It was still early in the evening when I found myself sitting stiffly next to my betrothed at the dining hall. I felt dazed as I absently noted the conversations of those around us. We were sitting in the "seats of honor", though I desperately wanted to throw myself out of the chair and make a break for it.
I winced and then gagged as another draft of cold air brought the scent of many women's perfume mixed together to make a scent of what smelled like… cat piss. I groaned inwardly. Will this Hell ever end?
"So tell me, Aurora, what exactly do you think of me?" a smooth baritone cut into her thoughts. "Many have compared my attractiveness to the Greek Gods. However, I want to hear what you think,"
I stared at the piece of potato that I had speared with my fork just seconds before in bewilderment, letting his words sink into my brain. Did he just- No… A kennel of corn must have gotten stuck in my ear and I must of misheard or…
"Princess? Or maybe you would prefer the comparison of the proverbial 'perfect man'," Prince Pig suggested.
As I turned to face him, my mouth opened only to close again. I mean, what the hell can you say in the face of Arrogance in human form?
Oh hell, he's still waiting for an answer. I blinked rapidly again, and managed a weak chuckle. I opened my mouth again, but nothing came out. Giving up, and going the easy way out, I took my goblet and took another long sip of the wine.
Smiling in oblivious understanding, the arrogant ass spoke, "Ah, I see, I have rendered you speechless," he smiled down in sympathy at me, "Don't worry, it happens to many people,"
I fought the urge to bang my head into the hard dining table. Repeatedly.
The rest of the night was absolute HELL as he kept talking inanely about himself, and there was also a servant that was instructed to refill his goblet with wine every time he was about to run out. Every time she comes up, she would "accidentally" rub some part of herself against the pompous git, and in return, he would smile leeringly and wink at her.
It's not that I'm jealous. The slutty servant could have him for all I cared, but not only was it so indecent that I felt embarrassment for them, but I had to resist the strong urge to yell at them to get a goddamn room.
So whenever the arrogant ass waited for me to comment on whatever he said, I would take a long sip of the wine to get out of answering whatever he needed answered – namely opinions about his hair, his "perfect" physique, and his sparkling personality. Oh joy. Just the topics I'm most fascinated with. Sarcasm, you say? Of course not. But needless to say, I was more than slightly intoxicated and was in need to go to the privy by the end of desert.
"Please excuse me," I controlled my voice as much as I could, keeping out as much of the slur as I could and even in my drunken state, I made sure that he was distracted with the servant first, and then excusing myself with a small murmur.
I doubt he would notice my absence much.
I stumbled through the dining hall shadows, and tripped out through the French doors leading out to the gardens. My sanctuary.
I should tell you about my sanctuary. I had stumbled upon it as a child, and it has never stopped fascinating me since. It was a huge garden maze and not many people know their way in to the center, and even less people knew their way out. So when I was a child, instead of being frightened of being lost, I explored as much as I could, admiring the beautiful plants, trees, shrubbery, and flowers. I soon memorized each twist and turn of the complicated passages.
But the best part of the maze was in the direct center of it. In the very center of the garden is what I liked to call the heart and soul of the maze. The fountain. It is a huge sculpture of the water faerie queen. It has always calmed my very soul at the sight of serene, tranquil figure standing quietly in the middle of the waters. When I first discovered it, I had stared upon it awe and delight. I could have hardly believed that this beautiful figure had been sculpted out of the hands of a mortal.
Her tall figure stood out upon the water with quiet confidence and power. Even now, its very beauty strikes me speechless. Her large soulful eyes gazed out with gentleness, and her sweet mouth curved into small sad smile, radiating calm and infinite wisdom. Her elfin ears curved at the tip delicately, and real crystal earrings hung from her lobes shining with an inner light.
The water from the fountain originated from the top of her head, where it flowed down to her bare feet with elegance. It had seemed as if her very hair was the sweet, cool, crisp water. Her simple garment consisted of what seemed to be a light piece of silken cloth hung from her shoulders and flowed to her ankles.
Even I who never had a poetic streak would just want to stare upon her face and recite poetry describing her beauty, which would have probably ended up in disaster. But besides the beautiful fountain, there are also the roses that surrounded the area. Red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, white, and golden roses surrounded the area, and their sweet and pleasant scent filled the air.
Of course, I completely ruined the peaceful atmosphere when I fell through the thorn bushes with a hiccup. With a miserable 'ow', I picked myself up and almost threw myself on a stone bench that surrounded the fountain.
Not the smartest thing I ever did.
Stone.
Head.
Ow.
I groaned and closed my eyes and tentatively touched the growing bump, attempting to get rid of the little mining dwarves that had merrily taken residence inside my head, pick-axes and all.
"Good evening, puppet!" a cheery voice broke into her thoughts. I winced at the loud volume as I peered through my thick ashes to see Asher skid to a stop next to me with a smirk on his face. Looking behind him, I could spot Ken rolling his eyes at the antics of his best friend.
"Aww… Does widdle Wowy have a hangovwa?" he cooed at me with mock sympathy. I sat up and glared at him. Looking at the approaching Ken, we exchanged a mischievous smirk before slapping Asher's head at the same time.
"OW!" he yelped in pain. "That was uncalled for!" he drew up indignantly in mock outrage. I finally broke in giggles while Ken shook his head at him.
Plopping himself next to me, Asher slung a brotherly arm around my shoulders while ruffling my curls. I growled half-hearted when he did that, but if I had never gotten him to stop two years ago, I'll never get him to stop now.
"So, how was the Prince?" he asked with a broad smile. The small smile that had been on my face dropped and was replaced with a grimace.
"He's an arrogant pig whose head is so far up in his ass, that it actually comes out the correct way again." I stated dully. Ken sat himself gently next to my other side and looked at me in sympathy.
"Surely he isn't that bad," he tried to comfort me.
"He spent the majority of dinner talking to me about his hair." I divulged with traumatized flinch. Then I hiccupped miserably. Asher and Ken shared looks of repulsion and sympathy for the Ass and me, respectively. Asher squeezed my shoulders as a sign of compassion and comfort. I gave him a tired and thankful smile. Ken reached over and patted my hand, rubbing the cold appendage, trying to get it to warm up.
I closed my eyes and thanked the heavens for these two. I could always depend on my brothers. Sure we weren't related by blood, but we were definitely closer than any real blood siblings.
After a momentary comfortable silence, I sighed, an inward sign for me to snap out of my depression. I smiled slightly as I said flippantly, "So, Ken,"
The mentioned knight's eyes looked over at me warily. He knew that the tone that I just used meant trouble. "Did you get well acquainted with Emma?" I asked slyly.
Asher looked over at the both of us in surprise before smirking mischievously, "Who's Emma?"
Ken now looked extremely uncomfortable and had shifty eyes like a trapped animal. He looked like he was fighting the impulse to run. Meanwhile, I was fighting the impulse to laugh.
"Emma's…" he swallowed, "a very nice young lady," he choked.
I tilted my head innocently, "So you have absolutely no interest in her whatsoever?"
He blushed and said forcefully, "Of course I don't! I just see her as a potential friend!"
Poor Ken. He was never a good liar. A true knight in shining armor, but can't win a game of poker if his life depended on it.
I looked over at Asher meaningfully. He smirked when he caught my meaning. "So I guess that means she's free for me to-" the knight never got to finish his sentence. He found himself held by the collar of his tunic by a certain person.
They both blinked in surprise. My lips quirked to the side. It took me a full two seconds before I burst out laughing. When my gales of laughter finally reached the daft idiots, I was rolling on the floor, clutching my stomach.
Okay, I understand that it wasn't that funny, but the alcohol that had made me tipsy before wasn't exactly helping. Tears of mirth were leaking out of my eyes as I was running out of oxygen. Finally, the day's exhaustion and mental anxieties and drink caught up with me and I passed out.
AN. Revised on 08/03/05AN #2. Er… I remember a review a while back reminding me blue roses don't exist. blush Right… er… I forgot about that little fact, so I'll just stick with what you had said – That it's a fairytale and in this fic, blue roses do exist. Besides, I think they would be rather pretty. So this revised chapter is dedicated to Lily the Looter for pointing out that fact. By the way, I now feel guilty for not responding to everybody's review, and even guiltier for updating and revising so slow… But I honestly have an excuse. I had summer school. shakes fist Stupid Spanish class had me studying EVERY NIGHT… I worked harder in summer school than in regular school. So my summer vacation truly started like… last week. And I also have three books to read for my Eng. II Honors class. . But I digress. I promise I'll have a chapter when I finish a story responding to every single reviewer. But I'll say it in this very long AN that I really appreciate all you guys reviewing for my fic. I love y'all so much! huggies