"The wedding is tomorrow! Oh, how exciting this is!" The young blond maiden who had gossiped in the kitchen was bouncing with excitement.
"Everyone in Meridian is invited to Her royalness's wedding!"
Trill, the plump castle cook, gleamed alongside her. "I hear her dress is absolutely stunning! I won't get to see it, though, because I have the honor of cooking the royal Wedding Meal!"
"Oh, Trill, how wonderful!"
The entire castle, or better yet, the entire kingdom, was buzzing with anticipation. Everyone was excited about the wedding except Prince Phobos, who at the moment was unsure of how to feel.
"Oh, what am I supposed to do? I hardly know who my real father is, and now I'm going to have a stepfather!" The prince complained to his first and only best friend, Cedric. "I don't know whether to be happy for my mother, or infuriated that she would keep that a secret from me!"
"Phobos, I think that she has a perfectly good reason..."
"Like what, Cedric?"
"Well, obviously, if your father is this Sir Skelliclyde, and if everyone found out about it or spoke up about it, you wouldn't even be in the castle right now," Cedric pointed and quickly regretted it. Prince Phobos looked as though he'd just been slapped in the face.
"I mean...I..." Cedric tried to think of a way to compensate for the harsh truth.
"...I should probably get ready," Phobos shook his head and tried to snap out of it. "I have to practice a bunch of ball dances for the reception."
Cedric smiled encouragingly. "Well, that's kinda exciting! I've always wanted to dance in a ball..."
"You sound like a girl!"
"I just mean I would like to dance with a girl and share a moment!" Cedric said, blushing. "At least you get that chance!"
Phobos shrugged. "I've danced with many girls, but none of them ever seemed all that special. In fact, they all seem the same to me..."
The two walked to the dance hall and saw Phobos's dance instructor leaning against the wall. He turned to Cedric and said, "maybe you're right, Cedric. Maybe tonight will be fun..."
Later that night, Trill had finished preparing the royal Wedding Meal. Now it was time to bake the cake!
That morning the sun shone more brightly than it usually did. The birds sung with better key, the colors of the world were loud and vibrant. Phobos tried to be like Cedric and tell himself that, "today is going to be a good day." And perhaps it would be, he thought. At the very least, his mother will be happy with a good, loyal husband beside her.
The entire castle was decked out in beautiful and elaborate feather boas, flowers, vines, drapes. The service to announce that Queen Weira and Prince Xaden were getting married lasted four hours and Phobos had to sit, stand, listen and respond for the entire time. It was incredibly exhausting and he hadn't slept easily that night.
Nonetheless, he held tight for his mother's sake. There was a gleam in her eye and skip to her step, and Phobos did not want to be a bad son. After all, today was his mother's day. How could he ruin it?
"I think you're right, Cedric!" Phobos told his best friend a few minutes before the Royal Reception. "I think my chance at the ball dance is a thing to appreciate."
This made Cedric smile. "I'm glad, Phobos! See, everything is fine!"
The reception was filled to the brim with decor, nobles, food and music. The first dance was a round dance, one where everyone mixed in together, circling and having new partners every five minutes. Phobos hated this dance, because most of the people were snooty and acted as if they'd catch a disease holding his hands.
"I haven't got the plague," Phobos murmured under his breath. Finally came the dance that he was more interested in: personal dances, where one was either free to mingle and not dance or to choose their own partner.
Phobos searched, hoping to find a girl who wasn't standoffish and picky, when he saw a humble and pretty maiden heading out of the ball. He decided to follow, determined to fight his shyness.
The girl had long black hair and sparkling blue eyes. There was something ominious about her, but Phobos ignored it. How much harm could a girl be?
"Hello there, maiden!" He said, ignoring his pumping heart. "I am Prince Phobos. Would you like to dance?"
He couldn't believe himself! He sounded just like a knight...
The girl smiled and laughed. "Why, sure, your majesty! I'm flattered!"
Swallowing his fear and yielding to the music, Phobos remembered every step of the dance, not missing a beat. He was impressed with himself, and so was the girl.
"What is your name?"
"I'm Myrtle, a common girl living in a common village. Why would one so majestic and graceful as yourself want someone as lowly and average as I?"
"You are anything but the sort, girl! You are beautiful, extravagant, humble, virtuous..."
"Surely you are lying!"
"Surely not!" The two kids laughed at their standoffish accents, making a parody of how the nobility normally talked.
Well, Myrtle wasn't really a kid. Phobos may have been nine, but the girl looked older than fourteen.
"It is time for me to go, my prince. I hope you find a fairer maiden than me!" And off she ran, her long black trailing beautifully behind her.
"Oh no," Phobos said. "I will never find anyone better!" Just as he was about to head back inside the castle ball room, the wind blew and with it came a message: "You fowl little trickster! You are always learning the ways of charm and guile..."
The prince turned but saw no one. "Hello?" Nothing. He went back to the castle and out of nowhere thought of how knights could be charming but not always loyal.