To Break a Curse

Chapter 10 Part 1

'Does anyone know where their son might be?' asked Rose hopefully.

The woman shook her head sadly, 'not an inkling. The queen always said she would recognise him if she ever saw him again, even all these years later.' Margaret stepped back, 'there, all done. You can go back through now.'

Rose thanked her and left. The boys were waiting for her so they trouped back to Gaius' chambers together, Rose's mind still turning over what she had heard.

*** 

It was the day of the Winter Ball.

The actual ball didn't start until the evening, so Rose, Oliver, Tom and Will all went to work as normal for the morning although everyone stopped work at lunch time in order to prepare for the ball.

'Are you excited?' Rose asked Will as they made their way back from the stables about lunchtime.

Will waggled his head non-committedly, 'kind of, it'll be interesting to see what it's like.'

'Storm and I are getting ready together,' Rose said.

Will looked at her. Although he was only a year older than her, he had always acted like an older brother as well as a friend. Even if he hadn't known Rose from the minute she was born, he would still be able to tell that she was hoping for a dance with Oliver. He considered saying something, but decided to let things play out instead.

***

It was dark blue and floor length with straps that went over her shoulders and down her back, leaving most of her back bare.

Rose helped Storm put it on, admiring it. She wasn't sure she would be able to pull off the same look and began to feel apprehensive about what hers may look like.

'You look amazing,' said Rose.

Storm laughed, 'don't sound so envious – wait 'till you see yours.' With that, she pulled Rose's dress out of the wardrobe.

Rose stared at it:

Her's was a floor length emerald green ball gown. The skirt hem was embroidered with red roses, all joined together by their leaves in a lighter shade of green. The skirt hung from the waist, which was wound around with the same colour roses and light green stems. It was sleeveless and embroidered rose petals were around the top, tumbling down towards the waist.

It was perfect.

'Put it on,' urged Storm.

Still speechless, something that didn't happen often, Rose nodded and stepped into the dress with her heart pounding. It fitted like a second skin on her top half and the skirt tumbled down from her hips, swaying slightly around her ankles. Storm did up the satin covered button that ran down the back and handed Rose a pair of cream elbow length gloves.

'I love it,' Rose grinned and tried a few steps in it, she was not used to feeling elegant, but she definitely felt it now.

Storm giggled and threw her a pair of red satin slippers. Rose slipped them onto her feet; again they were a perfect fit.

Storm put on her pair of shoes and then they both sat down and did their hair and make-up, chatting excitedly.

When they had finished, they paused and looked in the mirror: Storm's red hair glowed in the light of the candles, her dark blue dress shimmering. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, making her eyes shine softly.

Rose stared at herself in the mirror. She looked... well, much better than she normally did, she could see that. Her hair was woven around her head elegantly with curls tumbling down to frame her face, leaving her neck exposed. Her eyes were big and her lips and cheeks had colour in them.

'One more thing...' Storm took a bottle off the dressing table and sprayed Rose lightly with it. Rose caught the scent of roses.

On their way back to Gaius' chambers, Rose noticed that everyone they passed, who were also in their dresses or suits, seemed to be staring at her. She put a hand self-consciously to her hair to check it.

Rose and Storm went and knocked on Will's door first, 'are you ready?'

'No!' came Tom's voice, slightly muffled, 'look, Will, this tie is not doing its job properly! I'm firing it with immediate effect!'

'Oh, come here...'

'Right, we're ready now!' Oliver opened the door, revealing all of them, including Torrent, in there. They came out.

Will stared at Rose – he had never seen her look so, well, so beautiful before. He turned to see Oliver's reaction and was satisfied with his stunned expression. Rose smiled at them nervously.

Storm nodded her approval, 'you all look very dashing. Tom, leave your collor alone, you look ridiculous, tugging on it like that!'

Tom scowled but dropped his hand.

Storm led the way back into Gaius' chambers and sat them down at one of the tables.

'Now,' Storm started, 'the Winter Ball is the biggest ball or dance or party or whatever you want to call it every year. It's the time when everyone in the castle gets to be in the same room at the same status and so can meet people whom otherwise they would not meet. Many couples will first meet at the ball. There are servants there, but they are rotated every year so they all get to go to the ball as guests at some point. The main reason that people can mix so easily is because it's a masque ball.'

Storm waited a moment to let this sink in.

'The masks cover the top half of your face and everyone will be wearing one.'

She pulled out a box from a cupboard and took out some masks, giving them one each.

Rose's silver mask had tall dark green feathers next to her right eye and dark green highlighting over her eyes with the rim of the mask decorated in glittery green, Tom's mask was the sun on one side and the moon on the other, merging together in the middle, Will's was navy blue with silver spirals and orange sun's on it, Oliver's mask was purple with swirls of silver over it.

The masks had ribbons for them to secure them to their heads. They helped each other to tie them on and stood back to admire the effect. They all looked very attractive but utterly unrecognisable.

Oliver couldn't work out why he couldn't stop staring at Rose. She looked beautiful, but over the last few days, he thought he and Cara had come to a sort of Understanding. He suddenly realised how little he knew about Cara, while Rose was one of his friends. And, he told himself sternly, that's how it should stay; he didn't want their friendship to be ruined. 

But his heart still fluttered.