"Hotaru.."She paused and handed him a small cross necklace."If you ever meet a girl by the name of Katie Scarlett,ask to see her locket.It has all the answers that i'm to ashamed to give you."She said quietly and winced at saying the girls name."Juat..when you do find out..know that I am sorry for lieing all these years."She said quietly and pressed the silver corss into his palm."This unlocks the heart."

Iri's eyes went wide as soon as she saw the flour on the Queen. She wanted to say something but even the look on Hotaru's face told her he knew and yet he kept quiet. The girl instantly threw her hands over her mouth as the mother and son continued to converse. There's a ball tonight? She thought to herself, she hadn't known about this either which was rather odd. With how much moving she does around the castle one would think that she would have noticed something. She continued to listen in until the Queen left, Hotaru following. She walked with them, but never entered the room. It wasn't really any of her business so she just stood beside the door jam to keep anyone else from entering at the moment.

“Mom, who is Katie? What do you mean by lying all these years?” Hotaru said to his mother, he was utterly confused as he held onto the cross that she pressed into his palm, he looked at it as he then put it around his neck. He looked at his mother, he was very confused by his mother’s words but he was just going to do what she said after all it was something he would do with out questions some times. He really wanted to know what was up with his mother and what the deal with Katie was but there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment, what was she hiding. "I guess I should go and inform Iri what is going on." He said to his mother as he droppped the topic and headed for the door.

"It's in the locket."She said and ushered him out."I'm going to go find your father.."She said,walking down the hall and turning the corner,stopping to listen to what he might say.

The Queen soon walked by, this allowed the girl to relax a bit. "Hey, what happened?" She asked Hotaru as she turned to look at him. A puzzles look was on his face. She had a lot of questions, and a complaint or two. For now though questions first. She crossed her arms under her chest as she leaned against the door jam and though confused, the look on her face was one telling him to start talking.

Hotaru gave his mother a weak smile as he opened the door and looked at Iri, he had no clue what he was going to say to her at that moment. He knew it was best to tell her everything that had transpired between him and his mother. “Iri…..if any one by the name of Katie shows up at the ball to night, please tell me.” He said to Iri as he turned and began to make his way to his room so he could get ready for the ball, he would have told her everything but he needed time to think on what he was told, he needed to find out what his mother was trying to tell him and what this Katie girl had to do with it.

Iri raised a brow at the simple answer and dismissal. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," she called to him as she jogged to catch up. "Ok, I can do that but why? And sense when is there are ball? And lastly who ever said I was going? Hmm?" She wasn't angry at him, just messing with him like she always did. She never liked to see the boy upset over anything. She would have said something about the whole fact that he said that they were going to dance with each other but she figured that this would be enough for now.

Katie knocked on the princesses door again and then just opened it."Sorry your majesties..but it is lunch time..and I was wondering..tonight is a ball at my home kingdom..may I please go?I just wish to see my family again for one night."She said,her eyes glistening.She had saved a nice dress to wear and everything.

Hotaru sighed heavily as he stopped walking and turned towards his friend, he didn’t exactly look like he was in a joking mood or that he wanted to deal with this at the moment. “One: It is a secret as to why I want you to do that. Two: Since father said there was and Mother just told me this morning before she went for her outing. Three: I said you were going because you’re my excuse when I don‘t want to dance with someone.” he said to her in an almost tired voice, he would have said more then that to her but he was still thinking of what was said between Isadora and him. He then turned and continued walking towards his room, still not in a mood to joke or play at the moment. He threw open the door to his room, leaving it open as he started to strip out of the clothes that he was wearing and started to pull on his formal clothes.

Iri's eyes narrowed slightly once Hotaru had turned away from her once again. That wasn't the reaction she had been expecting, far from it really. It was things like that that reminded the girl as to what her place was in this castle. She wasn't an equal and she took far too much advantage of being the Prince's childhood friend at times. "Yes, your majesty," she said almost bitterly as she curtsied before following him. Once in his bedroom she quickly noted what he was doing and moved about his discarded clothes as they hit the floor. "Allow me to help you," she said, speaking almost like the maids would if they were there. Whenever Iri was upset about something that had to do with Hotaru, this was usually how she got. It was almost like she was trying to remind both of them that she didn't belong there.

((Ahh, a decent length post by myself at least XP))

She looked at Katie and smiled at her "Sure Katie I can go with you it might be fun to meet your family you have been a good friend to me." She said and she was smiling as well.

((Um,katie was asking the princess if she could go to the ball for one night to look for her family..she wasn't asking the princess > . < ))
"Um..Actually I was going to go by myself since I'm probably going to be a bore and look for my family the whole time..it already started so I'm going to go get ready..but If you want you can come..even though I think it would just be easier to have your own ball on your birthday so you don't get in trouble."She said with a smirk."Then,on your birthday you can get in trouble."She laughed and ran into her room,changing into a red dress and putting her hair up in a bun with her bangs down.She came out."Like ?"She asked.For once she felt good.

((Shes wearing this: http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/u...rsballgown.jpg Oh yeah,Ameika give me the okay and then i'll have her come to the ball. ))

(she is will be alone)

((What? o . O ))

(the people who play her parents are not here)

((And? They're in the castle somewhere..))
Katie sighed."Well goodbye princess,"She said lightly with a curtsy and started going to the door.

((Waiting on Ameika > . < ))

“Iri, I don‘t need help getting into a suit. You go and get into that dress over there.” he said to her as he pointed to the one that was hanging on the dressing screen that he was supposed to get changed behind. As he buttoned up his shirt, he walked back over towards the door and kicked it shut, he then walked back to his closet and finished getting dress. He wasn’t trying to be mean or harsh to his friend but there were some things that he needed to think over as he got dress. He then picked up a brush and began to make it look better then it was already, being as princely looking as he could even though his hair didn’t like lay flat like he wanted it to, after a while he gave up on it and waited for Iri to come out with her dress on.

----------

((okay Hotaru is ready waitting on Iri to post and get ready and she can go a head to the ball lol))

((K,I'll just say a lot of people were arriving.))

Katie finally reached the dark kingdom,her smile widened as she looked at her old home of the village and everyone around.She followed the other people inside the building to the big ballroom where everyone was dancing.She stood by the stairs and waited,looking around for any familiar faces.Her silver locket shown on her neck,shining brightly in the lights.The locket was labeled 'K.S.D'

Iri simply sighed at Hotaru's orders before walking over to the screen silently. Something was bothering the prince, her best friend, and she didn't know what it was and it bothered her. She heard the door being kicked shut but she didn't know if that confirmed her thoughts or if he was just being lazy at this point. Regardless, the thoughts floating through the girl's head were enough to block out what it was she was actually putting on. She slipped off her usual dress, apron, headpiece, and everything else and slipped on what was left for her. She held a ribbon in her hand and noticing a bright yellow color, it snapped her back into reality. "What the heck is this?!" The girl exclaimed she ripped the collar from her neck. "Hotaru we have a serious issue here," she said as she stepped out revealing her dress. "It's white," she stated bluntly, a sour look on her face.

Hotaru smiled and laugh a little at the reaction that was gotten out of Iri as she realized what she was wearing, it actually put him in a better mood then he was in. "That, Iri, is the dress that was picked out for you. White suits you better then the other that they had picked out for you. Which you would have never had worn. So it is either white or a hedious pink colored dress." he said to her as he turned around revealing his outfit that he was wearing, he walked over to her and replaced the collar on her neck. "You can live with out wearing this." he said as he pulled the yellow ribbon out of her hand and tossed it on the screen that was behind her. He looked her over and smiled again, he held his arm out, saying for her to take it. "Now, we are both unhappy but at least we look good. So shall i escort you to the ball?" he said to her as humor played in his voice and it danced in his eyes, he waitted for her to take his arm.

((whats been going on?))

Iri grimmaced at the feel of the itchy collar around her neck once again. She glared at Hotaru for a moment longer but it was obviously a meaningless battle that she had already lost. After fidgetting with her gloves for a bit more she finally took his arm in her own asking, "Why are we wearing white? It's not like we're that light kingdom or anything..." It was obvious that the girl had a vendetta against the kingdom, it was because of the war that her parents were killed and she was practically raised in the castle. "And you know, you're lucky we're friends or I would just leave you high and dry at this ball," she chidded with him, her usual humor and smile coming back to her face. She may not have been happy but she would at least find ways to amuse herself once they got there. Though she wasn't really sure why she was going. It wasn't like they were trying to marry her off, at least as far as she knew. With that thought a slightly horrified look came to her face but she quickly shook the thought and look away dismissivly. They wouldn't do that, they'd miss me too much, she joked to herself.

(well there is a ball at the dark kingdom and my character ask the king to have a party for her birthday.)

“It is a masqurade ball and father wants us to appear like this. If you leave me high and dry at the ball I will leave you high and dry next time Nana is trying to kill you.” Hotaru said to her with humor in his voice, with just a hint of seriousness in it, he ran a hand through his hair as he walked with her down the dark hallway. Once the reach the stairs that would lead them to the ball room, he stopped in his tracks, he sighed heavily and looked towards Iri, a humorless smile on his face. “Well time for us to die.” he said as he tried to joke with her, but it seemed like that ball was just sapping his humor out of him, he then turned and began to make his way down the stairs with Iri on his arm.

Katie looked up seeing the Prince and another girl walking down the stairs.She smiled since he seemed to ook just like he had when she was young.She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and noticed his cross..it matched her locket.She blinked a little and felt her hand going up to her locket in wonder.

Isadora walked down the other stairs,alone.She had no clue where her husband was..but he was usually never around any way.She watched as her son came down the steps with Ira..but then she almost froze when she saw Katie at the center of the ballroom.