Ever After - Ella Enchanted AU

Ever After - Chapter 15

 The coronation ball for the only son of the king was by far the most extravagant event the kingdom had ever seen. Purple banners with the family crest fluttered at every street corner and from every balcony. Posters advertising the ball were plastered on every free wall, window and door, all adorned with a charming picture of the king to be. Sadly, the picture didn't live up to what Adrien was feeling at that moment in the ball that night.

The grand ballroom hadn't really been used since Adrien's mother passed away, his father finding it hard to celebrate anything in her absence. But that night, the staff had pulled out all the stops.

Every surface was polished enough to where they're was a reflection everywhere you looked. Goblets inlaid with precious stones were walked around on silver platters by stiffly dressed servants. Noblemen and women were dressed in their best refinery, either dancing to twinkling quintet music or rubbing elbows with one another. Everyone gathered seemed to be having the time of their lives, all except for the guest of honor.

Adrien was reclined in the throne situated at the end of the ballroom, raised above where the others giggled and twittered among themselves. Compared to his guests, the prince was dressed more like a mourner in a funeral procession than a royal celebrating his impending coronation. He was clad in all black and sat back watching the festivities with a far away look in his eye. What none of the party-goers would ever know is that he was indeed in mourning, for the love of his life had broken his heart that night thereby killing his party mood for the foreseeable future.

He had been looking at the engagement ring when one of the servants came fumbling in. He was out of breath, like he had run all the way from the front gates to see him, and was clutching a letter addressed to him in beautiful red inked penmanship. He regretted opening it the moment he read the opening line.

Dear Adrien,

This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I hope you'll understand.

We can't be together. I can't tell you why. Please believe that this is the

only solution and that I wish you the best.

I really do believe that you're going to be a great king.

Goodbye forever,

Marinette

That was it. No real explanation. No real goodbye. Just a cryptic letter that left Adrien alone and confused as he held his shattered heart. As he sat and stewed, he was already making plans to go and find her, to demand why she would leave him like that when he was under the notion that she felt the same for him. But before any of that could happen though, he'd have to survive the ball and his coronation. Then he would put the powers of a king to the test when it came to finding one incredible, beautiful and illusive girl amongst thousands of others.

While he planned and plotted quietly, his father and Natalie encircled his chair on either side, neither looking like they were in a party mood either.

"Where's your little friend, Adrien?" Natalie asked in a surprisingly concerned manner. "We gave the guards at the door her name."

"Yes," Gabriel crooned, tapping one finger impatiently on the head of his staff. "She should be here by now."

Adrien practically leapt from the throne at the mention of Marinette. "I don't want to talk about her," He snapped in a surprising fit of anger before stalking off into the crowd.

Off to the side of the dance floor, Chloe had all but moved into the royal chambers of the castle. She slipped a gold candlestick from Sabrina before her kleptomaniac sister could pocket it.