A/N: Characters belong to Gail Carson Levine. On with the story!
- - - THE PERFECT HOST - - -
The day of the second ball. I was practically finished with all of the nonsense. But not quite.
My mother had been hounding me all day about the first ball. Had I met any interesting young ladies? Did I have a good time? Was the food and company up to speed? What about that lovely golden-haired maiden? Wasn't she simply wonderful?
Yes. Wonderful. Fantastic. I was having the time of my life. (I would say anything to get her to leave me alone.) But in truth, I was on the verge of being miserable. No matter how lovely the maidens were, or how interesting or smart, there was just no comparison. But I wouldn't admit to myself who I was comparing them all to.
My tunic for that night had already been prepared. It was a deeper shade of blue than last night's tunic, with gold trim. (My mother kept insisting that my best color was blue. She could have outfitted me in pastel yellow, for all I cared.) The whole day was spent preparing. And then, it was time to begin.
I entered the ballroom, my new shoes squeaking a little bit as I headed toward my station. (Standing to Father's left side, with Mother sitting to his right, with Cecilia standing to her right.) Father gave me a small nod and a wink, and the courtiers began to arrive.
There was no receiving line this time, thank God, but I was expected to "mingle" and attend to my guests once the music started up for the dancing. It was a party in my honor, after all. Or that's what I had to keep telling myself. In order to keep up a good show, I decided to ask a few maidens to dance. At first I looked for the maiden called Lela, but I couldn't see her anywhere. So, I settled on the golden-haired maiden who had also made me laugh the night before.
We danced, and she was lovely, but my mind was on other things (or other people), and I believe she could tell. It was hard to stay an attentive and polite host with dark flowing hair and green eyes and a sparkling smile and a beautiful laugh running through my head at every moment.
The dance ended, and the golden-haired maiden called Rose curtsied and said "It was a pleasure dancing with you tonight, Your Majesty." She smiled, revealing perfect, even teeth.
I bowed, smiled, said all of the appropriate words, and then went looking for Lela again.
I was searching for Lela over the heads of the courtiers when I felt something shove me in the backside. I turned around, a little startled, and found myself looking at none other than Olive, one of Ella's step sisters. (Olive??) Her face was furrowed into a frown. Her cheeks were a bit too rosy, as if she had partaken in too much ale.
"Dance. Now," she said loudly, and then with one quick movement she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the circling dancers. I stumbled after her, as she shoved her way to the center of the dance floor.
She obviously did not know the dance. She stepped on my feet about five times, bonked into the couple dancing next to us, and kind of swayed around like she was in a trance. All I could do was roll my eyes and stare at the space above her head, praying for the dance to be over quickly. And, when it finally WAS over, I thanked her and made to run away as fast as possible, but she grabbed my arm and said, "We have to dance again!"
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A/N: I can't wait to get to the reconciliation scene between Char and Ella. I might even go as far as writing about their wedding and their first born, but we'll see. I'm also thinking about doing the parts between the menagerie and the letter, but I will have to think on it more.
Sorry I've been so lousy at writing chapters more quickly. I'll try to write as often as I can, but that's all I can promise. =)
Thanks for all of the lovely reviews!
- - - THE PERFECT HOST - - -
The day of the second ball. I was practically finished with all of the nonsense. But not quite.
My mother had been hounding me all day about the first ball. Had I met any interesting young ladies? Did I have a good time? Was the food and company up to speed? What about that lovely golden-haired maiden? Wasn't she simply wonderful?
Yes. Wonderful. Fantastic. I was having the time of my life. (I would say anything to get her to leave me alone.) But in truth, I was on the verge of being miserable. No matter how lovely the maidens were, or how interesting or smart, there was just no comparison. But I wouldn't admit to myself who I was comparing them all to.
My tunic for that night had already been prepared. It was a deeper shade of blue than last night's tunic, with gold trim. (My mother kept insisting that my best color was blue. She could have outfitted me in pastel yellow, for all I cared.) The whole day was spent preparing. And then, it was time to begin.
I entered the ballroom, my new shoes squeaking a little bit as I headed toward my station. (Standing to Father's left side, with Mother sitting to his right, with Cecilia standing to her right.) Father gave me a small nod and a wink, and the courtiers began to arrive.
There was no receiving line this time, thank God, but I was expected to "mingle" and attend to my guests once the music started up for the dancing. It was a party in my honor, after all. Or that's what I had to keep telling myself. In order to keep up a good show, I decided to ask a few maidens to dance. At first I looked for the maiden called Lela, but I couldn't see her anywhere. So, I settled on the golden-haired maiden who had also made me laugh the night before.
We danced, and she was lovely, but my mind was on other things (or other people), and I believe she could tell. It was hard to stay an attentive and polite host with dark flowing hair and green eyes and a sparkling smile and a beautiful laugh running through my head at every moment.
The dance ended, and the golden-haired maiden called Rose curtsied and said "It was a pleasure dancing with you tonight, Your Majesty." She smiled, revealing perfect, even teeth.
I bowed, smiled, said all of the appropriate words, and then went looking for Lela again.
I was searching for Lela over the heads of the courtiers when I felt something shove me in the backside. I turned around, a little startled, and found myself looking at none other than Olive, one of Ella's step sisters. (Olive??) Her face was furrowed into a frown. Her cheeks were a bit too rosy, as if she had partaken in too much ale.
"Dance. Now," she said loudly, and then with one quick movement she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the circling dancers. I stumbled after her, as she shoved her way to the center of the dance floor.
She obviously did not know the dance. She stepped on my feet about five times, bonked into the couple dancing next to us, and kind of swayed around like she was in a trance. All I could do was roll my eyes and stare at the space above her head, praying for the dance to be over quickly. And, when it finally WAS over, I thanked her and made to run away as fast as possible, but she grabbed my arm and said, "We have to dance again!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: I can't wait to get to the reconciliation scene between Char and Ella. I might even go as far as writing about their wedding and their first born, but we'll see. I'm also thinking about doing the parts between the menagerie and the letter, but I will have to think on it more.
Sorry I've been so lousy at writing chapters more quickly. I'll try to write as often as I can, but that's all I can promise. =)
Thanks for all of the lovely reviews!