"Got her!" Sagittarius said looking below the banister. He and Adam threw a net in order to catch his fiancee, Sapphire, who's been wandering all over the place. When the two of them threw the net, Sapphire managed to look up, she saw the net, but didn't have enough time to dodge it.
Sapphire was flailing her arms, trying to get the net off, but the holes in the net was large enough that her arms kept going through them...despite her arms and hands were still hidden in the sleeves of her white cloak. She also kept tripping over the net and falling backwards on the ballroom floor.
"Don't worry, dear," Sagittarius said coming down the stairs, "I'm coming." He didn't realize that Adam, Belle and Tintement were coming down the stairs as well. When Sapphire turned around and saw Sagittarius, he could see the hint of anger in her eyes.
'I know what's going to happen when I remove that net off her.' Sagittarius thought to himself as he started removing the net.
"Sagittarius, do you want some help?" Adam asked.
"No," Sagittarius answered, "trust me, I don't." He continued removing the net off Sapphire, not enjoying the thought about what will happen afterwards. When he finally did remove the net...that's when it happened.
Adam had quite the eyeful when he saw Sapphire...slapping Sagittarius across his face, the slap actually echoed through the empty ballroom. Sagittarius raised his hand over his cheek, or at least over the red area where Sapphire slapped him.
"I...was expecting...that." Sagittarius said, Adam couldn't believe how calm his cousin was acting. If Belle did something like that to him, he would think that Belle didn't want anything to do with him.
"I...look all over this huge place, looking for you and you decide that catching me with a net would be a great way for you to get me?" Sapphire said, in a irritated voice.
"Now...sweetheart, try to calm down." Sagittarius said.
"I am calm!" she said.
As for Adam, Belle and Tintement, the three of them didn't want to get into something like this, especially when it's already a mess. They just plain decided to wait outside the ballroom. They didn't want any part of any argument that Sapphire and Sagittarius were going to get themselves in.
"Were the two of you that bad?" Tintement asked her cousin.
"Absolutely not." Belle said right away, Adam knew that wasn't true. He and Belle have had their share of arguments, but both, he and Belle, would rather not get into detail about them.
"Well," Tintement said, "it's not my place to know, but I had to ask."
Sagittarius and Sapphire were having their discussion for a good five to ten minutes, when Sapphire had calmed down enough that her voice was no longer sounding irritated.
"By the sounds of things," Belle said, "things seemed to be calming down in there."
"Are you saying that it's safe to back in there?" Tintement asked.
"I wouldn't take my chances." Belle said, "Who knows what those two are talking about?" Adam just plain didn't want to know what was going on with his cousin...and his fiancee. He still couldn't believe that he now had to...share the one man in his family that loved him. That was the one thing that was going to be tough for him.
Adam snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the ballroom door open. There was Sagittarius coming out, his right cheek was still red from Sapphire slapping him.
"I'm glad you guys left the room." Sagittarius said, "I didn't want you to get yourselves into this mess I made."
"It...wasn't your fault, Sagittarius." Adam spoke up, "You weren't expecting her to show up."
"None of us were," Belle added, "we all just now have to make the best of it." There was a knock at the ballroom door and it opened a touch wider.
"Can I come out?" It was Sapphire's voice, Sagittarius turned and looked at his cousin. Adam just nodded his head, despite that his heart was starting to break. He was just having a very difficult time trying to accept the fact that his cousin was in love with a woman, just like he is with Belle.
"Yes, my dear." Sagittarius said to Sapphire, the door opened more and Sapphire walked out. Her hood was still up on her head, but her mouth was now shown. "Sapphire," Sagittarius added, "can you remove your hood, please?"
"Oh, forgot that I was still wearing it." Sapphire said as she removed her hood. When she did, her face and neck were revealed. Her hair was as red as cherries and she also had fair skin. It was very fair, more fair than Belle's skin, Sapphire's skin was that white and pale. Her light blue eyes were more lighter without the hood trying to hide them.
"Sapphire, I would like for you to meet someone close to me." Sagittarius said, he then pointed at Adam. When Adam looked straight at Sapphire, he...tried to hide the feelings he was currently having, one of them jealousy. "This is my little cousin, Prince Adam Devereaux Mallory Porc-épic Colère."
"Please to meet you, your highness." Sapphire said, extending her hand out.
"Uh, Sapphire," Sagittarius said, "curtsy."
"Oh." Sapphire said as she grabbed the sides of her white cloak and curtsied. "Forgive me for making an odd entrance, sir."
"Please call me Adam." Adam said, feeling a touch embarrassed because his cousin used his full name. Belle could tell that he was a touch embarrassed, but she kept it to herself and made sure that Tintement kept it to herself as well.
"Very well, Adam." Sapphire said, "If I may continue, I'm here for a reason. I don't mean to disturb anything between you and Sagittarius."
"Then, why are you here, Sapphire?" Sagittarius said, "I already told you that I was leaving for a special reason."
"Believe me, my dear Sagittarius," Sapphire said, "I don't want to get between the two of you, but we got a surprise the day after you left."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well," she said, "after you left we got a letter from Queen Henrietta Rainier, your mother." Sagittarius' eyes just widen, "The servants were so out of control about the letter that they just lost their minds."
"What did the letter say?" Sagittarius said.
"I don't know," Sapphire said as she reached in her cloak, "no one opened it because it's from your mother and they wanted you to open it." She pulled out the letter out of her inside pocket, it was still sealed with wax. "I got tired of everyone waiting and not doing anything that I asked Lilla where you were going and to find you myself and give this to you. I wasn't able to get here until last night, but I'm here and here is the letter." Sagittarius stared at the letter in Sapphire's hidden hand.
"Open it, cousin." Adam said, Sagittarius looked at him. "We both need to know what's going on with Aunt Henrietta." Sagittarius just sighed and took the letter from Sapphire, opened it and read it. When he was done, his jaw dropped as the letter slipped out of his fingers and fell to the floor. "Sagittarius, what's wrong?" Adam asked.
"My mother...was planning to come out at my castle in twelve days!" Sagittarius said, "Why couldn't my servants deal with this?!"
"It took you at least six days to get here," Belle said, "and you've been here for two. Since the letter didn't come until the day after you left, that mean's there's only five days until she goes there."
"I've got tell her that I'm with Adam." he said.
"You didn't tell Aunt Henrietta that you going to see me?" Adam asked.
"You know just as much as I do that she'll throw a hissy fit if I told her I was visiting you without her." Sagittarius said, "That's why I didn't tell her."
"True, very true." Adam said, trying to remember his aunt. The one thing he defiantly remembered about Henrietta was that she was a hugger...and always wanted to embrace him.
"As much as it kills me," Sagittarius said, "I'm going to have to tell her that I'm here...and knowing her, she's going to bring herself here and-" That's when an idea came to Sagittarius' head. "If you ladies will excuse me and my cousin." Sagittarius grabbed his cousin's hand, went into the ballroom and closed the door behind him.
"Sagittarius, what is it?" Adam asked.
"Remember that I said we may have to bring my mother and some of the lower ranks of the court for you to get your crown?" Sagittarius said with a smile.
"You must've lost your mind!" Adam said, "I can't get myself ready for that in five days, there's a good chance that Aunt Henrietta will shorted the time frame!"
"Not if I really push the issue about that." Sagittarius added, "I'll make sure she'll give us more time!"
"I can't do this!" Adam said turning his back at his cousin, but Sagittarius sensed that there was something else holding him back.
"Cousin...are you worried about something?" he asked, Adam slowly turned back around.
"Yes," Adam softly answered, "but you wouldn't understand."
"Tell me, Adam. I want to make this better for you." Adam sighed at his cousin's response, he can tell Sagittarius is trying to make the situation better.
"It's Belle," Adam answered, "I want Aunt Henrietta to accept her, she may not be as beautiful and white as Sapphire, but...I don't want anyone to be there for me except Belle. I just...don't want her to suffer through everything I'm trying to...achieve."
"Believe me, cousin," Sagittarius said, "I do understand, in fact, I was even worried about my mother accepting Sapphire because she wasn't always this fair-skinned."
"What do you mean?" Adam asked, but Sagittarius just shook his head.
"That's something Sapphire is gonna have to tell you when she's ready." Sagittarius said, "Back on topic, when mother met Sapphire, she didn't have any problems me being with her...and she gave Sapphire her blessing for us to get married. I highly doubt that mother won't accept Belle."
"How can you be sure?" Adam asked, "It's been a very long time since I've seen Aunt Henrietta, what if she's changed over the years?"
"The only thing that's changed on my mother is her hair." Sagittarius said, "She's still the same lovable woman you and I know from years ago, the only time she's serious is when she's with the other royal ranks. Trust me, cousin, you and I may have changed, but my mother is still the same lovable woman we both know...and love." Adam smiled, he knew when Sagittarius pushed an issue, it usually meant that he was serious.
"Okay, okay," Adam finally said, "I believe you and...I guess we can try to do this."
"I know we can." Sagittarius said, "Besides, her coming over here...gives me a excuse to stay with you longer."
"The best part of this discussion." Adam said, "I just hope...I can get along with Sapphire and you can get along with Belle and that cousin of hers. Tintement always shows her tough side, but prove to her that you're going to nice to her family, she'll be nice back."
"Hmm, almost sounds like my Sapphire." Sagittarius said, "When she stretched her hand out to you, she was trying to shake your hand."
"Oh," Adam said in relief, "I thought she wanted me to kiss it."
"Sapphire doesn't like her hand to be kissed, she's...had a rough life and I'm just trying to make things better and easier for her...and her wounded heart."
"Doesn't she have...any family" Adam asked.
"All I can tell you is that her uncle took her in after her mother fell ill and died." Sagittarius said, "I can't say anything more unless Sapphire says I can. I...respect the things she keeps secret."
"Well, I'm not going to push it, despite that I want to know more." Adam said, "Right now, you better write that letter to Aunt Henrietta before...she has our heads."
"No," Sagittarius clarified, "she's going to have my head and my neck!" Adam just laughed at that as he and his cousin walked back to the door to join the ladies.
"Hmm, whenever Sagittarius acts like that, he always has an idea." Sapphire said, with Belle and Tintement.
"So...you're the one who engaged to Sagittarius?" Tintement asked, Sapphire looked straight at her.
"Yes, I am." Sapphire said, "Are you engaged to Adam?"
"OH NO," Tintement said with seriousness, "I'm not engaged to anyone, but...my cousin here is engaged to his highness." Sapphire then looked at Belle.
"You're the one I met this morning." she said, "You almost collapsed!"
"I am and I almost did," Belle said, "if you weren't there, I would probably be gasping for air until someone found me...so thank you." Sapphire just smiled and said;
"You're welcome...I didn't catch your name."
"I'm Belle, Belle Arc-en-ciel. This is my cousin, Tintement."
"I am pleased to meet you." Sapphire said, "I know it was rude of me to run off on you after cutting your dress, but..."
"I know," Belle said, "don't worry about it. I was found a couple minutes after you left."
"If I may add something," Tintement said, "I want to apologize scaring you off like that."
"You didn't scare me," Sapphire said, "you just startled me and I thought I had to get out of the way of something."
"I do know one thing about you and that is you are very fast." Tintement said.
"I got to be fast." Sapphire said, "I don't need any wild animals to come after me, thinking I'm dinner."
"Good point," Belle said, "very good point. I...do hope I get to know more about you, Sapphire."
"Same here." Tintement said.
"I don't know that can happen." Sapphire said, she was about to say something else, but then the door to ballroom opened up and Adam and Sagittarius came back out.
"Sorry if we stopped your talk." Sagittarius said.
"No," Sapphire said, "we just finished. So...what's going to happen with your mother?"
"We were just discussing that." Sagittarius said, "We've decided...that we would tell her to come here."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Belle asked, "What I'm trying to say is that...do you think the servants can handle the stress?"
"I think with all of us together," Adam said, "we will get ourselves ready for Aunt Henrietta." Belle smiled at her fiancee, he had changed so much from that awful beast that she first met.
"Well, then, I'll you all do that." Sapphire said, she turned to leave, but Sagittarius stomped on her white cloak, making her stop in her tracks.
"My dear Sapphire, what do you mean by that?" he asked, she turned and looked at her fiancee.
"Sagittarius, I'm just here to drop that letter off." Sapphire said, "You also said that this trip was important to you, I don't think you need me to be hanging on your arm all the time."
"Sapphire," Sagittarius said, "I know I did say that, but..." He looked back at his cousin, begging him to let her stay.
"You're welcome to stay here, Sapphire." Adam said, finishing the sentence.
"What about everything going on at the castle?" Sapphire asked.
"Who did you put in charge?" Sagittarius asked.
"Lilla." Sapphire answered.
"Well then, I think the castle will be fine with Lilla there." Sagittarius said, "In fact, I think the servants listen to her more than Brimley." Sapphire sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Fine, I'll stay." She said, Sagittarius took a breath of relief when he heard that.
"Now that's taken care of," Tintement said, "do you think we should head to bed?"
"Tintement has a point," Belle said, "in fact, we should all be in bed." Everyone agreed, it was already past bedtime and most of the servants were probably already asleep. Tintement went off to her room, Sagittarius took Sapphire to his room and Adam decided to escort Belle to hers.
"This is going to be a little strange." Belle said, "First, I meet your cousin. Now I'm going to meet your aunt."
"I think you'll like her." Adam said, "She's a bit of a hugger, but besides that, she's very likable."
"I just might like her." Belle said, "You know, you never told me that your middle name was 'Mallory'." Adam stopped in his tracks when Belle said that, that's when she thought she touched a sore spot. "Sorry."
"Don't...worry about it." Adam said, "Just...try not to mention it so much."
"Why do you have that name?" Belle asked, Adam rubbed the back on his neck and groaned.
"Mother wanted to name me 'Mallory' if I was born a girl." Adam explained as he continued walking, "When I was born a boy, she knew that she had to come up with a another name for me."
"She named you 'Adam'." Belle said, walking beside him, "It's perfect for you."
"Mother named me that because...she believed that I would change my father's family and how everyone saw it. She was right, but when she found out that 'Mallory' can be a boy's name too, she decided to leave it as a middle name."
"I can see how you can be embarrassed by something like that." Belle said, "If I had a boy's name for my middle name, I'd be embarrassed too."
"I'm probably going have to beg Sagittarius not to use that middle name." Adam said.
"How many names do you have?"
"Six," Adam answered, "two for each, first, middle and last. Mother gave me her last name so that I would always be connected to her, not just..."
"Your father?" Belle said, Adam nodded 'yes', "So Adam Devereaux is your first names, Porc-épic Colère is your last name, then what's the rest of your middle name?"
"Mallory...Soren." Adam answered.
"Hmm," Belle thought, "Prince Adam Devereaux Mallory Soren Porc-épic Colère. A long name, but I think Adam fits you enough." Adam smiled as he stopped in front of Belle's door. He opened it for her to enter. "I'll see you in the morning, Adam. Try and get some sleep."
"I'll try," he answered, "you get some sleep to...and try to get dressed in something you can breathe in." Belle smiled and nodded her head, Adam closed the door and went to his room.
Yes, 'Mallory' can be used as a boy's name. I checked, anyway tell me what you think.