You Have My Heart, Lady Illea (A Lady Illea Novel)

Chapter Sixteen

"Here we are in the palace celebrating the 22nd Wedding Anniversary of King Amos and Queen Eadlyn!" Gavril jr. Was beaming as he spoke into the microphone and faced the camera. "The last of our selected ladis are here and we're in for a night of romance and magic Illea!"

   I passed by him as they were filming and examined the ballroom. It was as grand as any ballroom from a fairy tale. Streamers hung from the curtains and the tables were all covered in the finest silks and fabrics. They were covered in expensive delicious foods and exotic flowers. The ballroom was filled with all of the wealthiest and most important people in Illea.

   I walked over to Ora and bumped her shoulder. She looked lethally sexy in a deep orange dress with thin straps and a plunging neckline. Some of her back was exposed and it just reminded me of my horrible scars. 

    Pierre was able to find an almost identical replica of my dress except the back was covered in tan fabric and lace creating an alluring illusion. It was beautiful just the same. Ora must have sensed my sadness because she slipped her hand into mine and smiled.

"How you feeling?"

I shrugged.

"Well you look hot as Hell and if I were a guy I'd give anything to get you out of that dress." she offered in a soft encouraging tone and a sweet smile. 

I smiled widely at her and we both laughed together. Well, I tried to make very little sound. Tiny walked over to us and I had never seen her look so lovely before. Wearing a dark grn ballgown with angel sleeves and an elaborate bodice she looked like an angel.

I smiled at her. "Gorgeous." I mouthed to her and she smiled shyly.

Krystal came skipping over with a wide smile and I don't think I had ever seen Krystal look so happy. She was wearing a flowy flower pink dress that made her light brown skin and big light, cat eyes, stand out. She smiled at me. "That guard is cute."

Ora's eyes widened. "Kris!"

"What?" she whined and turned around. She winked to a guard standing in the far corner of the room. He was handsome with ivory skin and dark red hair. "If Will can play around so can I!"

    My jaw dropped and I watched her skip off. I didn't know whether to give her a pat on the back or burst into laughter. Ora groaned into her hands and Tiny laughed. I scanned the ballroom again and caught sight of Constance talking with a few people. The sight of her made me sick so I turned the other cheek.

    Suddenly, I felt a little bad for being so angry with Will lately. I felt bad for throwing his stupid music box out the window too. Oh, who cares. He can buy me another one anyway. I particularly felt bad because sometimes I don't notice how much I push him away and I forget how that hurts him.

    I was still angry at him!

   But now I felt merciful and considered forgiving him.

   Ora caught me looking around the ballroom and she helped. I loved Ora. She always knew what I was thinking. Tiny excused herself and Ora and I, holding hands, searched the ballroom. He craned our heads to see over the clusters of people and the music made it hard to tell what she was saying to me.

    I caught sight of the Queen and as soon as I did I stopped. She stopped too. We looked at each other for a moment and I felt the dynamic between us, strangely, change. She pressed her lips together and she bowed her head at me. Did she feel bad? We hadn't talked since my incident. I couldn't tell what it was but just like that people danced, covering her from sight, and when they were gone so was she.

    Ora and I were standing near the tables of food by the piano man. Ora was looking with that face I loved. Where one of her eyebrows were arched, her lips were pursed, and she looked like the kind of a girl you'd be afraid to mess with in high school. Suddenly her eyes went wide.