To emily, dinner had always been her and Jennifer sitting down to whatever either of them had conjured up that evening. Dinner at the castle was evidently a totally different thing. Emily found herself being led back into the huge dining room which was now stuffed with more people then Emily believed she had ever met in her entire life. The second Emily and Brian entered the room people turned their heads.
"Good Evening, your majesty" A short balding man pushed himself forward to greet them, well, Brian at least. When he stepped closer Emily realized that he was almost a head shorter then Brian and maybe a foot wider. The man took Brian's hand, kneeled down and kissed it.
"Good Evening Bernard," Brian said politely once the man had stood up again. "How are Mary and the kids?" The two men continued to small talk and Emily had time to think. She realized that there was a whole different side to him, the royal prince side. Suddenly he took her hand, pulling her out of her thoughts and causing a warm ripple to go down her arm.
"There's someone you should meet," he said, and pulled her through the crowd of people. It took them a long time to make it through the crowd because Brian had to say hello to all the guests but they finally made to one end of the table. At the end of the table was the fancy chair. She remembered it from when she had been in the dining room yesterday. Sitting in this throne-like seat was a man who can only be described as jolly. He had a big thick robe and a crown sitting on his bald head. He was plump and had big red cheeks, much like a child's, that were at this moment opened into a big smile. He let out a booming laugh. Emily realized that the laugh was directed to another man who she recognized instantly as the pope. The two men were laughing and talking like old childhood friends. Emily had never imagined the pope to have friends. Standing behind the throne was the queen, wearing a gold dress that reflected so much light Emily had to squint just to look at it. The queens pointed face was staring at the pope much like a hawk watches its prey. It was the queen who first saw Emily and Brian emerge from the crowd. She rushed to Brian as if he had just returned from battle and was in an instant brushing his hair and rubbing his face and muttering about how he "must be presentable". Emily thought he looked fine.
"Mother," Brian said with a mix of humor, sternness and annoyance while taking a step back. "I would like father to meet Emily." The queen glowered down at Emily but Brian didn't seem to notice and instead took a step forward to his father and the pope. Brian and the Pope exchanged Good Evenings and the Pope and the King exchanged nice-to-see-you's. The Pope then disappeared into the crowd and the king stood up.
"Good Evening son," The king said. Brian held out his hand but the king just wrapped his chubby arms around his son. Brian embraced the hug and laughed.
"Father," he said, taking a step to the side to allow room for Emily. "This is my friend Emily." He turned to Emily now, "Emily," He began, "this is my father."
"The king," she said, almost silently as if she could not believe she was actually meeting the king.
"Oh Yes, this must be the peasant girl your mother is so fond of," The king let out another booming laugh. Brian turned and raised his eyebrows to Emily. "Well you don't look like a ratty girl at all, you're quite pretty actually." He let out another booming laugh and embraced Emily. She wasn't sure whether to feel complimented or offended so she just stood there. "Oh well, you just carry on with your fun" he laughed again and reached for a wine glass on the table. After taking a long swig he went off into the crowd.
As soon as the king disappeared Ella emerged from the crowd. She was wearing a long red dress covered in glitter and her long hair was put up into an extravagant bun on the top of her head. Her face was buried in so much makeup Emily wasn't even sure if it was the same girl she had met before.
"Oh there you are Brian," she said in a purely cheerful tone, entirely unlike the one she had used when Emily first met her. She put her arm in the crook of his elbow and turned him to face the crowd. "Where have you been? Everyone needs to congratulate us and they can't do that if you disappear into nowhere."
"Sorry," he said but Ella didn't seem to notice. Instead she pulled him off into the crowd. Emily was left alone. It wasn't until now that Emily remembered that this was their engagement party. Brian is engaged. Emily couldn't stand this thought. She pushed her way through the mass of guests and made her way out of the crowded dining room and into the hallway. She entered through another door and found herself outside. Emily was in a huge garden. It was beautiful, she followed the path that twisted through the flower arrangements and was led into an opening. In the center was a little pond and off to the sides were a few weeping willow trees and there were more flowers then she could count. She collapsed next to one of the big trees. So many thoughts were going through her head.
Emily wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there but she heard footsteps and looked up. Brian turned the corner and saw Emily sitting on the ground, he hurried over to her. He was standing over her. He was only lit by moonlight but he looked so good it hurt, she looked down again.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, his tone was truly worried, "When I noticed you were gone, well Millie said you went out here, I wasn't sure if, if you were ok, or sick, I just, are you okay?" He was looking down at his feet now and digging his toe into the dirt.
"Yeah, I just," She took a big breath of air and while she spoke she watched him shake the dirt off the toe of his boot. "There was a lot of people in there, I just got… claustrophobic."
"Oh." They were both silent for a second then he reached down his hand to pull her up. She took it and he helped her off the ground. In silence she brushed the dirt off of herself and Brian took a step backwards into the opening. She followed.
"It's really pretty out here," She mumbled.
"Yeah," He agreed. Just then soft music drifted through the dining room windows. It was gentle and pretty. Suddenly Brian took her hand and started twirling her around the garden.
She hesitated, "I, uh, don't know how to dance."
"It's easy," he told her and pulled her in a waltz around the flowers. They danced and danced.
"Where'd you learn to dance?" She asked him.
"Every kid in the castle learns it as soon as they can walk." He laughed. She laughed too. The wind whipped by her face and her hair flew around. The moment ended to quickly, though, when suddenly she fell out of step and fell right on the ground. He stopped instantly. "Oh sorry," he muttered quickly and stooped over to help her up. The next moment was a blur to Emily, first she was on the ground and then she was in his arms and they were kissing. They kissed for what seemed to Emily like ages, way to long for a man with a fiancé. She knew that she didn't start it but she didn't stop it either. She didn't care though, this was all she ever wanted; she wanted to stay like this forever. She felt a drop of water hit the top of her head but ignored it and kissed him harder. He must have felt one too though because he pulled back abruptly. He looked shocked and then seemed to come to his senses. They both looked up at the sky and were bombarded with raindrops.
"I'm engaged," he stated to the air. And just like that he turned around and walked back inside, leaving Emily standing there in the pouring rain that hid the tears running like waterfalls down her face.
