Marissa woke up in the morning fresh and well rested. She had slept very deeply and was now full of energy. She dressed herself in a nice light green gown with a wide grey sash, and tied her blonde hair in an elegant hairdo. She placed her crown on her head perfectly, and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

After making sure that she looked well, Marissa went down to the dining room for breakfast. The servant opened the door for her and bowed. Marissa passed him with a thankful nod. The table was set for three, the third place waiting for Marissa. The coachman, mister Hettlinger, and Frederick were already at the table when the Queen came.g

"Good morning," she said as she walked to the table, and both of the men stood up to give a bow to the Queen. Frederick pulled out a chair for the Queen, who took a seat gladly. Then he and Hettlinger returned to their seats.

"Good morning," Frederick replied, and so did Mr. Hettlinger. "Did you sleep well, Your Majesty?" Frederick had thought that the Queen had heard the events of the night in her room, but she seemed so calm that he realized that the Queen had been sleeping all the time.

"Yes, I did, thank you," Marissa answered, setting her napkin in her lap before starting on the meal. Then she looked around and asked, "Where's Hans?" The second guard was indeed missing from the breakfast table.

"He..." Frederick wondered how to put this in words. "He won't be travelling with us anymore."

"Why? Has something happened?" Marissa gasped. She looked at the faces of the men with a questioning look, and Hettlinger turned to look at his food silently. He had already heard the story, but he was a man who didn't speak until he was spoken to.

"Yes, you could say so," Frederick answered, looking away from the Queen's eyes for the first time this morning. "The innkeeper's servant is on his way to bring Hans to the Apollonian prison. Because it's closer than the prison back home."

"Je ne comprends pas,*" Marissa said in confusion. "Why?"

"Well. Last night I discovered him in your room with clearly not the best intentions in his mind," Frederick answered prudently.

"No," Marissa said in a frightened voice, clapping her hand over her mouth. "Did he really..."

Frederick nodded with a sort of a sad look on his face. "I believe I came in the last moment," he added.

The realization was scary, and Marissa fell silent for a long moment. Frederick had saved her from such a nasty thing, and she hadn't even known that before. For a moment she wondered what was Frederick even doing in her room, and how he had discovered Hans's intentions, but that didn't matter. She was infinitely grateful to Frederick.

"I- I must thank you," Marissa finally said, looking at Frederick thankfully, "for saving me from him."

"It was natural," the guard replied, touched by the Queen's gratefulness.

After looking in the eyes of each other for a long moment, they both started to eat their breakfast silently. Marissa's good mood had turned into something much different, the shocked expression didn't want to leave her face.

"Of all the men, why Hans?" Marissa muttered quietly, wondering why the man had wanted to do something like that. "That scélérat!**" She fell silent quickly, and looked away as Frederick looked at her in surprise. "And Melanie warned me about travelling with men."

She felt Frederick's look on her, and added quickly, "I don't mean you. I am very happy that you are by my side." And the both of them smiled.


After the breakfast, the Queen, the coachman, and the guard had all packed their things, and were ready to leave for Apollonia. They still had a long journey ahead of them, and the sooner they'd arrive in the other kingdom the better.

"What a pity, you are leaving already!" the owner said as the servant went past him with the last of the Queen's luggage. "It is always such a delight to have you here. Are you sure you don't want to stay for any longer?"

"That would be lovely. But we have to get going," Marissa answered, smiling. "We have to be in Apollonia in the right time and the road is long."

"Of course, I understand," the man replied, watching the Queen's guard take Her Majesty's cape. "We will be waiting for you when you are on your way back to our wonderful kingdom," he said, and bowed, slightly kissing Marissa's fingers. "We wish you a safe trip."

He followed the Queen outside and personally helped her into the carriage. "You are always most welcome here," he reminded the Queen with a friendly smile.

"Thank you, sir," Marissa replied and nodded gratefully.

The door of the carriage closed. Frederick and Hettlinger sat in the front of the vehicle, and the carriage started to move. The innkeeper sighed happily, and went back into the house.

Queen Marissa's carriage left the village of Avonée to head towards the kingdom of Apollonia.


They had no problems crossing the border. The Apollonians welcomed them kindly, although not as jovially as Queen Marissa's subjects always did.

Queen Marissa had been invited to stay at the Apollonian royal palace but she had refused the invitation kindly, believing that there were already lots of guests at the palace because of the celebrations. Instead she had decided to stop at a luxurious hotel in the Apollonian capital. They arrived at Hotel Regale Lily late in the afternoon, two short hours before the start of Prince Antonio's engagement ball.

After dinner that was held at the Hotel, Her Majesty was left in her room to get herself ready for the ball. She was offered a lady's maid by the Hotel but she refused that, too; she was not comfortable near complete strangers, which might be hard to believe of a Queen.

Marissa chose another green gown from the mass of clothes that had been packed for her. She slipped it onto her lithe corseted figure, and her slender arms made their way into the long trumpet sleeves. She fixed her hair in an elegant hairstyle, which she had learned to do in her youth; no one ever knew if it was the work of her lady's maid or herself. And after a light touch of make-up, she slipped her small feet into slippers as green as grass.

She then turned around in front of her long mirror to fasten her gown tightly around herself, but realized in a minute that it was too difficult for her to do so. She hadn't thought of it, that she would have any trouble with dressing herself without her lady's maid. But now she couldn't pull the strings hard enough behind her back. She sighed in resignation after another try.

A soft knock on her door startled her. "Your Majesty," said Frederick from behind the door. "I'm very sorry to disturb you, but we should be going. The ball is due to start in twenty minutes and the carriage awaits."

Instead of replying Marissa tried again to pull at the strings of her dress, but to no avail.

"Your Ladyship?"

"I'll be down in a minute, Frederick," Marissa answered as calmly as she could manage. In truth, she was quite exasperated by her dress.

"Of course, my Queen," the guard said, and Marissa could hear him turn on his heel.

In a moment she realized that if she would let him walk away, she wouldn't have anyone to help her. As much as she didn't want to ask for her guard's help in such an odd situation, and as inappropriate as it would be, she called after him before he could get too far, "Wait!" She heard the footsteps in the hall stop. "I need your help," she continued in a small voice.

There was a silent moment and Marissa wondered if Frederick had gotten too far before she had opened her mouth. But then she heard the guard's voice right behind the door again. "Should I come in, Your Highness?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Yes, please."

The door opened silently and Frederick stepped in hesitantly. He shut the door behind him before turning around to face the Queen. He was left speechless by the sight in front of him. No matter how many times he had seen the woman before, he didn't think he had ever see her looking so gorgeous. In the last sunlight of the day that peeked in from the windows, Marissa stood in an elegant emerald gown, her beautiful blonde hair neatly set and her pale face just a little flushed.

Marissa held the strings of her dress tightly behind herself, and took a deep breath before speaking. "Could you..." she started. "Can you please lace me up?" She turned around, giving her guard a view of his task. She watched from the mirror as Frederick stepped closer to her, his expression unreadable.

The scene was highly inappropriate, but Frederick couldn't bring himself to tell himself that. He wanted to help his Queen and he was just following his orders, but he couldn't help but liking the feeling of her so close to him. He took the strings from Marissa's hands and wondered briefly what he was supposed to do with them.

"You must pull them tight," the Queen instructed, succeeding in sounding calm although her heart was beating faster with every passing second. She couldn't understand what it was that made her so excited, surely they had been standing so close together before.

Frederick pulled at the strings. "Tighter," Marissa said. Now Frederick pulled harder and Marissa's breath caught in surprise for a moment.

"Did I hurt you?" the guard asked concernedly.

"No-no," Marissa answered quickly. "Now, tie them up," she added, holding her breath as Frederick's fingers swiftly tied the strings together.

"There," he announced, and Marissa turned around. She found herself standing right against Frederick, their faces only inches apart. She took a quick step backwards and nodded her head in thanks, willing her heart to slow down again.

In a moment she turned and took a golden lace sash from the dressing table. She tied it around her slender waist in a skilled movement, and checked herself in the mirror. In realization she took her crown and set it on her head; she was not supposed to appear in front of any subject without it. And then she decided that she was ready.

Turning towards the door she realized that Frederick was still standing there, waiting for her or an order for him. Marissa smiled and said, "Thank you for your help."

She took a step forward and then stopped, eyeing the guard closely. He was wearing a magnificent navy blue coat and shoes with elegant heels and silver buckles. His hair was carefully brushed into one of the modern hair-styles that only trained valets were capable of achieving. Marissa was sure he had a large feathered hat to go with that look. The chain of his watch reached out of his vest pocket. The starched muslin of his cravat was set in beautiful folds under his chin. He looked smart, much better than some of the gentlemen that Marissa knew in the upper-class. And then a crazy but alluring idea hit her.

"Frederick," Marissa said to get her guard's attention, which was unnecessary because he was staring at her, mesmerized by her beauty.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Frederick replied as calmly as ever, looking into his Queen's eyes.

"I was wondering... You won't be coming to the ball, will you?"

"I will be there to watch over you as it is my duty to do so, milady," he replied.

"Well," Marissa said, smiling charmingly. "I would like you to escort me instead."

The guard fell silent for a moment. "Your Majesty can't possibly mean..."

"I do," Marissa interrupted kindly. "I would like you to accompany me. I've been going to these events alone for long enough. No one must know that you are my servant."

"But my Queen," Frederick argued, "it would not be right. And I am hardly dressed right."

"On the contrary, I think you look exceedingly good," Marissa replied, making her way towards the door. "You shall be mistaken for a count or duke, no doubt." She stopped, and Frederick opened the door for her, shaking his head. "You will not let me down, will you?" she asked in a sad tone, knowing that this will do the trick.

"Of course not, my Queen," Frederick answered, resigned. "But I still cannot think of it as a good idea." He followed Marissa into the hall.

"You will not regret it," the Queen promised him, smiling. This was going to be a nice evening.


* "I don't understand,"

** "scoundrel"