Frog Meets Girl

Chapter 7--That Girl Has Ball(s)

Here is the chapter that started me on this entire story, so I hope it makes sense. As always, please comment. I'd love to know what you think. 

            It took all of Gabriella’s ingenuity to get away from her ladies the next day. In the end, she wasn’t even sure what very special item they’d been sent to look for. She’d insisted that it was very important, couldn’t remember what it was called, and had started throwing out every random adjective that came to mind. She didn’t think that either of them were fooled, but neither were willing to risk directly disobeying her, so they left her to search for this holy grail of missing items.

Then Princess Gabriella Persephone Almondine Jane set off toward the gardens with her letter and a velvet pouch containing her brother’s gift. No one else had seen the golden ball. Her brother had not told her to keep it secret, but keeping it close to her heart felt as natural as keeping her underwear covered. It just wasn’t meant for anyone else to see.

She wound her way through the garden paths until she stood in front of the pond again. This mysterious body of water seemed to be the perfect place for her to have her secret time.

Once again, she was mesmerized by the murky depths of the pond and felt the quickening of her pulse as she thought about all that could be hidden by the tangle of lily pads. The thought was frightening and intriguing. She felt as though she were being watched, but shook the thought away.

“You’re just being paranoid because it’s the pond,” she told herself out loud, mostly to anchor herself in reality. Still, she looked around furtively for a moment before sitting on a decorative bench at the edge of the waters. She pulled out Claudio’s letter. The parchment crinkled in her hand as she gently broke open the wax seal. It was the rose insignia for the crown prince.

Dear Gabby, it began.

Don’t hate me for leaving you alone with Dad, and please don’t hate me because I am having a lot of fun. Remember when I used to make you play army with me in the nursery? When I would turn the chairs over and Nanny would get so angry? I would play that game until we were so hungry we couldn’t stand it any more and we would finally eat dinner.

This is just like that game, only for adults. I sometimes pinch myself because I must be dreaming. Now I know why Dad talks about his glory days so much. I’m going to be talking about this for years. Just yesterday, we had an epic competition among all the soldiers with the broadsword. It was awesome. I made it to the final round before getting beaten by this guy who’s been in the army for—no kidding—twenty years. This guy is old and he has muscles on muscles. Anyway, some people said that they were going easy on me just because I was the prince, but I know better. They were sweating, too!

Anyway, enough about me. How are you? Have you figured out the ball yet? I hope I didn’t make it too easy for you. I had a lot of fun designing it.

Well, gotta go. It’s time for lunch and I’m starving! This war stuff really works up an appetite.

Love,

Claudio

 

Gabriella re-read the letter several times, treasuring every word. He hadn’t mentioned any actual preparations for battle. She hoped that Niccolo was wrong and that battle was not imminent. She felt sick at the thought of Claudio, giddy, leading the men into battle.

No—she shook her head—she wasn’t going to think about it. Instead, she pulled the golden ball from its velvet hiding place and began to examine the designs on it.