It was the first time Adelaide had ever missed attending the dance with Virion. As much as his company was desirable and she longed to be dancing in his arms, her mood had been spoilt by Jason's arrival.
Once the door that led from the main halls of the palace to the princesses' chambers was locked for the night by King Thirsh, the princesses rushed to get ready. Adelaide simply lay there, staring up at the lush canopy of her bed.
Tiptoeing into the room, Beliarosa blinked at her older sister's state of unreadiness. "Aren't you coming?" She asked, breaking the silence of the crown princess' chambers.
Adelaide's gaze lifted to the figure standing just inside the doorway. Though only a year younger than her, she was amazed by Beliarosa's youthful vigor. The flamboyant red dress she wore suited her, as well, with revealing cuts for better movement. She couldn't help but smile, wondering how any one person could be so strong, so willful, and yet so beautiful and innocent at the same time.
"I'm not going tonight, Belia." She murmured, her eyes going back to the bed's canopy, studying it's print as she tried to focus her thoughs on things other than Jason.
The younger of the two frowned, but nodded. "Alright. I'll send Virion your regards, alright?" Though Beliarosa looked like she was about to leave, her feet carried her to the side of her older sister's bed. "Adelaide.. are you sure that you're alright?" Tenderly, Beliarosa brushed a hand over Adelaide's cheek, and up to her forehead, checking for a tempature. "You feel fine.. but you look as if you've been crying. Are you sure you want to be alone? I could ask if one of the girls would stay with you."
Adelaide shook her head. "Belia, don't worry about it. I'll be alright. I just need to get a little extra sleep tonight. I'll be back on my feet and ready for twice as much tomorrow."
Beliarosa smiled reluctantly, but nodded, peeking back into the corrador between the princesses' chambers. "Girls! Time to go!"
The familiar rushes of silks and satins against each other filled the corrador as ten more girls shuffled into Adelaide's room. "Adelaide isn't feeling so well," Beliarosa explained, looking to the rest of the group as she took on her temporary role as leader, filling in for her sister. "So we'll just have to go have lots of fun for her." There was a murmur of consent, and Adeliade pressed the sequence, allowing the door to open to the Underground world.
Beliarosa led them down, the princesses following in chronological order, from oldest to youngest. As Liana stepped to follow the girls down, she paused, looking to her oldest sister. "Adelle," she said, having adopted Jason's pet name for her. "You're going to be alright, won't you?"
Adelaide couldn't help but smile at her youngest sister. "Yeah. I'll be just fine. Don't you worry about me. Go on and have fun with your Ruli." Liana hid her blush, then nodded. "Alright. Maybe we'll come back early so that you won't be so--" Adelaide grinned. "Get on out of here. Shoo! Don't let me put a damper on your good time."
Nodding, Liana moved for the stairs, but paused, a look of confusion and bewilderment crossing her features. Almost as if she had tasted something foul and had not been expecting it.
"Something the matter?" Adelaide asked, concern washing over her face. Liana shook her head quickly. "No.. It just felt like something flew past.. Like.. Like a ghost or something." Adelaide smiled. "You're just imagining it. Now go on."
Liana nodded once more, stepping down the passageway carefully, as Adelaide watched the door shut behind the youngest. Heaving a sigh, Adelaide moved to go prepare for bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Virion's brow wrinkled in concern as he watched Beliarosa. "Not feeling well? That isn't like her."
Beliarosa nodded, leaning against her own prince, Zeiwin, who kept an arm wrapped possessively around her. "I know. Even if she's not feeling so well, she usually loves to come down here."
Virion nodded, lost in thought as he watched his brother and his beloved's sister cuddling up to each other. "Did something happen to her, Beliarosa? Something stressful... maybe something out of the ordinary?"
Beliarosa paused for a moment, then her features sharpened visibly. "Oh!"
Both Virion and Zeiwin looked at her intently, chiming almost exactly at the same time. "What?"
Beliarosa couldn't help but smile, but nodded. "Something stressful did happen, now that you mention it. An old friend of Adelaide's came to visit."
Virion's expression darkened. "An old friend? What sort of old friend?"
Beliarosa grinned. "Oooh! I someone jealous?"
"Only if that 'friend' happens to be very close friends with Adelaide, and also happens to be male." Virion answered, staring at Beliarosa intently with a look that almost made her shiver.
"Relax." Zeiwin told his brother, moving behind Beliarosa and wrapping his arms around her. "She was only answering your question, you know."
Virion heaved a sigh, but nodded. "I'm sorry, Beliarosa. I'm just worried about her. Please, tell me more?"
Beliarosa nodded and continued. "His name is Jason. He's a prince from the nearby kingdom and has been friends with Adelaide for as long as I can remember... they used to play together, as children. If I recall correctly, he left sometime around the time that Adelaide first met you, Virion.."
If it were possible for Virion's dark expression to become darker, then it would have. "I see." Flashing a smile quickly to Beliarosa, he nodded. "I'm just sorry that she couldn't be here tonight. I had something special planned, but I'll just have to postpone it until tomorrow night and hope that she's alright by then."
Beliarosa nodded. "I'm sure she will be. She assured me that she only needed some rest and that she'd be fine."
Virion smiled again, then nodded. "That's wonderful. Beliarosa, you don't mind if I borrow my brother for a moment, do you?"
Zeiwin raised an eyebrow, but Beliarosa nodded. "Go right ahead."
Pulling his brother aside, Virion looked intently at Zeiwin. "You realize the severety of what Beliarosa just told us, don't you?"
Zeiwin shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What's going on?"
Virion took a breath. "Remember when I first created the portal? The negative energy that I fed off of to open it? The pain that I used to send Adelaide that dream so she would come here? That was Jason. Beliarosa said he left."
Zeiwin nodded. "So? What's your point?"
Virion frowned, annoyed at the fact that his brother just wasn't up to par with his level of genius. "Zeiwin, Jason meant enough to Adelaide for her to give off all that pain and negative energy when he left. Now that he's back... that is a risk that means Adelaide could still care enough about Jason to be pulled away from us. And we need all twelve."
Zeiwin's expression turned grim. "You can't let her grow close to Jason. The longer he sticks around, the less of a chance we have of getting what we want."
"Exactly my point." Virion said, stroking his chin softly. "But things aren't so well between them right now. I can sense her anguish. Zeiwin, you need to be your most charming tonight. Tell the others to be so as well. We're speeding up the plan. We must get them closer than ever. Tomorrow night, we tell them. And in two nights... we will have a wedding, and the Twelve will be sealed to us forever."