Before I go into anything, first of all I'll like to apologize for the extreme long pause of one month plus before updating, but my exams were pulling me down…but no more of that for the rest of this year! I'll try to update more often, but I do have other stuff to do too.
Chapter 10: The Awaited Moment; Part 1
"Mother, are you done?"
"Yes, yes. Have you gotten ready the dresses, Menardi?"
"Yes, that girl is ironing them right now. They'll be ready for wear in a few more minutes."
Merlina and her two daughters were busying about in their rooms, excitedly scurrying in and out. Merlina had firmly stressed upon her two daughters that though they were not attending the ball to attract the prince's attention, but nevertheless she would not tolerate skimpiness and scantiness around her in their most vital task. Making sure that they were all wearing their best dresses to appear very much presentable and honored, she took charge of the preparations efficiently.
"Here, the dresses are done." Mia came in hurrying to her stepmother's room in short breaths, holding the stepsisters' dark red dresses in her hand carefully. She had just finished from her daily work as a maidservant and she was not given more than five minutes in total to rest before being harshly ordered to iron the ball dresses. Mia was very excited too, but for a different reason than that of her stepfamily.
Dressed in a violet gown, Merlina eyed the slightly sweating young woman warily before taking the dresses away from her hand, examining every inch of them for any glitches or mistakes that she could find to complain of. Seeing that everything was perfectly done, she just snorted for a chance to snub at her. "Hmph, only mediocre work!"
Mia pursed her lips as she stood waiting at the door. Her clear eyes saw Menardi and Karst taking their own ball dress from their mother's hands, quickly exiting into their own personal rooms through the connecting-doors to change into them. It was half-past five, and they had only one and half-hours before the actual party ball started. Plenty of time for me to prepare myself since they'll be leaving soon, I guess. I hope everything will go well as planned… I wonder if Fizz, Spritz and Serac have everything ready…
A few minutes later, Menardi and Karst emerged from their own rooms and made a seemingly glorious show to their mother and poor raggedy-clothed Mia. Mia only stared blankly back at them with slight interest. Both women's hairs were pinned up into a smart bun with a few curls falling down, showing off their pale neck at the back. The dresses the stepsisters wore were of the same features; a long, blooming dress of pure blood red colour with the symbol of their hometown, Prox, at the end of their sleeves, made of expensive silk. The dresses were rather tight fitting, thus giving them the attractive appearance, but one would not go so far as to relate it as seductive.
Menardi's sharp eyes caught her stepsister looking at her dress and she smirked as she teased. "Hey CinderMia, wouldn't you love to go to the ball? With your raggedy and dirty clothes; what a sight you'd be to everyone in the room!" She laughed shrilly.
Insulted, Mia just gritted her teeth inside, but her face showed nothing, choosing to remain expressionless. So they do not know about my homemade dress; that is good… unless… Her mind suddenly raced like lightning as a new thought entered her mind. Unless… the almost-impossible happens…
"You're right; everyone would have a good laugh if they saw you, dear stepsister, at the ball. Wouldn't they, mother?" Karst sneered, malice in her tone.
"As you say. Now that we are ready, I suggest we do not waste our time anymore here. Have you done all that I told you, Menardi?" Merlina's eyes suddenly glinted.
Her daughter in question only smiled back serenely. "Oh yes, of course, mother. Everything is absolutely perfect." Her eyes went to Mia, who couldn't help feeling uncomfortable at that look. Feelings of uncertainty crept into her as more doubt increased in her mind. She felt as if someone, something was being concealed from her, something vital…
"Very well then, let us depart. The carriages are already waiting outside the inn. We must not be late. Go ahead first in your own carriage, Menardi and Karst. I have a few things to do first, but I shall see you at the ballroom soon."
"As you wish, mother. See you at the palace." Exiting the room with poised grace, Menardi and Karst complied with their mother's order, but not before throwing looks and glances of triumph to a blank Mia who still stood at the door after giving passageway to the two of them.
Merlina paused for a while as she scrutinized the young woman in front of her. "And now, as for YOU, you will stay here quietly and clean our rooms like any ordinary person would, and then after that you will clean the attic by the order of the innkeeper. When I come back later on, I expect everything in perfect order, so as not to blacken our image. Do you understand?"
Mia nodded silently as she moved away from the door with Merlina in tow as they both emerged into the long corridor. By now her heart beating was gradually increasing due to some reason Mia could not fathom. Okay… now calm down Mia… you can do this; feeling nervous will just get into the way here. Now let's see… all that I need to do is to just quickly go to my room, change into my clothes, and hop into an empty carriage to get to the palace, seek out the prince and tell him all about their plan to control him! I hope it won't go any further than that…it doesn't sound like a simple task to convince the prince anyway…for all I know, he just might think that I'm some kind of freak trying to scare him and cause an unnecessary alarm in the middle of nowhere…
As Mia's stepmother walked down the steps graciously, she stopped in her steps and turned back with a snarling smile, the innocent fake smile that was always there vanished in an instant. "Ah yes, and before I forget, you must tidy your room too; it's in a pretty big and dirty mess. How could you get your room so hideously ugly, I also cannot fathom… better check your own habits first before making yourself a maidservant, eh?"
Mia's mind went into a whirl, taken aback at the piercing words. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped. W… what is she talking about? My room was tidy the last time I left it! My room in a big mess… there's no way it could have gone messy in the first place! It's not like they ever do go into my room… oh no… don't tell me…
Merlina's voice was soft like the purring of a cat as she carried on lightly but which was laced with sarcasm. "You know, anyone can tell that you're really disappointed not to be able to go to the ball; but perhaps you'll be more contented this time with staying in your mini-size room, minding your own business! I mean, you can't really expect things to go well always on your side; roulette games are always like that. It's never more than a 50-50 percent chance anyway. Don't you know that too?"
Mia was stunned. Her mouth opened, words threatening to pour out helter-skelter, but instead nothing fell out. An elderly man who passed by the same corridor took a surprised glance at her shocked look, but hurriedly looked away.
"It's really too bad that you can't come; after all, you have been planning so much about it, haven't you?"
The last sentence uttered out lashed out mildly, yet it hit its targeted mark. The direct shot went home.
Mia's eyes widened even more with shock and horror as she stood rooted to the ground, dumb-founded, looking ghastly at the disappearing form of her stepmother as the red-haired woman descended the stairs with a triumph air in her manner.
"… And it's the day! Aren't you excited, Isaac? I would be if it really were me you know. Who wouldn't be?"
"Well…I suppose I am. … How do I look?"
Garet squinted his eyes at the young prince standing before him. His eyes told him that he was dressed in a magnificent gold olden style long-sleeved jacket, made of the finest velvet material you ever saw, with light glitters on it if reflected by the light. It looked rich, attractive, soft and most comfortable (but which Garet felt with regret that he could not wear such royal finery). Underneath the jacket was an ordinary white cotton shirt. His smart black pants went well with his clothes and outlook. Topping off with a cute sapphire blue bow tie at the neck and shiny black footwear, there was no wonder why the handsome-looking male was one of the most popular attractions amongst the opposite sex.
"Not bad, not bad. I dare say you'd look smashing to those crazy fangirls of yours. Now if this was a show and not reality, I bet the person would have absolutely big love hearts on their eyes."
Adjusting his bow tie nervously as he laughed, Isaac tried to flatten his unruly spiky golden hair which nevertheless remained stubborn and refused to budge. "My hair just won't flatten down no matter how much I try to flatten it. Hair gel doesn't seem to work too. I guess I'll just have to leave it at that."
"Nah, I think you'd want to let it spiky like mine. It just sort of makes girls swoon somehow."
"Well, I certainly didn't expect you to know that, Garet." Isaac raised a humored eyebrow. "It sounds as if you're the type of women's observer."
"I'm not; anyone can easily tell that hair of yours and golden jacket is really, what the kids in Vale would say, smashing."
"Well then, I'm glad that I chose this gold jacket than the other black one." Turning an appraising eye on his friend, Prince Isaac casually remarked, "You look good too, what with that maroon suit of yours to go with your red hair."
Garet smirked. "Heh, guess I do know a little about good fashion. I bet Jenna will like this."
Isaac looked at him with surprise. "Jenna? Who on earth is that?"
To his astonishment, his big-sized friend blushed a little. "Oh yeah, that's right; I never did tell you about her. Jenna's my childhood friend for years, but we're not related by blood or something. Her parents are living in Vale too."
"This Lady Jenna is your friend for so many years, and she is living in Vale itself, and yet I have not the pleasure of meeting her?"
Garet grinned. "You were always too busy when she came along. The time always did clash somehow. But anyway, you'll see her tonight; she's coming over for the party ball too. But I warn you; I don't really know about having the pleasure to meet her; Jenna is quite the hot-tempered one. She's cheerful, and mind you, she can be the she-demon too if you get on the wrong side of her temper. But deep down, she's really nice and sensitive."
Isaac nodded his head thoughtfully. "So this young lady is the fiery type…" His eyes glinted with humour. "And I imagine I am not to tamper with her tonight, since there may be a transparent mark saying 'reserved' on her…" Here he chuckled. "For there is already someone whom I think is attracted to her, perhaps?"
"Now Isaac…" Garet blushed another deeper shade of red.
"Aha, it seems that I have hit the mark, have I not? But don't worry; I'll help you as much as I can if you need it. I won't interfere if you do not wish it."
Garet sighed. "Alright, alright. I give up. Now let's get going to the ballroom, alright? I mean, we do have to be early to receive any incoming guests…"
"Very well, let us go. I imagine my parents have a word or two to say first to me before it starts." Patting his best friend on the shoulder, the two left the room.
"Is it really true that the whole thing's going to be a masked ball?"
"Well, yes, that is true… my parents wished to have something slightly more special than just a normal party ball, and it was quite a last-minute decision."
"So whose idea of making it a masked ball was it?"
"Hmm… I think it was Kraden, if I'm not mistaken…"
"K… Kraden? That old fart actually suggested THAT kind of idea?"
"Now Garet…"
"… Oh yeah, oops. It just slipped off my mouth accidentally. I didn't even so much think that he could actually give any reasonable ideas other than his favourite subject really."
"No, it's all right really; to tell you the truth, I too had quite a hard time restraining my laughter when I heard about it from Ivan…"
"Now who's the one talking, eh?"
"Well, at least 'the words didn't slip off my mouth'…"
"Oh fine, fine…you win. I get it."
The door made of simple wood leading to Room 50 was flung open in a fast motion as a sweaty and edgy Mia rushed into her rented room.
"Mia! You're back!"
The three Mercury djinn, Fizz, Spritz and Serac, quickly bounded over to the young woman as they greeted her with enthusiasm but with worry in it. They received no response from the young woman however; her mind was purely much more occupied with other matters.
Especially what she saw in front and around her.
Her hand went up to her mouth as she gaped in shock, thunderstruck. "My… my room… it's in an utter mess!"
Indeed, her room was the untidiest room you could ever imagine ever to be in. Clothes littering around the floor, bags and papers all littered everywhere, and torn stockings and other clothes followed suit. The state and condition the room was in deeply contrasted with Mia's daily principles, which she practiced always no matter where her home was, let it be even an ordinary small tent; 'untidy' was never registered in her dictionary when such matters concerned her personal room.
The three djinn could only bow their heads down crestfallenly. "We're so sorry Mia… but we swear, it wasn't us who did this--"
"Yes, I know… my stepfamily did all these…" Mia interrupted bitterly, biting her lower lip agonizingly as her eyes sorted out the mess with horror. So this was what they meant…but how…how could they do this? It must have been Menardi and Karst at fault; stepmother never did leave her room today… She could very well imagine her stepsisters sneers on their faces as they tore fabrics apart roughly, ransacking her belongings and tearing things apart everywhere around; the mere thought of it sickened her.
Serac spoke apologetically. "We already tidied the room a little before you came in… otherwise the chairs would still be toppled down and more rubbish on the floor--"
"Shh!" Spritz swung her tail over Serac's mouth to keep her friend quiet, afraid that Mia would feel even more hurt.
But Mia did not even hear those words. Another thought struck her like a lightning strike. "The dress! Where…" She darted towards her wardrobe and opened both doors with haste.
There was nothing there. The cloth hangers hung were empty of any clothes.
Lifting dreaded eyes to the base of the wooden wardrobe, threads of wool, followed by shreds and pieces of pink cloth which used to form a cotton pink dress greeted her.
She gasped loudly, evidently not expecting a setback so much on her plans. Feeling dazed and very much upset, she stumbled over to a chair and half-sat down looking worriedly as she spoke in a hoarse whisper. "You… you saw them?"
Fizz took charge at once. "Yeah… they went in here about half an hour ago, most probably a few minutes after you left to do the ironing. It was only the two stepsisters though; they rampaged through this whole place like mad freaks, especially when they tore the dress… we three were just lucky enough to have small bodies so that we were able to hide at the tiny space behind the wardrobe, in case they saw us."
Mia shook her head dismally. "I should have seen this coming… they must have eavesdropped on us somehow. We weren't cautious enough…"
"Hey, come on, cheer up Mia! It isn't your fault at all; who would have thought that your stepfamily would be so desperate?" Spritz jumped up to her shoulder, sympathetically patting her.
Sighing heavily, the aqua-haired girl placed a hand on her forehead. "But even so…" She left the sentence unfinished, raising her arms in despair. "So what are we supposed to do? What can we do now? No dress, and even though we have a carriage waiting--, no wait, do I even have a carriage waiting out there, now that I know what's happening?"
Serac coughed politely. "Um… well, I really don't want to make things look even worst, but… you're right; there's no carriage out there. All vacant space."
Mia felt like rolling her eyes sarcastically. "Oh yeah, like I didn't expect that…" She muttered in low breaths, feeling annoyed. "But how do you know that, Serac?"
"We overheard the two stepsisters talking really animatedly about the whole thing and all when they were here… they said that they told the innkeeper earlier on in the afternoon that you didn't need it anymore since you changed your mind about going to the palace, and that you'd rather stay here. He believed the whole farrago, and he cancelled the carriage and gave it to someone else." Fizz spoke quietly.
Oh god, this is just the worst time for such things to happen! First my room's all messed up, then my dress has been torn to pieces, and now I have no transport at all! What in the world can I do to stop their plans anymore? If I were to walk the whole way by myself, I'd be way too late!
"And another thing, Mia…" Serac broke her train of thoughts.
"Huh?"
"I don't know how they knew about it, but this stepfamily of yours knows about us Djinn. They may not know who we are and what exactly we can do, but they know that there are three Djinn hiding with you. That's bad, since I don't know how anyone else would know about us Djinn… so that can only mean one thing." Serac's face was grave.
Mia held her breath. "… And?"
"They must be Adepts who have control over their ability." Spritz finished simply. "And from what we see, they're probably Mars Adepts; adepts who control the power of flame. Their red hair tells us that, since it's a common trait of Adepts to have the same hair colour of their Psynergy type. They're the exact opposite of you, Mia, since you're a Mercury Adept. You know this, right?"
"A… adepts? Yes… yes, Fizz told me about it, but… Menardi and Karst are adepts like me too?" She shook her head helplessly.
Fizz narrowed her yellow eyes. "If they were real desperate, some nasty things can happen; and it's quite possible. I just didn't think that there were more Adepts around, especially so near you. Moreover, you can't really control your ability of water yet Mia… if they were to assault you, things can get bad. It's a pity we didn't have the time to focus a little on controlling your Psynergy, or you'll have at least some sort of defense against any attack, especially from fire."
Looking at Mia's frightened face, she quickly continued. "But of course, that's where we three Djinn come in; we'll help and protect you. You needn't worry much about it. Who knows they might have just got the information about us from someone or somewhere else by chance! We're just overreacting really I guess."
Mia sighed. "So what can we do now? Unless I start the whole journey to the palace by foot in these rugged clothes, there's no other way that I can think of now. And I guarantee you that by the time I reach the castle, it's almost a hundred percent that my stepfamily will have achieved their goal… it'd be one in a billion if they did the whole scheme so late when they were so eager to hit it off." She paused for a while to catch her breath.
"Yeah, guess we're really just wasting time here… we've got only like an hour left before the party starts!" Spritz jumped excitedly, but for a different reason than what it might have been before had their plans not be spoiled.
"How about 'borrowing' one of your stepsisters' dresses then? Since they destroy ours, we should be welcomed to borrow one of theirs! We deserve it anyway!"
Mia shook her head with a small smile. "Nice suggestion Fizz, but even though I have access to their rooms, I know for a fact that neither of my stepfamily members ever forgets to lock their wardrobe door. In fact, I saw them locking their own wardrobe doors carefully before they left, so no go." She sighed heavily again. "They're really careful with what they do… we weren't on our guard."
"Man, this is so hard…can't anything be done? We're just sitting here, doing nothing!" Serac spoke almost disgustedly at the condition they were in.
Mia felt worry increasing by the second, welling up in her. She was almost on the verge of despair; her plan had gone well so far, and now it all crushed down so simply…it left so few choices for her to choose. "I don't know…"
"Now, now…don't sound so mopey…be strong! It'll turn out okay in the end, I'm sure, no matter what happens. Besides, the prince can't be such a helpless good-for-nothing, can he? Being a prince, he should know some art of defense, and he's surely to have a guard around! Your steps may have some difficulty after all. It's never an easy plan to trick royalty anyway." Fizz patted her on the shoulder, but she herself was feeling extremely worried too.
"So what are we going to do? I agree with you that it'll just be useless to run all the way there…you'll end up too tired to do anything anyway. We're always going back to that question…" Spritz inquired timidly.
Mia's eyes lowered as Spritz's question repeated itself again and again in her mind. A life at stake here…and possibly more…
…No matter how I think, only that solution presents itself to me the same way round. I pray to Mercury that I shall not be too late…
DING!
The old but still majestic-looking grandfather clock situated in the ballroom of the palace Vale rang once to inform of the arrival of half-past six, the loud yet pleasant sound echoing throughout the whole wide room.
The ballroom was indeed, what one might have decidedly said, lovely and inviting. The room was most probably equivalent to two or three halls. Already the entrance to the room was richly decorated with thick red carpets, welcoming those visitors and guests with a warm look. The dance floors were neatly tiled up with expensive, exquisite white mosaic tiles decorated with ancient designs. Lovely violet curtains were pulled over the large, glass windows, making the ballroom warm but oddly not too warm for discomfort, a direct contrast from the biting hard winds outdoors. Circling the wide dance floor were large tables, chairs made out of the purest oak around it, the floor carpeted with light maroon colour. Any single ordinary soul who stepped into that special room would gape, wonder, and feel to be in their fantasyland.
At the far end of the ballroom lay a high stage, presenting an air or importance and order to those around. Two wide and comfortable chairs were placed side-by-side, similarly to those who would have seen as in the throne room, specially made for the King and Queen of Vale, His Majesty King Kyle and Her Highness Queen Dora. Another set of two chairs was placed at the side of the stage, presumably for the prince and the emcee of the night. Beside the stage were a group of male and female musicians, each of them playing their own instruments, altogether creating wonderful harmony and peace in the soft, melodious background songs which they played.
At the early hour of half-past six in the evening, already few had arrived. Women of high and low caliber, dressed in beautiful dresses, some standing at the corner of the room, some sitting down delicately on the oak chairs, some others dancing around with their male escorts (whom were permitted to enter the ballroom and enjoy the night too). Every single soul was wearing a mask, the type of mask that only covered the rim of the eyes. There were many colours of masks; it created a variation atmosphere, but also sorts of lovely harmony. It was clear that everyone was enjoying the early evening, and the night to come…
And in the midst of them all, was one of the most important celebrities of the night. The one whom the party ball was created for. Prince Isaac.
As soon as Garet had saw the varieties of eye masks laid out neatly at the entrance for all the guests, he had almost literally pulled Isaac along excitedly to choose a suitable mask 'before anyone else gets what I want to choose, and nobody's going to get what I'm going to get', or so Garet said. After appraising most of them with a careful eye, Isaac had finally settled to a simple golden mask to match with his handsome golden suit. After choosing a red and black mask for himself, Garet had then excused himself to tend to his own duties for the night, promising to catch up with Isaac later.
Wandering about the room, his blue cloak flowing behind him majestically, Prince Isaac gave a smile to everyone whom his eyes caught of, especially the single young women. Yet behind that smile, the young prince could not help but to feel a little discouraged, and perhaps, what one might have described it, bored.
Yes, he had agreed to this idea of a party ball; yes, he had agreed to dress up and face the crowd; and yes, he had agreed to choose his own bride at this very night. But meeting with so many women whom clearly admired him, and even some whom were crazy of him, were a bit tiring. He sometimes had the job of escorting the women guests personally from their carriage as soon as one arrived at the castle, especially for those high-class nobles. He had received the same smile, the same response when they saw him, the same attitude they adopted around him, hell, he could even bet that he knew what was going on in their thoughts! All wanted to be the chosen bride, he knew that, but they showed it too clearly for his liking, some even to go to the extent as to flirting, which he responded politely but hinting of shrugging it off, still acting out his role as the ever polite prince. He was beginning to have a serious bout of second thoughts about the whole idea…
There was nothing special in the ladies he met, and that was a fact. Now, if it concerned her… it would be a totally different story altogether.
"Isaac? Hey, Isaac!"
Isaac's eyes blinked as he snapped out of his reverie, and faced the voice calling him.
Truth be told, his heart suddenly felt lightened, even to the extent of relieved, when he laid eyes on his close friend. Perhaps he just needed some refreshment and companionship. Ivan was, after all, busy in his own matters as he was the emcee for the night with Sheba, therefore making him busy and unavailable for the mean time. He was totally determined not to spoil the night, rushing here and there, checking out on the preparations; even the minute detail was studied.
Eagerly moving towards Garet in a friendly fashion, his face lighted up in a sincere warm smile. Garet appeared, or so Isaac mused, somewhat excited and agreeably happy, even more energetic than usual. Then his clear blue eyes caught a bright flash of red behind Garet, causing a light frown to crease his pleasant face.
Seeing that his appearance was duly acknowledged, Garet smiled cheerfully and moved aside. "Hey Isaac! Remember Jen, my childhood friend that we were talking about just now? Well, here she is!"
As he moved aside, a beautiful lady stepped forward. Having waist-length hair with the mixture of red and auburn colours tied up neatly with a purple ribbon, it matched perfectly with her dark red and purple tight-fit evening dress which she wore. The rim of her eyes were spaciously covered by a maroon eye mask and her unique red eyes were full of cheerfulness, gaiety and fire yet holding a sense of importance and alertness to her surroundings, as if expecting an ambush of attack or some sorts anytime. She walked confidently but with the light touch of conscious femininity, or so Isaac observed with mild amusement. She seems to be totally capable of taking care of herself…One would, in short summary, describe this Lady Jenna as a young woman who knew exactly who she was and where she stood, definitely not a damsel of any kind.
"How do you do, Prince Isaac? Jenna is my name, but I'm sure you have already known that." She held out a gloved hand consciously as the prince in question lightly kissed her hand.
Looking directly into her deep reddish eyes, Isaac smiled. He found it easy to talk and converse with this girl, even though he had just met her. She seemed to radiate a glow of friendliness and warmth around her; he felt as if he was conversing to one of his old friends. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Jenna. Garet here has told me a considerable amount about you."
Jenna grinned a little as she turned back to glance at an innocent-looking Garet, her mouth slightly twitching. "Good ones I hope…"
"Ah yes, of course, all that I have heard about you are nothing short of compliments. Right, Garet?"
"Er… um, yeah I guess so…" Flustered, the redhead scratched his head awkwardly.
Jenna struck a comical pose. "Hm, better be then." Turning back to Isaac, she smiled again. "Well, Your Highness must have many other people saying this, but I must really get this off my chest. It was the first thought that entered my mind as soon as I arrived here, and I still don't have any second thoughts about it. This room is absolutely just beautiful! Everything's laid out so nicely, what one would easily describe as perfect. Perfect is the exact word, and I'm not exaggerating it at all. Everything's in order, and everyone's ready! I'm sure everything will go superbly!" Her eyes suddenly sharp, she continued, "That is, you've been worrying about that, haven't you?"
Isaac was startled. How did she… "That is…yes, truth be told; I am a trifle worried… pardon me for my bluntness, but how did you know that, Lady Jenna?"
She dismissed it with a hand. "Nah, anyone would be feeling like that, especially if it involved them directly. I would feel like that too. But let's just say that I do have quite the natural instincts of psychology, all right?" She winked. "Ah yes, just call me Jenna. I feel awkward if anyone gives me some kind of title."
He chuckled lightly. "Very well then, Jenna. But that's Isaac for you too."
"Quits then." She suddenly grinned. "Oh, and maybe Garet has already told you, but I'm Felix's younger sister."
Isaac raised startled eyes at her. "Felix? You're Felix's younger sister?"
Garet cut in apologetically. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that, Isaac. That's why Jenna is also part of royalty, in an indirect way."
"Yup, that's right." Turning to Isaac, she looked inquisitively. "Surprised to hear that?"
"Yes, I was quite surprised with the news." The prince pondered awhile, his eyes looking absently at the ceiling. "But now that I think about it, I do remember that Felix had once told me that he had a slightly younger sister living in Vale… if I'm not mistaken, I think he said that she was very outright and too hot-tempered for a young woman--"
"Shh!" Garet quickly cut his sentence mid-off, beckoning with a finger at a frowning Jenna.
"Oh… oops." Isaac covered his mouth, feeling as if he was back in his childhood teens where he could enjoy and laugh with his friends.
Jenna angrily shook her fist. "Why that Felix…"
Isaac hurried intervened, hoping to calm the fiery woman down. "But I do remember him saying that despite her downs, she was very kind, and she was forever the best sister he could ever have and wish for in his whole life."
As if working by the forces of magic, immediately the frown creased and Jenna smiled a little, even if still not a little displeased at her brother's earlier comments. "Well, I suppose that is better…"
"Hey, great trick done, Isaac!" Garet whispered softly into Isaac's ears, giving him a thumbs-up.
Jenna smirked. "I heard that, Garet." Looking past Isaac, she saw a well-dressed woman advancing towards the prince hurriedly and she grinned. "Looks like I can't stay here for long and chat around… I really mustn't take up your time, can I? You're the shining center of attraction tonight after all."
Immediately the golden-haired prince turned back and one glance at the unknown excited woman set a quiet sigh. Before leaving, he once more addressed Jenna casually. "Perhaps we will have the chance to talk again later on?"
"Sure. Friends?" She held out her hand.
"Of course." He warmly shook her hand. Then, turning abruptly, he left in the opposite direction. Jenna pursed her lips as her eyes continued lingering on the prince's disappearing form, lost in deep thought. Something quite not right here…
"What are you thinking about?"
The red-haired young woman jumped slightly as the voice pierced through her train of thoughts. Turning back abruptly, she faced a rather handsome but puzzled-looking Garet. She felt induced to place her hands on her hips and glare at the redhead for disturbing her, but at that moment her mind had better things to tend to, so all she did was a blank shrug.
"Hmm? No, I was just thinking about something about this Isaac person…" She frowned, lines creasing her forehead.
"What about Isaac?"
Jenna could not help but notice (with some amusement) that even the densest person was able to act quickly to suspicions; Garet's tone was somewhat sharp. A smile plastered on her face as she waved a slender forefinger directly at his clean-shaven face, her tone teasing. "Well well, wouldn't you like to know? I've heard that he's almost perfect from the other girls; and I must admit, he's really quite the catch eh?"
"Yeah I know…" Garet looked away, but other than disappointment and slight envy, she could not notice any other feelings or expression evident on him.
"Oooh… jealous aren't you?" Her eyes glinted merrily as she smirked.
A bright flush immediately swept over his face as he haltingly countered, eyes gazing directly into hers. "N-no! I mean, why should I be?"
Jenna chuckled, her hands clasped together at her back as she inched her face closer to Garet in a girlish fashion. "Oh… you mean you're not?" She pretended to hide a show of disappointment as she pulled back, speaking just loud enough for him to hear. "But I thought… you…"
If Garet was flustered earlier on, by this time a look of dismay was etched clearly on his face. "Hey Jenna, that—that's not what I meant! I… I didn't mean it that way; I ah… um… oh, you know what I mean! It's like… uh…"
The redhead struggled so hard with his words as he feverishly shook his head, as if they were holding his mouth tight shut, that Jenna could not resist the urge anymore to laugh out loud. She laughed and laughed, her silvery, light laugh delightful to hear, but fortunately it was not heard clearly over the quiet murmurs of voices that filled the surroundings around her.
"What's so funny?" He looked at her curiously.
"Silly! Of course I didn't mean it; I just wanted to gauge your reaction when I said that. You're just so fun to tease, you know that?"
Garet immediately stopped his inner struggle as he glared at his childhood friend, feeling very much annoyed. "Jenna! Hmph… always making me look so embarrassed in public places. Sheesh, why am I always the teased one and not the teasing one?" He crossed his arms on his chest, feeling cross.
"Well, that's probably due to the fact that you're quite the oaf, Garet. It's really too bad, but seriously, I really think that the day when you're actually a hundred percent intellectual is the day I'll die of shock. In fact, Felix said something like that too." She grinned.
He rolled his eyes. "Now to get back to the real point, what were you thinking so deeply about?"
Sitting down on a nearby oak chair lined up in a circle around a small table, she nodded her head casually. "Oh all right. Enough of this whole rigmarole; I was just thinking that there is something quite not right with Isaac… I mean that even though this is supposed to be his glory night, he doesn't seem to act excited or anything; boredom would be more likely of what I would describe his face just now, especially when he left us off to tend to that girl. Don't you think so too?"
Rubbing his chin gingerly, Garet paused as he recalled back. "Hmm… I'm not too sure, but… yeah, maybe he did feel bored. I look at it from my own point of view; if I were to welcome every single gal who is absolutely mad on me whom I don't even know and care about with forced smiles and greetings, I think I would go crazy." He grinned slightly at that thought. "Didn't you notice he seemed pretty happy talking to us, instead of being sort of suffocated with those flaunty ladies?"
"Well, you do have a point there… this whole idea of a party ball was his parents' idea, but he agreed to it, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did… he was pretty surprised at the sudden idea, but he told me that he agreed quite readily when he gave it a second thought."
"I see…" Jenna frowned. "Can't we do anything to make him feel better? I don't think that it's so bad until he's way bored to death or something, but can't we try to do anything to spice the night up?"
Her words seemed to have set Garet into deep thinking as he sat down on another chair opposite her, his arms crossed. Seconds of time lapsed before a smartly dressed raven-haired waiter sauntered up to them, holding a tray filled with glasses of expensive wine. Bowing in courtesy, he politely addressed Jenna. "Champagne, my lady?"
She smiled, nodding her head. "Yes, and one for this gentleman too, thank you."
"You are welcome, my lady." Placing two tall but thin glasses full with bubbly French wine on the table, the waiter bowed again before leaving.
Jenna held the delicate glass to her lips, slowly sipping the concentrated wine as she enjoyed the sweet-smelling taste and intoxicating aroma.
By this time Garet had rested his whole weight on his comfortable chair, speaking as in a mumble. "You know, no matter how hard I think, the only way I can think of to make Isaac happy is to have this Mia girl here, since from what I know and saw, Isaac did seem kinda interested in her, but…"
Jenna's eyes suddenly snapped wide open. Placing her glass on the table with a soft thud in a somewhat unladylike fashion, she stared at Garet as if he had just skinned ten lambs alive in five seconds. "What? Did I just hear you say 'Mia'?"
The redhead looked at her in a puzzled fashion. "Yeah, I did. Why?"
Jenna looked excited as she pursed her lips. "I… can you describe how she looks like?"
"Well…" He frowned absently at the wall as he searched for a suitable description. "I can't really describe how she looks like, since the only time Isaac and I met her, we were all wearing hooded cloaks to protect ourselves from the rough winds and blowing sands. But I do know that she has really sea blue eyes though…" He suddenly sat up in his chair. "You know her?"
"Yes… yes, I think I do." A triumph look settled on her face as she continued. "Don't you know? I'm her so-called godmother."
Her counterpart was evidently shocked by the latest news; his mouth was hanging open as if he was on the verge of singing solo opera-style, his eyes wide open. "Y… you? A godmother?" Chuckles made their way as he smirked, but fortunately he was able to refrain and sustain his peals of laughter inside that were threatening to burst out in the middle of the crowd.
Rolling her eyes, Jenna continued. "I'll pass that statement for now. Like how you're Isaac's underrated godfather, I'm also Mia's young godmother. But anyway, if truly this Mia you are talking about is the Mia that I know, then something can be done… is it really true that the prince likes her?"
Garet shrugged. "He didn't tell me what was on his mind, but I could tell that he was interested in her. But if you're asking me further than that, then I really don't have a clue on it. There might be a possible chance that he would choose her as the lucky bride if she did come here though… she'll probably have quite a high percentage at being the lucky one. This Mia girl is really quite an interesting character; she isn't like those typical girls you see everywhere. She has a sad past too; it seems that she is quite badly treated by her stepfamily…" He looked at her curiously. "Don't you know anything about it?"
Placing her head on her upright hands on the table, Jenna shook her head decisively. "If anything happened to her, I wouldn't know about it; she was living in Prox far north, I in Vale here. It's been such a long time since I saw her… I think it's been around ten years or so. The last time I heard of her was when she was leaving Imil for Prox with her late father, whom later on I heard that he disappeared somehow mysteriously at seas, and it was later on taken for granted that he died out there." She frowned as a thought struck her. "But if you say that you've met her here in Vale, then why do you say 'if she comes here'? Isn't she coming?"
Garet sighed. "That's the problem. Her stepfamily is one of the high nobles in Prox, or so I heard from the villagers. But for all they're worth, she's being badly ill treated; they don't give her any nice clothes or anything moderate for all riches they have. In fact, she thought that I didn't notice it, but I saw patches of cloth sewn over her simple, old faded dress when the wind blew her cloak to the side. There's no way in hell that they'll let her come here. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I did see a few female Proxians just now at the dance floor, wearing red masks… it just might be them."
Jenna's face suddenly clouded as she spoke angrily, waves of anger sweeping up to her. "How on earth did she manage to get caught up in this horrible family? It must be because of Miguel… but how can they do this to her? If… if only I knew this sooner, I would have pulled her away from the clutches of these people, and sue them too!" Shaking her fist, she stood up as if she really meant to march up right to the stepfamily wherever they were and demand a confrontation.
Garet quickly pulled her down back. "Hey, calm down Jen… no use boiling up on these stuff that you can't do a thing on. But now that we're talking about her, do you think we can help her out in this one, and Isaac too?"
Pondering for a moment, the black cloud gradually disappeared, and a grin slowly formed on her red lips as she slowly spoke with caution. "Hmm… maybe we can do something… yes…yes, we can!" By now she was considerably excited, and any of her close acquaintances that knew her well would recognize her grin as that of a naughty, planning but innocent look. "I mean, we get to help poor Mia, and at the same time, we may be able to get Isaac a suitable mate without much trouble!"
A large grin was also spread on Garet's face. "Well, looks like we'll get things running, eh Jenna?"
"Oh yes, of course; we'll deal with this stepfamily properly. But we mustn't be overconfident though; I did hear from Ember a few months ago that there are perhaps a few Adepts among these Proxian people… we must take caution in our every move. In fact, I strongly suspect that Isaac is an Adept too, but he has not yet trained to summon and channel his Psynergy into focus. But as for Felix… he has the potential as a strong Earth Adept, but I never did get the chance to tell him about it. We never really did meet up as often as last time… especially since he became the head of the communication of Vale."
"I suppose he could be an Adept if he tried. Heh, now you're talking… but if anything were to go wrong, we can defend ourselves, can't we? After all, we're experienced Adepts, and we can just as easily ask our Djinn for any help we need."
"Yeah… luckily there's still some time to arrange things, since the party hasn't really started, but let's not tell Isaac of what we're doing, alright? Let it be a surprise for him!"
"Fine by me. So, got a plan ready yet?"
"More or less, but I'll need your opinion on it. Listen up carefully; here's the plan for tonight… we may even need the Djinn's help to speed things up…"
Author's Notes: Yes, done! I'm glad that I managed to put in more of Garet and Jenna's appearance here, and do try not to be too shock (if you are) by Jenna's role as the 'fairy godmother'…but then again, she isn't one in this fic.
Anyways, just a note to reviewers: Starting from the eleventh chapter onwards, I won't risk the chance of placing the review responses here, but instead, I'll send the reply directly as soon as possible by e-mail, since I think it's better and faster too. So just watch out for a mail coming from me for those of you who review! Thanks for all the support you've all given me so far!
Lots of thanks to:
Daidairo: As I've said, I'm really honored to receive your compliments…thank you!
GoldenSunGeek: As for prohibiting reviewer responses, one author suddenly stopped writing responses in the fic itself, since he said he received a scary e-mail warning him about it…I wonder.
Kd7sov: Now that's a good question…I myself didn't think about it really. But the solutions I can perhaps give is that either the steps only knew to recognize Djinn voices (since they're so different than humans I imagine), or they didn't know of the Djinn's existences until later on.
enigma4ever2020: Cerulean? I picked up the word from the Chrono Cross section; almost all of the authors there use it to describe Serge's hair and eyes colour.
Kodoku: Yep, more Djinn coming up soon…wait and see!
Spastic Djinn: Well, hopefully this chapter won't lower down your previous rating!
Eruruu: The ball's right up here already…how is it?
sweetmaiden: Yalah yalah, 'nice' part coming up soon…
Insanity Team! (A.k.a. Violet): Looks like I changed my mind on doing my FE fic first…yay!
One Who Rides On The Wind: Yeah, the party's getting started…and the party's getting merrier!
Princess Viv: Oh, am I just so glad to hear that Garet's portrayal wasn't messed up! And more Djinn 'round the corner!
Dauthi: Nah, I won't let this fic have a sad ending; I prefer happy ones. XD
Stay in tuned for Chapter 11: The Awaited Moment; Part 2!