ello to everyone! And Merry Christmas to you all! :)
Since I will be gone for a some days (Vacations, yay!) I won't be able to post anything, so I wanted to at least leave this new chapter ready for you to read. I kind of rushed this chapter and I must say I don't feel entirely happy with it, but I really didn't want to leave you all without it for so long. So here it is.
This one is around 2,000 words and I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 11
"The royalball"
"Are you sure this is what you want, my boy?" the king asked, looking sternly at his son.
He didn't doubt Fevian's reasons to decide what he just did, but he knew very well the young prince sometimes acted on impulses rather than really think things through. He was, after all, his own son and Fevian had inherited that part from him.
"Yes, father, I am" the prince said with a smile. "If there is someone I would like to share the rest of my life with is Cara. I love her"
Fevian looked at his mother and noticed she was extremely happy to hear his son finally wanted to get married. Besides, Queen Alva always had hoped his son would get married precisely with that beautiful young lady.
The prince made a little bow with his head and left the throne room. As he closed the doors he noticed Cara was still waiting outside. She seems very nervous. Her whole future depended on the king and the queen's decision, after all.
"What did they say?" Cara asked, seeing Fevian with wide open eyes and then looking down at her hands. "Did they approve?"
"Of course they approved" he whispered at her, taking her hands in his and raising her chin with one finger "Who else would be more worthy and perfect than you to be a future queen of Narnia, Cara?"
She smiled shyly at him.
"Which only leads us to one thing left to do" the prince continued, as he took something out of his pocket. He dropped on one knee, raising a white gold ring beautifully carved and decorated with diamonds and looked up into her eyes "Isicara, will you be my wife?"
Cara was at loss of words for a moment. She knew Fevian was planning to marry her, she knew he would ask her that, but seeing it was actually happening made her heart stop in her chest. This moment was something she had been dreaming about for a couple of years, it was a fantasy she hoped one day would actually happen, and even more when her mother told her she probably was going to marry someone else.
"Yes!" Cara whispered, still finding it hard to speak but more happy than ever.
Fevian placed the ring in her finger and leapt, to grab her into a hug. Both smiled and laughed, filled with joy.
When they broke apart, the prince brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her eyes, placing it behind her ear. His hand lingered there for a moment and he gently placed it at the back of her neck, leaning forward to place his lips on hers.
Bridget had never attended a ball before in her entire life and let alone a royal ball held in honor to the prince of a magical land. The prince's 20th birthday was apparently a very important event.
Dina explained to her that the ball was not only organized because it was Fevian's birthday, it was also because of a Telmarine tradition. Turning 20 years old was a big event and kind of turning point in every boy's lives. It meant they were reaching a new stage in their lives, it meant they were finally adults. In the case of the prince it meant that from that moment on he could become the king. If something bad happened to King Tavian, like dying, the throne would immediately go to him and not to some foreign relative old enough to take throne.
"Let's say he is officiallythe heir to the throne" Dina had said "I heard some nobles and royals will come to pledge their allegiance to him because of that"
"That explains the great amount of carriages that have been coming here in the past days" Bridget said "Yesterday I saw around 10 arriving and one of the men confused me for a servant" she laughed and Dina couldn't contain herself either.
"That's why you came back for water!" Dina exclaimed, understanding the whole situation and she continued to laugh "But, Bee, you don't even look like a servant, with all your pretty dresses…"
"He saw me after I left the kitchen" she interrupted.
"Oh" was the only thing the Archenlander said, for she knew exactly how Bee had looked when she left.
"I think I should be going now, Dina. The ball will start in a few hours and still have go and change into the dress Fevian gave me and I still have to figure out how I'm going to put it on… Narnian dresses are so complicated!"
"I could help you"
So thanks to Dina's assistance she was sitting there, enjoying the banquet in the big table that was set in the great ballroom, looking gorgeous in her white and blue dress. If it hadn't been for the young servant's help, Bridget was sure she wouldn't have ever been able to put that dress on. It was as if she was wearing two dresses. One plain white underdress, the sleeves beginning beneath her shoulders and the other was a blue embroidered overdress, corset-like in the torso area, with many small buttons lined up on her back. It was a beautiful dress, but too complicated to put on for her taste.
She had already been complimented that evening about her look a few times by some men. The first one had been Fevian and then his father. What she hadn't expected was the compliments she got from some lords, princes and kings when she was standing next to Fevian, Cara and the monarchs of Narnia as they greeted the guests.
"I believe I must offer an apology to you, my lady" came a thickly accented voice next to her.
Bridget raised her eyes from her plate to the man who moved a chair to sit next to her. It was the rider who had mistaken her for a servant. He, as well as her, was wearing clothes more fancy than the ones from the day they met. The fabric from his whole attire seemed much more expensive than the ones from the day before, his turban wasn't dirty from riding and he was even wearing a couple of golden rings.
Next to the rider, sat the people he had escorted and Bee realized, even if the rider's clothes seemed nice, that he was notoriously of a lower status than those men and ladies. They were wearing the fancy and lush clothes. Not to mention the jewelry and gem ornaments sewed on the fabric.
"Still I wonder and it remains a mystery to me, why, if you are a noblewoman, you let me believe otherwise yesterday"
"I'm not a noblewoman"
"But I can see you are no servant, either"
"I looked like a servant when you saw me, it didn't seem right to correct you"
"Well, you should have, my lady" he said, taking a sip from his cup of wine. "Tastes good enough, but I dare say no wine will ever compare or compete against a fine Calormene wine"
He looked at her and smiled at her puzzled look. She couldn't help but smile as well "My lady has never heard of Calormen, am I right? Your eyes say it"
"No, sorry" Bee whispered. She suddenly felt ashamed for her lack of knowledge of that world "Hmm… the truth is I'm not from this place, so I don't know much about it"
"Well, I'll make sure one day you know at least a bit of the great wine my country has to offer, my lady… I apologize for my rudeness, but I have not even inquired about your name"
Bridget was amazed at how that man spoke. He had a strange way of choosing words, speaking very politely and yet it didn't seem forced. That man had a talent with words, she could tell that already.
"My name is Bridget"
"It is surely a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bridget. My name is Ardavan"
"It is a pleasure, my lord"
"I recall telling you yesterday you should not call me that, for I am no lord, I am simply captain of the guard"
"Oh, really? That's interesting"
"I came here simply as an escort and to protect our Tisroc, may he live forever, his nephew the tarkaan Kamshad,as well astarkaan Haidar, tarkaan Ishaad, tarkaan Jamel and their wives" he told her as he signalized to her each one of the people he was talking about. All of them were sitting on that table near Ardavan as well as the other Calormene riders she had seen the day before.
Apparently the royals of Calormen were the only ones who had brought their personal guards to protect them during that ball. All the other guests from Archeland, Telmar, Galma, the Sevens Isles and the Lone Islands seemed less worried about being protected or not even worried at all.
Bridget continued to talk that evening with the green eyed Calormene and learned some more things about him as well as he asked some more about her. It turned out the young man was in fact younger than he appeared, being only 22 years old.
After the banquet the musicians began to play and to her horror, Ardavan asked to dance with her. She couldn't find it in herself to refuse but she was terrified because it was the first time she would put her dancing skills -taught to her by Fevian- to the test.
Oh, please don't make a fool of yourself. Please don't make a fool of yourself…
He stood in front of her, took her left hand in his and placed her other hand on his shoulder. She felt nervous and she almost shivered when he placed his hand on her waist. Bee found his contact rather pleasant, but the thought of what was to come kept her from enjoying Ardavan's presence and touch.
The music was extraordinary, beginning quite smooth and serene, preparing everyone for the explosion of sounds that would follow. It went on with more strength, the tempo rising a bit. Bee could distinguish violins playing, tambourines, something else that resembled a piano, but not quite.
Ardavan guided her throughout the whole song and it appeared he didn't only have a talent with words, but also a talent dancing. He had poise and grace as he moved, but he had also passion in each and every movement.
Bridget looked around and she could manage to see Fevian dancing with Cara, and some other guests as well. There were also fauns dancing around and she was surprised to see how well they did it.
Everyone in Narnia were excellent dancers or what? Were they determined to really make her make a fool of herself?
As she continued to dance she found it hard to take her glance off of Ardavan's emerald eyes. They were so hypnotizing. All of him was hypnotizing to Bridget.
Being there, dancing with him the way she was dancing made her blush a little, because she was very close to him, he was holding her, and the only kind of Earth-dance she could compare that one to was probably the tango. The sensual yet elegant tango.
After so much dancing, the king stopped everything to offer a toast in honor of his son. Everyone raised their cups and wished the young prince all the best.
Many nobles approached Fevian and as Dina told Bee, they all pledged their allegiance to the future king. King Ror of Archeland was particulary kind to him and even offered an alliance between the two kingdoms by arranging a marriage between him and his beautiful daughter Princess Vera. The prince politely declined the offer but the king was still interested in being an ally to Narnia, whether there would be a wedding between his daughter and Fevian or not.
Little after that Fevian publicly announced that he was engaged to be married with lady Isicara of Telmar and all the guests cheered even more, for there was something else to celebrate at the ball.
King Tavian, however, thought it was rather odd that the nephew of the Tisroc never approached his son to pledge alliance or even to greet him or wish him a happy birthday. All the other people of Calormen did it, but the young lord didn't. He had been acting very mysterious throughout the whole evening. That was why he approached the young Calormene to talk.
King Tavian and the nephew of the ruler of Calormene shared a small talk, pretty tense and very straightforward in the questions and answers they gave one another.
"Why have you come here, Kamshad, if not to celebrate with the rest of us?" Tavian finally asked after some time. It was clear to him the young man hadn't come to Narnia for the ball.
"Because when my uncle dies, which you know will be soon" the arrogant man said "I will be the Tisroc and your beloved Narnia might become Calormen's newest colony"
That was it. So as you can see the story is finally developing into something! And in the next chapter Fevian and Bee finally leave to find her a way back home :)
There is so much music that has inspired me to write this thing, you know? At the end I promise to post the names of all the songs (Kind of like a"When you believe" Soundtrack)if any of you is interested.
Please leave me some reviews, I love them!Please tell me what you think. What you loved. What you hated. Ideas. Whatever, just comment!Peace!
