Author's note: This was the last of my fairy tales posted on my dead website. When I had put it up originally it was cut into three parts. This time around I have decided to put them all together in one huge as file. Enjoy ^^
Part A
Relm: …
Lina: What no special introductory statement for this one?
Relm: …
[Group looks at Relm whose sitting in her chair staring into space. Her expression was blank and she was unmoving]
Amelia: Hello Miss Relm? Is something wrong? [Amelia waves her hand in Relm's vision of sight.]
Xellos: She looks like she's lost it.
Zelgadis: And how exactly did this happen?
Lina: Beats me. I guess she must be really stressed out lately.
Zelgadis: Stressed? About what? She's hated because she's usually stress free.
[Everyone stares at Relm whose still staring off into space.]
Xellos: Well how about we go and take a look through her precious webpage binder and find out what she has planned for this demented fairy tale? [Xellos goes to pick up the large blue binder and Relm kicks him in the gut.]
Relm: No one touches that binder!
[Everyone steps back from the now animated webpage creator.]
Sylphiel: Miss Relm are you okay?
Relm: Why do you ask?
Sylphiel: Because you were spacing out there for a long time. You weren't moving at all!
Relm: -_- Okay how about we get to work now.
Amelia: What's the fairy tale this time? You said in the last fairy tale fic that I'm going to have a good part for this one!
Relm: Well this fairy tale doesn't really exist.
Zelgadis: What do you mean it doesn't exist? How can you do a fic on something that doesn't exists?
Relm: Well it's not that it doesn't exist… it does-
Lina: But you just said that it didn't!
Relm: Okay, okay! Yes I said that it doesn't exist, but what I mean is that it doesn't as a real fairy tale, it's one that I've sorta made up.
[Everyone looks at Relm with unamused glares.]
Relm: What? You don't think I could think up a good fairy tale idea?
[Everyone is silent and doesn't answer her.]
Relm: Grrr… I can't believe you guys! [Relm throws her hands up in the air and plops down on a chair.]
Amelia: Well Miss Relm did make up that fairy tale for 'Aria's Dream'…
Lina: Yeah and what a great fairy tale that was! The heroine contemplating committing suicide from depression. Gods if that's your idea of a good fairy tale then I'd like to see your version of a bad one!
Relm: [refrains from using the fist of death] No comment. Anyway as I was saying this idea isn't a standard fairy tale idea. Though the idea has existed out there before I'm just making it into a fairy tale. Or at least I think it existed as an idea before…
Zelgadis: Great so she isn't even sure…
Relm: Shut up! Whether it existed or not I'm making a fairy tale out of it! You people are so damn irritating!
[Everyone covers their ears from Relm's screaming.]
Sylphiel: So does this new fairy tale type thing have a name yet?
Relm: [thinks for a moment.] I'm not sure if I picked out a name for it yet. Let me check out what I have planned out so far on this fic. [looks through webpage binder.] Uh oh…
Amelia: What's wrong Miss Relm?
Relm: Well the demented fairy tale stuff isn't in my binder along with my other site stuff.
Zelgadis: Great now she doesn't even have the information for this fic!
Lina: And you're complaining about that? If she doesn't have it she can't write it! ^_^V!
Relm: [glares] I'll find it just you wait. I'm pretty sure that I know where it is. [looks through a large pile of papers.]
Gavin: I think Miss Relm needs a filing cabinet; it'd make her life easier.
Lina: Who are you?
Gavin: Who am I? Who am I? You mean you don't even know who I am?
Lina: Would I ask if I did?
Gavin: [cries out] MISS RELM!
Relm: Wait a moment Gavin! I'll be there in a second!
Gavin: But Lina doesn't know who I am!
Relm: I said wait a moment I'll get everything fixed once I find my story info! Ah-ha! Found it! [comes back over to the group] So what's wrong again?
Gavin: Why doesn't Lina know who I am?
Relm: Oh that. [nervous laughter] Well they [points to Slayers group] are the original cast. My tampered cast includes the original cast plus my created characters. But since they tampered with they all know of each other so thus if I had created a relative-
Gavin: Then they would know them. But since these people weren't tampered with-
Relm: Then they don't know anyone of my created characters. And since you are one of my created characters-
Gavin: Then they don't know who I am. [facefaults]
Relm: Well I'll tamper with them so they'll know who you are.
Xellos: Who is he?
Relm: Lina's little brother.
Lina: -_-? Little brother? I don't have a little brother…
Relm: You do now. [Relm cast a spell and a large bolt zaps them all.]
[Everyone after regaining their composure glares at Relm.]
Relm: Alright now that everyone knows each other then how about we get this fic going?
Sylphiel: So does it have a title.
Relm: Yes it's called 'Relm's Demented Fairy Tale'.
Zelgadis: Oh what an original title. And you couldn't remember that on your own?
Relm: I forgot it okay! Now let's see what I have for casting. [looks at the casting for all the fairy tales] Oh boy this could be a problem…
Lina: What now?
Relm: Well it seems that I hadn't actually written up the cast list for this yet. [nervous laughter and sweatdrop]
[Everyone facefaults.]
Relm: Oh well I'll just need to make up a cast list on the spot right now. I think I remember some of the people I wanted to cast:
King: Gourry
Queen [King's Second Wife and Stepmother to the King's children]: Naga
Elder Prince: Zelgadis
Younger Prince: Gavin
Royal Advisor: Xellos
Princess of Rythsia: Martina
Lowly Servant to the Princess of Rythsia: Amelia
Royal Knight from Rythsia Kingdom: Lina
Amelia: A lowly servant? Miss Relm you said I had a good part this time!
Relm: Yeah you do.
Amelia: You made me a servant! How is that a good part?
Relm: You'll see. So let's start the fic.
...
Relm's Demented Fairy Tale
By Relm
Once long ago in a kingdom of a distant realm there was a kind king with a problem. His name was King Gourry the fourth and he lived in the kingdom of Jales with his wife Queen Naga, and his two sons Prince Zelgadis and Prince Gavin.
King Gourry's problem wasn't with his wife, Queen Naga. Though the fact remained that Queen Naga was in fact King Gourry's second wife and the stepmother of his two sons. And that did cause some tension between his sons and his wife but that still wasn't the problem.
King Gourry's problems lay with his sons solely. His eldest son, Prince Zelgadis had no intentions of becoming a king and ruling Jales in his father's place. No matter how hard King Gourry and Queen Naga tried to persuade Prince Zelgadis, he didn't change his mind. Prince Zelgadis did not want to marry a princess and become a king. He did not want to marry and he did not want to rule a kingdom.
So that left the kingdom to Prince Gavin's hands. Prince Gavin was now only becoming close to the age of marrying but he hadn't found a single woman he wished to marry. All the princesses he met were spoiled and snobbish. He wanted a woman whom was kind and gentle, completely innocent and pure of heart.
(Relm: [rubs forehead while suffering through her recently developing headache] We may have a problem here…
Lina: What now?
Relm: I'm having trouble remember the plot I had planned out…
Amelia: This is what happens when you leave your fanfics sitting for too long collecting dust. How long ago was it that you finished the last fairy tale? Five months?
Relm: More like two years as of this november.
Amelia: 2 years?
Relm: Oh shut up.)
Queen Naga wanted her younger stepson to marry Princess Martina of Rythsia, a neighbouring kingdom. Prince Gavin was very opposed to that idea.
He really didn't have anything against Princess Martina; she was actually the nicer ones of all the princesses he had met. But Prince Gavin always got the feeling that he she was only pretending to be sweet and kind when he was around. He wondered if it was all an act. That and she was almost ten years older than him anyway. It wasn't that he was ageist or anything; he just didn't like the idea of his wife being so much older than him. Of course there was the whole love issue that was lacking but his stepmother insisted that it was only because Prince Gavin and Princess Martina barely knew each other.
Prince Gavin sat down staring out his window at his view of the kingdom courtyard. Down in the courtyard Prince Gavin's older brother Prince Zelgadis was practicing his swordplay with the royal knight of Rythsia. The royal knight was visiting Jales for a couple days and Prince Zelgadis was wasting no time in getting in some good practice. The royal knight was a fiery woman and she and Prince Zelgadis had known each other for a very long time. There were even rumours that she was the reason why Prince Zelgadis didn't want to take the throne.
A small smile played on Prince Gavin's lips. Sure he had been angry when the responsibility of being the next one to rule had been put on him because of his older brother refusal. But he couldn't stay angry with him for long. Prince Gavin wanted him to be happy even if that meant him having to take on the royal responsibilities.
There was a light knock on Prince Gavin's door that brought him back to reality. "Come in." Prince Gavin instructed.
Basil, one of the servants, came in and bowed to the prince. "Your highness, your father and your stepmother wish to speak with you in the royal hall. They request your presence immediately."
"Thank you Basil, tell them I'll be there in a few moments."
Basil nodded his head and left to go and talk to the king and queen.
Prince Gavin let out a depressive sigh. He was pretty sure that he knew what his father and stepmother wanted to talk to him about.
He lingered in his room for a few more moments before he got up to meet his parents.
...
His parents were sitting stoically at their thrones waiting for Prince Gavin.
"Gavin my boy! There's something your mother and I wanted to discuss with you." Kina Gourry greeted his younger son.
"Father, mother." Prince Gavin bowed before them. "What do you wish to discuss?"
"As you know your older brother has renounced his claims to the throne and it will be your duty to rule when the time comes." Queen Naga motioned for him to come closer.
"Yes mother," Prince Gavin emphasized the word 'mother' a bit bitterly, "But it will be a very long time before I take the throne."
"Yes that may be true, but you still need to think about your future. In order to rule you need a queen. And to have a queen you will need to pick fiancé."
Prince Gavin rolled his eyes. He had heard this one before.
"Don't roll your eyes at your mother while she's talking."
"Yes father."
"As I was saying, you need a fiancé. You have rejected most of the princesses you've met thus far. But you haven't met all the ones this continent has to offer… yet."
Prince Gavin's ears perked up. 'This is different. What does she have planned this time?'
"Knowing of our problem our friends in Rythsia has offered us a solution. In Rythsia Kingdom less than a week from now a grand ball will be held in your honour. All princesses from around will gather there so you can meet them and hopefully pick a bride."
Prince Gavin raised his eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. Where's the catch?"
"My boy, why would there be a catch?" King Gourry asked his younger son.
"Unless it was going to be for a celebration which it's not, Rythsia wouldn't fork out all that time and money to hold such a grand ball. So there has got to be a catch somewhere." Prince Gavin glared at his parents.
King Gourry and Queen Naga where quiet and weren't quick to answer. By the confused look on King Gourry's face, Prince Gavin figured that even if King Gourry knew he had long forgotten. Which wouldn't have been surprising since King Gourry was known to be a forgetful person. So that left Prince Gavin glaring at his stepmother.
Queen Naga glared back at her stepson. 'Why couldn't he be dumb like his father?' This glaring match almost seemed to lack an eternity before queen Naga finally cracked. "If upon going to the ball and finding no one to be suitable fiancé, then you will be engaged to King Rythsia's daughter, Princess Martina."
Prince Gavin rolled his eyes once more. He had expected as much.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then we will pick a fiancé for you."
"So I see I don't get a choice in the matter. How do you know I'll even like any of the princesses I'll meet?"
"You have to my boy. We can't have you marrying a peasant."
Prince Gavin sighted depressively.
"Cheer up son! Even if you don't find anyone you'll be engaged to Princess Martina for quite some time before you ascend the throne. You could learn to love her in time."
Prince Gavin sighed, but this time in defeat. As his royal duty he had to carry on and take the throne. It was his destiny to rule and he had to get used to that. "Perhaps I could father."
"So you'll go to the ball then?"
"Yes."
"Splendid! You'll leave tomorrow morning for Rythsia. Your older brother and the royal knight of Rythsia will accompany you. You mother and I will see you at the ball in less than a week's time."
...
Princess Martina grinned evilly as she worked on the details for the ball.
"If everything goes according to my plans I'll have Prince Gavin all to myself and I'll be Queen!" Martina laughed out in evil glee.
No she wasn't going to sabotage the ball in any way. It was going to go on as planned. But Princess Martina wasn't very truthful with the information in the invitations she sent. She made no mention of the ball being Prince Gavin's honour.
Instead Princess Martina claimed that the ball was in her 'cousin' Prince Halford's honour. According to the invitations the ball was in Prince Halford's honour so that he could find himself a wife and queen. It also mentioned that unfortunately Prince Halford despite his charming personality was very, very ugly.
Prince Halford was definitely not Princess Martina's cousin and definitely not a prince either. He was one of Princess Martina's servants whom she bribed to pretend he was a prince at the ball.
'None of the prettier princesses will want to come with all the rumours my mother and me have spread about 'Prince Halford'. And the ugly princesses desperate enough to come won't be trying to impress Prince Gavin because they will be following Halford around. And no one will know Halford isn't a prince because he'll be wearing a mask the whole time!' Princess Martina went into another fit of evil giggles.
(Zelgadis: Now how does this Halford guy wearing a mask make it hard for people to notice he's not a prince? You can't tell if a person is royalty from their face alone. And who is going to be playing Halford anyway?
Relm: Hallas. And the mask is there to make it hard for anyone to recognize him thus making it hard for people to tell he's a servant and not a prince and plus the mask serves to make the point that he's ugly.
Amelia: Is he?
Relm: Ugly? Um well no. But the princesses won't know that.
Hallas: [face hangs in disappointment] Miss Relm!
Relm: Be thankful you're even in this fic!)
Her servant Lady Amelia shook her head as she helped Princess Martina with the ball preparations. She didn't agree with what Princess Martina was doing. She thought it was mean to trick Prince Gavin like this just so that Princess Martina could get him all to herself.
'He doesn't deserve this!' Lady Amelia frowned. 'Well I don't exactly know that, I've never met him before. But still this seems wrong somehow!' Lady Amelia didn't say a word despite what she thought. She wanted Princess Martina's happiness and there was no way she was going to ruin that in any way.
...
The next morning Prince Gavin stretched as he got up. He had to leave for Rythsia in a few hours and he wasn't happy about it. He thought this whole idea of the ball was ridiculous. 'How can a guy prick a bride from a ball?'
(Zelgadis: Funny, this is starting to look a lot like Cinderella…
Relm: I'll admit some ideas are similar but it will be different I promise!)
Prince Gavin wandered gloomily through the castle to the main throne room to meet his parents. They wanted to see him before he left. When he got to the room his older brother and the royal knight of Rythsia was already there.
"Prince Gavin." The royal knight gave a slight bow to the younger prince.
Prince Gavin gave her a nod back.
"I trust you are all prepared and ready to leave?" Queen Naga asked sitting regally from her throne.
"Yes mother."
"Then have a nice trip, we'll see you at the ball."
With a nod Prince Gavin, Prince Zelgadis and the royal knight left the palace gates. Sitting right outside the kingdom was the royal coach with several horses.
"Do they really expect us to ride in that?" Lina the royal knight of Rythsia said with a snort. "It's an invitation for an attack traveling in such a grandiose manor."
"That's why we're traveling in disguise Lina." Prince Zelgadis winked before throwing a cloak to his younger brother and saddling up a horse.
"We're not going to ride all the way to Rythsia… are we?" Prince Gavin stared at the horse in horror.
"What's wrong your highness, never ridden a horse before?" Lina asked mischievously.
"I have ridden a horse. I just prefer not to. I had a very bad experience when I younger concerning a horse and since then I haven't been so keen on riding since."
"He's been scared shitless. Now, now Gavin how do you expect to be king if you won't even ride a horse." Prince Zelgadis chided.
Prince Gavin didn't say anything he just stared at 'his horse' standing before him.
Lina laughed and shock her head. She gave out a low whistle and a black and white stallion came galloping towards them. She hopped on and started to ride off.
"Come on Gavin we'd better follow her." Prince Zelgadis helped Prince Gavin onto his horse.
...
Lady Amelia sighed as she dusted Princess Martina's room. All her life she had been a servant to the kingdom of Rythsia. It's not that she didn't like her life here at the kingdom; they were really kind to her. It's just that sometimes Lady Amelia wished her life were different. She had always dreamed of what it would be like to be a princess. Sleep in a large spacious room of a large castle with people to wait on you hand and foot.
Lady Amelia stared longingly at Princess Martina's closet, which was hanging slightly ajar. From where Lady Amelia stood she could see a glimpse of some of Princess Martina's lovely satin and silk dresses.
Most of Lady Amelia wanted to bolt over to the closet and rummage through it and try on the dresses. But Lady Amelia fought the urge. 'I can't go trampling through Princess Martina's stuff liked I owned them. It would be violating her privacy not to mention just plain wrong.' Though she thought this, it was still taking a lot of effort to keep from going through the closet.
Slowly Lady Amelia inched towards the closet. 'I'm just going to go close the closet; I'm not going to go through it. Just closing it that's all.' She reached out for the closet doorknob and clasped her and over it. But instead of closing it like she was going to do she just stood there. She couldn't close it because she was fighting the urge to open it further.
Suddenly Princess Martina barged right into her room bouncing with mischievous energy. This caused Lady Amelia to nearly jump in fright.
"Ah! Amelia! Just the person I wanted to see! Go into my closet and pick out whichever dress you like the most and try it on." Princess Martina said while fishing around through her jewellery boxes.
"Me try on one of your dresses? Princess Martina may I ask why?" Lady Amelia was barely able to contain herself.
"Well you have to have something beautiful to wear to the ball now don't you?"
"The ball? I'm going to the ball? But I thought it was only for royalty."
"Ah-ha there it is!" Princess Martina pulled out a beautiful diamond solitaire necklace and matching earrings. "Well 'Prince' Halford needs to pick a wife to be his bride. In order for this all to go through properly he needs to pick someone and that person can't be a real princess or that will be a problem. So you're going to masquerade as beautiful mysterious princess from out of continent. You'll be the second most beautiful lady there."
"And the first?"
"Me of course." Princess Martina looked through the closet. "Hmm… I don't know if these will fit you… Why not try on a whole bunch of them and see how they fit while I go see what my mother has stored away." Princess Martina walked off and was nearly out the door before she turned around and went right back to Lady Amelia. "We're going to be having a lot of guests coming and many of them will be showing up this week early. So you're going to have to masquerade as a princess from now until the ball is over. If anyone asks your name is Princess Amelie of Kaylen of the southern continent. We've known each other since we were little. In fact we've known each so well that we're almost like sisters. Okay Amelia? This is going to be fun! You're going to be just like one of my little dolls! Which reminds me we're going to need a whole wardrobe for you!" Princess Martina laughed in childish delight and skipped down the halls leaving a very bewildered Lady Amelia.
'What just happened?' Lady Amelia blinked in confusion. After she had a moment to think all the information finally processed in her head. 'I'm going to the ball!' Lady Amelia jumped out in glee. 'And I'm going to get to be a princess for nearly a week!' She twirled around holding one of Princess Martina's dresses. 'Which one am I going to try on first?'
...
Prince Gavin wandered the halls of Rythsia ignoring the pain he was feeling in the lower half of his body. It had been a very scary and very painful ride to Rythsia. His horse hadn't liked the idea of any other horses getting ahead of it and would speed up with no warning just so it could lead. And Prince Zelgadis didn't make it easy on his little brother; he kept trying to get ahead of Prince Gavin and his horse.
'I never want to ride another horse for the rest of my life… It's a good thing that the ball isn't going to be for a few days, I need time to rest my sore muscles.'
"Where is Princess Martina?" Prince Gavin asked one of the servants busily working on some of the preparations for the ball.
"Prince Gavin I believe that she is in her room."
"Thank you." Prince Gavin gave the servant a bow before ascending the stairs towards the direction of Princess Martina's room. 'Might as well greet my hostess.'
Once he was outside Princess Martina's room, Prince Gavin gave a soft knock on the door.
"Come in." A noticeably female voice said from within the room.
'That didn't sound like Princess Martina.' Prince Gavin cautiously opened the door and walked in the room. He was greeted by a lovely vision of baby blue silk. There stood a raven-haired beauty admiring herself in a full length mirror. She was dressed in a long dress full with many layers of baby blue silk. The woman's hair hung loosely falling just past her shoulders. He stared at her for a long time unable to will himself to talk. "Is Princess Martina around?" Prince Gavin asked once he regained the control of his voice.
The woman turned around startled, obviously had been expecting someone else rather than Prince Gavin. Her lapis blue eyes flashed with surprise as she met Prince Gavin's gaze.
The End… for now.
...
Lina: What? You can't end it here! That doesn't make sense it's not even finished yet! And you've still got more written after this too!
Relm: I've decided to break it up into parts. It was take eons to get it all done.
Sylphiel: How many parts do you think this will be?
Relm: I'm hoping just 2 but with me you never know…
[everyone minus Relm sweatdrops]
Zelgadis: Yeah we know.
Relm: -_- Don't annoy me or I'll turn you into an ipp.
Zelgadis: O.o hey what's an ipp?
Xellos: [whispers in Zelgadis' ear]
Zelgadis: (O.o) She can't do that!
Relm: Do you really want to find out? [cracks knuckles]
Zelgadis: Eep!
Relm: Bwhahahahahahahahahahaha! I am almighty! !
[everyone minus Relm sweatdrops… again.]
...
Part B
Relm: Alright now onto part 2!
Martina: Before we start I just have something to say.
Relm: Yes Martina?
Martina: Why in the story am I going after that brat Lina Inverse's little brother?
Relm: In the story they're not related Martina.
Martina: But he's too young for me!
Relm: Do you really think you two will end up together in the story? Hell no! You don't get him in the end.
Martina: So that's it? Some other person gets the prince and I'm stuck with nothing?
Relm: Good grief…
Gourry: Am I supposed to be here?
Relm: You're the King of Jales Gourry. Of course you're supposed to be here.
Gourry: I'm the King of Jales? When did I become a king?
Lina: Idiot.
Xellos: I'm supposed to be the royal advisor, so why haven't I made an appearance yet?
Relm: [sweatdrops] Right….
Zelgadis: You forgot about him didn't you?
Relm: Yeah…
Xellos: [starts crying uncharacteristically] I'm forgotten just like that. All I want is to be appreciated but no one loves me at all!
Relm: Fine, fine I'll put you in soon just quit with the bad acting.
Xellos: [stops crying] You knew I was acting?
Relm: Well I did say it was bad now didn't I? Anyway let's get back to the fic now!
...
Prince Gavin was once again speechless. Never before had he even seen someone so beautiful. And she didn't even have a touch of make up on at all! She had an innocent beauty to her face that with her blue eyes made her look like an angel. The woman had a few diamond-studded barrettes in her hair that matched with the diamond necklace and earrings she wore. It went well with her dress, which brought out the color in her eyes.
There was a small silence between the two. Neither spoke.
Lady Amelia had barely heard what Prince Gavin had said. She had expected it to have been Princess Martina or one of the servants, not a stranger. 'Oh no! This is probably one of Princess Martina's royal guests. I've got to play along with what the Princess told me to do. Why is he staring at me like that?' Lady Amelia's pulse raced. 'He's waiting for me to answer his question! Stupid me!' "Ah-um… I suppose Princess Martina is around somewhere. I believe she went to see her mother about something. Can I help you with something?" She asked him very shyly.
All that Prince Gavin could do was deftly stare at her. A part of him registered that he should be answering her question but he just couldn't speak.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
"Ah-yes I'm fine. Sorry my mind was elsewhere. I was just hoping to say hello to Princess Martina and I- I'm being very rude! I've been here how many minutes and I haven't even introduced myself yet! I'm Prince Gavin of Jales." He said almost shyly.
Lady Amelia's mind totally blanked out at this moment. 'This is Prince Gavin? Oh my god oh my god oh my god! He's more handsome then what the rumours say! No wonder Princess Martina wants to marry him so badly… Wait a minute I'm supposed to be pretending to be a princess! What name did the Princess tell me!' "My name is Princess Amelie of Kaylen." She offered out her hand which he took and gave a light kiss.
Prince Gavin's heart skipped a beat. 'She's a princess? Wow… she sure doesn't act like your usual princess. Almost wouldn't have known if it-oh what am I thinking? Of course she's a princess! No servant would be dressed like that!' "Kaylen? I've never heard of that kingdom. Where is it?"
"It's on the southern continent."
"Oh, the southern continent…" 'Wow they are pulling all the stops for this one! I didn't think they would go as far as inviting princesses from out of continent. Though I haven't heard of Kaylen before… I'll have to check that out when I get back home.' "So you're here for the ball?"
"Yes I am."
There was a small uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Neither knew what to say next.
"I guess I should get going to see if I can find Princess Martina. I'll see you around sometime?" Prince Gavin looked at Lady Amelia with shy hopeful eyes.
Lady Amelia felt herself blush. "I suppose you will. It was nice meeting you Prince Gavin."
"The pleasure was mine." Prince Gavin flashed her a heart-stopping smile before leaving in search of Princess Martina.
Lady Amelia exhaled sharply. She hadn't even been aware that she had been holding her breath. 'He's so handsome! And polite too! If only I was a re-' Lady Amelia stopped in mid thought. 'No I can't think like that. I'm a servant nothing more. I'm only pretending to be a princess. To act as Prince Halford's chosen fiancé.'
...
'I wonder what she thinks of me…' Prince Gavin thought as he wandered the castle halls in search of Princess Martina in a half daze. The thought hadn't occurred to him yet that it was strange that this Princess Amelie had been in Princess Martina's room.
Just then Princess Martina came out into the hallway carrying an armload of clothing. She nearly bumped right into Prince Gavin.
"Prince Gavin? You're here already?" Princess Martina squeaked out in shock. She hadn't been expecting him for another day or so.
"Yes my parents wanted me and my brother to get here early. They are going to show up later on in the week closer to the ball."
"Oh really…" Princess Martina laughed nervously. She fidgeted with the load of clothes in her arms as they stood in the hall. 'Damn what am I going to do?'
"I'm really surprised how far you guys are going with this ball thing. I mean inviting princesses from out of continent and all."
Princess Martina blinked in surprise. "Out of continent?"
"Yeah like Princess Amelie. I met her in your room when I was looking for you." That's when the thought hit him. 'Why was she in Princess Martina's room anyway? And why did it take me till now to realize that?'
"Oh Princess Amelie! Of course!" Princess Martina started to panic. 'Oh now he saw her in my room! What am I going to say?1 Think Martina! Think!'
"Just out of curiosity Princess Martina, why was Princess Amelie in your room alone anyway? Now that I think about it, it was almost as if she was trying on clothing…"
"Er- she was! My clothes! Ah um… Princess Amelie and I have known each other for years. So long that we're almost like sisters. And when she arrived the most dreadful thing happened! One of my clumsy servants stupidly spilled a whole pot of tea on all her nice gowns!" 'I hope he's buying this.'
"So to make up for it you're lending her some of yours? Why that's very sweet of you Princess Martina." Prince Gavin gave her a warm smile.
Princess Martina's heart went a flutter. "Well it was the least I could do, it was one of my servants after all that ruined her clothes." She batted her eyelashes overdramatically.
Prince Gavin gave a nervous cough. "Well how about I help you with these." He took an armload off Princess Martina.
"Why thank you Prince Gavin."
...
Prince Zelgadis and the royal knight of Rythsia chatted flirtatiously while she ushered him to what would be his room for the week.
"Your poor little brother! Having such a mean older brother like you Zel!" Lina exclaimed referring to the horse ride to Rythsia.
"I would be careful on how you address me Miss Inverse. You wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea about us."
"But your highness what sort of wrong idea could they get? There has only been rumours about us floating around for what 3 months now? Hardly enough time for them to talk at all." Lina said coyly as they reached the door to Prince Zelgadis' room.
Prince Zelgadis was going to say something back when one of the servants came rushing down the hall towards them.
"Miss Lina the queen needs to see you immediately!"
Lina frowned. "Can't it wait?"
"Miss Lina! How can you even ask that?" The servant squeaked out in utter horror. No he didn't want to go and tell the queen that Lina didn't feel like coming to see her yet. It was a kill the messenger scenario.
"Alright, alright I'll go. See you later Zel." Lina blew him a kiss before walking off with the servant.
"Did you just call the first crown prince of Jales 'Zel'?"
"Yeah."
The servant was too doe eyed to say anything.
Lina just shook her head at the servant's reaction. 'Just because someone is from royalty doesn't mean they can't be treated like a person.'
The servant ushered Lina to the doors leading to the Rythsia main throne room and then cowered off into the shadows. Once again Lina shook her head at the servant's actions and pushed her way into the throne room.
The queen sat regally at her throne staring Lina down.
(Xellos: Just like Queen Naga?
Relm: I'm tired, you try and find another word for regal.
Xellos: [goes and looks in a thesaurus]
Relm: Oh never mind! Let's just get back to the fic.)
"You wished to see me your majesty?"
"Yes Knight Inverse, I have something great and important to discuss with you."
...
Prince Gavin helped Princess Martina with the clothes to her room. Once at Princess Martina's door Prince Gavin had hoped he would be invited in so that he might have the chance to talk with Princess Amelie again. Only when they got there Princess Martina took the clothes from Prince Gavin and went in her room and shut the door on him. "Thanks for the help Prince Gavin I'll see you later." Was what she had said before closed the door on him.
'Damn. Oh well I'll find ways to talk to Princess Amelie later on…'
...
Princess Martina breathed a sigh of relief once she was in her room. She glanced over to Lady Amelia who rushed over to her.
"Is something wrong Princess Martina?"
"Amelia listen to me closely. You are not to go near Prince Gavin at all if you can help it. I want you stick to Halford like glue. Do you understand me?" Princess Martina's tone was very dark and commanding.
Lady Amelia solemnly nodded. She knew what Princess Martina was getting at. 'Does that mean he might like me?' Lady Amelia banished that thought from her head. 'It doesn't matter. I'm just a servant anyways. There's no way I could end up with a prince.'
"Now I'm going to have the problem of getting Halford into costume as soon as possible. I don't want Prince Gavin to see him in servant attire before the ball. Luckily for me mother is already working on that."
"But how are you going to deal with the fact that 'Prince' Halford is supposed to be ugly?"
Princess Martina's face became a one of shock and horror. "Oh no! I forgot about that! What am I going to do? This is a disaster! Why did Prince Gavin have to come so early!" Princess Martina started crying out collapsing on her bed. Her eyes filled with tears that fell down her cheeks like waterfalls. "My picture perfect future is ruined! Gone down in flames! Reduced to rubble! Ruined!"
"Princess Martina try to calm down!"
"Calm down? How can you even say that? There's nothing we can do to fix this!"
"We'll find a way. I'll help you." Lady Amelia cringed after she said that. 'How could I promise to help? I can't purposely deceive someone like that! It's wrong. Well I kinda just did that already when I met Prince Gavin… But still it's wrong!'
"You'll help me?" Princess Martina looked at Lady Amelia with watery hopeful eyes.
Lady Amelia sighed in defeat. "Yes I'll help you."
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Princess Martina sprung up and swept Lady Amelia up in a bone crushing hug. Then she dropped Lady Amelia abruptly letting her fall to the floor with a thud. "Come Amelia, we've got lots of work to do! !"
...
Royal Knight Lina Inverse stormed out of main throne room of Rythsia in a very foul mood. 'I can't believe them! Stooping so low to do this! Are they really that desperate to marry off Princess Martina that they would go and fool Prince Gavin like this?'
It's true though, the Queen and King of Rythsia were desperate. It's not that there was anything really wrong with Princess Martina; it's just that every prince she's ever met couldn't stand to be around her. They all found her too annoying. Prince Gavin was the first and only prince that could actually stand her. But then again she wasn't exactly acting completely like herself when she was around Prince Gavin as it is.
The Queen had told Lina everything about the plans. And by royal orders Lina was not to say anything to Prince Zelgadis or Prince Gavin about the ploy. In fact Lina was supposed to help out with the ruse if needed.
Lina's brow creased as she thought back to what the Queen had said to her. All the time the Queen had spoke the royal advisor of Jales, Xellos, stood by her side smiling that annoying smug smile of his. That smug smile made Lina want to punch the purple haired advisor. 'What kind of a guy walks around with his eyes always closed. And why is he even here now? Shouldn't Xellos be in Jales? Unless Queen Naga is in on this plan. And if she is then she must be getting something out of this. And I don't she would be satisfied with just marring off her youngest stepson. Damn this is going to be hard keeping this from Zel.' Lina grumbled.
...
For the next few days Prince Gavin tried his hardest to spend some time alone with Princess Amelie. Ever since that one brief meeting he had with her he had wanted to talk to her more. He wanted to get to know her better. But every chance he got was fouled up by one thing or another. Like when Prince Gavin had wanted to go for a walk with Princess Amelie in the Rythsia gardens Princess Martina took Princess Amelie away to help her with the ball decorations. Another time Prince Gavin had wanted to have tea with her but Princess Martina's mother wanted Princess Amelie's help with the ball menu. Any time Prince Gavin wanted to spend some time alone with Princess Amelie someone took her away before he even had the chance to ask her. It was really starting to irritate him. But he didn't mind so much Princess Martina or her parents because they just wanted her help with the ball preparations.
But besides Princess Martina and her family there was one person who bugged him most of all. It was this strange guy that kept monopolizing Princess Amelie's time whenever she wasn't with Princess Martina or her parents. Prince Gavin had no idea who the guy was. By the way he was dressed you could tell he was royalty of some sort but Prince Gavin didn't know who he was. And that was partly because he never got a good look at his face. If it wasn't because of an elaborate hat or a large scarf or a high neck shirt it was just by chance the mystery guy's face was usually covered by something. And he never stayed long enough for Prince Gavin to get a good look. Whenever Prince Gavin came near the guy he walked off just as soon as Prince Gavin came close enough to see him. And usually Princess Amelie was in tow and went with him. And what made matters even worse was that Princess Amelie seemed to be enjoying the mystery man's company too!
Never before in Prince Gavin's life had he ever felt the pangs of jealousy. But now here was a woman he barely knew and he was madly jealousy over her and he didn't know why. 'It's not like this is the first girl I've ever liked.' Though he thought this he couldn't recall for the life of him what other girl he had liked this much and this quickly. 'Okay so maybe I haven't had another girl I've liked this much. And she is the first princess I've liked more than just a friend. But still I barely know her!' Prince Gavin let out a heavy sigh. But he wanted to get to know her. He wanted to get to know her very badly.
Prince Gavin hid behind some plants as he spied on Princess Amelie and the mystery man with her. He could see Princess Amelie very clearly, she was dressed in a simple yet elegant pale yellow gown and she was laughing at something her companion was telling her. 'She has such a lovely smile. Her whole face seems to light up when she laughs.' He sighed again but this one less depressive and more of an admiring sigh. Prince Gavin's gaze fell of the blue eyed beauty and went to the mystery man next her. Prince Gavin couldn't see him very well since the mystery man was half hidden behind some of the Rythsia potted plants much like the one that Prince Gavin was hiding behind himself. 'Grrr… can't see him. Need to get closer.'
He looked around carefully trying to plot was to get closer without being seen or noticed.
"Hey Gavin what are you up to?" Prince Zelgadis said sneaking up behind his younger brother.
Prince Gavin gave a small yelp as he jumped in surprise. With his cover blown Princess Amelie and the mystery man quickly left fowling yet another chance for Prince Gavin to see this mystery guy.
"ZELGADIS!" Prince Gavin whined at his older brother.
"What?"
"Why did you do that for? You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" Prince Gavin scowled.
"I'm sorry for startling you but what were you doing that's got you so flustered?" Prince Zelgadis' eyes had a mischievous glint to them as he smiled slyly.
"I wasn't doing anything!" Prince Gavin huffed defensively.
"Really? It looked like you were spying on those two. By the way who where they?"
"Princess Amelie. As for the guy who she was talking to, that was something I was trying to find out! Until you came by and blew my cover!"
"So you were spying!"
"Yeah so what?" Prince Gavin snapped. Normally he didn't snap at his older brother but he was very very annoyed at this point. This was all so frustrating. 'The first princess I'm really interested in and I can't even get the chance to talk to her alone for more then two words!'
"Do my ears deceive me but has my brother finally found a woman whose caught his interest?" Prince Zelgadis gave him a light nudge.
When Prince Gavin blushed instead of answering Prince Zelgadis took that as a yes.
"Have you talked to her yet?"
"Just once."
"Only once?" Prince Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.
"Any chance I get to talk to her she gets taken away do various tasks. She's been helping Princess Martina and her parents with the ball perpetrations. And any other times she with... with him!" Prince Gavin spat out the word 'him' vilely.
"Jealous? Well it looks like you have some competition for your lady. I think you are going to need help with his one little brother." Prince Zelgadis gave his brother an evil grin.
Prince Gavin didn't answer he shook his head.
TBC…
...
Xellos: Miss Relm! You didn't even give me a line! In fact I wasn't even in this part at all!
Relm: Hey I mentioned you now didn't I?
Xellos: I want an actual appearance in this fic!
Relm: You will in part three.
Amelia: Just how many parts are we talking about here? You said you wanted either 2 or 3. Is this going to turn into like a ten part fairy tale?
Relm: [pales in horror] Don't even say that! I couldn't let it go on for that long… I would have no energy left at all… I'd disappear… [voice trails off in an over dramatic way.]
[everyone minus Relm sweatdrops]
Amelia: Miss Relm you didn't answer my question.
Relm: [snaps out of it] Oh right. Well it is only going to be 3 parts. I am going to make the next part be the last.
Sylphiel: What if it starts to get too long?
Relm: Don't care the third one will be the last, even if it ends up being like ten pages long or more. [sighs] This one is the longest fairy tale monster ever! Its already outdone Sylpherella and I'm not even done yet! So long… 14 pages single-spaced. Well my arms hurt from typing so I'm stopping now. [sighs and mutters 'tired very tired' under her breath]
...
Part C
Relm: Alright on to part C!
Xellos: And when was the last time you worked on this?
Relm: Back in 2002
(Author's note: This is how this fic was written back when it was posted on my website. Not sure when I started this portion of this fic, I think it was back in 2003 or 2004. Anyway back to the fic)
Amelia: Miss Relm it's an injustice to leave a fic for so long and not work on it!
Relm: Well when you older brother decides to erase your hard drive and re-install the system while you're at work and not tell you it kinda kills your drive to finish something. I did have some of this written but because of him I lost it.
Lina: Didn't you back it up?
Relm: Hard to when everyone USES ALL MY BLANK CDS!
Zelgadis: Well someone is angry.
Relm: Anyways let's get on with the story shall we.
...
Queen Naga was quite happy with how the situation was going. She knew exactly what the Queen of Rythsia had planned and was sure it was going to work. "My King don't you think it's time we joined our sons in Rythsia? I'm sure we could help with some of the ball preparations. It's only fitting as they are throwing it in Gavin's honour." Queen Naga smiled at her husband King Gourry.
"I think that's a splendid idea! Let us go at once." King Gourry clapped his hands in enthusiasm.
(Zelgadis: Does anyone else find it strange that Relm doesn't have and names for the King and Queen of Rythsia?
Relm: Yeah I need to cast someone... but who? Okay then for this part I shall cast the following characters:
Queen of Rythsia: Eris
King of Rythsia: Val
King of Sailune: Phil
Queen of Sailune: Sarisa
Val: Why am I being dragged into this?
Relm: I've got a lot of characters already cast so I'm running a little low.
Val: Then who the hell is Sarisa?
Relm: Well I don't know what Phil's late wife's name so I'm just making that part up. Back to the fic please!)
...
Prince Gavin paced around his room quite agitated at the situation. It didn't help matters that Prince Zelgadis kept teasing him at every opportunity that he could. "Why do these kinds of things always seem to happen to me? Am I cursed or something?"
"Well I don't know about that Gavin." Prince Zelgadis announced as he walked right into Prince Gavin's room.
"Don't you ever knock?" Prince Gavin shot his older brother an evil look.
"I'm a prince why should I? Anyway I've got something I need to talk to you about and you may want to sit down for this." Prince Zelgadis advised Prince Gavin,
"What is it now?"
"Maybe you should give up on Princess Amelie." Prince Zelgadis started off.
"What? Why? She's perfect."
"And she's taken."
"WHAT? By who?"
"You know that mystery man that keeps destroying your chances of being alone with Princess Amelie? Well he's a cousin of Princess Martina. His name is Prince Halford and he and Princess Amelie have been an item for quite some time it seems."
"Are you sure?"
"Got it straight from Lina. And she wouldn't lie about stuff like that."
Prince Gavin's face fell. "Well I guess I'd better find someone else or settle for Princess Martina."
"Don't give up hope Gavy, I'm sure your Princess is out there somewhere."
"But not likely at this ball." Prince Gavin moped.
"Stop being so glum. I promised Lina we'd go help with decorations, so let's go."
...
"I hate lying to Zel that way." Lina muttered to herself as she walked down the halls of the castle. She had been given specific instructions about what to say to Prince Zelgadis about 'Princess Amelie and Prince Halford' from Princess Martina. She didn't exactly like everything that was going on but it was out of her hands.
"Miss Lina?" Lady Amelia called out from her room.
"Hi Amelia. What's up?"
"Can I speak to you in my room?"
"Okay." Lina followed Lady Amelia to her room. "What's wrong?"
"I don't feel comfortable pretending to be a Princess. I thought I would enjoy it at first but I dislike deceiving Prince Gavin like this." Amelia frowned.
"I know how you feel. In fact I just had to lie to Zel about you. It seems that Prince Gavin has shown some interest in both you and 'Prince Halford' and Princess Martina doesn't want anything to interfere with her plans. She wanted me to tell Zel that you and 'Prince Halford' are a couple, who have been together quite a while."
"Prince Gavin has been asking about me?" Lady Amelia asked with her heart a flutter.
"Amelia don't tell me, you've got a crush on Prince Gavin? He's a prince and you're not a real princess." Lina chided.
"Well that didn't stop you and your 'Zel' did it?" Lady Amelia shot back.
"That's different, Zel had no intensions of ruling Jales. But Prince Gavin is bound to rule is kingdom. I know it's not right but you're just going to have to stay away from him. If he asks you, you and Prince Halford are engaged and just came to help Princess Martina with the ball. Okay?"
"Fine." Lady Amelia moped.
"C'mon Amelia, I don't know how interested in you Prince Gavin would be if he found out you were lying about who you are. And even if he did still liked you he can't marry a commoner." Lina reminded her.
"I know."
"Okay then I've got to get going. I've got decorations to tend to."
...
Days went by as the day of the ball got closer and closer. The king and Queen of Jales made a very grandiose entrance (much to Prince Zelgadis and Prince Gavin's dismay) and were greeted just as well by Queen Eris of Rythsia.
"Queen Naga, King Gourry, how delightful to see both of you!" Queen Eris clapped her hands in delight.
"Thank you for inviting us. My King I wish to have some girl talk with Queen Eris. I'll see you later."
"Okay." The king said to his wife as she walked off with the Queen of Rythsia. He then looked around at the servants whom surrounded waiting on his words. Instead his stomach was what bellowed. "Um... I'm hungry, got anything to eat?" King Gourry said sheepishly.
...
Queen Naga and Queen Eris laughed as they chatted about trivial things as they walked towards Queen Eris' chambers. All was going fine and well until Queen Naga stopped dead in her tracks.
"Who is that?" Queen Naga pointed at Lady Amelia whom was taking a walk with 'Prince Halford'.
"Why that is my daughter's main servant, Lady Amelia. As part of our little ploy we've got her posing as a princess whom is engaged to our dear 'Prince Halford' which this ball is being held in his honour. Isn't it marvellous?"
"Not it is not." Queen Naga replied in a very low voice.
"Why?"
"Because that girl is no servant." Queen Naga knew right away who Lady Amelia was just from the look of her face. She looked exactly like her mother.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know the scandal that happened in the kingdom of Sailune?"
"Oh wasn't that the kingdom where the crown princess was kidnapped as a baby and was never found?" Queen Eris guessed. She wasn't one to get into keeping up with comings and goings of other kingdoms by she did enjoy a good scandal.
"Then you know what I'm saying."
Queen Eris gasped in shock. "You can't be suggesting that Lady Amelia is the crown princess of Sailune! There is no way!"
"How did you come about acquiring Lady Amelia as a servant for your daughter?"
"Why she was abandoned in the town square. And since no one laid claim to the child I took her in as a servant in training for my daughter."
"And how did you come to know her name?"
"Why the child had a handkerchief with her name embroidered on it. But there is no possible way she is in fact Princess Amelia of Sailune. She bore no clothing of noble blood, she was dressed in rags!"
"That may be the case but I know what I'm talking about. Lady Amelia bears too strong of a resemblance to Queen Sarisa of Sailune to be ignored! We must keep her way from my stepson. He can't find out our ploy nor can Lady Amelia find out her royal heritage."
"Don't worry, I have no intensions of ruining my daughter's chances of marrying your stepson."
"Good." Both women continued to walk while Xellos the royal advisor emerged from the shrubbery that he had been hiding behind.
"Well isn't that an interesting turn of events. I wonder what King Philonel and Queen Sarisa would have to say." Xellos stalked off with a rather sinister grin gracing his lips.
...
The day of the ball the castle was buzzing with noise and excitement. Most of the princess that were planning to attend had already shown up and Prince Gavin had had the chance to meet all of them. Now Prince Gavin was never one to judge on a person's appearance. So when he found that most of the princesses attending were less than fair and lovely he wasn't too concerned. What mattered to Prince Gavin was the person on the inside of after all. What's the point of having a beautiful queen when she's rotten to the core? But that wasn't the problem. What bothered Prince Gavin was that all the princesses he met only seemed to be concerned with getting a chance to talk with Prince Halford. Not a single princess seemed to have any sort of interest in Prince Gavin at all. And to make matter worse Prince Halford started wearing a mask when the princesses started arriving. Now Prince Gavin didn't even have a face to project his hate towards, just a stupid mask. Still all in all the girls were interested in Prince Halford more than Prince Gavin. The whole situation was very depressing. So much so that spending his time staring at the castle courtyard was more entertaining than socializing with the others.
"What's wrong Prince Gavin?" Princess Martina asked approaching Prince Gavin.
"Nothing too major. I'm just a little confused."
"About what?"
"Well this ball is being held n my honour isn't it? So why are none of the princesses showing any interest in me?"
"I must say from their lack of beauty you'd actually want them to take notice of you?" Princess Martina scrunched her face in mock disgust.
"Now, now looks aren't everything my dear Princess Martina. And shame on you for poking fun at your party guests. But all joking aside why isn't at least one of them interested in me? What's so special about Prince Halford?" Prince Gavin pouted.
"Well my cousin is a very charming fellow."
"Then why the mask? Hiding one's face seems dishonest somehow."
"As a very young child my cousin got into a bad accident and received a very large scar on his face for his troubles. He's quite self conscious about it so that is why he often dawns a mask." Princess Martina explained while smiling.
"And Princes Amelie doesn't mind that?"
Princess Martina's face became strained. 'Why is he so obsessed with a servant for?' "Well Princess Amelia is a very supportive person. How a person looks matter little to her. It's the person on the inside that she cares about."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that. She is a woman of strong virtues." Prince Gavin commented admiringly.
"You know Prince Gavin you were wrong about the Princesses. There is one I know that is greatly interested in you."
Prince Gavin's ears perked up. "Really? Who?"
"Me." Princess Martina flashed him a big smile.
Prince Gavin laughed. "Yes and thank you for that."
"You're welcome."
...
Lady Amelia watched Princess Martina and Prince Gavin sourly from behind a bush. She hated what Princess Martina was doing to Prince Gavin. Princess Martina was lying and tricking him just so that she could get married and have more power. "I've got to tell him. I can't let this go on any longer. There's no way he would have agreed to this is if he knew what Queen Eris and Queen Naga had plotted or if he knew what Princess Martina was really like. But how am I going to get Prince Gavin alone?"
"Princess Amelie!" Queen Eris yelled for Lady Amelia.
Lady Amelia jumped. "Yes Queen Eris?"
"Ah there you are! That ball is about to begin. You wouldn't want to keep your fiancé Prince Halford waiting now would you?" Queen Eris motioned for Lady Amelia to follow her.
'Darn.' "Coming your highness." Lady Amelia strolled over to the doorway Queen Eris was standing under. 'I've got to find a way to ditch Halford at some point before the end of the ball.'
...
The ball was in full swing with lots of decorations, music, food and dancing. King Gourry wasn't paying any attention to the ball at all save for the food, which he was pigging out on. His wife Queen Naga was observing the party with Queen Eris.
Lady Amelia looked around nervously as she danced with Halford. Prince Gavin was dancing with Princess Martina and Lina was dancing with Prince Zelgadis. Lady Amelia was trying so hard to think of a way to get Prince Gavin alone but she knew that she couldn't just go and ask to talk to him. The only thing she could think of was to ask Lina to talk to Prince Gavin, but Lina was a little too engrossed with Prince Zelgadis that she didn't see anything else in the room. 'What am I going to do?'
Just at that moment the song ended and Lina went to get some punch.
'Perfect!' Lady Amelia cheered. "Halford, I need to talk to Miss Lina for a moment, then I want to go outside and get some air. It's a tad stuffy in here. Will you be okay alone for a little while?"
Halford looked around at all the princesses that were eyeing him very intently. "No problem at all." He said with a smile, though not that Lady Amelia could see him smiling.
"Okay I shouldn't be long." Lady Amelia walked in a very hurried pace over to the punch bowl where Lina was. "Miss Lina I need your help." Lady Amelia asked in a low tone with a big smile on her face.
"Alight, but you have to stop smiling like that it's kinda creepy."
"I need to talk to Prince Gavin, alone. Only I can't go up to him and pull him aside." Lady Amelia started pouring herself some punch. "I need you to talk to him and tell him to meet me outside."
"Amelia you're planning on telling him, aren't you?"
"Yes I am. It's not right and he deserves to know. Do you have a problem with it?"
Lina shook her head. "No Amelia. Go ahead I'll tell him to meet you. I'll get Zel to ask Princess Martina to dance."
"Thanks Miss Lina."
...
Prince Gavin watched Lady Amelia the whole time he was dancing with Princess Martina. It irked him that Lady Amelia was with Prince Halford the whole time. He knew that he should forget about her, but there was something about Lady Amelia that he just couldn't get out of his head. He was considering asking her to dance when he saw her go and get a glass of punch. But before he could come up with an idea of how to get away from Princess Marina, Lady Amelia went outside the ball doors. "Um Princess Martina how about I sit this dance out. I'm getting a bit tired."
"Oh but this is such lovely music, it would be a shame to waste it." Princess Martina bashed her eyelashes at Prince Gavin flirtatiously.
"Then perhaps I could cut in while my little brother rests?" Prince Zelgadis approached the two with a strained grin on his face.
Princess Martina blushed. "Why I would love to, as long as Prince Gavin doesn't mind." She didn't care who she got, a prince was a prince after all.
"I don't mind. She's all yours brother." Prince Gavin almost ran away from the dance floor. He saw Lina starting to approach him but he veered off heading straight for the doors.
'Well that was easier than I thought.' Lina thought to herself. 'But I'll have to worry about rescuing Zel afterwards. That Martina really likes to sink her claws into whatever man she can get.' Lina mused.
...
Prince Gavin was almost frantic as he searched for Lady Amelia. And when he found her he was brought to a complete halt. There she was in her blue dress bathed in the light of the full moon staring off into the still night. "Princess Amelie?"
Lady Amelia almost jumped at the sudden break in silence. She hadn't been expecting Lina to get the message to him so soon. "Prince Gavin... Good, Miss Lina got a chance to talk to you."
Prince Gavin shook his head. "Actually no. When I saw you leave I came on my own. But I guess Miss Lina would be the reason why my brother volunteered to dance with Princess Martina even though he can't stand her. Either way I'm here, what did you want to talk to me about Princess Amelie?"
"My name is not Amelie, and I am not a princess. My name is Amelia and I am Princess Martin's servant." Amelia started off.
"A servant...? I'm a little confused."
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to deceive you. I grew up as an orphan not knowing who I was or where I came from. I was brought into servitude at a very young age and I had always dreamed of being a princess. So I jumped at the chance to masquerade as one even if only for a little while. I didn't know quite what I was getting into either. As you should know this ball has all been a ploy devised by your stepmother, Queen Eris and Princess Martina. The ball invitations read that this ball was for Princes Martina's cousin 'Prince Halford' whom is very ugly but looking for a wife. Princess Martina only wanted ugly or desperate princess to come to the ball so that you wouldn't be all the interested in them. And they wouldn't be interested in you because they would be here for Prince Halford, whom is also a servant and not ugly. My role in this was to play Halford's 'finance' so that he would have a 'princess' to choose at the end of the ball, but not one of those whom came to attend."
Prince Gavin blinked in shock not sure what to say. "So this has all been a set up to trap me into an engagement with Princess Martina. I can't believe she would do something like that. I know Princess Martina isn't an angel but I never thought she was underhanded."
"She hadn't been herself around you. She pretends to be somebody else so that you'd like her. Believe me she's a rotten person, spoiled as spoiled comes."
Prince Gavin let out a sight. "Life is ironic huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's just that the first girl I've been even slightly interested in is a servant whom I could probably date if my older brother hadn't renounced his claim to the throne. But with the way the situation is I can't."
Lady Amelia blushed. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. They've been watching me like a hawk. Plus Princess Martina and Queen Eris would have my head."
"Are you going to get in trouble for telling me this?" Prince Gavin asked rather worried.
"I don't care. I hate lying like that."
"Well I do appreciate what you've done. But I'm going to marry Princess Martina." Prince Gavin stated gloomily.
"What? Why would you want to?" Lady Amelia exclaimed.
"Want has nothing to do with it. I made an agreement to marry Princess Martina if this ball produced no princesses I wish to marry. It doesn't matter that this ball was rigged I still promised, and I keep my promises. Plus I wouldn't want you to get thrown into a dungeon or worse on a count of me."
Lady Amelia smiled sadly. "You're a very noble man Prince Gavin or Jales. You'll make a good king."
"I don't think so, but thank you. Well we should get back. The ball will be ending soon and I'm sure that my dear stepmother will like to know my choice at that time."
Lady Amelia and Prince Gavin walked back to the ball arm in arm to see such a strange sight. In the centre of the ballroom floor were two very royally dressed people, a very burly man with dark hair and blue eyes and a talk woman whom looked very much like Amelia.
"What's going on?" Lady Amelia asked Prince Gavin.
"I'm not sure. I do believe that man there is King Philonel of Sailune." Prince Gavin answered very confused. He didn't remember hearing of the King and Queen being invited to the ball.
"I want to see my daughter! I know she's here!" King Philonel screamed at King Val.
"King Philonel I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm sure your dear missing daughter is somewhere but not in this kingdom." King Val tried to assure the very upset King Philonel.
"I know she's here. Her kidnappers accidently left her in Rythsia and she was made a servant. I have proof!" King Philonel held out a very tattered handkerchief bearing Amelia's name. "This was given to me by the royal advisor of Jales. He took it from her room. Now tell me, where is our daughter, where is Amelia?" King Philonel yelled.
Queen Sarisa tapped her husband's shoulder. "Philonel, it's her. Our baby girl." She pointed to a very stunned Amelia.
"I'm a princess?" Lady Amelia said in shock.
Prince Gavin smiled. "Looks like you are. You cannot ignore the resemblance to your mother."
"This is crazy she is not the Princess Amelia of Sailune. She is just a servant!" Queen Eris screeched.
"There is an easy way to prove or disprove if she is my daughter." Queen Sarisa stated. "Amelia darling come here."
Lady Amelia came at Queen Sarisa's beckon.
Queen Sarisa held her hand above Amelia's head and concentrated. "If she is my daughter then the royal Sailune crest will appear on her forehead with this spell." Light appeared from Queen Sarisa's hand.
Like magic a small crest appeared on Lady Amelia's forehead.
"My baby girl!" King Philonel scooped Lady Amelia up in a big bear hug.
"I'm a princess, and I have a mother and a father...?" Princess Amelia smiled with tears falling down her cheeks.
"It would seem that your daughter will need a new servant." Queen Sarisa said to Queen Eris.
"Fine, take the girl. That doesn't change things. Tell us Prince Gavin have you chosen a princess yet?"
Prince Gavin smile. "Well in light of recent events I wish to ask for Princess Amelia's hand... that is if she'll take me." He knelt before Princess Amelia.
"Yes I will!" Princess Amelia answered without even a moment of thought.
Everyone in the room cheered except for Queen Eris and Princess Martina.
"Now I'll never be a queen." Princess Martina cried out choking on sobs. "Why would you say that?" A man offered her a handkerchief.
"Because every prince I meet doesn't like me." Princess Martina took the stranger's handkerchief and wiped the tears from her face.
"I can't understand why anyway wouldn't like you. You seem like a very nice woman." The stranger smiled at her.
"Who might I ask are you?"
"I'm King Philonel's younger brother, Prince Zangulus."
"You're a prince?" Princess Martina's eyes lit up.
...
"So whose crazier? Me asking you to marry me even though I barely know you or you for accepting my proposal?" Prince Gavin asked Princess Amelia with a giggle.
"Long engagements are great for getting to know your future spouse." Princes Amelia replied giggling as well. "Things are certainly crazy. One moment I was a servant parading as a princess, not I really am one."
"It's a good thing our fathers' are good friends. Or I doubt he'd be okay with this rushed engagement."
"But at leave everyone gets their happy ending."
"Yes I suppose they do." And with that the new happy couple kissed for the first time.
THE END
...
Relm: Finally it's over!
Xellos: So what's the next one about?
Relm: (hits Xellos with a fish) Shut up!