Chapter TWENTY-FOUR: Rain and Ice-DEVIN

...

The night of Alicia's ball arrived. Her father's health had deteriorated in the last few days, so the pressure to marry had grown even higher. The weather had also worsened. Rain clouds covered much of the sky and scoured Thais off and on.

During his short time back, Devin had not had time to see Alicia much since she was tending to her royal duties and preparing for the ball. Instead, he spent most of his time catching up with his old comrades, most of who welcomed his return with acceptance and joy, except for the occasional few that would call him a coward or deserter. Some knights, especially Tailor, would stand up for him.

As the king had specified, Devin was to be one of few knights to guard the ball that evening. He was explicitly selected to shadow the queen, which he gladly accepted.

...

Devin hurried to get to the ball on time. He put on his new blue and white light-weight armor over a burgundy blouse and threw on a brown leather cape. Before he left, he remembered to take the Pendragon Sigma Ring with him and put in his slack's pocket to give to Alicia when he had a chance.

As he walked out, he glanced at a window he passed to view his reflection. The reflection revealed a less than happier man. Devin sighed after thinking of the event he was about attend: that of which his dear friend's hand would finally be given away.

"It is for the best," he said to himself out loud, in need of hearing the words again.

Realizing that it was getting late, he ran into the forest towards the castle, then around to the front entrance, trying his best to avoid puddles on the way.

When he entered the castle only a few nobleman and women stood around chatting loudly with each other. He waited beside the stairwell for Alicia to descend as more nobles and soon princes arrived.

Devin started to pay close attention to all the princes and nobles. Some looked to be dumber than bats, while others were much too old for Alicia, perhaps, old widowed kings, he criticized, while picking at everything wrong with them. He suddenly looked up the dark stair passage again and thought he saw the king above, but the figure was gone in a blink of an eye.

Minutes later, Alicia came down without Devin noticing. She quickly tapped him on the shoulder, before anyone else approached her to talk, catching him off guard. Devin immediately turned towards her and bowed before looking at her, already knowing who it that was. As he glanced upwards, he saw Alicia in a gorgeous lacey pallid blue dress the color of the outer lining of a cloud and its sky. Her regal yet exquisite dress exposed her bare shoulders and a diamond-jeweled diadem rested on her wavy gold locks.

"Queen Alicia, you look beautiful..." Devin gasped, nervous, as he realized that this was the first time he had really acknowledged her to be "a queen" and not just a friend or stubborn princess that he had always thought her to be. Her appearance made him feel inferior to her.

Once Alicia gave him a familiar smile he was able regained his composure again; though, Devin remained awestruck by her lovely appearance.

"I am happy to have you at my side tonight, Devin. I've missed you the last few days...Now let's get away befor-"

"Queen Alicia! Your majesty, may we din together?" A young prince with green hair asked as he kissed her white gloved-hand. Devin looked at him intently and annoyed that he had cut her off. But soon more guests surrounded her as they were ushered to the dining room in the back of the palace.

Devin maintained his distance since he was told to stand several feet away from Alicia, who now sat across the dining table and was arranged to sit beside the green-haired prince.

As he waited for dinner to be over, Devin decided to count every bachelor in the room and realized that there were far more of them than women. Most of whom were practically begging for a minute of Alicia's time. Fawning and flirting blatantly like idiots! Like she was someone they could disrespect any Gods given time, Devin thought sourly.

Her expressions told all how much she did not want to be there. Alicia looked over at Devin whenever she could, which was nearly impossible considering she was surrounded by guests. Normally, she would be bored by now, and those considerate enough would be able to tell that she was indifferent towards the whole event, and let her be; unlike the present nobles and princes, that continue to gawk and ignore her mood. More than anything, she was sad and Devin seemed to be the only one who had noticed.

Once dinner was over, the party carried on downstairs where an ensemble had set up and had begun to play music. Devin clenched his fist as many of the male guests insisted on dancing with her. There's plenty of pretty ladies eager to dance...Why bother the Queen? he thought grudgingly.

Another knight walked over to Devin and told him to stand near a table where wine bottles from Grunwich Vineyard were submerged in ice buckets for the guests.

Now even closer, he watched Alicia being passed around to be danced with, each prince or nobleman cutting in after every song piece, for the next several hours.

Again, and again, the green- haired prince was most insistent on staying with her. Devin watched as Alicia seemed to become gradually numb, sometimes, not responding to what her dance partners were saying or doing as they danced well into the night.

Suddenly, on top of his misery, the two noblewomen who were always in the castle (literally day or night) came nearby Devin to get wine. They chit-chatted within hearing range, annoying him, but he was forced to listen:

"-I heard he doesn't believe in fairies. Can you believe that! But he comes from a place full of dwarves *ha ha ha* Rock Keep, I believe. At least that is what some of the other princes were saying."

"Oh really? But she seems to be the one the Mountain Prince has selected to be his bride!"

"I do not know...Queen Alicia does not appear to be very fond of him. Do you think she dare move to the northern lands with all that snow?"

"Well, he seems to be her most likely match- At least under her circumstances..."

"Hey, let us go chat with that prince from... Where did he say he was from again?"

"Oh yes! The Prince of Sedona! He brought several paladins with him as well. We shall ask them all to dance..."

The two finally walked away. Devin tried to pretend that he had not heard them. He suddenly realized that the ball would end soon. Some of the guests had already left, but not the Mountain Prince. He was still around and had cut-in to dance with Alicia for the umpteenth time.

Devin frowned as he saw them elegantly turn. They danced more and the prince held her closer. Too close.

The Mountain Prince was short enough for him to clearly see Alicia's saddened expression. The Mountain Prince's dark brown eyes gazed at her suddenly and he tipped upward to whisper something in her ear. Alicia pursed her lips and stopped dancing. Her eyes filled with silent tears as she stared directly at Devin who looked away as if he had also heard the prince's words.

Devin looked up again at Alicia who surprisingly had stopped crying and now had a determined look. She immediately said something inaudible to the prince and tried to walk away, but the Mountain Prince grabbed her wrist and said something else in her ear. He then pulled her away towards the entrance of the castle to the front yards.

Without a moment to spare, Devin instinctively plunged his hand in the wine bucket for a large clump of ice and followed behind them.

"You will be my bride, Alicia! You have to be!"

"No! How dare you insult me!"

"Please-You did not understand me..."

"My Queen deserves your respect!" Devin yelled as he grabbed hold of the prince's back and slipped the ice clump down his blouse.

"You fool!" the Mountain Prince turned angrily to Devin as he twitched uncontrollably, trying to reach for whatever was in his back. He then pushed Devin into a puddle, covering all of his good boots in mud.

Devin was about to hit him back, but Alicia pulled him to a stop.

"Do not worry! I will never bother you or Thais again!" the Mountain Prince shouted as he waddled away towards the carriage area.

Alicia still clung to Devin and looked at him in shock, but overall admiration. He had protected her. Maybe he did care for her as she had hoped for so long, she thought happily as she thankfully hugged him.

"No one should ever treat you badly, Alicia. That bastard will get what he deserves in time," Devin said as he held her tightly. After a moment, he suddenly wondered what the Mountain Prince had actually said to her that had upset her so much.

"Alicia...so what exactly did he say to insult you?"

Alicia looked at Devin and grinned as though she was about to laugh; but the severity of her situation became real again. She realized that she had failed her father's wishes of finding a husband. But she wanted to live in the present and decided that her father would understand as he had so many times before.

"Uhh...He wanted to marry me, yes, but then he said that I was his second choice to some other noblewomen. Otherwise, he told me that he would have to marry some ice princess from up north. Can you believe he would insult me by telling me that I am second pickings?!"

"Err...No. He doesn't deserve you. Ummm...You did the right thing by refusing him," Devin agreed with her, even though he knew that she had just blown the only possibility of getting a husband in a timely matter. But he sided with her, happy that she would not be marrying anyone yet.

"I will have to tell father now that I did not find the future king of Thais again. Oh well..." Alicia said worried as she looked up at Devin who was already peering down at her. He kissed her cheek gently. Alicia closed her eyes expecting him to kiss her again.

"...Alicia, it's late. You should get some rest...I have to wash up," Devin said, looking at his ruined boots, then quickly hurried away, forgetting to give back her ring.