i'm still alone in my mind — open, intro

[roman]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt;"][color=black]Out of the corner of her oddly colored eyes, Mare notices an unlikely arrival. Frederick. King Frederick. She was born and raised in the Americas so the young woman is still getting accustomed to the whole...European thing...but she is pretty sure that Kings don't usually mingle with the commoners like this. Not that Mare's complaining. It's very clear that she has a crush by the way her head rockets up and her eyes, one brown and one blue, lock upon the King's figure. Elias is cute, that's for sure. But he isn't a king. Oh God, oh God, oh God. He's looking at me! Shit!!! "Uh, yeah...s'alright, I suppose." She wants to go off on a tangent about how France doesn't even hold a candle to North Dakota but that would be weird so she holds her tongue. Plus, she doesn't want to trash-talk the King's kingdom right in front of the King. Mare does her best to disguise it, but there is no denying the faint blush burning upon her freckled cheeks as she awkwardly averts her gaze. Frederick doesn't know her, but she knows him. And she's already making a wonderful impression...

Thankfully, it seems that the monarch is having just as difficult of a time to make conversation. Although looking cool and composed in front of him would have been better, she'll settle with the knowledge that he is just as awkward as her. "I get what you're tryin' to say." An amused smile tugs at her lips, rough bark scraping at the tender skin on the underside of slender legs as she adjusts her position to face both of the men. The Gods must be testing her today. Two attractive men. One, a sexy bartender. The other, a king. A king! Authority is very appealing. Unfortunately, Mare is an expressive person. And because of that, she cannot hide her emotions. Everything plays out upon her rather plain features like a drama film where she's the tragically comedic relief. Woe is me.