Race for the Throne

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Jasmine laughs at Brandon. "Serena you have my permission to tease him when I get pregnant." She opens the door. "I suppose you guys are hungry. I just want Sakura."

"Baby snatcher!" Vincent crys out. "Brandon, better be careful you may never see your kids."

Lorene grins at Serena. "I don't think they even have to be gay. As long as they can dance. I love the idea though."

~~~~

"I think we all have been threatened by the fathers. So Prescott, have you experienced anything from Lorene's father?" Vincent asks.

~~~

Jasmine races to the castle and grabs the outfit. She heads down to the ballroom and meets up with her brother. "Hey, so are the guys in one piece."

"So far, but who knows what they are doing with him now." Nathaniel winks at her.

"They better behave or I will hurt them." Jasmine threatens.

Serena finishes up her cheesecake. “Oh goddess that was delicious. Cheesecakes are my cravings.” Serena explained as they get up. “Well they have a few straight guys. Tell you what, we will go down and see which one is the hottest one and rent him for the night for some dancing.” She said winking at Lorene.

They walked down to a local dance place and Serena and Lorene walk in. “Good afternoon, I am the owner here. Please call me Kitty. How can I help you today?” Kitty asked.

“I am Princess Serena and this is Princess Lorene. We are here for Princess Jasmine’s wedding. We want to help her calm down and relax a little before the big day and want to rent a dancer for the night.” Serena explained.

~~

“If you mean the talk then yes…You will respect my daughter and you will not hurt her. I swear I have been threatened more in the past two month’s sense when I was a bad kid!” Prescott said rolling his eyes.

Brandon chuckled. “Everyone I think goes through that. Though that was a first for me.” Brandon admitted.

“Well I was threatened once or twice but I think that her father is happier to have her married off. We will be staying on castle grounds until I am ready to start doing diplomatic services for their country. I have to go through a year’s training and military training before I can do that.” Prescott said. “What about you guys?”

Anton was taking some Moldovan dance lessons when the Princesses arrived. He had just finished changing and was about to step out when he heard them. He pauses and hides around the corner.

"Ahh, you are looking for some of my dancers. I know most of them are going to be in the pageant, but I will tell them about the party. I know most will be delighted to attend." The director explains. "She made an impression on some of them. You will probably have to beat them off with a stick. Don't worry, I will make sure you are set up. And don't worry about payment. I owe her for not accepting payment for the pageant."

~~~~

"Well I have been working on my studies and etiquette training first. I was not raised a prince, so there was that to do. Brandon, you are probably experiencing that." Vincent starts. "The military training will start later. It may be easier for me since I am already working with the troops as the archer instructor.

"Well I'm certain we can help you do that. Though I don't think I've ever had the castle come asking for our dancers before." Kitty said chuckling. She motions them over to a side room. "This is my office, ladies. Please have a seat." She said. She pulls out a book and slides it over to the ladies.

"These are our available dancers." She said.

Serena and Lorene go through the book together. The stop when they see a picture of a hot tanned guy with blue eyes. "This is the one." They said in unison.

"This is Alex. He is one of our best dancers and is available tonight." Kitty said.

"Perfect. Thank you Miss. Kitty." Serena said as she paid for the entertainment. She then gave the lady the arrangements for the night.

~~

"The etiquette classes are crazy. I'll be so thankful when they are done." Brandon said with a sigh. "I don't see why we need so many forks on a table."

Prescott laughed. "I don't know why either but now you understand why we get frustrated sometimes."

Anton waits until the ladies are in the room before he goes to the door. He hears them pick out. Alex was the one giving him lessons earlier. "Hello Mrs Kitty, oh and ladies, I just wanted to let you know that I am done. Ladies I hope you are attending the pageant. I heard it will be good this year. May I escort you to the grounds?"

~~~~~~~~~

"We better head to the Pageant, especially if we want good seats." Vincent tells the guys.

"You guys are family to the featured dancers, and Princes. Trust me the last thing you have to worry about are good seats. Now remember, after we pick up some stuff for the party later." Prescott nudges Vincent as they walk. "I hope the girls are having fun today."

Serena immediately turns her head to the voice. “Why Prince Anton…how lovely to see you.” She said gritting her teeth. She would rather die than have Anton escort her to the pageant.

Lorene looked at Serena after hearing the tension in her voice. She then looks at Anton. “Are you alright Serena?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” She said. “Just a little moody is all.” Serena retorted.

~~

Brandon walks with the guys. “I bet they are having a great time. I should wonder how Serena is. I know she is probably tired.” He said chuckling.

“How is her pregnancy going Vincent?” Prescott asked as they walked. “Is…is that the girls I see standing in that dance place? Why are they there?” He said pointing to the little dance place.

Lorene smiles at Anton. "You are such a gentleman. Serena why don't we take him up on his offer? At least until we get to the ballroom."

~~~~

Vincent smirks. "I wonder what the ladies are plotting. There may be some half naked guys at her party, think you can handle that Brandon." He claps Brandon's back. "Shall we pull them away. We should be heading to the ballroom. Oh and Prescott, so far so smooth. Her morning sickness still hits from time to time, but overall she is alright."

Serena looks at Lorene. “Fine…” She said. Anton offer’s her his arm and she turns it down. “No thank you sir…we are both married and I don’t see it befitting of a married woman to take the arm of another.” She said gritting her teeth.

They walked out with Anton and Brandon catches a glimpse of him. “I don’t think we are heading straight for the ballroom…That’s Anton with them.” He said growling practically.

Anton smiles at Serena. "You forget, I am married as well. I am just trying to be polite, Princess. I know that you are pregnant."

Vincent groans. He was hoping they wouldn't see him. "I forgot to tell you they were here to visit Nadine. I say we should rescue our ladies."

They walk over to the ladies. "Hello ladies, Anton, well appears we are all headed to the ball room." Vincent wraps his arms around Serena and kisses her.

"Excuse me Anton, I would like to escort my fiancee. Thank you for escorting her this far." Prescott smiles at Lorene.

Serena is thankful that Vincent is there. She hugs Vincent tightly. “Thank goddess you are here. I hate being around him.” She whispered to him.

Lorene smiles at Prescott. “Ohh, that was kind of you.” She said. She was oblivious to the situation.

Brandon walked over with his jaw slightly jutted out. “It’s good to see you Anton. May I welcome you to Moldova. Just remember, I don’t want to see you around certain people.” He said giving him the evil eye.

"I am here to visit my wife. I didn't even realize it was during the Solstice celebration." Anton explains to Brandon. "I understand that Jasmine and Nathaniel are the featured dancers. I cannot wait to see their dance."

Vincent pulls Brandon with his free arm. "I know Brandon cannot wait to see his fiancee dance either, can he?"

They arrive at the ballroom and go their separate ways. The Sentalis, Watsons, Lanes, Mirandas and Lawsons all sit together front and center. The director comes out. "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Moldova's Pageant. This year's theme is Royalty, so sit back and relax."

The lights darken and the story begins all the way back at Moldova's first royal family. The dancers tell the tale of the Goddess' blessing.

It continues through the other royal families, telling the tales of war and peace all the way to the death of Queen Serena. It flashes forward to the solstice celebration a year ago and the race that Lawrence put into place. Jasmine and Nathaniel are there with other dancers to represent Anton and Nadine.

They dance from the starting of the trip. Nathaniel and Jasmine have a beautiful, but heartbreaking dance telling the tale of when he left. Nathaniel leaves in the middle, leaving Jasmine alone. She is joined by the other dancers.

The group arrives at "Altiere". It flash forwards to the market place. 'Serena', 'Audra', and Jasmine are walking around. Jasmine looks to the back of the crowd. She yells Serena's name, and falls to the ground. 'Audra' races away. She returns with 'Brandon' who is played by Nathaniel in a blonde wig. Jasmine is carried away and the light darken.

The next scene shows Jasmine lying in a bed. 'Brandon' is over. "Are you an Angel." Is heard on the speakers.

'Brandon' shakes his head. "I am Brandon Lee Lawson." is heard.

'Brandon' and Jasmine then dance to the story of their love. Afterward, the director ends the story. "Introducing the future of Moldova, Princess Jasmine Lane and Prince Brandon Sentali."

Brandon watches intently as the dancers dance. He is impressed and awed at the same time. It’s a long program, but Brandon loves every minute of it. His attention stays on Jasmine the whole show. He cannot believe that the program is about their love and their future together. He is so surprised.

Serena smiles and enjoys the show. She has Vincent’s hand and cannot help but cry. The hormones have her.

When the program ends, everyone gives a standing ovation as they clap and whistle. Serena is slightly stiff after sitting for so long. She watches as Brandon makes a swift exit to greet Jasmine. She looks up at Vincent. “That was a wonderful program. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it.”

Jasmine sees Brandon and her lips fuse with his. Lights from flashes light up the air. Madeline wipes the tears from her eyes. "I cannot believe how close we came to losing her." She whispers to Berenson. "Look at them they are so happy together."

Levi goes to Nathaniel. "You don't look half bad as a blond. You were amazing my love."

Anton makes a bee line to Alex. He is talking to them and the two disappear.

Vincent helps Serena to stand. "It was painful to watch. Even glossed over like it was. I was so close to losing you."

Brandon deepens the kiss and ignores the flashing lights around them. He looks at Jasmine as he runs his fingers though her hair. “That was such an amazing dance. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see our love danced like that.” He said as he hugged her.

Berenson had to wipe a tear from his own face. “That would have been horrible to have lost her. I don’t know what I would do without her.” He said as he hugged Madeline.

Serena hugs Vincent the best she can. “But you didn’t and it was because of Jasmine that I am still here. I cannot tell you how sad and happy that I am that it happened. I hate that I almost lost my family, but I’m happy that I am still with you. I still have nightmares about it sometimes.” She said. There were tears in her eyes.

"It was so hard to dance that. It was like it flashed before my eyes during it." She kisses him. "I love you so much."

Lawrence approaches with Junaluska. She is holding Reginald. Mallory and Jacobi follow. Mallory is holding Sakura. "We will see you guys later, but wanted to congratulate you on the dance. It will be the most talked one since your mother's."

"Thank you Lawrence." Jasmine breaks away from Brandon to hug him and the others. "Have fun with the kids tonight, and spoil them as much as possible."

Vincent holds Serena. "I know you do, but I want you to have fun tonight with the ladies. I have some last minute shopping to do with the guys. Promise you will keep Brandon distracted for like a half hour?"

Iverson and Kalista walk over and both hug Brandon and then Jasmine. “That was a wonderful show, Jasmine. I cannot tell you how beautiful it was. I know it must have been hard to do, but I think you did a wonderful job.” Iverson said.

“It was beautiful. Sometimes words cannot express what you want to say, but a dance can.” Kalista said as she hugged Jasmine.

Brandon again hugs Jasmine. “I agree, sometimes words can’t express what you feel.” He said as he kissed her hand.

Serena nodded her head. “I promise to have fun. Don’t worry, I have some entertainment coming that will be fun. I don’t know if you will need me to keep him distracted for the half hour, look at him with Jasmine. You can tell that they love each other so much.”

Vincent kisses her. "It is the same love I have for you. I will see you later. Have fun with the ladies." He then goes over to Nathaniel and Prescott. "We have a half hour to pick up the stuff."

Jasmine received the hugs. "Oh thank you guys so much. It was such a joy to dance for everyone. Now Kalista, I hope you are going to join us tonight."

"I would not miss it for the world, but first you need to greet the rest of your well wishers. Including your parents."

Madeline coughs. "I heard that. Oh honey were are so proud of you, and the outfit is gorgeous. Doesn't she look great Brandon? I remember Berenson when I danced. He couldn't talk for a good 15 minutes...and neither could I." She winked at them.

"Mom, ewww that is just gross." Jasmine cringes. "Dad, tell her that is nothing I need to hear."

Sarah and George walked over to Jasmine. “We had only heard the story from Brandon before. That was such a beautiful dance.” Sarah said as she hugged Jasmine.

“That was better than I expected. It was a very emotional filled dance and I am glad I was able to see your wonderful dance.” George said. “We are going with the other grandparents. I hope you kids have fun tonight.” He said.

Caleb was helping his father. “I plan on joining you fellows later. I am going to help dad back to the Lane house.” He said.

Brandon hugged his grandparents before going back to Jasmine. He could see Berenson studying him as Madeline talked. “What? All I did was stare at her. I was speechless.” Berenson admitted to his daughter. “She was so beautiful in her outfit and her dance was sublime. There hasn’t been a dance to match it till now. Nathaniel, I am proud of you.” He said as he hugged his son before he left to go join the other guys.

Serena walked over and attempted to hug Jasmine. “The boys are saying hello. Aunt Madeline, would you like to feel the boys moving?” She asked.

"Oh I would love too!" Madeline places her hand on Serena's stomach. "I am so excited for you two. Twins are so much fun. If you ever have any question, I am only a telegraph away."

"Thank you so much, I am so glad you enjoyed it." Jasmine hugs both George and Sarah. "Have fun babysitting tonight, Daniel will help you guys out too."

She kisses Brandon once more. "I know I must leave you tonight. I hope you have fun with the guys. Now to tear Mom away from Serena. I can only imagine what she would be like when I am pregnant."

Brandon holds on to Jasmine as he smiles. “She will be so excited to know you are having a baby someday. If she is excited for Serena I cannot imagine how she will be for you. I want you to have fun tonight. There will be no more sadness for us from now on.” He said as he lifted her chin.

Serena looked around for Vincent. He wasn’t back yet. “They have been so active. Sometimes I am sore and wake up with a bruise here or there.” She said.

Brandon chuckled. “That would be their little feet kicking. They are rambunctious.” He said.

Serena looked at Madeline. “If I ever need help, rest assured I will telegram you.” She said with a smile. She made a face. “I have to go to the bathroom…They think my bladder is something to jump on.”

Jasmine goes over to Serena. "Well I will go with her, and make sure we make it to the party. Don't worry Serena, he is with my brother and the guys. Besides our fathers are with them. How much trouble can they get into."

Madeline kisses Berenson. "Now make sure the guys behave, but have fun. I will do the same for the girls. I have the special gift for Jasmine as well." She catches up to the girls.

Berenson turns to Brandon. "I guess we are headed to the castle as well."

Serena makes her way over to the bathroom. She pees and then washes her hands. “Oh goddess…I feel so much better. I almost peed on myself.” She said chuckling. "Now are you ready for some fun?"

Brandon is slightly nervous to be with Berenson alone, however he does it. “What are we doing this evening?” He asked.

"Do I even know what you have planned?" Jasmine smirks at Serena. They walk to the carriage that brings them to the castle. "Now take me where the party is going to be."

Berenson laughs. "Don't ask me, the guys have been planning this. All I get to do is watch and have fun." They get to the castle. Berenson takes him to the small dining hall. Food has been spread out along with drinks. Vincent found some good cigars.

Nathaniel sees Brandon and Berenson walk in. "There is the man of the hour!" The guys raise their glasses as Nathaniel gets one for Brandon and his dad.

Serena laughs at Jasmine. “Don’t worry; just know that you are going to love it.” She said with a smile. They get to the castle and to one of the lower studies. It has been decorated and there are some food items and drinks laid out. Leaded and nonleaded of course. Serena walks over and picks up a head piece and smiles. “The lady of the hour, we are so happy to be here for your wedding.” She said.
Lorene, Kalista and Madeline are also there. “We wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Lorene said hugging Jasmine.

~~

Brandon raised his glass. “You guys are amazing. You didn’t have to do this for me.” He said.

Levi walked over and put his arm around Nathaniel. “We didn’t have too, but we wanted to. You are now a part of this family and we are happy to have you here with us.” He said with a smile.

Berenson smiled. “It has been a long road, but my daughter is happy with you. I know she loves you by the way she looks at you.”

Jasmine hugs Lorene and touches the headpiece. She accepts a glass from Kalista. "Wow thank you guys. Everything is so beautiful. I cannot imagine spending this time with anyone but you."

"Now grab some food first. Then we have some presents to give you. And then the ladies have something planned. I don't even know what it is." Kalista tells her.

~~~~~~

"We also have some presents for you as well. Think of it as a way to get back for some that you gave me." Vincent winks. "Oh and we got some girls from the pageant to dance for you as well."

Caleb even has a drink. "Brandon, you have some great friends. I hope you enjoy your last days as a bachelor."