Innocence Is Sin

Chapter 1

"Rose.......... Rose"
I smiled to myself thinking, did he ever come home without yelling my name from the front door and the answer came in a "No". "I'm here in the kitchen" I replied.
He dashed in with his ever smiling face. His lively and caring personality was the main reason that this man, George Wilson is my husband. I still remember that night on the beach when he proposed me, I must confess I was surprised. I liked him long before that but I never knew the feeling was mutual. My eyes welled with tears. I didn't need to give this proposal a second thought , answer was clear in my mind but words got caught up within my throat. I could feel the lump in my throat growing bigger and bigger. Reflexively I bent down and hugged him. I held him there as I forced "yes" from my mouth. Ohhhh... Such lovely days those were, I cannot believe whole two years passed since then, memory was so fresh in my mind that it all seemed to happen yesterday.
Excited to show me something held in his hand, he covered the ground between us in few long strides and came to a halt next to me. I giggled at his behaviour, which wasn't much different from routine but somehow today it was rather a bit aggravated. He handed me an envelop
"Go on open it". Anxious to know what was inside my fingers quickly set to work. As I pulled the card out, he broke my surprise. "Royal family has invited us to the ball".
"What!!" I exclaimed. George, like his father was an advisor of His Majesty, the King of Hatton. Hatton was one of those few countries where monarchy still persisted, apparently because nearly everyone adored the royal family and they never felt the need to replace it or maybe because everyone was so busy with their own lifes that they never cared who was sitting at the top, as long as their requirements were fulfilled. Anyways royal family ruled for years without facing much resistance.
I had never been to the palace. For George it was his office were he went daily, but since the day I shifted here; which was nearly three years ago, no formal occasion came by where I could accompany him. Hatton had been under a spell of a sever drought, which lasted for years, therefore any function was out of question. But when the spell was broken, palace reinforcing there tradition sent out the circulars for the ball. For me this was the first ball ever. So off course I was excited.
Next few days passed in a hustle, and the due date came. We got ready and set out for the palace. As soon as we drew nearer I was awestruck by this fortified structure. Everything about it was magnificent, from its massive imposing facad with its huge entrances and lush green gardens beyond, to the chandeliers and paintings within the halls, and the ladies dresses, in short everything that could enhance the beauty of this place, was already there. Our car perched in front of the main entrance, we stepped out, I took George's arm and we moved inside. A huge crowd was gathered inside but to my dismay most of the ladies were dressed in light colours, as I looked at myself I felt the-odd-one-out.
I gave an annoyed look to George, who just smiled back as though nothing happened and kept on moving, towards the heart of crowd. Couldn't he just tell me that such dark colours were against the tradition here when I tried the dress on, rather he just kept on praising me; how this colour suited me and how beautiful I was looking. I had no knowledge of fashion here, I dressed myself in accordance with the trend in my country Carvinica, where bright colours were symbolic to life. Had he told me that this outfit was not proper for such occasion I would have changed instantly. It wasn't that I looked less then others in any way, I knew I was looking good, in fact more then many others but it was just that I was different and couldn't merge in the crowd. But what's done is done. I forced these thoughts out of my mind, braced myself and moved forward.
As we passed many gazes turned towards us. George was used to such attention, he was tall and handsome with very fine facial cut and greenish eyes. He always caught the eye of young women, even when he was in high school.
King and his family where nowhere to be seen. George introduced me to the few of his colleagues. Time passed as we strolled arm in arm, chatted and laughed. When everyone had arrived, then the royals made there way to the hall. They meet with every couple. Edward, the Prince of Hatton, a tall, striking, young man, accompanied the king and the queen. He moved with his head held high with an air of authority. After meeting several of the other guests he made his way towards us. We curtsied, George introduced me to him. He nodded and smiled back at me.
"How are you, Mrs Wilson?" He asked
"I'm good, Your Highness. It's been such an honor to be invited here, I'm very grateful"
"No the pleasure is all mine". What image I had of him in my mind was much different from the person standing in front of me. Everyone who met him talked about his arrogance, his anger, how he barely laughed and talked with ease. But here he was standing in front of me, conversing and smiling like any normal person of his age.
"George may I have your wife for the first dance?"
I nearly jumped in my excitement. Of all the ladies present in this room he selected me to be his partner for the first dance. I looked at George. In a instance I knew he was thinking it wasn't such a good idea, but he couldn't refuse his Prince, could he?
"Sure, your highness" he replied.