TWISTED

4: Dancing With Him

March 5th 2017

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Seconds ran into minutes and minutes into days. Soon the day for the much revered ball arrived like a sneaky thief.

Ella was too busy with toiling and thinking about Benjamin to remember the ball but Courtney barged into her room quite early in the morning to wake her up which was something she wouldn't do in an hundred years.

"Wake up lazy bones!"

Ella moaned and turned to the other side of her bed. Courtney scoffed and yanked a strand of Ella's hair making her eyes snap open in alarm.

"Ow!" Ella yelled and sat in her bed. She wiped her eyes to clear her vision which was a little blurred and stared up into Courtney's angry face.

"Get your lazy head into my room, I have a ball to prepare for."

Courtney's white dress twirled as she turned to leave. Ella stared at her till she walked out through the door and slammed it shut.

Sighing, she pushed herself off her bed and placed her feet on the bare floor. Her shoe had been completely ruined after she returned from a trip to the dressmaker so she had nothing to protect her feet with.

Ella stretched out and smiled as she viewed herself in the mirror hanging before her. She felt the necklace her mother gave her and as soon as she did that, her smile gradually departed, leaving her with soreness.

***

"Fix that strand of hair poking out of the main bun, I want my look to be perfect."

Ella sighed and redid Courtney's hair.

At exactly seven in the evening, Brian and his daughter were already at the door expecting the carriage he sent for.

Ella knew she wouldn't be attending so she remained in the kitchen with Margaret and Benjamin who joined them a few minutes after.

"Margaret, could you tell us a story?" Ella begged.

"What are you? Seven year old kids?" Margaret stirred the bubbling pot of soup positioned above the cackling fire. Ella joined her in staring at the different vegetables that made up the soup.

Benjamin and Ella continued pestering her until she finally budged when she brought down the pot of soup to cool.

She had purposely ignored Ella and Benjamin to allow her to concentrate on the soup she was cooking so that it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

"Alright children, gather around." Margaret walked to a chair and sat on it while Ella and Benjamin took two low stools and plopped down on them.

"Alright then... Once upon a time in a far away land, there lived a girl whose name was Alice..."

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Prince Eric watched the crowd of people dance around from where he stood beside his father, King George. His mother, Queen Lilian couldn't attend as she complained of an aching stomach so she had to retire to her chamber to be attended to by a physician.

Therefore, Eric had to endure the night without her with his sisters, Charity and Annabelle who sat by his left and his dad who was seated on his throne clustered with sparkling emeralds by his righthand side.

"Instead of discretely watching them, why don't you go down there and ask a young lady to dance?" Nineteen year old Annabelle asked, watching her brother with her observant, clear blue eyes.

Eric shifted in his seat. "I don't feel like it Anna."

"Just go ahead, hopefully you won't regret it."