I would have posted this sooner, but my power was out this morning. Thanks Blueberrypancake and another Guest for reviewing!
A few hours later, Sabrina was sure of one thing: she did NOT like the 1800s. First of all, she had been forced to take a bath. She knew that she was disgusting, but she hated baths. She never took them. And, the maids had undressed her like she was five years old! The bath had also been full of rose petals and flowery smelling oils. Ugh!
After she had gotten out of the bath, there was the matter of clothing. After having already stripped her down for the bath, the maids had dressed her like a doll. First there was what they called a shift, which looked like a small, thin dress or nightgown. Next there was a petticoat, which was basically a huge, fluffy, floor-length skirt. Now, she was standing, waiting for the maids to fetch the piece of clothing Sabrina had been dreading. A corset.
She had known that she couldn't object to the ridiculous clothes if she wanted to fit in in the 1800s, but there were a few lines she had drawn. She had insisted on keeping her panties on under her layers of skirts, and the corset was her other objection.
Basically, a corset was a small, tight torture device that laced up around her waist. It made her waist smaller, and also acted kind of like a push up bra. Even though she hadn't wanted to wear it, she had been forced into it by the maids. They had been appalled when she had asked not to wear one, and they had told her that she wouldn't look right without it.
As soon as they had started yanking on the laces, she knew she should have argued more. She could barely breathe!
"Take it off," she wheezed, but the maids had only chuckled at her and pulled it a little tighter.
Finally, after her many layers of undergarments had been properly adjusted, a pale pink, lacy, ruffled dress was slipped over her head. Sabrina fingered the low neckline disapprovingly.
"Is this really necessary? Can I wear a different dress?" She asked. She had seen the dresses that the other women were wearing, and most of them were much less fancy looking than this one.
"Oh, but Miss!" One of the maids exclaimed. "The Queen picked out this dress just for you!" Sabrina glared down at her feet. Of course Titania would want her to look ridiculous.
Sabrina was about to walk in front of the large mirror at the front of the room when one of the maids grabbed her arm and sat her down at the vanity.
"We're not done yet! We still have to do your hair and makeup!" Sabrina sighed. They had been in her room for almost two hours, and all she really wanted was to go talk to Puck.
Half an hour later, they still weren't done. However, her hair had been pulled and her face had been pinched to it's limit. Finally, Sabrina stood up.
"I'm done with this! You've been making me over for more than two hours!"
"We're almost done, Miss!" One of the maids exclaimed. "We just have to finish your hair, and then you'll be presentable for Prince Robin." Sabrina was startled. What did they mean, for Puck?
"Wait! Is there something going on that I'm not aware of?" The maids tittered.
"Other than the ball, no."
"A ball?! What?" Sabrina yelled.
"Yes, it was part of the deal King Oberon made with Prince Robin. You were there."
"That's tonight? Why do I have to go?" Sabrina was confused.
"Because you're going with Prince Robin!" WHAT? She was going to a ball with PUCK? But before she could object, there was a knock on the door.
"We're coming, we're coming!" The maids called, and one of them quickly shoved a pair of delicate heeled boots onto Sabrina's feet as they rushed her out the door.
As soon as they had left the room, Sabrina froze. Standing outside of her door was Puck, and he was staring at her with wide eyes.
"Pu- Prince Robin? Why are you…?" Suddenly, Puck seemed to remember who they were and what they were doing. He smirked at her, and offered his arm.
"Ready for the ball, Miss Grim?" Silent, she took his arm and they walked off. As soon as they were out of sight of the maids, she turned on him.
"What was THAT? Why are we going to a ball together? Why did your mother make me wear this ridiculous dress? And WHY were you just staring at me when I walked out the door?" She took a breath, but before she could keep going Puck cut her off.
"Sabrina," He said, looking into her eyes for the second time that day. "I don't know how to tell you this, but- well, I'll get to that in a second. But first, why are you wearing makeup?" Sabrina didn't know why he cared, but decided it wasn't the time for sarcasm.
"I just went with what the maids did. Even the corset." She shuddered. "I can barely breathe right now, you know. Or move. And they took most of my original clothes!" She noticed that Puck's gaze had dipped to the low cut of her dress.
"Puck!" She yelled, putting a hand to her chest. "Eyes up here!" He looked embarrassed, and his cheeks reddened a little.
"You look good," He said softly, and smiled a little. Sabrina was annoyed. Why was he flirting with her right now? Did he think she just didn't care? This was not the time!
"No I don't look good! I'm just really uncomfortable, and I feel ridiculous! Anyway, what were you going to say? Before you asked me about my makeup?" Puck grimaced.
"Well… I may have told my parents that we're… um…"
"Spit it out!" Sabrina said impatiently.
"Courting," He finished. Sabrina stared at him in disbelief.
"WHAT? Like old-fashioned DATING?!" And then her hands were swinging towards his face. But he was much faster than her and grabbed both wrists before she could hit him and pulled them to his chest.
"Sabrina I had no choice! They both had no idea why I would be traveling with a random girl, and I needed a good excuse! I had to come up with something fast, okay?"
"If we had actually talked about this and planned before coming here you wouldn't have had to tell them that!" She got ready to bring her knee up in between his legs, but then remembered the layers and layers of fabric slowing her movements. But, Puck was already expecting her attack and had her pinned against the wall in an instant.
"Puck!" She yelled. "Get off me!"
"Sabrina." He was too calm. Why was he so calm? There was no hint of the usual trickster grin on his face as he faced her. Sabrina squirmed, trying to get away. She was too close to him! His eyes were too close! His lips were too close! His body was too close! Granted, she couldn't really feel anything through the petticoats and corset, but still!
"Sabrina, calm down. We just have to pretend, okay? As soon as the ball finishes, we can start searching for the ring. We'll be out of here before you know it, and we can forget any of this ever happened. Okay?" Sabrina stared at him. Puck? Being this rational while she threw a tantrum like a little kid? What was happening here? All at once, she deflated.
"Fine. We just have to get back as soon as possible. But what about you're promises to your father? Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine," He sighed. "And I won't have to deal with him for long, since we'll be back in the present in a few days."
"Okay, I guess." They stood there for a moment, looking at each other.
"Ummm… shouldn't we be headed to the ball?" Sabrina asked, realising that she was still pinned against the wall by Puck's body.
"Yeah," He said softly. "Yeah we should." But he didn't move, he just stared at her.
"Puck?" He jumped a little.
"Sorry, let's go!" And he grabbed her arm and put it on his, hurting down the hall without looking at her.
After only a few hallways and turns, Sabrina was hopelessly lost. She probably couldn't have gotten back to her room even if she had a map. But Puck knew where they were going. She guessed that made sense, as he had lived in this palace for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A few minutes later, they found Oberon and Titania standing in front of a large pair of doors.
"No chaperone, I see," commented Titania as they walked up. Sabrina's cheeks reddened against her will, but Puck was stone faced.
"When are we going in?" He asked his mother.
"Soon. Oberon and I will go in first. Wait for us to be announced, and then the two of you can come in after us." She leaned over to Puck.
"Don't try anything while we're gone. And remember to dance." Puck had no visible reaction.
"Mother, what do you think we're going to do? Actually, don't answer that. But anyway, of course we will dance." Titania chuckled, then narrowed her eyes at Sabrina.
"Sabrina dear, do you know how to dance?" Sabrina was torn. Did she lie and make herself look better, or did she tell the truth and get looked down upon even more by Titaina.
"Well, I-" Luckily, Puck cut her off before she could say anything.
"Of course she can dance." And that was the end of it.
Soon, Titania and Oberon had left them alone in the hallway. Sabrina could hear the sound of the music and festivities going on in the ballroom being paused as the King and Queen were announced. Suddenly, her stomach turned over.
"Puck, I'm scared." She said. He looked over at her, a little surprise flickering in his eyes. "I can't dance. I don't know what to say or do to fit in here. I know that this is the literal 1800s, but I don't want to make a fool of myself." To her dismay, Sabrina felt tears prick the backs of her eyes. Puck noticed too, and immediately stepped over and hugged her. Sabrina immitetly froze she was so surprised. She couldn't remember the last time Puck had hugged her, and she decided to hug him back.
"'Brina," He said into her hair. "You'll do great. And anyway, you won't actually have to do much. The dances are led by the guys, so all you have to do is what I do. You don't have to say much to anyone either if you don't want to, 'kay? Just follow my lead." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and Sabrina was speechless. She was suddenly struck by how much taller he was than her now, and how much he had matured since they were kids. Even in the last day! Now that they were actually stuck in this horrible situation, he was the opposite of how he had been when they were twelve. Well, when she was twelve. She didn't know how old he actually was!
"Puck," she started, but before she could say anything more the doors in front of them banged open. The announcer who came out cleared his throat, and Sabrina pulled away from Puck, looking down. Why was she embarrassed? It's not like they had been kissing or something! Wait, her and Puck, kissing? At that thought, her blush came back full force.
"They are ready for you, your highness," The announcer said to Puck with a bow. Puck nodded, and the two of them followed the announcer into the ballroom.
The announcer blew on an instrument that looked kind of like a trumpet, but seemed to be faerie made because the sound that came out sounded like tinkling bells.
"Presenting, His Highness Prince Robin of Faerie, escorting Lady Sabrina Grimm!" Everyone in the ball room looked up at them, and Sabrina's face went white. Her hand clenched on Puck's arm. But then she set her jaw. She could do this! She had battled the Jabberwock, survived a giant, and led a war of Everafters. She was Sabrina Grimm! She was NOT going to let a simple ball intimidate her this much.
Slowly, Sabrina and Puck walked down the stairs together. Just don't trip, whatever you do, don't trip! Sabrina thought to herself. In literally every movie ever with a ball in it, the main character tripped down the stairs when she went to her first ball. That was not going to be her.
Sabrina let out a sigh of relief when they had made it to the ballroom floor and melted into the crowd. Not as many eyes were on them, and Sabrina was no longer in any danger of tripping.
"See, that wasn't too hard," Puck whispered to her. "Now we just have to get through the torture of dancing." Sabrina smiled back, but before she could reply a group of teenage girls rushed up to them. Sabrina wrinkled her nose in distaste. They were all wearing low cut, sparkly dresses with wide skirts that gave off the impression of slutty, puffed-up chickens. Sabrina almost giggled at the thought, but then saw their faces.
Each of the four girls was either glaring daggers at her or flirtatiously smiling at Puck.
"Good evening, Prince Robin." They all curtsied at him, ignoring Sabrina.
"Good evening, ladies." Puck took each of their hands in his and quickly kissed it. Sabrina was disgusted. Did he actually like these girls? Did he know them? Did he remember that Sabrina was his date? Then Sabrina realised what she was thinking. She was jealous of those girls. She had no right to be jealous! She and Puck weren't even dating for real! Puck could flirt with whomever he wanted to.
Suddenly, Sabrina realised that the girls had turned on her. Oh no. she knew what was coming. Apparently 1800s girls got into catfights too.
"So, where are you from?" asked the girl who appeared to be the leader. She was wearing a pale lavender dress with more ruffles than anyone else in the room. Even more Titaina.
Sabrina was saved from answering by Puck.
"Lady Grimm is from overseas. I met her during my travels." He looked over at her adoringly, and Sabrina was confused. He must be acting in front of the girls, she realised.
"What country?" Asked a girl who looked like she might be the lavender girl's sister.
"Er… France," Puck answered. Sabrina immediately tried to kick him, but was foiled by her skirts. Instead, she just wobbled a bit in her heeled boots, grabbing Puck's arm for balance. But France? She didn't speak french!
"Ooo, can you speak french to us?" One of the other girls immediately asked. She looked excited, and a little jealous. Sabrina wondered why the girl was jealous of her supposed ability to speak french. Maybe Princes were supposed to like girls who speak other languages?
"Yeah." Sabrina regretted the words\ as soon as it came out of her mouth. "Umm… What do you want me to say?"
"Anything!" The girl replied. Sabrina looked to Puck for help, but she could see he was barely keeping himself together. He was ready to burst out laughing. Sabrina sent him a glare, then turned back to the girls.
"Bonjour. Robe regarder merde." she had taken a year of French in middle school, but she could barely remember anything.
"What does that mean?"
"Hello, this is a nice party." At that, the girls all turned towards each other and tried to say it. Sabrina could barely hold in a laugh. What she had said didn't even make sense. She had said 'Hello. Dress to look shit', being the closest thing to an insult she could think of using her limited french knowledge. She turned to Puck, and saw that he looked a little impressed. He leaned over.
"Now that is the type of skill you can only learn from the Trickster King himself!" Sabrina was about to shove him, then realised that probably wouldn't be considered proper. Especially considering that he was the prince, and her supposed date.
"You speak french?" He avoided her eyes.
"Yeah."
"Then why didn't you help me?"
"I thought it would be funny!" Sabrina was about to insult him, but realised that the girls were looking at them again.
"We should probably dance now, right?" Sabrina asked instead. They had been talking to the girls for a while.
"Right," He confirmed, and led her to the dance floor.
Two dances later, Sabrina had to admit that the dancing was kind of fun. She loved the way that her huge, uncomfortable skirt flew around her and how the couples moved perfectly around each other, all knowing exactly where to go and step. After the first dance she had pretty much figured out what she had to do. As Puck had told her earlier, it wasn't hard. All she had to do was follow his lead.
Three dances after that, they were both pretty tired, so Puck led her to a table full of small snacks. All the food probably had fancy names, but Sabrina didn't know them. There, Puck talked to some people about his so-called 'travels'.
Traveling was the excuse given for why Puck had been gone for years. Sabrina didn't think it made that much sense, but the people in the ballroom seemed to believe it. She guessed that Titania and Oberon didn't want people knowing that their eldest son had literally run away from home for years.
After Puck had excused them from the conversation, Sabrina took his arm again and they quickly ducked out into a hallway for some privacy.
"How are you holding up?" He asked her. Sabrina was surprised at the question, but still answered.
"I'm good. I honestly kind of liked dancing." She looked up at him. "How are you?" After looking more closely at him, Sabrina noticed the stress around his eyes, and the grimace hidden behind his smile.
"You don't look good."
"Thanks for that, Grimm," He retorted.
"Your welcome!" he rolled his eyes. "But seriously, are you okay?" Puck sighed.
"I just never thought I'd have to do all of this again." He gestured to the corner, around which was the closed door leading to the ballroom. "In the present, Mustardseed is doing most of it for me. And as for my father being back… Well, I thought I would never have to see him again."
Suddenly, Puck's eyes widened. A second later, Sabrina heard what he had. Giggling. It sounded like the four girls they had talked to earlier. Sabrina looked back at him. It would look bad to be caught in a dark hallway by themselves in the present. In the 1800s, it would look even worse.
Wordlessly, Puck grabbed her arm and pulled her through a door, trying to shut it. But, it had caught on the ridiculously long hem of her dress.
"My dress!" She urgently whispered, trying to bend down and unhook it. But she couldn't even bend down all the way thanks to her stupid, tight corset!
"I can't reach!" She gasped. Puck understood, and bent over her to pull on the edge of the dress. Sabrina was uncomfortably aware of the wall of the room pressing into her back, and Puck crouching down not two inches in front of her. Finally, the dress came loose and Puck toppled backwards. Right into Sabrina.
It was in that moment that Sabrina realised what type of room they were in. A closet. And Puck had just fallen right on top of her.
OOO, a cliffhanger! Sort of. Thanks for making it to chapter 2! Also, sorry if the French was wrong. I used google translate, because I don't speak French. How did you like my description of Sabrina's 1800s clothes? Was it too much? What else should Sabrina and Puck do at the ball? ;) Please review!