Philophobia || Dreamnotfound

7

Jesse grinned. "I heard mother talking about a ball for next week! Do you think I could go?"

"I don't think so sweetie. What else did she say?"

"She said it was called a... a mask..." Jesse paused, thinking for the word, "a mask-raid?"

"A masquerade?"

Jesse's eyes lit up. "Yes! That's it! A masquerade!"

Clay grinned at her enthusiasm. A masquerade. Now that would be fun. His family hadn't hosted a ball in a long while. He wondered why they were planning one now. Maybe it was the next event. Or maybe it was just a ball to have fun and to provide the visiting kingdoms with some excitement.

Clay and Jesse entered the courtyard and headed for the gardens. Jesse tugged on his hand and gestured for Clay to look.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

Clay followed her gaze and saw a familiar, brown haired prince. His gaze hardened and he tugged Jesse in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?!" Jesse protested.

"We don't like him," Clay muttered to his sister, "he's mean."

"Mean?" Jesse asked and sent a confused glance to George, "but he's so pretty! How can he be mean?"

"He said some not-so-nice things to me."

Jesse frowned. "Did he apologize? Mother always says to be polite. Does that prince not know how to be polite?"

Clay's lips tugged up in a smile. "He does... I think he's just figuring stuff out though. So we should give him space."

"Oh, okay," Jesse replied. She looked at a flower in the garden and grinned, "Clay, can you pick that flower for me? I want to put it in my braid."

Clay looked towards the purplish-blue flower that was out of Jesse's reach. "Sure."

He released Jesse's hand and plucked the flower from its place. He turned to hand the flower to Jesse, but his sister was nowhere in sight.

"Jesse?"

Clay looked around rapidly, scanning the courtyard for a little girl in a yellow dress. He groaned in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, deciding to look through the gardens.

He walked between the rows of flowers, still clutching Jesse's flower in his hand. After a minute of searching, he started to worry. Where did she go?

Clay heard giggling and followed the sound, sighing in relief. He saw Jesse and grinned. His grin faded, however, when he saw George standing with her.

Clay stiffened and walked over to his sister, not looking at George. He grabbed Jesse's hand and started gently tugging her away.

With their backs to George, Clay whispered to Jesse, "What did I tell you? Jesse, you were supposed to stay away from him."

Jesse looked up at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "But Clay, he's not mean! I talked to him and he's soooo nice."

Clay sighed and handed Jesse her flower, "That's good, Jesse, I'm glad he was nice to you."

Jesse studied her flower, a confused look on her face. Her eyes lit up and she twirled the flower in her hand. Clay felt her wiggle her hand out of his and Jesse took off running.

"Jesse!" Clay shouted in surprise.

He ran after his little sister, catching up to her with ease, but since she had the head start, she reached her destination, George.