Chapter 2 Ball Announcement

"Why why the blasted disguise again? Your Highness after I begged you-" The Prince cuts him off happily. "I had a wonderful time Damon. No one treated me like a Royal. What a relief to be among real people." Damon sighs as he fixes the Prince's shirt, "Can I say something? Real people are not all what they seem to be. Look at me I'm a real person, believe me they are all out there wishing they were you." The prince sighs. "Because they have know idea of what this life is really like." He walks away. "Help me out here, your rich, you live in this palace, you have gorgeous woman throw themselves at your feet is there something I'm not getting?!" They stop so Damon can fix his shirt yet again. "I have no real life of my own. Everything is decided for me. Where I go, what I do, and who I see."

"Your Highness this disappearance act has to stop it's too dangerous." The prince smiles. "I was perfectly safe Damon." Damon shakes his head. "I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about me I can't keep lying to your mother they have laws against that." The prince pats him on the shoulder before entering his parents study. "If he wants to kill me why doesn't run me over with his stupied carriage and get it over with?" Then Damon leaves.

The curtains are pulled back. "You wanted to see me mother?" The Queen gets up from her chair and hugs him, "Lorenzo, dear where have you been? Your father and I were just talking about you." The King who is playing chess says. "Your mother talking I was listening." Enzo's smile is warm, "What's going on?" The queen smiles "Just planning a little get together, nothing too fancy just family." Enzo nods and looks at the scroll. "And a few close friends and every eligible young woman in the kingdom." Enzo extends it. "Mother." "Were only talking 4-500 at the most." Enzo looks at her, "Mother you can't keep doing this to me." "What? Elijah what's he saying?" The king looks up at his wife. "He's saying he doesn't want another ball."

"No he's not." Enzo's expression is serious. The queen smile fades her voice trails off high-pitched. "Here we go." Enzo mutters. "Oh, Elijah my smelling salts. Elijah." The queen says when she nears her husband's chair. "Enzo it's really very simple... all your mother and I want is for you to be happy." As the king stands and places his hands on Enzo's arms. "Happiness has nothing to do with it." Both men look at her. "I mean we want you to be happy, but dear you do have certain obligations." As she approach them. "What your mother is trying to say is, we think it's time you found a wife and produced an heir." As the king wraps his hand around his queen. "Someday soon this whole kingdom will be yours." The queen says. "Not that soon." Says the king.

"Look all I ask is you let me find a bride for myself in my own way." Enzo says then he takes two steps forward. "I guess I have this crazy idea that I want to be in love when I marry, like you were." The king and queen smile at each other. "That's all we want for you, son." The king says. "Yes, dear, but that doesn't mean you can't find that at the ball-" The queen says. Enzo sighs. "You haven't heard a word I said." Then he leaves as his mother rambles. "Where's he going?" Once Enzo's gone. "Could it have been something we said?" The king asks his wife. She sighs, "Damon. Damon." Damon appears from behind the curtain. "Yes, your majesty?" The queen walks back to her husband. "Proclamation from the Prince."

"Your majesty, I couldn't help but over hearing and it sound like the prince- " He's cut off. "Damon take this down."

His royal highness, Lorenzo Rupert, Windemere Vladimir, Carl Alexander, Francois Reginald, Lancelot Herman...

Damon stops writing. "Herman?" The queen nods, "Herman. Gregory St. John... (he'll thank us for it later) Is giving a ball!"

Damon takes the scroll and millions of invitations to the village. "The Prince is giving a ball!" He says when they get to the square. Everyone gathers to hear.

The Prince is Giving a Ball!
His royal highness, Lorenzo Rupert, son of her majesty, Queen
Lucyanna, Charlie DaGermatrude, Gueenavier Mazy...

"Mazy?" Katherine asks. Damon nods. "Mazy. Marguerite Ann... is giving a ball!" Everyone rejoices. All the townsfolk say. "The Prince is giving a Ball! The Prince is giving a Ball!" Katherine grins forgetting about Bonnie who is watching all the people. Katherine goes into the candy shop to get Rebekah and Sybil.

"They've spread the message far and wide, the Prince in giving a Ball! They say he wants to find a bride, he may find one at the ball!" Katherine says to her daughters. "Oh if only he'de propose to me!" Rebekah says dreamily. "I wish that he'd propose to me!" Sybil says. "Just leave the hair and clothes to me!" Katherine says. Then the three all together. "The Prince is giving a Ball!" They leave the store Sybil goes back in to get a lollipop.

Now if you please, the Crown decrees some fois de soir with frills,
A silky sateen in aubergine, a red if someone spills!
A surfeit of meat, a side of ham, and lots of beef filets,
Some marbleized steaks, a rack of lamb, and veal you raise to braise!
Limburger-Swiss and Gourmandise, Cheddar, Gruyere, and Bleu,
Chunks of Swiss in barrels, please, make sure that it's 'holy', too!
Puddings, and pies, and rum souffles, succulent chocolate rounds,
Cream puffs they can chew away to gain some royal pounds!

Townsfolk: The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!

Damon: His Royal Highness—200 orchids, 400 poppies, 600 roses, 800 lilies—
Lorenzo Rupert— 1,000 oranges, 2 000 plums—
Windermere Vladimir Carl Alexander - raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, gooseberry—
Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman, son of Her Majesty Queen Lucyanna—
Chocolate and cheddar and Charlotte and Maizy— son of His Caveat, King Elijah Godfrey Ladislav Leopold Sydney—

Townsfolk: —
SYDNEY?!

Damon: SYDNEY! Is giving a Ball!

Everyone with food and clothing follow Damon back to the palace. Bonnie watches as everyone goes. "The prince is giving a ball." She smiles and leaves to find her step family who is already in the carriage waiting. "Hurry up Bonnie there is much work to be done!" Bonnie nods then Stefan helps her on the front of the carriage with all the material and shoes her step family bought. They head back towards the house. Once they arrive Stefan helps Bonnie down and then the rest of them.

"Bonnie tip the man oh, my the money is inside Bonnie retrieve it and give it to the man." Bonnie goes inside leaving the door open so they could get in and goes to get four gold coins since Katherine won't allow her to give him a small sack. She leaves everything and goes back out. She looks around, but Stefan and the carriage are gone. Bonnie turns to Rebekah. "He went home don't you know that? Otherwise he'd still be here waiting."

Bonnie rolls her eyes and heads down the small path that leads to his house. She knocks on the door Caroline answers. "Bonnie hi, please come in." She opens the door wider to let Bonnie in. "So Stefan told me about the ball that is coming up the day after tomorrow." Bonnie nods and hands Caroline the sack. "No, you keep it any buy yourself something nice for the ball." Bonnie shakes her head. "My stepmother would never allow that." Caroline rolls her eyes. "That woman never does when it comes to you." They both look and see that Stefan has joined them. "Stefan can you take Bonnie and I into the village tomorrow?" Stefan smiles. "Of course, so what will we tell dear old Katherine?"

"Simple we are going into town to get the rest of the fabric she requires." Stefan nods. "I can do that, but I'll need some help since, I'm the one she always wants to keep her eyes on." Caroline looks at Bonnie with sympathy. "Alright, then leave that here so we can take it with us in the morning." Bonnie nods then she closes their door and skips back home. "Oh there she is, Bonnie mother is looking for you." She gives a slight nod to Rebekah then hurries up the stairs to her stepmother's room. She knocks on the door. "Come in." Katherine says.

"Yes, stepmother?" Bonnie asks when she steps in "Oh well Bonnie, we need tea then after that you must clean the stables. Sweep the floors, clean the floors and dust the whole house. Understood?" Bonnie nods. "Good now go and make us some lunch while we wait for that tea." Bonnie leaves closing the door behind her. She goes downstairs to the kitchen and makes lunch as she waits for the tea to finish. When everything is made her stepmother comes down the stairs. "Rebekah. Sybil." Both Bonnie's step-sisters come racing down the stairs. Bonnie takes her plate to the kitchen to eat in silence.

"Bonnie!" She hears Sybil call. "Yes?" Sybil hold her cup up, "Is this hot?" She flips the cup up and the tea spills all over Bonnie. "No, it's not." She goes to the kitchen and gets her some hot tea. When she comes back she sees Rebekah smirking. "Alright girls enough and Bonnie do clean up the mess you've made." Her stepmother says with a smirk Bonnie holds back her tears and goes to grab a bucket filling it half way with hot water then adding soap. She gets a rag and goes back to the dining room. Bonnie lets out a sigh of relief when she sees her step family is no longer in the room.

She hums her mother's song as she cleans the floors then sweeps them. She goes out to the stables and cleans it and feeds the stray dog that Bonnie calls Terry once that is all finished she goes out to the shack and cleans herself off of all the filth and dresses in one of the nightgowns she was able to salvage before her stepmother threw them all away. Bonnie could not wait for tomorrow she fell into a blissful sleep.