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"Tous mes anciens amours vont me revenir.'- All my old loves will be returned to me" ― Carolyn Turgeon
Enter Ian 'Valhalla' Doyle, evil familiar of the Dragon Lady and Lapdog. Unfortunately, this vile animal had an intelligence that matched that of Jason's. And so, it is to our greatest dismay, that the cat slinked silently up the stairs behind Jason and Emily, and this dear readers, is where the story takes a turn for the worse; at least, for now.
Jason gave a few loud hoots as they finally reached Emily's room, and with a gentle push on the wooden door, Emily gasped in surprise and delight at the sight that awaited her. A simple, yet elegantly beautiful purple dress hanging off the mannequin, three triumphantly squeaking mice leaping up and down, as if awaiting her response towards the dress.
Now, Emily was an educated woman, and she knew, logically, mice and owls couldn't possibly sew such a wonderful dress. And yet logically, owls didn't lead her back to her room to surprise her with said dress. So the brunette woman knew instantly, that against all rules of logic and reason, her animal friends had sewed this dress for her. So that she could go to the ball. Tears filled her eyes and she bent down to caress the mice's heads, giggling a little when Derek and Spencer blushed. Elle just beamed a mouse smile at her and waved her tail a bit; Emily took that to be pleasure at the fact that she was pleased with the final results of the mice's work. Jason perched on Emily's shoulders, hooting daintily when she showed her appreciation by feeding him some dried meat she kept on her at all times.
"I simply cannot believe what you dears have done for me! Oh now I shall be able to attend the ball!" Emily touched the gown softly, the first gown that she could call hers in months. It mattered not that it wasn't made of the finest silk or velvet, or that the colour would be considered as last season's fashion. All that mattered was that her friends had made this wonderful dress for her, out of love.
The animals smiled and grinned (or in Jason's case, hooted smugly) at the pleasure such a simple thing brought to their human friend. Just then, a low growl from the doorway had the mice squeak furiously and Jason's eyes flared largely, the yellow gleam in them flashing through the night. A grey streak flew towards the dress and before Emily could pull the vile Ian Doyle away from her dress, the cat had already torn the dress to shreds, hissing loudly as the ribbons and laces were strewn all over the floor, abysmally destroyed.
"Doyle, no!" Emily, with tears in her eyes, dragged Doyle away by the scuff vehemently, throwing him on the floor and slamming the door on his overly fluffed up tail. The cat's indignant wail went unheard as the mice and owl, and Emily scrambled to save the dress, knowing that it was already too late.
The brunette sank to her knees, the faded purple silk staring back mournfully at her. "Oh", she muttered numbly, fingering the scrap of material, all her hope at having the chance to going to the ball dashed. "I'm so sorry, you wonderful dears. All your hard work, gone." Derek hopped off the bed and stood on two legs before her, his whiskers drooping as he squeaked what was supposed to be comforting words in mice speak. Emily just smiled sadly and ran a finger along his head, "Thank you Derek. Oh well," she stood slowly, retrieving the broom from the corner of the room and gathering the remnants of the dress, "I suppose I had better get back to work." She sighed and dumped the fabric in the dustpan, "Just like the story of my life."
Jason's eyes narrowed and he suddenly gave a short hoot, and to Emily's astonishment, the three mice raced over to push the door open, allowing the owl to swoop out of the room, and in a moment, the yowls and wails of a cat in pain could be heard. Jason hopped back into the room, looking oddly pleased with himself as he preened; something Emily had never in her wildest dreams thought she would ever see on an owl. She peered at her animal friends, who looked innocently back at her. "I wonder; if I didn't know better I'd say you all could talk!" Spencer directed a grin at Derek; oh she had no idea.
Prince Aaron sighed as the herald announced the arrival of the various princesses, ladies, duchesses and countesses who wished for themselves or their daughters to be wed to the Prince of the land. He smiled mechanistically as he bowed and kissed the hand of each swooning lady, his eyes sliding from them to look for the one face he wanted to see.
He wondered if his childhood sweetheart even remembered him. If she did, she certainly gave no hint of recognition when they ran into each other, literally all those months ago at her father's funeral. Her beauty that had been so apparent even in childhood had not faded rather had blossomed and grew all the more lovely with each passing year. His mind wandered to a pretty girl with soft golden hair he thought was his soul mate. Princess Haley Brooks had been the daughter of a lesser king friendly with King Rossi. Aaron had taken one look at the feminine woman and fell in love with her, forsaking everything to win her hand, even his Emily.
Alas, not all that glittered that prettily were gold. Haley had turned bitter and withdrawn from his throughout their short betrothal, yet dismayed as he was, Aaron was a man of duty and he intended to see them wed as intended. But just before they were to be wed, Haley had been taken by a madman plaguing the kingdom, and Aaron failed to reach his betrothed before George Foyet had slit her throat before him. Despaired and greatly saddened by her innocent death, the prince killed the man, and returned to his home, forlorn and greatly changed. He refused to entertain other visiting officials and royals, had sequestered himself in his chambers and mourned not only the loss of Haley's death, but the loss of his innocence. Throughout the turbulent period, Aaron thought of his brunette love often, bitterly berating himself for his fickleness. He shouldn't have let Emily go, perhaps then she would be in his arms, loving him.
A flash of brown caught his eye and broke through his reverie, and his eyes brightened as he saw the owner, but the corner of his mouth drooped a little more to see that it was not Emily Prentiss. Nonetheless, the woman's brown eyes that looked so much like his lost love drew him to her, and he moved slowly towards the nameless brunette. He didn't notice the greedy glee buried beneath the sugary sweetness of the woman's eyes, nor the fact that the blonde woman next to her was in fact, Emily's stepmother. He only had eyes for a replica of his Emily that he missed so.
Prince Aaron bowed slightly and took her hand in his, dropping a chaste kiss onto it. "Might I enquire your name, my Lady?" The woman let out a soft giggle which she hid behind her feathered fan. "I am Beth, your Highness, and this is my mother, the lady Erin." Ever the gentleman, Aaron turned and kissed Erin's proffered hand, "My Lady." He peered closely at her and recognition dawned in his eyes, "You are Lady Emily's step-mother, are you not?" His sharp eyes narrowed at the tightening of Erin's mouth, and the unladylike snort sounding from Beth. Erin sniffed and nodded stiffly, "I am, yes. Emily sends her regrets but she is unable to attend tonight. I shall be sure to pass on your enquires of her."
Aaron frowned, "Is Emily all right?" Beth rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak when her mother discretely pinched her, effectively shutting her up. "I'm afraid Emily is feeling rather poorly tonight, perhaps from nerves in thoughts of attending tonight's ball." His eyes narrowed and he stared suspiciously at the shifting duo. In the long years he had known Emily, he had never known her to be nervous of anything; he doubted a ball would even have the slightest effect on her courage.
Beth cleared her throat and practically thrust her arm out to a startled Aaron, "Forgive my boldness, your Highness, but would you like to dance?" Both her mother and the prince were slightly surprised by the lack of propriety and decorum demonstrated by Beth, but the dark haired prince, realizing they were gathering quite a number of stares, reluctantly took the woman's hand in his and they moved to the dance floor. "I suppose so, but I'm afraid it will be only one dance. I have other duties to attend to." Beth turned to smile triumphantly at her mother, who rolled her eyes slightly and made a shooing motion towards her daughter. Erin Strauss certainly shuddered to think at how nothing she ever taught had penetrated Beth's thick skull; well at least the silly girl would be wed to the Prince after tonight.
At least, that's what she thought.