Hurray! I finally got my lazy butt on the chair and typed up the next chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait... and I have many excuses, but won't put you through listening to them! Haha!
Alright! Let's Get busy!
"Ash!"
A boy with spiky black hair, mostly covered up by a dark green hat and sparkling dark brown eyes looked down at her.
"Good thing I caught up to you, or you would have fallen flat on your face." He laughed. May smiled awkwardly back up.
"I guess your right, Ash." He helped her up, as brushed herself off, Ash walked over and picked up her basket. He handed it to her with a grin.
"So, you going to the ball tonight?" May looked up startled, before letting out a deep sigh, taking the basket.
"Theres a ball tonight? I'd love to go... but... you know Beatrice. She'll load me up with so many things, I'll still be working when they get back. Besides, I've got nothing to wear." Ash frowned.
"Sorry to hear that, May. Listen-" He was cut short as they heard the sound of a thundering horse come down the path. Ash grabbed May, and pulled her out of the road. He dragged her down behind a tree, and waited for the rider to pass by. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, May quickly got up.
"I have to go, now. He's headed toward my house, I've must have been seen! Tell Max I'm sorry-real sorry but some things came up." Ash nodded.
"I'll stop by before I go to the ball, see how you are, alright?" May smiled.
"Thanks, Ash. Your the best." She turned around, and gave a quick wave before sprinting to her house, the basket tight in her hand. Ash sighed as he watched her go, she had such a hard life...
"Hey!" Ash turned around and saw two boys running toward him. They stopped and panted as Ash grinned down at one of them.
"Drew?! What are you doing here?" Drew looked up, and grinned before flicking his hair.
"You know, the usual." Ash looked at Drew, his face turned serious.
"I heard your dad's holding a ball tonight, for you." Drew glared at the ground.
"I cant, for love or money, get him to understand that I don't need a bride." Max watched them, curiously. Drew shook his head, and looked up at Ash.
"Hey, did you see a girl run through here? Carrying a basket?" Ash cocked a eyebrow at Drew, which made him blush slightly.
"May? Oh yeah. She's probably already back to her house. She... was in a real hurry. Why do you want to know?"
"Er.. have you two met, Ash?" Max asked, interrupted them and speaking up for the first time. Ash and Drew grinned and looked at each other.
"Yeah, Drew here is my cousin. We pretty close. I assume you met Mr. Prince Drew here Max?" Ash grinned as Drew glared at him.
"I told you before, don't call me that. I'm just Drew. I hate it when people call me Prince when I'm not formal gatherings." Ash laughed and shook his head.
"You two are related?! Aw, Ash! Why didn't you tell me and May?" Max sighed and smiled up at Ash, "...Yeah, me and Drew met in the street. When May saved Prince Drew from a could be ugly event."
Drew grimaced and looked away, glaring at a nearby stone. "I didn't need to be saved. I had everything under control." He stated coolly. Ash and Max however, ignored him.
"May... is in, trouble again, isn't she?" Max frowned up at Ash. Ash sighed and looked in the direction she ran in.
"Hopefully not, she sprinted off when a horsemen came thundering by... I don't think she was able to beat it though..."
"Aw, May..." Drew listened into the conversation, his eyes going back and forth. His eyes lowered as he looked down at Max.
"You two aren't make any sense... what are you talking about?" Max frowned and looked away.
"May is... er... well... its nothing." Max said softly, not sure if he should tell the Prince or not.
"You can tell him, Max. Maybe he can help." Ash said reassuringly. Drew cocked a eyebrow: apparently there was more to the brunet girl than he thought.
"Why don't you guys come back to the castle with me and we'll talk it over." Drew suggested calmly.
Max frowned. "I don't know if I can skip out of school like this..." Drew waved a hand lazily.
"I'll send a note. They can't deny me." Max's face lit up.
"Really? You would do that for me? Thanks, Prince Drew!" Drew rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. Come on, lets get going."
-OoO-
"No! I don't know what your talking about!" May sobbed, sprawled out on the floor after Beatrice threw her down, and covered her face where a red, stinging hand mark was on her cheek. Beatrice, a thin, tall, gray hair in the worst style possible, wearing a long dark purple dress glared down at May with her two daughters behind her, smirking.
"Then tell me something, May," Beatrice spat her name with disgust, "what were you doing down in the Twilight District? Huh? I strictly told you to go straight to the Brokers Stand and back. If I remember correctly, the Brokers Stand is not in the Twilight District, and not even on the way there. Now I ask again, what were you doing there and give me the truth this time!" Beatrice demanded angrily.
"Yeah! We want to truth!" Marcy added, her rather large but small figure stepping up closer to her mom.
"Yes! No more lies!" Diana's arm crossed across her skinny, tall figure with a even taller neck and red wild hair. May raised her right arm to protect her face from any more kicks and said in a shaking, small voice.
"I did what you said, but yes, I went into the Twilight District, searching for better tomatoes. The Brokers Tomato's would not have satisfied your taste, Beatrice."
"Lier! She's lying mother!" Marcy said, waddling up to her mother and grabbing her arm.
"Yes! She most be punished!" Diana also stepped up with her hideous figure. Beatrice said nothing, but had small smile on her lips.
"No, this has gone on far enough. May must attended to her chores." Marcy and Diana looked crest fallen.
"But mother-"
"Aren't you going to do anything-"
"To May?" May sat on the ground, looking terrified. Never, had she been spared. Slowly, Beatrice reached into her sleeve and pulled out a gold chain with a rusty gold heartshaped locket dangling from it. May gasped and started to cry again.
"No! Please! Anything but my mothers locket! That's the only thing I have left of her!" May begged, falling at Beatrice's feet. Beatrice grinned down at her, victory was her's. The evil sisters exchanged smiles behind their mothers back, they knew should we come through.
"This is will show you not to lie to me. Now get to work." And with that, Beatrice turned around and left May sobbing on the floor.
... A few minutes later, May had finally picked herself up and wiped her eyes, as a small flame of hope flickering inside of her. Maybe, if she be real good for a little bit, she could get the locket back. She knew that was impossible, but she dare not think that, she was depressed as is. She climbed down stairs and headed for the kitchen, where she was going to prepare lunch for Beatrice, the best she could make. As she walked past the front door, the door bell rang. She froze, stared at the door before a loud bellowing voice came from upstairs.
"May!! MAY! Get the door! Dammit!!" (sorry had to add it in) May sighed and opened it. A small man, rich dressed stood at her door, with a parchment in his hand. May noticed the Kings Carriage behind him and soon recognized the stranger as the Kings secretary. He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath-
"May!! Whose at the door?!" Marcy shouted angrily at the top of the stairs, then gasped.
"Mom! Mom! Its the Secretary of the King! Something big most be going on!" Before May knew it, she was roughly shoved to the ground and out of the way as Marcy, Diana and Beatrice bowed to him.
"What news have you brought to us from the Castle?" Beatrice asked politely. May sadly got up and listened behind them. The man cleared his voice again, and fixed his eye piece, importantly.
"The King has issued a former ball tonight, for the Prince Drew. They have asked for all maidens to show up, so that the Prince may court one of them, and have a wife. The ball is to start at 7:00 PM sharp. Guests may start arriving at 6:00. That is all, and God bless our King." The man turned swiftly around and headed toward his carriage.
"Thank you." Beatrice bowed before shutting the door quickly behind him.
"A ball for the Prince! Oh, how wonderful!" Marcy squealed and jumped up and down. Diana had a supreme look on her face, as she fluffed her hair.
"Even if I don't get the Prince, I will get you-know-who! He should be there too!" Marcy and Diana giggled. Beatrice smiled thinly at both of them.
"Girls, we must start preparing for the ball this minute. We must make sure one of you gets courted by our Prince. Now, come along and we will find a dress upstairs." The girls squealed again as Beatrice started to go up the stairs.
"Um... Beatrice?" May said softly, her feet shuffling around and her face turned slightly red. Beatrice stopped on the stairs and glared back at her.
"Can I... may I... er... with you permission, could I, go... to the ball too?" May asked meekly, pointing her fingers together. The girls glared at her as they thrust their chin high in the air with disgust.
"No, you may not, May!"
"I agree! Why even bother the Prince with such a horrible creature!" Beatrice however looked down at May, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"If you finish all the chores and can find a dress, then maybe, maybe you can come along. But you must finish all of your chores, you hear me? And if I find one job done the slightest bit bad..." May's face lit up and she bowed quickly.
"You will not be disappointed! Thank you so much, Beatrice!" And she turned around and flew into the kitchen. Marcy and Diana looked at their mother, disappointed.
"Mother! I don't want May to come! She'll ruin the whole thing!" Diana wined.
"Yeah! Leave her behind!"
Beatrice smiled thinly again. "Don't worry about her girls. Now come along, we must find you the perfect outfit." The girls quickly forgot about May, and excitedly ran up the stairs.
-OoO-
Drew stared absentmindedly down at his cup of steaming tea, trying not to show concern for the girl. That was quiet a story Max had just told: he told Drew the whole story, his parents death, May finding a job, meeting Ash (will be explained later), and her horrible life that she tried to hide from Max. The trio had dropped a note to Max's teachers, with Kings Stamp, and had gone straight to the castle from there. After introducing Max to his father, who was quiet delighted to meet him, Drew had issued a order that no one was to disturb him in the Library. As Drew thought hard on his next move, Ash slowly grinned at him.
"Thinking rather hard about May are we, Drew?" Drew blushed slightly, but turned to glare at Ash.
"I have to do something about this, after all, she did save my life. I must repay the favor." Drew stated coolly and flipped his hair.
"Yeah, I guess your right. Still, the main problem is those witch's she lives with." Ash said thoughtfully but Drew shook his head.
"I don't think theres anything we can do about that, Ash. It just, doesn't feel right. It isn't our business and Mays the one who got herself stuck in the mess in the first place. From what I have heard, she's strong and smart though dumb for getting herself mixed up in that." Max however, was in deep thought, and had completely blocked them out. Just then, he slammed his fist down on the table with uncontained excitement.
"I got it!" Ash, startled, jumped in the air and Drew flinched and glared at Max as the cups and plates rattled. Max smiled sheepishly and blushed slightly.
"Sorry, but listen to this! May would love to go to that ball tonight! And then we can all meet each other a stuff!" Max said happily.
Ash grinned. "Yeah! That would be good for May to get out and away from those witch's!" But Drew frowned as he looked at Max.
"But... how would I help her there?"
Max's grin broadened. "Silly, she'll need a dress!" Drew cocked a eyebrow over at Max.
"Er... well. I don't think thats a very good idea..."
"Why not? It's perfect! May will have a dress and then she will have to go! Beatrice can't do anything about that!" Max said.
Ash grinned. "Yeah, thats a perfect idea!" The more they talked about it, the more Drew opposed it.
" You guys have it all wrong... I can't go a chose a dress for a girl I don't even know! Its not my style at all... not that I'm saying that I don't have a sense of style." Drew smirked and flipped his hair again.
"Good then its settled!" Ash said, standing up and pushing back his chair. Drew's smirk changed from a smirk into a angry expression.
"What?! Nothing settled!" He said, trying to keep cool and looked calmly out the window. Ash turned to looked at Max, and grinned.
"He does this all the time whenever I see him." Max laughed.
"Besides, how do I know what to get her?"
"I can help there." A soft voice said from the door. All three boys quickly turned around to see a girl, a little older than Drew, with stunning pink hair in a strange array, wearing a plain white gown, symboling that she was a maid. Maintaining a cool look, Drew grinned.
"What? I didn't ask for help." Joy however, kept her usual sweet smile.
"You didn't have to. Now come on, we have to go now, if we are going to find a dress for her by tonight. Max, I will need you to come with me, to give me a good description of this special girl." Drew blushed and glared at Joy as Ash laughed.
"She saved my life and I'm just repaying my debt." Drew said coolly, stuck his hands in his pocket and strolled out calmly. Joy giggled as she followed with a cheerful Ash and chattering Max following her.
So what do you think? I'm real sorry it took me forever to post it, but I have been mainly concerned on my Aladdin Story. For anyone who hasn't read it yet, please check it out! All my reviews say its good, so... I guess it is!
Please review, and I thank everyone who has been reviewing. They were very kind!
Until Next Time
Back2Freestyle15
