Winter Oneshot (Winterball) (#DEC2k16)

Divergent Kingdom

Four's P.O.V

The sound of the royal trumpets rings clearly in the morning air. It's the Prior's town crier, I lean against the door frame of my shop and dry my hands on my tunic. A few maids in passing smile at me and I nod at them. Many people gathered in the town square and the scent of firewood is heavy in the air. "Ladies and gentlemen, you all know of the annual winter ball held in honor of our King and Queen. This year's ball is extremely special since our princess, Beatrice, has come home from her three years of kingdom travel and is in search of a suitor. The ball is in two weeks' time, all are invited. Thank you." The town crier steps down from the pile of boxes he was standing on and the people begin to mill around the square, I hear maids fantasizing about what dress they are going to wear and I hear of some gentlemen pondering what the princess now looks like. The last time the kingdom saw the princess was when she was 13, she was a graceful and beautiful young lady, now she's most likely become more of a woman and more of a promising future queen. I hope I receive the honor of being able to at least meet her. 

I go to work on my latest project, I'm the blacksmith of the town of Abnegation, and I've been told I'm known as the best in the kingdom. I can create practically any tool or sculpture out of molten metal in under four minutes, that's how I got my nickname, Four. This project is a copper sculpture for the princess by the request of Prince Albert of Candor, he hoped that I could capture all towns in a form of total unity. I created a tree for the base of the structure, which symbolizes the town of Amity. The tree houses the eye for Erudite carved within its bark since both Amity and Erudite fuel our little kingdom. Then atop the tree rests a pair of hand for Abnegation and they hold the scales of Candor. The scales then house the flames of Dauntless within their cups. The entire structure is stunning in copper, I hope the prince will be pleased.

I hear a faint knock on my shop door, when I answer standing there is Shauna. "Hello Four," she says trying to be alluring, I try my hardest not to roll my eyes. Shauna has had an interest in me for years and she doesn't realize that I'm just not interested, it would be wrong to tell her bluntly so I remain polite. "Hello Shauna, how can I help you?" I ask cordially. "I was hoping, if you wouldn't mind, accompanying me to the winter ball?" she asks bashfully, I suppress my sigh "Sure, I'll accompany you to the ball, Shauna"

~~Time Lapse to the Winter Ball~~

Beatrice's P.O.V

I arrived home to the palace in full swing, there isn't a room without hustle and bustle and the ballroom smells of flowers and fresh pastries. I'm quite excited to see my kingdom and my friends and the possibilities of my future king. I admire the painting in the far corner of the ballroom, "Princess!" the head maid, Nita, calls, "The King and Queen request your presence in your chamber at once!" she calls after me, and looks tired and stressed. "I'm coming" I say calmly and walk over to her. I place my hand on her arm "Please, do not over exert yourself everything looks wonderful" I tell her and she smiles at me. When I reach the end of the room I call back to her, "Nita!" she turns from her place dusting to look at me "If anyone asks, tell them the princess has ordered you to take the rest of the day off" and then she beams at me "Thank you Princess!" she calls back. Nita has always been good to me since I was a child, especially when my parents were busy with royal duties I had Nita. She deserves the break. When I reach my chamber, I find my parents sitting on my bed with a box wrapped in a purple velvet cloth. "Mother, Father, what is this?" I ask they smile at me "It's your early seventeenth birthday present" my father answers. My mother opens the box to reveal a beautiful crown that matches the dress I will wear tonight. It's blue and silver rhinestones are simply gorgeous, I gasp. "Thank you so much!" I hug them tightly.

Four's P.O.V.

When the princess entered she looked striking, her hair was half up half down, with a tiara fit for a future queen. Her gray blue eyes were complimented by a sliver long-sleeved gown. She stands strong, insistent, beautiful. Any man in this kingdom would be lucky to marry her, all of the men in the room are watching the spectacle that is Princess Beatrice. "Four?" Shauna places her hand on my shoulder "Yes?" I glance to look at her "She's lovely isn't she?" Shauna quietly asks "Yeah, " I say dreamily. Shauna smiles at me and looks down in thought, and then back up to me and says "I think the princess would be lucky to meet such a great guy as you. If you get the chance to talk to her, cease the moment". She squeezes my arm as if to say "goodbye" and then disappears into the air. My friend, Shauna, was a fairy. She brought me here to make sure that I'd meet the princess. I look up and smile, thinking to myself: "Thank you, Shauna".

Beatrice's P.O.V.

It is the middle of the party when I've  just about had enough of meeting suitors, several were princes of those, some were respectful and others not as much.  Then I catch a glimpse of a young man with ocean blue eyes, but then he disappears. I walk in his general direction, then a fast paced dance begins and someone accidentally knocks me off balance but instead of a floor, I land in strong arms. I look up to see the gentleman with the ocean blue eyes "Hello, Princess" he says softly "Are you alright?" he asks with his eyebrows raised, he's extremely handsome. His suit is plain but his features are not. "Yes, I'm fine thank you" I straighten out my gown. He smiles at me and then a look crosses his face and he bows, "My apologies, your highness I should've introduced myself, I'm Four of Abnegation" he says. "Four. I've heard wonderful things about you, in the other kingdoms I've visited you're hailed as a legend in your field, it's an honor to be in your presence" I tell him, curtsying not regretting how silly I may look to show such respect to someone of a common rank, he is deserving of that respect in my opinion. "Would you care to dance?" he asks me "I would love to". We danced song after song until the music stopped. Neither of us had realized that everyone stopped to watch us dance. When he bowed and I curtsied, applause filled the air. Four smiles brightly at me like I'm the only thing in the room worth looking at, and for the first time I feel shy, I smile coyly back at him. The crowds begin to thin out, indicating the ball is near its end; Four takes my hand and pulls me out of the ballroom. "Where are we going?" I ask "I want to talk to you" he tells me we are just outside the ballroom, and there are guards everywhere but I'm not afraid for my safety, in fact I feel oddly secure around Four. I dismiss the guards. The marriage between a princess and a commoner is unconventional and frowned upon, I hope there's something we can do about that because I think I really like Four. "Your highness," he starts but I interject "Please, call me Beatrice" he smiles and continues smiling as my name rolls off his tongue "Beatrice, I feel that I can trust you, and I know that you can't technically marry a commoner but what if I told you I'm not just a commoner? I mean if I misread this situation and you think someone else will be you next kin-" "Four what are you trying to tell me?" I ask "I'm actually Tobias Eaton, my father is the Duke of Abnegation, I started in the blacksmith business to stay far from him since he's a terrible human being and doesn't believe in all of the 'dirty' work. But it's how I got my nickname and began a new life as my own person" he says to me quietly, he's sharing a secret part of him and I couldn't feel more honored to have that privilege. "So this means we can be together?" I ask excitedly, he nods and I kiss him.

The end <3