Chapter 7: A Love That Can Never Be
Meanwhile back at Blue Diamond's castle, Jasper, Eyeball and Aquamarine had managed to make their way past the entrance guards and spent their time endlessly searching for Lapis. Unfortunately, due to the princess being out for most of the day, they couldn't find her anywhere.
"It's no use," sulked Aquamarine. "She must have gone out."
"Our mistress is not going to be pleased about this," added Eyeball as they all began to fly back home in disappointment.
That was until they caught a glimpse of what appeared to be several sets of wings, belonging to none other than the six fairies. Intrigued, the three minions stopped and peeked through the nearby window ledge to observe what was going on in the castle hall without being noticed.
Inside, the fairies had joined the servants and maids in preparing Lapis' party. Everything was almost ready, with bunting and flowers displayed throughout the dining hall; the food was fully prepared, and the work on the princess' new dress was almost complete. The dress itself looked very splendid. It had a ballgown skirt that reached the floor and an additional inverted v-shaped overskirt, which on each side, had a frill surrounding the edges. Above that was a bodice that was divided into three parts, and had a small mesh netting along its' opening, resembling a slight collar. Lastly, the dress' lightly puffed sleeves ended at the forearms with ruffles made of the same netting. All that was needed now was to give the dress its true colours, which Pearl and Amethyst had been arguing about for the past few minutes.
"Pink or white would be the best-suited colours for the dress," argued Pearl. "Both colours work perfectly together and are fit for a princess."
"Come on Pearl, we all should know by now that blue would be the ideal colour for Lapis' dress," Amethyst retorted back. "She practically wears that colour every day anyway."
Poor Steven, on the other hand, was trying his best to stop the two fairies from arguing, but this was to no avail. Soon, the squabble began to alert the other fairies. Garnet, who was starting to get annoyed by her colleagues' bickering, went up to Pearl and Amethyst to put an end to their quarrel. Once she had approached them directly, the two fairies immediately stopped speaking upon seeing the magenta fairy's serious expression.
"If neither of you two can settle on a colour, then you should let someone else decide for you," Garnet said sternly.
The two arguing fairies agreed and decided that it would be best if Steven picked the dress's colours instead.
"Steven, we are so sorry for our childish behaviour involving the dress' colours," Pearl apologised sweetly. "Since you know Lapis better than anyone else, why don't you choose them."
Steven thought for a moment, but then remembered about the dream that Lapis had told him on various occasions. "How about these?" the fairy prince asked, as he took out his wand and waved it towards the dress.
Soon, most of the white fabric turned into a dreamy shade of lavender, all except for the frill and netting which Steven turned a rosy pink, as well as the main skirt and centre of the bodice which both became a beautiful shade of shimmering powder blue. The other fairies were surprised by these choices, to which pearl asked the fairy prince why he chose such an interesting array of colours.
"Lapis likes to dream a lot," Steven responded. "So, I picked colours that would reflect that nature."
The ivory fairy, although sceptical, told Steven that it was a wonderful decision. "You see," Amethyst boasted to Pearl. "Steven would know everything involving what Lapis likes."
Suddenly, an angelic voice began to fill the room. It was Lapis, who had just returned home to the castle. White Diamond's spying minions noticed this, and a devilish smile started to form on Aquamarine's face.
"There's the princess," remarked the light blue minion slyly. "Let's see what she has been up to whilst she was out?"
Jasper and Eyeball both rolled their eyes, implying that they shouldn't be wasting their time on what could be pointless gossip. However, they felt this observation could be important for their mistress' plan, so they reluctantly agreed to spy on the young princess.
The fairies on the other hand were surprised that Lapis was back earlier than they expected. Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven quickly hid her new dress from sight and went to help the others finish off the decorations.
Once the princess had entered the castle hall in full, the fairies all welcomed her back. But Lapis was so infatuated by the young man she met in the forest, that she initially didn't see Steven running up to greet her.
"So how was your outing, Lapis?" the fairy prince asked.
"Oh, it was wonderful Steven," the blue girl replied with a dreamy inflexion. "This day has been so full of surprises, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the birds were all singing as I strolled through the forest."
Lapis continued to describe her journey to Steven, which only made him more infatuated. "And then I met him," the princess spoke, beginning to gossip about Jamie and the special dance she shared with him.
Whilst Steven was happy that his friend had finally found her special someone, this also caught the attention of the other fairies, who stopped what they were doing to hear what the princess was discussing.
"Who's this young man you're on about?" asked Bismuth. "Is he a friend of yours?"
"Oh no," replied the lovestruck princess. "I just met him in the forest today."
She went on to explain how she and Jamie met until Pearl interrupted her. "Lapis?" the ivory fairy questioned. "Do you mean to tell us that you met a stranger?"
"Oh no, I met him somewhere before," Lapis replied. "In that dream I've told you about."
Suddenly, without warning, Lapis began to dreamily dance again, grabbing a speechless Peridot by her hands as she sang.
"She's in love!" the green fairy exclaimed, to which the other fairies sans Steven were taken aback by this revelation.
"Oh no!" cried Amethyst.
"Oh dear!" added Pearl.
Lapis suddenly stopped dancing as she found her guardians' responses to be rather concerning. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Aren't I allowed to be in love, I am sixteen after all?"
The fairies looked at each other with unhappy expressions, each of them not knowing what to say. "It isn't that Lapis," said Garnet, who didn't want to hurt the princess' feelings.
Suddenly, Pearl came up with a solution. "Lapis, would you be a dear and have a seat over there," she instructed, pointing to an idle chair just a few inches away from her. "We need to have a small discussion about you and this 'young man'."
With that, Lapis, who was becoming quite anxious about what her guardians were going to say, walked towards the chair, with the fairies following closely behind her. Outside, Jasper, Eyeball and Aquamarine were becoming quite infatuated with what was going on.
"What seems to be happening now?" Eyeball asked.
"It appears as though those wretched fairies are going to have a firm discussion with the princess, about someone she met in the forest today," Aquamarine speculated. "This should be interesting."
"Agreed," replied Jasper. "But once their conversation's over, we're out of here."
Once Lapis was seated, she immediately began to ask questions about her guardian's odd behaviour. "Is there really something wrong about me meeting someone in the forest?" she asked worryingly.
The fairies were silent for a few moments, as they knew that Lapis' feelings towards this 'stranger' would possibly prove to be problematic for the queen and the kingdom. Soon the silence was broken once Pearl began to speak.
"You see, Lapis," said the ivory fairy. "It's heavily impossible for you to be with this young man."
"Why's that?" Lapis questioned, who wasn't liking where the conversation was going.
"You're likely to be betrothed by your mother," added Peridot.
Lapis was slightly shaken by this; she knew what that term meant though the queen rarely if ever mentioned it to her before. "What do you mean?" she asked nervously.
Pearl took one dreary sigh and responded, "It means that your mother will likely have you married off to a royal from another kingdom, to keep the peace between herself and their ruler."
"And at your current age," added Amethyst. "Your mother and the duchess may have already picked out a partner for you."
With so much of this to take in Lapis was beginning to feel quite emotional. "No, I can't be married," she objected. "I have already found love from that young man I met today, I even promised to meet him after my party."
Garnet, who was saddened by the blue girl's upset response, placed her hand on Lapis' shoulder and attempted to comfort her. "I'm sorry Lapis," the magenta fairy spoke. "But I'm afraid you can never see this young man again."
Poor Lapis was now heartbroken, she didn't want to be betrothed to a royal she didn't know, she wanted to be with someone who she loved. Feeling devastated, she got up from the chair and raced up a castle staircase, trying her best not to shed any tears. Steven, who felt sorry for his friend, went after Lapis to ensure she was alright, crying out her name as he ran. The other fairies could only stand by and watch, as they felt a sense of guilt, for hurting Lapis' feelings, even if her love for this young man would likely be looked down upon.
"And I thought that today was going to be a happy day for her," Bismuth said sadly as she and the others returned to their posts to finish preparing the party.