Beauty and the Bird

Chapter 9: "Back to You" by Twin Forks

Liam was dressed in his best. His tunic was white and his overcoat was blue and gold. He wore is small, gold crown on his blonde head. His mask was white with blue and gold designs.He was bored out of his mind. Because he was the prince, he had to greet guests at the door, smile, and act as if he loved balls. But Liam hated them with every fiber of his being. He looked around the ball room. There was light music playing. No one was dancing, they were just talking amongst themselves in their excessive extravagant dresses pretending that they were actually having fun and enjoyed each other's company. But no one actually liked each other. Friendships were only made if there was mutual benefits, like social standing or money. Nothing was real in his life and soon his marriage wasn't going to be either. 

Liam was sick of smiling and greeting guests at the door. He left the duty for his brother and went to go find wine. If he was going to be stuck here, then he was going to be drunk while doing it. At least then he'd actually enjoy himself. 

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Aiden waited at Rowen's door and adjusted his overcoat and mask to make sure it was perfect. He checked his hair in the reflection of the door knob. When he saw the door knob move, he quickly stood straight. Rowen opened the door. 

When he walked in he saw an angel. Rowen was absolutely breathtaking. She was wearing a beautiful red gown. The top of the gown was embroidered with red roses and the sleeves went to her forearm. At her hips, the gown flowed out. The gown dropped to the floor. Rowen's hair was up and a red rose was put in the side of her bun. Her lips were red which brought out the grey in her eyes. The mask she wore was white with red roses as the design. It was covered in gold glitter. The mask covered her forehead and stopped at her nose.

Aiden couldn't breathe. What stood before him was something not of his earth. Rowen must be a goddess or a fallen star. Her beauty was to great to be human. 

"Do I look okay for the ball?" she asked. 

Aiden was shocked at her question, "Of course you are! Rowen," he went closer to her, "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." And Aiden meant it. He meant very word of it. She was so gorgeous that there were no words to describe it. 

Rowen smiled and hugged him, "Thank you Aiden. You are such a good friend."

That killed him. He didn't want to be friends. When she faced him after the hug, he tried his best to look like what she said didn't affect him. But it did. He promised himself that after tonight, Rowen would know his true feelings for her and then she'll know that she can love him. Aiden was convinced that she wasn't sure she was allowed to love him. 

Aiden took her hand and said, "Shall we my lady?"

Rowen took his hand and smiled, "Lets."

As they walked to the door, Aiden noticed the rose. A petal had fallen.

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Rowen had never felt beautiful in anything as she did in this dress. She couldn't understand her feelings. She couldn't understand how something as simple as a dress could make her feel like this. Like she ruled the world. Rowen carried her head higher. She loved how she was feeling and never wanted it to stop. She wished there were balls everyday because she would love to dress up and feel like this. 

Aiden took her to the front of the castle. Rowen was so excited and scared at the same time. She had never been to a ball and wasn't quite sure how to behave. She had read everything about it in the books Asa gave her but there were some things that the books couldn't teach. Like how to dance with someone, how much food to eat, who to talk to, what to talk about. She wasn't sure about any of those things and needed to make sure that she was acting as human as possible.

Aiden and her entered the ball room. Rowen's eyes lit up. She was dazzled by the decorations, food, and the people. Everyone wore different shaped masks and were dressed beautifully. They were talking amongst themselves holding cups of someone purple. Suddenly, all of them stopped their conversations and looked at her. Rowen froze. Why were they looking at her? Did they know? Her heart started racing. 

"Why are they looking at me?" she whispered to Aiden.

"Because you look beautiful." he replied.

This confused Rowen. They were looking at her because she was beautiful? It made no sense. They all looked beautiful and she was dressed like them.

"But I'm wearing a gown just like them." She told Aiden.

He smiled, "Yes, but your gown is so much more elegant than theirs. They could never look twice as good as you do in that gown. No one could."

Rowen relaxed. "Oh." She didn't know how to respond or react. No one had ever been jealous of her. Even in the forest, none of the birds wanted to be as small as Rowen. 

Before Aiden could say anything else, a servant came to him and whispered something in his ear. Aiden looked irritated and agreed to the servant. 

"I'm so sorry Rowen, but I have to go greet the guests because my brother decided to leave. I will meet with you later I promise."

Rowen didn't want him to leave, she didn't want to be alone. "But what do i do right now?"

Aiden started walking as he replied, "Have some wine and some food. Maybe find some people to talk to but don't tell them who you really are. I'm sorry I have to go." He left before she could say anything else. 

Rowen was all alone. She looked around and saw that there were still some people looking at her. She decided to follow Aiden's advice and have some wine. Whatever that was. 

Rowen asked a servant where the wine was and the women pointed to a table with a bunch of gold cups. As she walked to the table, she saw couples of men and women dancing together. They were laughing and smiling. Their dancing looked complicated. The men stood in a line in front of a line of women. When the music started, each man faced a women and they started raised their hands to each other and walked in circles looking at their partner's face. 

Rowen was to busy looking at the dancing that she accidentally bumped into a man. His back was turned to her and he grumbled and groaned and was holding a cup of what she guessed was wine. 

Rowen apologized and when the man turned around she recognized his eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes.