally after a long pause.

            Christopher nodded in understanding. "Is this about how you've decided to actually stand up to those two?" asked Christopher knowing he'd receive a nod.

            But Gregory didn't nod, but instead shook his head. Christopher looked at him in puzzlement.

            "It's about Charlotte," said Gregory the sadness clear in his voice. At that exact moment, a pageboy came into view holding up a letter to show that Charlotte's letter had arrived, but Christopher couldn't take his eyes off of Gregory.

            "Your highness, I have the letter from Charlotte."