At last, nightfall fell on the kingdom. Many of the townspeople waited at the front gates of the palace, waiting to be escorted inside to enjoy the celebration of the queen. Lots of chatter could he heard outside of the gates. The kingdom hasn't had a decent celebration since the 16th birth celebration of Nalander. After that ceremony, Nalander starting to get local town girls at his window. Some would wait for hours, even days to get noticed by the young prince. Seeing this as inappropriate, many birthday celebrations became private. The doors of the palace opened, and the ballroom began to get swallowed by music and guests. A pianist on the left side, a table full of treats on the left, and the empty seats for the royal family sat peacefully in the middle. People began to drink and dance. Penny, who stood beside the table filled with treats, danced gently amongst herself. Her hair, which just got washed and came down to her lower back, bounced gently, moving the same way in which her body did. As she hums to herself, Nalander appears on her side.
"You clean up very nicely" Nalander compliments.
"Thank you, and so do you" she replied.
She giggles and she fiddles with the ruffles of her party gown as. The two look around, and observe the people celebrating around them. Penny stopped dancing among herself, and quietly observed her surroundings. Many women dancing with men. Some of them couples and others strangers.
"Why'd you stop dancing?" the young prince shouts over the loud noise filling the room.
"I have no one to dance with" she yells in response.
"What about the treats, I haven't seen you pick one up yet"
"I'll get one soon" she smiled.
The two began dancing among themselves. Several minutes were spent enjoying the deserted delights, light dancing, and talking about the locals that surrounded them.
"Do you think he's married" Penny asked Nalander, pointing to an old fellow dancing a younger maiden.
"Oh yeah, for sure" Nalander chuckled. "His wife isn't going to be happy. They both laughed as they made fun of the old fellow. Penny's only fear is that she would be seen by her older brother having a nice time with the young prince. Although she had no idea where Eric was located, the constant fear still frolicked inside of her. Trying to relief her fear she helped herself to a treat on the table beside her. Looking down at the ground and swaying from side to side she feels a tap from Nalander and he begins to whisper.
"Whose that" he points to Eric, who has just entered the ballroom, with a unfamiliar young maiden by his side. She was very petite, a bit shorter than Penny was, and her face more bunny complexed. Penny's face fell in despair, she was not aware of her brother bringing a date along with him. She's seen her around a few times, but had no idea that Eric was planning to bring her tonight. She only believed that the maiden and her brother were distant friends, if he was seeing her, she at least would know. Eric, with the young lady on his arm, passed by the two and proceeded to the dance floor, and the townspeople began to mummer amongst themselves. The maiden accompanying Eric, wore a long silk gown, tightly fitted, to complement her body shape.
"Who is she, she's quite beautiful" a person amongst the crowd said quietly.
"I've never seen him with her before" said another.
Eric was quite charming and charismatic, so it was not hard for him to find a partner. Many women stayed away from him, and others couldn't resist him. Taking one look into his snake filled green eyes, would make some women fall in love instantly. Though it was said that he was with a new lady every week, but he was never dating them. He may have slept with a few of them, but never felt a true connection. Many of the women desired him because of the authority he held within the kingdom. Eric takes the woman by the hand, presses his lips against it and offered her to dance. She blushed in return, and allowed him to hold her by her waist. The two began to dance with both of their movements mirroring one another.
"You don't know how happy I am to be here" the maiden told him.
"I am just as happy" Eric replied. "You are truly the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." He was lying. Amused by this, the maiden's cheek began to rise as she smiled. She glared into his eyes, with every inch of innocence she had.
"Do you think the king and queen will like me" she inquires.
"I'm sure they would be delighted" he reassures.
"Where are they ?" she asked. Suddenly the music came to an abrupt stop and the two stopped dancing. A loud clinking of a glass could be heard coming from the front of the ballroom. There stood the king, with his lovely wife by his side, both with smiles on their faces. Queen Versa, who stood with such grace, smiled among the people. Everyone then stopped and acknowledging their attention, awaiting the words that were about to be spoken.
"I would like to thank everyone on this lovely evening" the king projects. "Celebrating my wife, who has made it to another lovely year, but has never aged by the second."
"To my people of the kingdom" he continued, yelling happily and raising his glass. "Thank you for allowing us to serve you for all these years, and many are yet to come" He turned beside him and gave his wife a kiss. Queen Versa bowed, her lavender ball gown slightly toughed the floor, and her crown stood highly on her hand. The queen was a woman of femininity. Never showing her family her rage, so she can be known as a woman of peace. She met Alexander just moments before he was reign as king, but that's a story for a different day.
After the ball was finished, the royal family was to report the the dining hall for a family dinner. It was a Forward tradition to have a dinner after every celebration, even if it was private. Nalander, roaming the halls by himself, could be heard humming as he was headed towards the dining hall. "I enjoyed myself" the young price thought to himself. Step after step, he thought about the food that he was about to consume. He could smell the meat, and almost savor the taste of the berries alongside it.
"Spppst" whispered a soft voice. "Hey Nal!"
Nalander, startled, looked over to his left, and there Christopher could be seen, kneeling underneath a clothed table. His body was curled over, so he could fit in the space.
"Mate ! What are you doing here" Nalander whispered as he quickly running to approach his best friend.
"I snuck in..." Christopher responded as crawled and arose from his hiding place "You know how easy it is to sneak into a royal party" He dusted himself off, letting out a sly smirk.
"As much as I am glad that you're here, you can't be" Nalander proclaimed. "My father would have an outrage"
"Yeah, but your mother loves me, it won't be a problem would it...here, I promise I won't cause any trouble"
"But my father Chris..." Nalander says in agony.
"C'mon, Eric had a plus one, why can't you" Christopher protested.
"Just promise you won't cause any trouble"
"On my fathers tombstone" Christopher says. His father passed away in battle a few years back.
