In The Woods

Chapter Five: The Royal Ball - Part 1.

As I looked at myself in the mirror in my room, I could now appreciate the beauty of the blue dress that hugged my body in all the right places. My hair were collected in a French braid half way across my head making them cascade down to my shoulders like a waterfall. The braid was adorned with white roses sticking out of it.

White roses. Blue Dress. White blond hair. Blue eyes. I looked like a winter fairy.

As I was adjusting the turtledove pendant on my neck I heard the house bell. I gave myself one last look in the mirror to check if I was missing anything. I smiled and straightened up. 'Come on lazy bum we don't have all day!', my conscience reminded me. I huffed then lifted the skirt of my dress and descended the stairs.

Aunt Molly was lounging on a sofa in the living room reading a book. Typical Molly, I thought. You'd mostly find her engrossed in a good classic. My gaze averted from the sofa to the wall behind it. A blackish-brown grandfather clock rested with it. Tick tock, tick tock, it was already quarter past seven.

Molls must have sensed my presence because then she looked up from the tick maroon colored book held in her hands. After she had viewed me from head to toe her lips started to turn upwards and finally she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, well. Someone's looking absolutely stunning. Your face is glowing too if you haven't noticed yourself." She complimented with a tease at the end.

"Aww, thanks Molls. And yeah I did notice, must be the relief from getting away from here." I stuck my tongue out at her. "I must get going, see ya!" I beamed at her. She nodded. I walked away towards the door but was stopped.

"Try to be back before midnight. Okay, Rose?" she asked with a little seriousness to her voice.

"Yes Ma'am." I responded with a thick voice as I extended my hand to the door knob and opened the wooden door.

When I exited the house I saw a royal guard, dressed in the customary black, brown and white uniform, expectantly looking at me as he stood on the patio. "You must be Miss Rose." He addressed me. I nodded. "I am Mason Richmond the royal guard and I am here to escort you to the Royal Ball, if you are ready can we leave?"

"Sure." I sweetly smiled. He started walking and I did the same following his lead. In front of me was a black carriage with the traditional emblem of a lily on its doors. Two big wooden wheels at the back and same ones but smaller on the front.

Above them on a seat sat the coachman with his back straight and head high, holding a horsewhip at the ready. Ahead him stood two white stallions with perfectly trimmed manes who excitedly waggled their long tails.

I moved towards the carriage but before I could place my foot on the step leading in through the already open door I stumbled on a patch of wet mud. But fortunately I regained my composure before having an embarrassing fall. I exhaled.

The guard spoke up "May I help you?" extending his hand. I gladly took it.

When I got in and had myself seated on a plush and comfy cream colored leather seat the guard closed the door. During the journey all I could do was either admire the luxury of the coach from inside, fiddle with my fingers from nervousness of what was about to come or watch the hazy line of horizon gradually dissolving into the dark of the night.

***

When I entered through the palace doors kept open for the natives due to the occasion of the Royal Ball the magnificent event unfolded in front of my eyes. From my position I saw a sea of individuals, some were couples lovingly holding hands while others looked grumpy finding their partner in the gigantic room. There were men, who I recognized as being members of the royal court, who were sat on large feast tables talking loudly, possibly debating on the best ways to lower the costs and raise the prices. Then there were the creeps, who lurked about in the streets looking for a lady's attention, aimlessly looking for unattached ladies in the rooms. On the edges of the room were long tables stocked with mouthwatering dishes, fruit punch and various other drinks.

After crossing almost a quarter of the feast room, I was standing directly adjacent to a hallway with a crossroad. While I stood there observing the hall, in my peripheral vision I saw a little figure rush by from the place I had been looking seconds ago which caused me to furiously turn my head. Curiosity got the best of me and I followed.

I paced in the hallway which was enclosed by two brick walls, opposite each other, with oil lamps hung high illuminating my path. The walls were decorated with portraits of the present as well as the royal families of the past and also with paintings from renowned artists and painters.

At the end of the hallway was a staircase leading upstairs where, at the very first step, sat a young girl with her hands around her knees as she hugged them to her chest.

When she heard me approaching she looked up. I could now saw her face and my, she looked pissed. Her eyebrows were brought together in a frown, lips pouted and cheeks puffed out. Her angry expression faltered a bit when she saw me. I kindly smiled at her and her frown disappeared.

"Hey." I said as I sat down next to her. She didn't move away. Looking closer at her face I realized who she was. "Hi." She replied in a weak tone with her head held low.

"What wrong dear." I inquired. She sat quietly and when I thought she was not going to say anything she spoke up. "I asked Ariana to bring me my necklace with my favorite lily pendant. But- but when she was putting it around my neck the chain got stuck in my hair and it- it just broke." She explained holding her open palm which held the broken chain and the lily pendant as the emphasized everything with her hand gestures.

"I am so angry at her. I'm- I'm gonna tell Chase about it!" she pouted again. Seeing the actions of the little girl it was hard to hide my giggle behind a solemn expression.

I reached out for the object in her hand. "May I?" She slowly nodded her approval. I gently took it from her.

I examined the chain, now, resting on my hand's palm. It was broken from near the end, where the chain hook was. Oh how I wish I could fix it and help her. I clasped it tightly in my hand and closed my eyes thinking of a way I could mend it.

I, then, opened my palm and held the chain from its broken ends in my both hands and brought them together. When I looked up at the girl I found her eyes already looking at her dear possession in my hand. And then the corners of her lips started to turn up.

When I looked down at my hands, I found the necklace looking as good as it would have been when she first had it. It had mended! I didn't know I could do that, I thought.

My train of thoughts was, however, abruptly broken when I felt myself being squished in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the girl exclaimed. I giggled a bit and said "You're welcome, you're welcome and you're welcome again."

She then stood up and started to walk away after saying "Goodbye!" as she waved her little hand at me. "Bye! Happy Birthday by the way!" I spoke loudly. She turned around with a sincere grin on her face as she disappeared from my view. The girl was Lily Arthur, the princess.

I got up from the stairs, dusting my dress. My hands instinctively went down to my dress' skirt as I clutched it lifting it up a bit, careful not to create any wrinkles. As I made my way through the hallway to get to the ballroom I started to hum to a tune.

Seconds later a light breeze started blowing and the oil lamps on the walls started to flicker. That's strange. There was now very little light but I could still manage to make out the objects ahead of me by their almost black silhouettes. I continued walking.

All of a sudden there was a loud "Boo!" from right beside me. I yelped. "Gotcha."

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A.N: Hope you guys like it! Plusss I am gonna update soon this time and if you're lucky the next update is gonna be longer.. So stay tuned! ;)

Aaand I left this chapter at yet another cliffhanger. Hehe. *evil grins*

The image above is of Lily Arthur, Chase's little sister. She is so darn cute and I wanna pinch those cheeks so bad! 

Twitter: _NachoCheese_

Until next time..

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