Elle and James reunited, things seemed to progress smoothly for them... for the most part. People started to grow suspicious. Annalise, King Hubert, and Katherine found it somewhat strange that both James and "Margarete" would disappear at the same time, however Katherine knew that James did not love her, and probably never would, nor would she ever reciprocate non-existent feelings. Even with their hard ships, the two began to fall in love, and James realized that Elle was exactly the woman that he wanted for his queen. As time went on, the lovers found it increasingly difficult to find time to meet, especially was the Winter Ball drew near.
James worried about the Winter Ball. He knew that his father expected him to formally announce his impending marriage to Katherine, at which point it would be very hard to renege on the arrangement. James knew that it would be a half-hearted vow; his heart fully belonged to Elle. Although he knew that Katherine would make a good queen, he did not love her, and he couldn't bring himself to live his life with someone he didn't love.
His father recently rambled about wanting to make sure that his children found true love before too long, but what the King failed to realize, as far as James was concerned, was that just because his arranged marriage to James' and Annalise's mother turned out to be true love didn't mean that it would automatically work again. When the her father told Annalise that he was considering arranging a marriage between her and the crown prince of a strong, but far away, kingdom, Anna let her father have it for a full half hour, vowing that she would die a spinster before she was arranged to marry for what accounted as a business transaction. Her father dropped the subject.
The night of the ball came. The ballroom was not nearly so lavishly decorated as it would have been had their mother arranged it, but it would suffice. James sat in his throne, on the left of his father's towering throne. His sister's was empty; she was working on last minute preparations, and the guests were beginning to arrive.
James ignored her. Annalise got up and met with one of the party guests, a man dressed up as a Prince. The Winter Ball was a masquerade ball, with the affluent guests highly encouraged to come in costume. Anna wore a beautiful feather adorned gown, reminiscent of a swan. She even had a pair of white feathered wings attached to her back to complete her elegant Swan Princess look. Katherine even, although she still didn't quite understand Almiris's apparent fascination with masked balls, came dressed as an interpretation an Evil Queen, her raven hair accentuating the look, although Katherine more closely resembled Snow White than her famous step mother.
Another man soon approached the dejected Prince. James smiled at him. "How are you, Adrian?" he asked the man dressed as a pirate.
"I am well, how about you?"
"I could be better, honestly. I can't bring myself to tell everyone that I plan to marry Katherine."
"Any luck finding Elle?"
"Yes. I've been courting her for the last three months."
"Is she here?"
The prince shook his head. "No. She's Katherine's lady in waiting, but Katherine told me that she didn't like balls, and so refused to show up. She apparently went into the town."
"On tonight of all nights?"
The prince woefully nodded.
Adrian laid his hand on James' shoulder. James glanced up at him. "I'm sorry." Adrian then proceeded to the balcony to lounge on one of the lavish couches situated there. The ball had yet to begin.
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Meanwhile, Annalise pulled the man she'd been conversing with into an empty room and turned to him.
"What on earth are you doing here? Do you have any idea what my father will do to you if he finds you here?" Annalise whispered.
Prince Vaun simply smiled at her, kissing her hand, an action that always made the princess's heart melt. "Come Hell or high water, I would never pass on a chance to see the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Why must you be so charming?" Anna said teasingly.
"Do you remember when we first met?" he asked her.
"Of course I do. You were climbing on the roof of my family's stable and you fell on top of me on a haystack. It took days to get the hay out of my hair." Annalise reminisced the time when they were young and carefree, before Vaun's father threatened to wage war on her kingdom.
"We were just kids back then," he took her in his arms and she relaxed into him, "but I fell in love with you that day Annalise, and I will love you till the day I die. I promise you, once our kingdoms are at peace again, I will give you the wedding you always wanted, my Swan Princess. "
"Let's rejoin the festivities. We don't want them looking for us."
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While the pair enjoyed a romantic dance, an enchanted mask concealing Vaun's identity for the time being, James shared a dance with his bride-to-be, dreading midnight when he would have to make the announcement that would seal his fate for eternity.
Above them, Adrian lounged on a sofa, still unwilling to join the festivities. He really didn't like balls, but his dearest friend had invited him, and he was not going to refuse him. Bored, Adrian began to let his mind drift to the Sea... and his duties... and women. Although he'd never admit it, Sir Adrian Grimmwood didn't lead the most noble of lives.
Suddenly, the doors opened, and in front of him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Her flame red hair cascaded down her back, contrasting with the ball gown that hugged her form like a glove. The white of the dress set off her pale, rosy skin, and he could tell, even though they were hidden by her golden mask, that her eyes were lovely. She was obviously a Princess.
Sheepishly, he stood up and executed the most elegant bow he could in an effort to impress her. She smiled back at him before descending down the stairs. Adrian was left stunned in her wake. He made up his mind then and there; one way or another, he would have the flame-haired beauty for his own.
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As Elle descended the stairs, she searched for William, whom she'd hoped to see. She hadn't lied when she'd told Katherine that she planned on going into town, she'd just planned on taking William with her. When she couldn't find him, she realized that he had probably gone to the ball, and she transformed herself into a princess to attend.
She did not spot him, but she did catch the eye of another, whom she knew to be the Prince, regardless of his fancy mask. He approached her, and she smiled at him, curtsying. He bowed, then kissed her hand. "We are honored to have you here, Princess. May I have this dance?"
"Yes." Elle replied, knowing that she was not at liberty to refuse.
As the night progressed, Elle realized that William would never show, but found herself content dancing with the prince whose eyes matched her dear William's so perfectly. James refused to let anyone else dance with her while Katherine sat out several dances, not used to the constriction of her tight corset. Finally, Elle decided to sit out a dance as midnight approached. Although she intended to eat, the King called Elle over to sit by him. She apprehensively sat down in Princess Annalise's throne.
"I see that my son has taken a liking to you, Princess."
Not knowing how else to answer the King's odd statement, she replied with a simple nod.
Abruptly, the King's tone turned stern, startling the maiden. "I will not allow you to draw my son away from his duty. He and Katherine are due to be wed by the Summer Solstice. The wedding will run smoothly." Elle saw through the King's thinly veiled threat.
Elle composed herself. "Your fears are unjustified, Your Majesty." Elle politely replied, "My heart already belongs to some..."
Elle stopped abruptly, flabbergasted. While she'd been conversing with the King, she'd watched one young woman, dancing with the man she'd seen when she first arrived. There was something unsettlingly familiar about her, but she hadn't been able to put her finger on it until now.
Now that the maiden was separated from her partner, Elle realized what was so unsettling about her, and was consequently horrified. Although the maiden wore a mask like everyone else in the room, Elle would have recognized the cruel woman anywhere, the woman who tormented Elle, egged on by her mother. Marissa. She had recently arrived, but Elle knew that if she could recognize her stepsister behind a mask, then so could Marissa. Elle had to leave... now. If she didn't it was very possible that she and her sister would be discovered, and they would be dragged back into the hell they'd desperately tried to escape from. However, this time around, Elle was sure that Purgatory would seem like Paradise compared to what her stepmother would have in store for her.
Just as the clock began to strike midnight and James primed himself to give the dreaded speech, Elle leapt out of her seat and raced up the stairs and out of the ballroom, Prince James in hot pursuit.
He followed the princess out into the snow-covered hedge maze, but soon lost her in the dark and the foliage, her footsteps erased by the quickly falling snow. In despair, James cried in the snow, realizing that he was chasing the
mystery maiden because he was hopelessly in love with her lookalike. He'd planned on defying his father, telling the guests that he could
not marry Katherine because his heart already belonged to someone else.
If Elle had arrived like he had hoped, he would have finally admitted
that he was William all along. This Princess had reminded him so much of
his beloved Elle, but there was something different about her, although
he couldn't put his finger on it.
When he returned to the ball as duty decreed, he could find no more joy in the festivities and sat on his throne, forlorn.
"Enough of this!" King Hubert finally barked. "It is time for you to suck it up and announce your engagement to Katherine." he pushed.
James stared at his father for a long moment, then stood up. "No."
"What?!"
"I said, 'No.' Not given what has happened." At this, James stood up and addressed the guests. "I apologize, but the Ball is over. Your carriages will be sent for." Leaving his flabbergasted father stunned in his throne, James strode out of the ballroom.
The guests grumbled, but obliged the Prince, beginning to say their goodbyes.
Prince Vaun took the hand of his Lady Love and gently kissed it. "Till we meet again in dreams, my Princess." he said before filing out of the room with the rest of the part guests and disappearing into the snowy night.
Elle had not completely vanished as the Prince assumed. While exploring the castle grounds as a child she'd happened upon a secret room in the garden, an ancient hall of mirrors than now laid decrepit, all but one of the large mirrors falling victim to time. It was here that Elle had sought refuge, and she knew that the Prince would not find her. Her hideaway, also holding a sofa in excellent condition given its age, gave her time to think, and the sofa, a place to sit while doing so.
What she saw staring back at her was someone who did not belong there and yet was completely at home in a castle. She was stuck between feeling like she didn't belong in the perfect world she now existed in, and feeling like the world that she was comfortable in was the wrong one.
It seemed as if she was caught between three different worlds. She could not figure out who she was anymore, let alone where she belonged. Who was she? Was she the woman she'd been born as, the woman she was raised as, or the woman she wanted to be? Was she pretending to be a Princess where none should be, or was a part of her suppressed that was finally revealing itself after years of neglect and cruelty? None of these she knew, but she did know one thing; seeing Marissa there that night meant that the girls were in far more danger than they had realized.
Wow that was a long chapter! I have no idea when I'll have the next chapter up, probably within the next week or two, but no guarantee since I now have to survive finals. I realized that Elle's time as Cinderella is actually going to be rather short in the grand scope of things, with her initial story serving more as the exposition and some of the rising action than anything. Don't worry though, there is still lots of royal family drama to be had.
Till Next Time!
Sophie.
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