Hey! Finally the Flower Ball is here! Well, at least the beginning of the day, the night is young after all...

It was the day of the Flower Ball, and all the staff in the castle was rushing from one end of the palace to the other, decorating, getting the preparations ready and making the place shine.

Cerise opened her door, for the first time, they had actually beaten her in waking up. She yawned fixing her hood so none of the staff could see the ears. Darling walked to her door, she was already dressed and spotless.

"Good morning" the princess greeted.

"Hey" she mumbled, her voice still raspy "what time is it?"

"Early, for sure, but everyone is up and about, getting ready for the Ball"

"Right, that's today"

"Yeah" she shrunk her shoulders, Cerise hadn't really shown any interest in attending but Darling hadn't offered her to come yet.

"So what are you up to right now?" Cerise asked.

"Actually, I want to disappear for a couple hours" she whispered in case the Queen was near "My Mother gets carried away with it, if I am not on sight, I won't have to take part on any of it until the afternoon"

"Wicked, where are you going?"

"The stables" she smiled "I'm going for a ride, want to join?"

"Sure, give me a minute to change"

"Ok" she closed the door and Darling stood there trying to get out of sight.

"Hey, sis" Dexter walked by "Hiding from mom already?"

"Aren't you?"

"Of course! I am going to the library to play chess with dad for as long as I can"

She giggled "Sounds like a reasonable plan, with him as your alibi"

"Been planning it since the last Ball" he fixed his glasses "What about you? Waiting for Cerise?"

"Yeah, we are going to the country side, a couple of miles away from here"

"Good call, just come back at noon, we are having lunch together"

"Alright, thanks Dex"

"See you later" he waved.

Then the door opened "Ready"

"Haven't you ever ride a horse?" Darling asked amused, seeing her friend grab the reins with her life.

"No, the dragon was the first time I ever ride anything, actually"

"And you ride with me the whole time" she pointed

"Yeah" she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly "but at least I am closer to the ground now"

"You could've told me" Darling said lightly

"I wanted to try and we already made it to the first hundred yards, how hard can it be?"

Darling smirked at the remark "Ok, then, follow me" she galloped to the forest.

Cerise did her best to follow her, luckily the horse was well trained, because she wouldn't have made it there by her own merits. Darling had no trouble in speeding up, raising into the woods fearlessly, she knew the route by heart and loved the freedom the forest offered.

Her faithful horse jumped over a fallen tree and landed perfectly, Darling felt content with that and turned to find where Cerise was, but for her utter misfortune, her horse tried to jump as well, but the red hood was caught on a branch and Cerise was pulled and thrown off the horse, falling on her back.

"Cerise!" Darling dismounted rushing by her side "Are you alright?"

She sat on the mud rubbing the back of her head, nevertheless a smile on her face "Yeah, I am fine, told you, we are closer to the ground"

"You had quite the fall, did you hit your head? Follow my finger" she moved it in front of her from one side to the other.

"Darling, I am fine" she repeated pulling her hand down "I am part wolf, remember?"

"Yeah, but you could have a concussion"

"Doubtfully, I am tougher than I look, you know?"

That statement hit Darling for some reason "I... know" she sighted allowing the fright to get out of her system "sorry, I am... a bit jumpy today. I feel like anything can you wrong at any second"

"Why? Because of the dance?"

"Well...partially" she answered, she didn't want to involve her in her family issues.

"Anything I can help with?"

"This time, no"

"Not all battles are one on one"

"Jousts are, and right now, I am charging towards my opponent"

Cerise laid a hand on her shoulder "Can't you sit this one out?"

Darling shook her head "It's my turn to take the blow" she said lost in thought. Then she caught herself and shook her head "sorry, it's really nothing"

"Well, if you need anything, you can talk to me, wolf ears, good hearing, remember?" she pointed at her head.

Darling smiled and shook amused "Speaking of wolf...I think your hood is ripped"

"What?" she took the edge, it was shred into two "Oh no, mom is going to kill me"

"I have a sewing kit on my bag" she stood up offering a hand

"Why?" she grabbed her arm standing up

"Well, Mother adores my dresses, but they don't always agree with my routine, more than once I had to sew them before going back into the palace"

"A damsel is always prepared, ha?"

"Indeed" she smiled broadly "come on let's get to the valley, there I can take care of it" she mounted her horse once more "and you are riding with me, I can't afford to lose you in the middle of the woods"

Dexter walked through the arena silently, he knew their mother would never look there, it was too muddy for her to walk. He had just defeated his father on chess six matches on a row, now he needed to hide for a couple of hours more before the ball.

For his surprise, he found his older brother practicing on his own, a sword on his right hand, his shiny shield on the other.

"Hey, Daring...what are you doing here?" he walked towards "I thought you would be preparing yourself for the Ball" he looked at his watch "especially since it's six hours away, just enough time for you to get dressed"

"I thought I might...miss this one, little brother"

"Miss the Ball?!" he exclaimed, had he heard wrong? "but you love them and mom is hexpecting you to go" he said "and what about Apple? Is she coming on her own?"

"She isn't coming" said Daring dryly.

"Ow" Dexter muttered "sorry" he mumbled walking to the arena "is that why you are here on your own?"

"I really needed something to punch"

"Well, I am your punching bag" Dexter offered grabbing the wooden set of swords "want to talk about it?"

"No" he growled.

"Come on, bro"

"I said no!" he turned around giving a blow with his sword. Dexter had just enough time to raise his shield.

"I know it's been tough losing your destiny, but it just means you have the chance to write your own"

"I don't want to be forced to change, I was a prince, I was the knight in shining armor not her, I lost everything!"

Dexter frowned pushing Daring's sword aside and giving a hard stroke on his shield "Well, now you know how we felt" he said sternly "all our lives, the only thing mom and dad could ever talk about was your destiny! Darling and I had none! You know we were forced into a made up story. I am just a prince to the rescue and Darling was given the damsel in distress role"

"But, I...I-"

"We are looking for our own happily after, don't you get it? You can find your own happiness"

"I was happy"

"Where you?" he asked severely an eternal silence between them, there was no answer. Dexter dropped the sword "anyways I better get going" he started to walk, but turned over his shoulder "and stop blaming it on Darling, the only thing she did was act heroically, you acted under your own interests, try to look for somebody other than yourself, that's the noble thing to do"

"That's not fair, you know I care about others"

"Name someone"

Daring split his lips open, a name about to escape them, but he retained it, he couldn't say it.

"When you put someone before yourself, then you'll find love, that's a heroic act, heroic enough to break a curse" was the last thing he said and Daring was left once again alone on the west wing of the palace.

Thanks for the support! All the favs, the reviews and follows! And see you tomorrow for a short chapter, getting ready to attend the Ball...