Chapter 1:

Pawn

Love is a promise delivered already broken

Music. Whispers. People. That's all she could hear at the moment. Closing her eyes she let the sound of violins invade her ears. She sighed; wouldn't it be perfect if she could only hear that? But it wasn't, people gossiping was overshadowing the beautiful sound violins made. It was just another thing she had to add to the things she had to do to be kind of socially accepted. And then all went silent as the man she had expected for at least two hours arrived late to his own party. Opening her eyes she saw Vincent Nicolas Massarotti; heir to the heart throne and her fiance; making his way towards her with his signature smirk dancing along his lip. He was supposed to be a pirate, white opened shirt, black pants and matching boots, a big captain hat and for the finishing touch a sword. Gazing at it she recognised the sword as King Luca's (May he rest in peace) sword with a Black Lion engraved on the Venia metal, the strongest rarest metal of all. His black mask making his dark blue eyes sparkle with lust when he caught sight of her.

She ignored him and proceeded to walk to one of the wall length windows. They where currently in one of the castle's ballrooms. This one in particular was used for masquerades; it was located in the southern part of the castle and the wall that was covered in windows was facing one of the seven labyrinths. The labyrinths were created for the protection of the royal family; each labyrinth had different colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and grey. This labyrinth in particular was called the Orchid Frame. She would spend hours of hours in there contemplating the statues. Each maze was decorated with two different kinds of statues. The labyrinths were death traps and wouldn't let their victims come out alive, either making them go mad or the statues would kill them. The Orchid Frame was decorated with woman and panther statues. What allured her had been their distant faces and how they would change their pose, position, place and how they would even pose with other statues in the maze. Another characteristic of the labyrinths was that only plants of the colour assigned could grow in them hence why the purple one is called the Orchid Frame. Each labyrinth had its own personality and it would change according to its mood.

She was clearly avoiding him as she strolled to the other side of the room placing a gloved hand on the glass. Even when her hand was covered she could feel the cold seeping through the laced cloth to her skin creating chills. She didn't move though. He licked his lips at the sight of a delicious snack served in a deep red coloured laced dress. He frowned at the lack of attention he was receiving from her, after all this was their engagement party even if the other guest didn't know that…yet.

Her dress was design by the famous Alexa Modus, he didn't even know if the damn thing deserved to be called a dress. It was transparent and the only thing preventing her from being completely naked was the dark red patterns. He admired how all her top part was completely exposed, it seemed like her skin had been tattooed, while the bottom part faded, it was more opaque and didn't let the light go through it as easily only creating a shadow of her long legs. She wore a matching black mask with the same design as her dress highlighting her purple orbs. Truly perfect, the dress was so revealing but at the same time she showed nothing leaving everything to the imagination. Of course that was if you hadn't seen her naked before which he had. She had been dressed to represent fire. The dress seemed to come from the ground and the each pattern had been carefully placed so that it created the illusion of flames.

He had blocked all sound and ignored all the other slutty dressed girls, she was different, unlike them she never tried to be slutty she had a natural sinful body. She was an oversized hourglass. If he had guessed her measurements were impressive 110, 76, 110. But of course he didn't need to guess since he had peaked on Alexa's notebook and as always he had guessed correctly. Much like her, he had long ago stopped caring what society thought of him. That was probably why he got in so many scandals. He saved that thought for another moment he would ponder on that later since currently he couldn't stop the dirty ideas of what he would do to her once the opportunity was presented. When again he turned his attention to her she was staring at one of the ice statues design especially for the masquerade. His favourite was the biggest one at the entry of the ballroom; his family's pet a black lion roaring while stepping on its prey which in this particular case was a Visayan Spotted deer. There were also four mermaid statues and another sixteen bird statues which were placed on decorative tables.

Licking his lips he came closer to her. The murmuring became louder. Queen Henrietta had invited royalty from all over the World to commemorate the day. She had requested everyone's presence for a special announcement; they of course knew it was an engagement announcement. He was a prince therefore he had at least one hundred marriage proposal and today would finally be the day he was announcing his fiancée.

There was still some distance between them when she decided to finally turn her eyes towards him just to find determined and demanding dark blue already on her. She needed to get back at him for drawing so much attention, it was supposed to be a secret and he was making it painfully obvious. Instead of reacting as he wanted her to she acknowledge his presence; a small fake smile made itself present on her face, action that made more guests turn heads in a scandalous manner. She never smiled; it was indeed an unimaginable spectacle to see a person of her nature smile to none other than the next Heart King. Still gliding towards her in a slow and sensual pace his smirk grew even wider. He had learned to expect the unexpected with her. The deal had been finishes a little over two months ago and no one other than Jasper Gabriel Snow and Henrietta Olivia Massarotti knew about it.

"Victoria" He called out reaching out to grab her hand, her smile still plastered as his hand touched hers. He had called her by her first name meaning they were close and were acquainted with her in a particular close manner.

Victoria Isabel Snow; heiress to the Snow Empire and the Mafia. She was potentially the most dangerous and powerful successor apart from him. She was even more influential than all the nobles and some royal families. The mafia was a terrorist group spread across all the four countries, and the Snow family was tasked to keep it under control. Of course most people would argue this as corruption but politics didn't really help middle class citizens gain some kind of support. Before the Snow family took control of the Mafia, the situation had gone beyond the royal guard's control, since assassins didn't really listen to authorities.

Many nobles suspected the Snow's to be in possession of the terrorist group but there was never enough evidence to incriminate them. With them as leaders the Heart royal family could infiltrate other countries and not get questioned for it. The mafia has proven to the perfect excuse for any act of terrorism and dispute for all countries. And from a political point of view is provides unity between countries therefore royal guards don't really concern themselves with the Mafia letting them act as they please.

The Mafia could be compared to War it was bad, nobody likes it but it opens trade and negotiations; countries unite and send provisions to countries that need it. The Mafia provided a bond, meaning that nobles don't really want the Mafia to dissolve. It was a win-win situation. And Victoria would be directing everything from the shadows.

Her face seemed pained as she let him grab her hand. He brought it closer to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. Victoria quickly retrieved her hand wanting to strangle him for humiliating her in front of so many important people. She glanced around the room successfully encountering with many shocked expressions especially from the Diamond's nobles. Princess Anna Cristina Invenio the oldest princess from the Diamond royal family had been the favourite candidate for marriage; 'sweet', beautiful and powerful. When Victoria locked eyes with her she could feel the rage and fury Cristina must have gone through. If memory served her right she could remember attending a dinner party where she overheard Cristina talking enthusiastically about how spectacular her wedding would be when Vincent chose her.

Cristina was exactly the type of person Victoria would rather put a bullet through her head than listen. Victoria didn't hate her because of her spoilt-like attitude but because after her parent's passing she would use that to get anything she wanted. She played the 'poor orphan girl' part to earn sympathy and attention. When her brother now King Thomas Isaac Invenio got the throne she knew there was absolutely no chance of her being Queen and seeing as Vincent was most likely going to pick her she didn't waste too much time being jealous of her brother. But now things were different even if the announcement was not scheduled for much later it did seem that Vincent had demonstrated more than enough to confirm the untold.

"Would you do me the honour…" Everybody seemed to lean closer to hear the second part of the question. He had once again seized her hand and was almost knelt before her. Victoria was glaring so hard that it seemed that a hole would be burnt through his skull. On the other hand he was amused by the misunderstanding he was causing. "…Of dancing this piece with me?" He chuckled as the tension that had accumulated seemed to be even more tensed than before.

Vincent knew what he was doing and he had made fun of everyone right in front of their noses. The irony of the situation made everybody review whether or not the young prince was playing them another joke showing favouritism for Victoria Snow. They all waited for her answer, it wasn't like she could easily decline to anything the prince asked for. But after everything she had done it wouldn't be surprising if she did not please the prince. She sighed quietly trying very hard to get through the situation. "Isn't it too early to dance?" She tried knowing it was a failed attempt to get him off of her. "Perhaps or perhaps is that my lady does not wish to share a dance with me" He said bluntly knowing that this time she wouldn't be able to refuse him.

Vincent would always do this type of things to get surprises from her. Victoria was no more than a source of amusement that never failed him; unpredictable and untamed. He even admired her to certain extent. Of course he would admire anyone that could deal with his narcissistic personality and make him listen. "If you understand then that makes things even more simple" She answered with a smile that clearly announced he would never be able to control her.

He pretended to be offended by her response. Once again guests where commenting and giving their opinions of how Victoria was handling the prince. She was being criticized once again, since she took control of the Snow business everything had been about how she could have done better. Everybody would compare her to her older brother Edward Michael Snow. He was four years older than her and had previously been the heir until he had an accident.

He had overworked himself too much the point where he collapsed in the middle of a meeting. He had smashed his head against the floor causing a concussion consequently leaving him in a coma-like state for a year and a half. Doctors predicted he would never wake up again for what Jasper her father was left with a huge problem. Nobody knew what had happened but somehow the sweet, quiet and obedient Victoria had changed and even defied her father by taking control. Edward and Victoria had been extremely close so it was a shock when the siblings become extremely hostile to each other once he regained consciousness. And after two years their bitter relationship became less of a scandal. The siblings where never seen together again, that was probably why Edward was not attending the masquerade.

His voice pulled her out of her thoughts "Oh my dearest you hurt my feelings" He said mockingly. It seemed that she was being rude to the future King and that no matter how much of a rebel she was frowned upon everyone. She needed to solve the situation and it needed to be fast. And her reaction took everyone by surprise that was not the Victoria everyone knew. She was smiling shyly looking away in embarrassment and answered in a hushed tone "You shouldn 't call me that, only your fiancée should  hear such things" She batted her eyelashes as a final touch.

She had him between a sword and a wall; she was truly a wonderful specimen. He took some time to recover from the expression she had made and swore he would tame her even if it was the last thing he did. Almost immediately her hand was thrown on his shoulder and her body was almost slammed against him. She didn't flinch making the whole situation seem smooth to the spectators. "Then that means that I would be allowed to call you that if you were the one?" He asked holding in his laughter. As always they were fighting throwing enigmas to each other.

"But I'm not am I?" She asked and he grabbed her waist as a punishment. Her grip on his shoulder increased but he just smiled. "Why don't we find out?" he asked guiding her free hand to his other shoulder. She sighed trying to ignore the disapproving looks. Vincent turned to look at the orchestra who had stopped playing since it would be too awkward to play while two of the most power people had been politely trying to humiliate each other. In a hurried manner the screaming melody of the violins filled the room once again. Victoria had always told herself 'If you have to do something might as well do it well' that was one of the quotes her mother would often tell her. She held everything her mother said dear; even now she stood by her mother's teachings and morals. Taken the saying to heart she relaxed her muscles ready to show the young Massarotti just who she was.

One, two, three; she started counting in her head getting in sync with the music. He would have expected that she would dance with resistance and even get to scape somehow but it seemed she had accepted the fact that he wouldn't have let her go and instead of being stubborn as ever had gone with the flow. On the other hand her gaze was as piercing as ever, she had locked eyes with him and hell damned her if she would let him turn away. Not that he wanted to anyways, her eyes were mysterious and at that moment he truly believed that her eyes were doors to her soul.

Purple is the symbol of power, nobility, luxury and ambition. It's often associated with nobility, wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery and magic. It conveys wealth and extravagance. And that's exactly what Victoria Snow was, therefore her purple eyes matched perfectly with who she was. Purple was also a unique feature of the Snow family, this means that if you are part of the pure bloods you would either have some feature that was colour purple. In Victoria's case not only her eyes were purple but her front right side bangs were also colour purple. No one in at least two hundred years had shown two strong features to have such a strong shade of purple. It was said that the more purple was shown the stronger the will of the person and the stronger the will of the person the better candidate for (as the legend states) one of the six original creatures to combine their soul too.

Of course those were only child stories and legends about Exorsus and the greatest war of all time. The tales explain how the world they know now came to be and it predicted an even greater war between light and darkness for absolute control over everything that is known and unknown. The legends also state that due to the massive amount of energy a parallel world was created but unlike Exorsus it was underdeveloped and it would not survive for long, this world was better known as Earth. But over the years people forgot about them and continued living their lives with no regard whatsoever to anything that happened over a thousand years ago.

Vincent was surprised when she interlaced her hands and pressed herself against him. As a response he gripped her waist warning her not to tease him. She smirked at him and took a step making him step back. He growled; he wasn't about to let her take control. He wouldn't go with the usual back and forth dance, no, the guests were expecting a show and that's exactly what he would give them. After all they came here for something more than an announcement. His right hand left her waist and grabbed her hand from behind his neck; her eyes widen when he brought it once again to his lips but he didn't kiss it as everyone was expecting instead he pulled the glove slowly off her and through it to somewhere unknown. Was that his plan? To take off some of her garments? Surely he knew better than to think that would intimidate her. Her hand was still being held close to his lips but Victoria could clearly see the glint in his eyes that said that wasn't it. He returned the smirk she had given him earlier and before she knew it his lips where on her knuckles.

He had kissed her naked hand, which meant something else. He had shown everyone that even the mightiest and indomitable would succumb to him and his wishes that he could strip her naked and she wouldn't question him. Nevertheless her aura became grim and deathly. Yes, she was loyal, yes, she was obedient and yes, she would show everyone that even if she lost a battle she would win the war. Before he knew it she was once again pressed against him even closer than before her face millimetres from his. She only broke eye contact to glare at the orchestra who started playing immediately. This time the pianist had decided to join the violins taking the lead.

Once she got the tempo of the song she pushed him five steps back. It did seem their bodies fitted perfectly like a puzzle piece. She had just showed everyone that she would always fight back that unlike every other girl in the room she would never give all of herself to the selfish little prince. He of course didn't like the fact that she were undermining him hurt his ego; no one hurt his ego, no one. Even if he wanted to he couldn't stop the storm currently nested in his arms instead he forced her to twirl. He took the opportunity to regain control. Twirling her back to him she prepared herself for what he would do next.

Their dance was the definition of disaster, it was clear they were fighting for power and the atmosphere was filled with sexual tension. They were having too much body contact and each time skin touched skin a reaction was caused. The crowed was anxious to see who would win, Vincent could even hear some of them betting against him; that damaged his ego, how could they even think for a moment that he would be dominated? He noticed who the song seemed to be reaching its end this was his queue to show Victoria just how much power he had over her. As the last notes reached his ears he pushed her body to form an arch. He had won the battle and was going to collect his price latter since doing so in public would just leave him too many aftereffects he would have to deal later. Instead he gave her a smirk while bringing her to her original pose. Once again he grabbed her hand and kissed it before she could do anything. "Thank you, love for the dance. Be sure to save me the last one too"

Vincent was about to leave to greet his neglected guests when the oak double slammed against the Ballroom walls. The doors had previously been closed because they were the entrance to the centre of the castle which only members of the royal family and inner circle of the nobles are allowed, no foreigners. Everybody turned to look who had walked in. Tension settled in as heels clicking against the marble floor filled the silence. Queen Henrietta had finally decided to join the masquerade. Her furious red hair had been done is such a way that a braid circled around the bun that had her hair in twirls and curls. It was impressive she had dressed as a doll. She walked towards the duo. It was obvious her son had inherit her cunning smirk. Vincent smiled deviously at his mother and tightened his hold on Victoria's waist which didn't pass unnoticed to everybody in the room.

Anna Cristina was smiling at the presence of the Queen thinking that she would put Victoria where she belonged and scold Vincent for flirting with someone who was not his fiancée. But all of that was crushed when she kissed Victoria's cheek. "Hello darling, good to see you again" She greeted her. The courtesy she was showing to Victoria and how casually she regarded her gave the impression they were close, very close. Queen Henrietta wouldn't even show this much comfort around her closest friends, therefore when she kissed her it came as a shock to everyone. Even if Victoria was to be the next Queen of Hearts there was still a level of respect, procedure of manners, protocol they would have to do and kissing her cheek was obviously not one of them.

Henrietta turned to the crowed smiling and mentally checking who had attended. From what she could see neither one of Victoria's family had attended, not that it mattered after all she was very well aware of her home situation but what surprised her was that young Elizabeth had not attended the masquerade probably because she was still too young to engage any sort of intelligent conversation with anyone. She could hear nothing but silence and that pleased her greatly.

"Goodnight dear guests, I trust my son had kept you all entertained in my absence but, alas the wait has ended and I believe have come here for one reason alone" Henrietta started her speech. "Vincent, my first and only son, heir to the heart throne and all its lands, nobles and secrets" Vincent smiled at the crowed while his mother presented him. He finally let Victoria go and stepped forward to join his mother. He stared at each and every of the three other royal families standing in front him and next to them their respective most trusted noble families.

His stare lingered longer when he caught Ella Grace Lacesso second child from the Lacesso royal family from the Club throne and Vincent's closest ally. Unlike other alliances or friendships Ella's and Vincent's had started from an affair which both parties felt no attachment for but contrary to any relationships they had had in the past they actually enjoyed each other's company and talked. Seeing every inch of Ella's being and mind made Vincent trust her and friendship thrived. The affair was soon ended when Ella found love. His name was Alexander Timothy Esseis eldest son from the Esseis noble family from the Spade throne. Of course her family wouldn't allow the marriage to happen before knowing exactly what positive outcome would it bring. Therefore it is still on hold but it did help to get the future King of Heart's blessing.

She smirked at him knowing her closest friend would be taken care of. Ella didn't know Victoria personally but from what she had seen and heard it seemed she wouldn't go down as easily as Vincent's other toys and seeing as he even kept from her his marriage it meant that he had actually found something to keep his mind off his demons. She had also once thought like him; that love was useless and that it could only be a weakness but, once she found it she was addicted even though she fought and fought against it in the end nothing in this world could stop her from falling deeper and deeper. Once she embraced it she learned all the beautiful things and feeling it brought with it and felt like a fool for thinking as she once did. Obviously Vincent didn't listen to her and simply laughed it off but deep inside of him she knew he envied her and knew that what she was telling him was true but, perhaps he wasn't ready to embrace it. Instead of fighting him in the matter as they often did she surprised him by letting it go and moving on.

Ella then looked at Victoria and nodded at her acknowledging her as the best partner for Vincent. The action didn't go unnoticed, that was obvious since being the most trusted ally of the heir of hearts meant she had a lot of spotlight moments. Her acknowledgment and approve of Vincent's choice was reported to the Kings, Queen, princesses and price. For Ella having that spotlight on her gave her more respect and power in her family. Being the second child wasn't easy since she was not a future Queen and being a woman in a world where male chauvinist could still be felt wasn't exactly good. But Ella's personality and intelligence had always helped her maintain the power she was given when born; worthy of a princesses.

Having received Ella's blessing Vincent decided to address the pressing matter and start his speech "As my mother was saying all of you our dear guests have travelled from far lands and stopped very important business to come here today for a very important moment in my life and the life of a very beautiful lady" He took his time to scan the crowed once again making sure to lock eyes with each girl he could see. "I've summoned you all here to finally announce that I am engaged to be married"

Everything was confirmed, Vincent Nicolas Massarotti was finally and officially of the market. Probably the boy they all had seen grown up that caused so much troubles and scandals had finally grown up and matured… no, that was not possible especially when he was in the middle of his best years. Vincent was many things but not stupid therefore this marriage announcement has some dark intent behind it and if they could get anything even just a rumour about it they could destroy him and his fiancée's family. "I come to tell you that I have found what many of you seek" That's right most of them seek Vincent's place out of the four royal families many would argue that the Heart Throne was by far the most powerful and richest. "Someone to share my life with" And all his riches, influence and secrets. "Someone I can respect and cherish" Respect? That was a big word for someone like Vincent surely he meant look pretty beside me while I rule and manipulate to do whatever I want. He probably didn't choose Victoria he would choose someone from a different country to gain influence in their country. "Someone who I will protect and build a family with" Shock filled the room once again, Vincent Massarotti had thought about the future and even family had someone really conquered him? "I'd like you all to meet and welcome my fiancée…" He said while extending his hand to the most outstanding woman in the room.

"Victoria Isabel Snow"

Love is a promise delivered already broken