The evening had started as every ball did. The announcements of respected guests, the presentations of the reigning hosts and the visiting royals, and finally, the dances and gossips and occasional quarrels. That night was peaceful, the guests of the party being the visiting Queen and Princess of the Northern Kingdom from where the tales of ice and sorcery came. And true to the exquisite stories, both the queen and her daughter held a beauty that seemed almost ethereal in kind, with dark flowing hair and piercing, almost mocking stares.

Jisoo, the hosting princess and daughter of the Southern King, was very much enthralled. Being born and raised in the warm, southern lands where fruits grew in abundance and the sun never slept, she had swallowed the tales and rumours of the mysterious north, and was now curious as ever to see the visiting royals herself.

Throughout the evening, she couldn’t help herself from drifting off in every boring interaction she found herself trapped in, her eyes flickering around the bright, magnificently lit room for a glimpse of the foreign princess who seemed to have vanished among the crowd of glittering jewels and gowns. The Northern Queen had resigned to the throne alongside Jisoo’s father, and they both seemed engaged in deep conversation, perhaps about a serious matter or two.

“Are you alright?”

A voice she’d never heard before snapped Jisoo out of her thoughts. It was crystalline clear, like ice that she’d never seen, and delicious, like a dessert she’d never tasted. She turned around quickly, surprised yet not shocked to see the pale beauty in front of her. Up close, she was even more gorgeous, like a porcelain doll, decorated in all her splendour. Her face seemed to be drained of colour, but her lips were a bright, startling red.

“Yes,” Jisoo’s voice sounded meek, a reflection of how she felt. “I-I’m perfectly fine. Is the ball anything like what you are accustomed to?”

The foreign princess shrugged, an unimpressed expression on her face as she very obviously looked Jisoo up and down, her dark, beady eyes trailing down her dress as if she were memorising each detail. Jisoo cleared , her face flushing pink as she pretended that she hadn’t been doing the same just a minute ago.

“Is Jisoo a common name here, in the south?” The light-haired monarch asked finally, breaking the tension that seemed to be thickening by the second. “Did your parents ever tell you the reason for your naming?”

Jisoo raised an eyebrow, stifling a snort, “Charming, you are, with your inquisitive and not at all prying questions.” She began walking away from the middle of the room and towards the open corridors beside the ballroom, thinking that if they were to converse, it should be done with some privacy.

“I do think so myself,” the laugh that resonated from the other princess’ throat told Jisoo that she wasn’t making a fool of herself, not yet. “I was named Seungwan, after my great-grandmother. But the name didn’t stick.” She made a sour face, “Wendy sounded better, especially for one as young as myself.”

For the first time in many conversations held in the very same corridor at many different balls, Jisoo found herself surprised at the story being told.

“How old are you, Wendy?” Jisoo asked, testing the new name on her tongue.

“Twenty. And yourself?”

Jisoo blushed. She had hoped to be the same amount of years. “Eighteen.”

“You still haven’t told me the story of your name, you know,” Wendy seemed amused at Jisoo’s unsuccessful dodging of the question.

The brown-eyed girl stiffened visibly, obviously uncomfortable, and Wendy ate it up.

“Before my mother died, one of her last wishes was that I be named Jisoo, after… After a girl in a book she once read, and a song she held dear to her.” Jisoo couldn’t help but stutter as she struggled to keep her voice from faltering.

Wendy laid a hand on her arm, and Jisoo froze at the comforting iciness of her touch. Looking up slowly, Jisoo found herself slowly tangling herself in the embrace of the taller, older princess. It felt like an eternity as Wendy brushed a loose strand of hair back behind Jisoo’s ear and cupped her face, all the while leaning closer and closer.

The kiss was short, but fused with more raw passion than Jisoo could’ve ever imagined in her wildest dreams, even more so with a girl. Not just a girl, she reminded herself, the Princess of the widely discussed Northern Kingdom.

When, at long last, they pulled away from one another, Jisoo’s face was flushed bright red, and Wendy’s appeared to be tinged a slight pink.

“Do you… Is there an empty room around here?” Wendy asked, her voice so soft and husky and breathy that all Jisoo could do was lean further into her touch before leading her through the dimly-lit hallway with shaky footsteps.

That night, in the dark lit by just candlelight, Wendy showed Jisoo things she hadn’t ever heard of, not even in the wildest stories told of the North. Wendy made her feel things she had never felt before; she made her fingers grip the edges of her silk sheets, and her toes curl and her thíghs shake. While the royal musicians played folk songs and waltzes out in the ballroom, the only music the two princesses heard were their own whimpers and urgent mōans of pleasure.

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Read the rest on my BlackVelvet Tumblr blog! It's called BlackVelvetShipShots. Here is the url: https://blackvelvetshipshots.tumblr.com/. Enjoy!