Once Upon a Time...

~Three~

We stroll around town, the people unknowing. He is dressed as what he refers to as "cheap clothes" but the trousers are made of soft dark blue material and his white shirt is obviously silken, no matter how much dirt he has rubbed on it.

We walk arm in arm, not in a flirtatious way, just how men and women are meant to travel with eachother. But the way his other arm wraps around me, it is slightly in a more affectionate way. We make a wide loop around the town and meet back at the inn where we started, it only took us a half hour.

"Your town is lovely Belle, the smell of fresh vegetables, much more pleasant that the West, everywhere stinks of fish." He laughs heartily again, and laugh quietly too. This Prince is so handsome and charming and funny, anybody could fall for him.

"You may of heard, Lord Edwards throwing a party and I'm required to attend, he is ather keen on acquainting me with his daughter, my parents are too, they don't want me to fall for some princess and die a tragic death, you know how we West people are more superstitious." He smiles softly taking my hands in his large ones.

"Would you come with me, that is if your parents can allow you, I would love to dance with you all night and hide from that stuffy lord and his ponsy daughter. " He looks me in the eyes, my heart is in my throat.

"Of course Cedric, I would be delighted." I stammer slightly. A party. With a prince. Dancing and eating and laughing.....with a prince, how could I say no?

"Good, I will see you there then." He raises my hands to his lips and kisses them before striding off.

I touch my hands to my face, shaking, though not with terror but delight. I rush off to meet up with Gabrielle who is impatient and now annoyed.

"Where were you? Off climbing some tree, I heard mother talking to you about that last night, we all did. Now come help me with my dress, I'm going to get the pink one, it will go with my hair well. I picked the red one for you, you can't go in green and besides, it's very tight fitting and you have got a nice body" She rambles but cuts off when she sees the look on my face about the comment about me.

"Well what, you aren't going to impress people with your brains are you? Men don't want a smart women, they want an obedient one." She said apologetically.

A few hours later, sick of my sisters fussing over Gabrielle, I decid to wrap my dress in a piece of cotton and take it to Ella's house, who also happens to be going to the sort of ball.

"Mama, a man has asked me to meet him at the party so I will go with Ella, she can help me dress myself, she has some new black satin hair ribbons that can go with the dress well." I kiss my mother n the cheek and she flushes with pride.

"Oh you wonderful girl! I will let you be with your friends tonight but when you come home I expect you to tell me everything, you hear? Good gir" She waves me off at the gate and I walk the short distance to Ella's house.

"My darling, you have come to visit!" She skips out of her cottage which she lives in with her Mother and Father and pet dog, Bruno. She is wealthier than I am and her parents can afford to buy her a new dress every month.

"I have." I lean down to rub Bruno's head. "Yes, I need your help, I'm going to Lord Edwards party too and well, I met a man...he wants me to meet him there, I think he likes me and hes wonderful Ella, he really his." I begged.

"Ha" She snorts delicately, looping her arm around me to draw me into her home.
"Sounds like one of your 'Prince Charming' fantsasies." She laughs again, closing and latching the door hut behind her.

"But Ella, thats the problem, he's Prince Cedric of the West. We met when a man was trying to hurt me in town, he pulled me off him, then he asked me to show him around town and then he kissed my hands and asked me to meet him at the ball with him to dance the night away" I sighed remebering his face. "What should I do??" I moaned as I threw myself onto her bed.