Scorched

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

That evening there was to be a grand masquerade ball to celebrate the Princes visit to Erendelle. All of the townsfolk were invited and Elsa had spent most of the afternoon making sure the ice rink was looking beautiful and that the gardens and fountains were looking as remarkable as they could possibly be. Ayla, on the other hand had spent her time making sure that the inside of the castle was lovely and toasty warm and making sure all of the candles were lit and her own little fire statues were looking fantastic.

It was soon time for the ball, the townsfolk were all dressed in their finery and elaborate masks and the Princes were being presented by the host of the evening. Ayla and Elsa waited upstairs behind the balcony doors. 'Are you excited?' Elsa whispered, 'I'm excited to be seeing the townsfolk, the princes I really do not care for as I find them rude' Ayla muttered 'you've only come to that conclusion because of Prince Hans's remark earlier. You never know he and the others may actually be very nice' Elsa smiled reassuringly. 'Citizens of Erendelle, King Sven and the Princes of the Southern Isle. May I present Queens Ayla and Elsa of Erendelle' boomed a loud voice before the doors to the balcony were opened allowing Ayla and Elsa to walk through them, they stood on the balcony and waved before casting their hands forward and creating a staircase made from half ice and half flames. With practiced elegance and elocution they descended the staircase to an uproar of applause.

King Sven met them at the bottom of the staircase 'what a magnificent entrance your majesty's, I must say you almost had me fooled there. For a second I thought you actually had the abilities to create ice and fire' Ayla glanced at Elsa but her face wasn't giving anything away. 'No just a very clever trick' Elsa enthused 'and your dresses, again it is almost as though those flames are real' King Sven motioned towards Ayla's blood red gown with flames along the hem and on her matching mask. 'Again another illusion' Elsa smiled before continuing the conversation with King Sven

Ayla soon grew bored of the conversation and mingled around with the other guests, she never did care that much for conversation she preferred to enjoy herself and have fun. But her fun was soon destroyed when the host for the evening announced that it was time for the Royals Dance, she hurried over to Elsa 'what's the Royals Dance?' Ayla whispered 'we have to dance with the princes, I did tell you yesterday' Elsa tried to keep her annoyance hidden. 'Queen Elsa and King Sven, Queen Ayla and Prince Hans would you care to make you way to the floor' the host announced to which Ayla screwed her nose up at his choice in partners. Prince Hans waited patiently on the floor and extended his hand for Ayla, she took it and he pulled her close to him until they were in a waltz position. King Sven and Elsa entered the floor and assumed the same position.

As the music began to play the couples danced effortlessly across the floor as the rest of the guests watched. 'I must say your majesty you do dance rather well' Prince Hans mentioned as he spun Ayla around, 'thank you' Ayla's voice was clipped and to the point. 'Have I said something wrong?' Hans raised an eyebrow at her, 'apart from being arrogant and saying that my sister and I have a backwards way of running our kingdom, no you haven't said a thing' Ayla snapped to which Hans smirked at her. 'I'm starting to get the impression that you don't like me Ayla' his arrogance consuming him 'to you it is Queen Ayla or your majesty' Ayla glared in warning but Hans just looked away and smiled at some of the guests, some of the prettier girls he winked at and they visibly swooned. 'Ugh, you are so self-absorbed' Ayla muttered under her breath as she glanced over to her sister who was deep in conversation with King Sven.

'I'm not the one who felt it necessary to show off and have a fire and ice staircase to walk into the room. Nor am I the one who is showing off my wearing a flaming dress and mask' Hans hissed. 'Citizens of Erendelle and the Princes of the Southern Isle, you may all join the dance' the host enthused, as the guest entered the floor Ayla snatched her hand away from Hans and stormed out of the room and outside to the gardens.

'Ugh, damn you Elsa it's freezing out here' Ayla whispered to herself as she rubbed her bare arms, she removed her mask and placed it on the bench before taking a seat and staring at the weeping willow tree that to say was burnt to the ground only a year ago had grown a substantial amount. 'Oh papa, mama I wish you could be here with us' Ayla looked towards the sky and saw a shooting star fly over, illuminating the sky as it went. Ayla remained seated for an age until she heard footsteps behind her. 'Your majesty, are you alright?' a gentleman's voice tore through the silence, 'I'm fine thank you' Ayla replied not turning to see who the man actually was.

He continued walking towards the bench and crouched down in front of her, 'you didn't look that way when you stormed off from my brother' the man smiled at her. Ayla recognised him as one of the Princes but couldn't remember his name, 'Prince Adam' he extended his hand although reading her mind 'Queen Ayla' she smiled as she took his hand. He placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand 'a pleasure to meet you, and I must say I really did enjoy your entrance earlier and your dress is simply stunning' 'thank you' Ayla once again smiled. She didn't know what it was about Adam, but she felt like she could trust him.

For the next hour or so the two of them walked through the gardens and chatted until Ayla heard someone shouting her name, she turned and saw a maid hurrying over to her. 'Queen Ayla, you are needed in the throne room' her tone urgent so Ayla rushed back to the throne room to see what the problem was.