"Thank you for wanting to share a dance with me, but I must decline. I have not long ago arrived and I am not well acquainted with you," Penelope said, rejecting Cassius’s hand.
Penelope didn’t know Cassius well, but she got the feeling that he was going to be trouble. She needed a little more time before she ever accepted a dance with him.
Cassius placed his hand back at his side. "How rude of me to ask when you have not long arrived. I will return later to ask for your hand again. Forgive me for being so pushy, but I cannot tear my eyes away from you."
"It cannot be so hard," Tyrion said, stepping before Penelope to block her from the stranger’s gaze. "She doesn’t want to dance, and we do not want to speak. Your time standing here is done."
Cassius quickly picked up on Tyrion potentially being a man to get in the way of his time with Penelope. He did not mind the challenge.
Getting Penelope’s hand would be sweeter knowing that he had beaten a prince.
"Acting before the lady won’t do much good for you, Prince Tyrion. Especially when you do not scare me. There isn’t a ring on her finger, nor is she betrothed to anyone, so you must settle down. I would hate to embarrass you," said Cassius.
Cassius was prepared for the repercussions of harming the prince. Sometimes, it was worth it to place someone like Tyrion in their place.
Tyrion, on the other hand, welcomed the challenge. "I would love to see you do it."
"Enough," Penelope said, interjecting before it got out of hand. "I will not have the two of you rope me into a scandal. This isn’t the time or the place to be testing who might beat who. You’ll have to excuse my brother and the crown prince. Now is not the best time for you to join us."
Cassius accepted Penelope’s response, but he wasn’t done yet. He would return to dance with her before she would leave with her family. "I understand, Lady Penelope. I look forward to us becoming more acquainted with you. Gentleman," he addressed the two men.
"Are you done now?" Penelope asked after Cassius left them. "I am not ready for his company, but must you be so rude about it?"
"I don’t like him," Tyrion said, keeping his eyes on Cassius.
"Of course you don’t," Lily snickered.
If she were in Tyrion’s shoes, she wouldn’t like anyone who came up to Penelope as well.
"He is handsome," Lily said, unknowingly upsetting the two men. "He did ruin his first impression by crashing into our carriage. I have never seen him before."
"I have. I am certain he was at the ball," said Penelope. "He must be someone important since he was invited today."
"Is this truly your first time meeting him, Elijah?" Lily asked.
"That would be why I asked for his name," Elijah replied.
"Well, you are normally petty to pretend that you don’t know someone’s name when you do. How am I to know when you are being petty or not?" Lily inquired, wanting Elijah to go away.
Tyrion faced Penelope, annoyed that he did not get to ask her for a dance first, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was who she said yes to.
Tyrion offered his hand to Penelope. "Will you dance with me during the next song? I want to make up for not getting to dance with you at the ball."
Penelope wanted to step on Tyrion’s shoe. It was different to turn down a dance with a man like Tyrion. Some would think she was crazy not to dance with the crown prince or that she thought too highly of herself.
Penelope reluctantly placed her hand on Tyrion’s. "I am going to step on your foot every chance I get."
"Then I will have to hold you close and guide you as we dance," Tyrion responded.
"Enough," Elijah groaned. He could not take much more of this, and he understood why his father was so against it.
Looking away from the awful sight of his sister being courted, Elijah spotted the familiar face of a young woman he had once danced with. All he needed was for his father to return to his sisters’ side.
Penelope tried to move her hand out of Tyrion’s hold, but he held onto her, refusing to let go for a moment. "You are a giant child," she whispered.
Tyrion released her hand just in time to see Arthur coming his way. He needed to have a word with his father to get answers on why men from the court were present.
"Do not have your first dance with anyone else, or you’ll break my heart. You don’t want the crown prince to be heartbroken, do you?" Tyrion playfully asked as he walked around Penelope.
Tyrion was quick to leave her side before Arthur came to spoil the moment.
’Since when was he ?’ Penelope wondered.
Tyrion was far more open with his advances, and it might have started from the night he gave her a ride home.
"I don’t know how you do it. I would have been swooning for the prince right now. I would act fast since all the other women have their eyes on him. Even the ones who are already betrothed," Lily said, taking a good look at the women eyeing Tyrion.
"They can look all they want and approach him. Tyrion does not belong to me," Penelope said, looking away from the scoundrel in question.
"Well, if you are not careful, one day he might not belong to you, and you will regret not enjoying these moments now. That is the difference between us. I act quickly to get what I want while you stand here in denial," Lily said, shaking her head at Penelope torturing herself.
"I am not in denial. I am bothered by my sister," Penelope said, trying to shoo Lily away with her hand.
"Careful, sister. Another gentleman approaches, and his eyes are on you," said Lily.