Race for the Throne

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"I cannot wait until we leave for the wedding." She hasn't told anyone about her doubts. She knows that Sangria would not be able to see her as a ruler because she is a woman. Langora want to see her with Anton. How is she going to be able to handle international affairs if there is this much resistance. "Do you think they will have the meal in the dining room?"

~~~~~~~~

"We will present Anton with both options and let him choose. If it wasn't for lack of protection, I may have suggested that Jasmine and Serena stay in the Lane house." Kalista sighs. She stand up and stretches. "Well I have some works to do. Don't worry Serena, you are safe in the castle."

Brandon whistles at the dress. Damn she would look good in that. It took everything he had not to get excited over that gift. She probably wouldn’t like the gift he got her anyways. Compared to the dress it was nothing. He watches as Lorene walked over to get the gift that the four of them had bought for Jasmine. She waits until Nathaniel opened up his gift before handing her the one they had bought.

Berenson smiles as he hands Nathaniel the box. He watched as he opened it. “Oh wow…Mom really? This is really an important book.” He said looking up. “I don’t even know half of these recipes…” he said excitedly. He started flipping through the book.

Lorene handed Jasmine the bag that had their gifts in it. “This is from Prescott, Serena, Vincent and me for you.” She said. She then handed a box to Nathaniel. “This is also from the four of us to you.”

Daniel rips off the wrapping paper. Jasmine opens the box. Her eyes widen. "Look at this, it is my portable art studio. Wow everything is here, and there is room for my paints. I absolutely love this. Thank you so much." She stands up and them all hugs.

Nathaniel opens his up. He gets a smile on his face. "You guys just love torturing me. All this delicious spices and I can use them until I get home." He takes a closer look. "Oh Goddess do you know how rare this spice is? It must have costed you an arm and a leg. I am inviting all of you to Mallorys for a free meal."

Serena hugs Jasmine. “We thought it would be much easier for you when you travel. You always pack a whole bag for your art work anyways.” She said smiling.

Brandon picks up his gifts and hands Nathaniel his and then Jasmine hers. “It’s not a lot, but I thought you would like that.” He said.

Jasmine grabs the present. "I will open this one. She opens it and sees the calligraphy on the cover. A smile appears on her face. She opens the book and gasps. "Look it is one of my drawings." She flips to the next page and sees a poem. She begins to read it. Her eyes well up. "Oh Brandon...I am speechless. Look Mom and Dad is a book of my sketches and his writing." She gives the book to Madeline and goes to Brandon kissing him. "I absolutely love it."

Nathaniel gags at his sister. He opens his gift. "Brandon this is perfect. It was just telling Levi I needed a new rack for the restaurant. Thank you so much."

Brandon puts his arms around Jasmine. “It was just something small.” He said.

“This is actually very nice Brandon.” Berenson said as he took the book from Jasmine. “I actually like this.” He said showing it to Madeline.

Brandon looks over at Nathaniel. “I am glad you like it. I didn’t know if you needed it or not, but I figured someone would get you some spices for your birthday.”

Serena smiled and looked at Vincent. “Looks like I don’t have to worry about letting Jasmine borrow my dress. She already has one.” She said.

Audra and Malachai hands over small presents with and extra box for Jasmine. She raises her eyebrows and opens it. Inside is an enameled turtle figure. There is a note from Grayson. "This is too cute. I love turtles. How did he ever afford this?" She holds it up to show everyone.

Nathaniel got a chef hat in his box. His name is embroidered on it. "I am surprised this was not from you Dad." He chuckles. "Every year I get a chef hat for my birthday. Thank you Audra and Malachai.

"Now that all the presents have been opened, we can serve cake." A servant brings in the cake.

"There was one more present for Jasmine. It literally just arrived." Henry brings in a box wrapped in purple paper.

Jasmine takes it. "Is this from one of you guys?" She hopes it and inside is snowberries. Jasmine's face pales only briefly before she plasters on the fake smile. She picks up the box ignoring the note that falls to the floor. "Everyone please have some. It is a really good fruit." The box shakes as she passes it to Nathaniel.

Brandon laughs as Jasmine opens up the little box. “That is the cutest little turtle. That poor boy still has the hots for you.” He said winking at Jasmine.

“About as much as her brother has the hots for a certain friend of mine.” Serena said pointing over to Lorene. She was chuckling.

“I heard that!” Lorene said pointing at Serena.

There is general laughter in the air until the snowberries are bought in. Brandon looks at Nathaniel and smiles. “Can I have that box Nathaniel…and the items in it?” he asked.

“Sure you can…Are we thinking target practice?” Nathaniel asked with a grin.

“Even better…” Brandon said. They take the box and head over to the window. “Think you can hit that clown over there? The one by the fountain?”

“Boys I swear to the goddess if you throw those at people I will bend you over my knee and whip you myself!” Iverson said. He doesn’t have a chance to walk over as the box falls out of the window.

“Ooops…” Brandon said. “It was an accident.” He said with the most innocent expression he could muster up.

Jasmine stands and hugs Brandon from behind. "Well thank you all for a wonderful birthday party."

Kalista stands up. "We have a staff meeting to get to before the wedding tomorrow. You guys can hang out, but behave and remember tomorrow is a busy day."

Nathaniel waits until the adults leave. "So what do you guys want to do?"

Serena had noticed a slip of paper in the floor. She walks over and picks it up before walking over to Vincent. “Personally, the night is still young. It is just us and your parent’s were nice enough to take Daniel with them.” Serena said with a smile. She looks up at Vincent. “We have music and some time before we are busier then goddess knows what tomorrow.”

Brandon lifted Jasmine’s hand up to his mouth and he kissed it. She was still hugging him from behind and he wasn’t going to stop her. Personally he wouldn’t mind seeing her in that dress. “I wouldn’t mind having some alone time with Jasmine tonight actually. It is her birthday and I haven’t had much time for just us. Unlike a certain other couple…” He said winking at Nathaniel and Levi.

Audra coughed. “Personally I am tired. It is going to be hectic tomorrow and I think I want some rest. You guys have a good night.” She said. She and Malachi wished them all a good night and then left the room.

Jasmine smiles. "Why don't I take my gifts to my room and you can get some refreshments." She whispers in his ear.

Nathaniel raises his eyebrow. "Just don't so anything I won't do."

Vincent looks over at Serena. "Everyone is ditching us. I can go for a little dancing. They say practice makes perfect."

Brandon coughs to keep from laughing. “Like anything you weren’t doing earlier this evening?” he said to Nathaniel.

“Hey now, it’s not like we have to worry about having a baby or anything.” Levi said sticking his tongue out.

Brandon winked at Jasmine. “I will be up.” He said.

Serena had put the paper into her pocket. She would read the note later when Jasmine was out of the room. She smiles and walks over to the record player and puts on the song they had chosen for their wedding. “That sounds good to me.”

Lorene and Prescott had been talking, using the time to get to know more about one another. She had to admit she was enjoying his attention. She pulls out the necklace that she had bought him earlier. “Prescott, I know it’s not your birthday but I bought this for you earlier.” She said.

Serena nudged Vincent. “Looks like they are having a tender moment too.” It took all she had not to make kissy noises at them.

Vincent puts another disk on the music player. "Come dance with me. I want to look perfect for our first dance." He holds her close and begins to sway.

Prescott puts the necklace on his neck. "Thank you so much it is perfect." He stands and offers his hand to Lorene. "I am not much of a dancer, but I promise not to stomp on your feet."

~~~~~~~~

Jasmine is in her room. She holds up the traditional outfit that Madeline gave her. A smile comes to her face and she goes into the bathroom. She puts it on under some tamer pajamas. She is thankful that she already decided to spend the night here. She starts the fire and waits for Brandon.

Serena puts her arms around Vincent as they sway to the music. “This is a perfect way to end the night Vincent. I think we already look perfect for the final dance, but practice makes perfect still.” She said. She nuzzled his neck gently before kissing him.

Lorene takes Prescott’s hand as she flushed slightly. “Don’t worry; I am not a great dancer either.” She said. They also begin to dance on the makeshift dance floor. She was finding that she did have feelings for Prescott. Maybe their arranged courting wasn’t such a bad idea after all. She watched as Serena laid her head on Vincent’s shoulder. She wanted to do the same with Prescott but wasn’t sure if he would be alright with it. She dances with him however to the slow song.

~~

Brandon had managed to find a bottle of wine. He takes two glasses and the bottle up to Jasmine’s room. He then knocks on the door. “Jazzy….it’s me.” He whispered.

Jasmine opens the door for Brandon. "Come in, oh you have some wine. I want to thank you for earlier. I was just going to pass the snowberries along to everyone else, but that was even better. I wonder how Nathaniel knew though?"

~~~~~~~~

Prescott sees Lorene watching Vincent and Serena. "I know we were thrown together by our parents, but I have to say I am thankful that I am allowed to get to know you more. You are a wonderful young woman."

"I know I won't see you much tomorrow, so I am going to hold you as long as I can tonight." Vincent continues to sway with Serena.

~~~~~

"Ladies and Gentleman, first of all we appreciate coming here. We have two things on the agenda today. One is the plans for the wedding and another is to announce the retirement of one of our staff members." Kalista begins as everyone settles down.

Brandon enters the room and closes the door behind him with his foot. He smiles as he walks in and puts the glasses down on a table. “I think Nathaniel knows. You were shaking when you handed him the box…that and you guys have that weird twin sense.” He said smiling. “I thought it would be a nice way to get rid of them, besides the only place those could have come from would have been from there and I was not about to let you have them.” He pours her a glass of wine. “Care to join me for a drink?” he asked as he held her out a glass.

~~

Lorene takes her eyes off of Vincent and Serena to look up at Prescott. His eyes were a pretty brown color, almost a deep chocolate. “Thank you Prescott, to be honest I feel the same. Thank you for showing me who you are as a person.” She said. She chocked her fear down and laid her head on his shoulder. “You smell nice tonight.” She said as she could smell his cologne.

~~

Iverson waits until the room is settled down and takes over. “We want to thank you all for your help with getting the wedding completed. We could not have asked for better staff members. Many of you have donated your time to help and for that we would like to thank you.”

Iverson continues on explaining the layout of how things will be done in the next twenty four hours. There is much to be done in such a short time.

"That weird twin sense has saved my ass a time or two I will have you know." Jasmine brings him over to the chaise. "I have the fire started. Brandon I love the book you gave me. It is a showcase of the two of us. There is a part of me that wish you hadn't used the pictures from when you left me. They are beautiful, but the there is also a lot of emotions in them. It is my favorite gift."

~~~~~~~~~

Prescott wraps his arms around Lorene and lies his cheek on her head. This does feel good. "Thank you it is my favorite scent. It reminds me of the wood at home."

The song ends and Vincent puts another disk on. "I think another slow song will be good how about you?"

Brandon sits down on the chaise and takes a sip of his wine. He sits it down on a side table and takes Jasmine’s hand. “I considered not using them Jasmine, but there was so much raw emotion in those pictures that I couldn’t just leave them out. It is a part of what brought us closer together and for that I am eternally grateful. That little time apart made me a stronger man and realized I needed a woman like you in my life.” He said. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently.

~~

Lorene was enjoying this more then she thought. It was a new feeling to her and she rather liked the way Prescott made her feel. She put her arms around him as his cheek rested against her head. “I don’t know much about your country. Maybe I could visit sometime? You are a great dance partner.” Was she being flirty with him? She felt her cheeks flush.

Serena smiles and puts her arms around Vincent as they walk back out to the dance floor. “I can’t complain, especially if it means you are going to be holding me longer.” She said with a smile. She kissed him gently. “I can’t wait to make it to our honeymoon.”

"I will have to take some time to read the rest of your writings. I will always cherish that book Brandon." Jasmine blushes when he kisses her hand. She waits until he is done before sliding her hand to the back of his head. She brings him to her and kisses him on the lips.

~~~~~~~~~

"I would like for you to visit." Prescott whispers keeping her close. "I hope to visit yours as well. Lorene you are a wonderful person. I admit I was scared when we were betrothed, but not anymore."

Vincent laughs softly. "Now I know why they have honeymoons. To have a break from the wedding stress. I cannot wait to be at the beach myself. With you in my arms, no one to bother us."

Brandon feels Jasmine pulling him to her and he doesn’t stop her. He kisses her passionately on her lips as he moves his arms to wrap around her. He holds her close and kisses her breathless. “I love you Jasmine.” He said before kissing her again.

~~

Lorene looks up at Prescott. “I was scared, and to be honest I still am a little. I was never permitted to date and I dreaded the day when my father would tell me who I would be betrothed to. When he told me I had no choice in this matter that you would be my future husband, I was angry. I am glad they have given us time to learn more about each other. It has given me time to open my heart up to you and to myself.” She said. “I feel comfortable enough to say that I have feelings for you.”

“You mean the two of us naked and alone tanning together on the beach right?” Serena said playfully. She chuckled as they swayed together. “I admit I have been stressed but the past two days have been the best. You are so good to me Vincent. What would I do without you?” She asked. She kissed him softly on his neck.

Jasmine continues to kiss Brandon. It's been so long since they had time by themselves. She's been busy with her studies and the wedding. Her fingers play with his head undoing the tie her has his hair wrapped in.

~~~~~~

Prescott smiles. "I was not upset by the bethrothal to you. I was more upset that they picked my brother for the throne."

The song ends again. "That is the last picture I want in my head right now. It will make me not want to say good night." Vincent kisses her. Are you up for one more song?"

Brandon runs his fingers up and down Jasmines back. He brings his fingers up to her hair and runs them through it. He caresses her face gently as he looks into her eyes. "Happy birthday baby."

~~

"Well I have no siblings so technically you will still be king. I'm glad you think highly of me. " Lorene said.

Serena smiles. "Of course. One more dance would be lovely. Then we need to get some rest."

Jasmine waits until the kiss is done. She is surprised he didn't feel anything under the clothes. She stands up. She downs her glass of wine. "It may be my birthday, but I think you will like this present too." She takes off the pajamas and reveals the dancing outfit.

She closes her eyes and begins to dance for him. It is a slow flowing dance. The dress is nestled on her hips just right to accent them.

~~~~~~

Vincent put on one more song. "I hope you guys don't mind another slow song." He calls over to Lorene and Prescott. "They make a cute couple. I hope you have fun tomorrow with the ladies. Although be sure to get some rest. Because I will keep you up after that."

Brandon whistled at Jasmine as she began to dance for him. His mouth dropped as she swayed her hips in the beautiful dress. He could not take his eyes off of her. He didn’t even bother to hide the fact that it was a turn on for him. What he wouldn’t do to pull the dress off of her and have her dress naked for him. He is literally stunned at her beauty.

~~

Serena watched Lorene and Prescott for a moment and smiles at them. “I think they do as well. I hope their marriage will be a good one, full of love.” She said. “Oh don’t worry; I will make sure to get enough rest for our honeymoon. You see I don’t expect to rest at all because we will be so busy.” Serena said as she winked at him. She yawned slightly before laying her head back on Vincent’s shoulder. “I hope you have a good time with the guys tomorrow. I know the rehearsal will be tomorrow mid-morning till after lunch. After that I think the ladies wanted to kidnap me. For what I don’t know.”

"Don't ask me. Jasmine is keeping it secret from me as well." Vincent kisses her head. The song ends. He looks down at her. "Let me escort you to your room. I will see you at the rehearsal."

Vincent walks Serena to her room. He pins her against the wall and kisses her senseless. "I love you."

~~~~~~

Prescott watches Vincent leave. "I guess I should walk you back as well. Lorene, I am glad that I am getting to know you as well. You are a very lovely woman."

Serena finds herself pinned to the wall with Vincent kissing her senseless. There is something about the raw carnal feeling that this gives her that she loves. She puts her arms around him to keep from falling. Whenever Vincent kissed her like this, it always made her weak in the knees. She pants as she looks into his eyes. “Are you…sure you don’t want to spend the night with me?” she asked. Her knees were shaking gently.

~~

Lorene smiles at Prescott. “Thank you Prescott.” She said. She bites her lip as they leave the room. “You are a wonderful man. I want to thank you for giving me a chance to know you. We could have been married and that was it, but I am getting a chance to know you better and the more we talk to get to know one another, the more I feel like I love you…” did she just say that to him? Was she ready to say love?