The Lost Princess

VII

Rose
"The young lady I had chosen is.." All the girls tap their feet in suspense. I try to calm my breathing and expect for the worst, that I wouldn't be called.

"Rose Grunwald!" Prince Aaron announced. King Edward, Queen Victoria, Ashlyn, Amelia, and Lily smiled. I had a huge smile on my face as I walked up the stairs to the balcony where he was standing. Emerald huffed and cried in the crowd.

I step in front of Prince Aaron, who takes his hand in mine. "Rose, do you except this.." he says before interrupted.

"NO! HE'S SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE ME! IT WAS PART OF THE PLAN! IT'S NOT FAIR. ASHLYN SHOWED UP AND MESSED UP EVERYTHING! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Emerald screams.

King Edward frowns, "Guards! Take her into a holding cell for questioning!"

Two guards grip around Emerald, "A HOLDING CELL?! LOOK AT MY DRESS. IT WOULD GET DIRTY IN A HOLDING CELL. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS! I AM PRINCESS EMERALD, YOU CAN NOT HOLD ME AGAINST MY WILL. DADDY! DADDY!"

Prince Aaron coughed, "Anyways. Rose, do except this proposal."

I nod, "Yes, I do!" He chuckles before leaning in and we kiss on the lips. It was soft, simple and sweet. Ashlyn and Amelia ran up to give me a hug.

Prince Aaron smiled and draps an arm over me, "Now! Let the ball continue!"

Cheers were heard all obe the dining room as people continued socializing. Prince Aaron brought me down to the ballroom to dance.

Ashlyn
Aaron and Rose dance around the ballroom. Amelia screams, "William!" She runs to a blonde guy wearing a purple suit and jumps on him, peppering his face with kisses. He smiles and they start to dance along the ballroom. Even Lily found a guy to dance with. They all had huge smiles on their faces.

"They sure look happy," someone says. I look behind me and see Peter.

"Yeah," I mummer.

He holds out his hand, "May I have this dance?"

I blush, "Sure." He leads us down the stairs to the middle of the ballroom. He twirls me around while we dance. I laugh as I feel like I'm floating on air. He then dips me and we continue dancing.

"You're a graceful dancer, Ashlyn," Peter remarks after a while.

I blush, "Really? I stepped on your toes twice.."

He chuckles, "I did that my first time, too. I actually did worse."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "How?"

He blushed, clearly embarrassed, "I was actually good for about five minutes. Then, I accidentally kicked my instructor in the balls.."

I started to laugh hysterically, "W-what! How did you do t-that?"

He blushed, "Well, he wanted to practice a swing step, and I kicked way to high and hard. Next thing I know, he's on the floor crying and my father's general is recruiting me for the army."

I gasped, "The army?"

He nods, "Yeah, I was thirteen. I've only been in a couple battles but they were all gruesome. We always lost someome, wheiter it was a volunteer, a soldier, a general, or a king."

I sigh, "Speaking of king, you never told me about your parents."

He tensed up but we still continued to glide across the floor before he whispered, "I can't tell you here."

I nod, "Ok, we'll fine somewhere." After asking Amelia, we found a nice sitting area in the back garden to talk.

I swung on the swing, "About your parents.. What happened?"

He sighed, "I was raised by my father's best friend. My father actually talked the general into putting me in the army. The general said that I was to young, but my father argued that he was the king and if I were ever going to be king, I needed to be in a battle. Because of the law, the general couldn't say no. After two months of training, I went to war."

He shivered, "The wars were brutal. There was so much blood and smell of death was everywhere. We dragged dead bodies of the soldiers. I remember seeing one of our men get shot with a rifle. The worst war I went to was in the winter months. My father was shot and he laid in the snow for hours. By the time we found him and brought him back to the kingdom's hospital, he died. Bled out."

A single tear slipped down his cheek, "I never got to say goodbye. He just died. The funeral was private, only family and our trusted kingdoms showed. The village mourned for a week. I mourned for two weeks before I realized that I had a kingdom to run. I never got to be a kid."

I wiped his tears with my thumbs, "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

I let him cry for a moment, our foreheads pressed together. I stared into his eyes, blue to green. I felt my cheeks warm up and he glanced at my lips. I leaned in, as did he. Our lips were only seconds from touching..

"Princess Ashlyn," a guard barked. I pulled away and licked my lips.

"Yes?" I mummered.

"The ball is about to commence, the king and queen want you escorted on the balcony," he said.

I stood up and straightened my dress, "Of course."

I looked back at Peter and he stands. I nod, "Lead the way."

The guard takes me to the balcony, while Peter went to stand in the back of the ballroom. Father stood near the edge, "Thank you for coming! I hope you all had a lovely evening. Good night and safe travels!"

While everyone started to leave the ballroom, the guards took William, Peter, and the boy Lily danced with, who was wearing a red suit, through two golden French doors. "Who's that?" I asked.

Amelia smiled, "That's John. He's the prince of Philippe, the neighbor kingdom to Lander. The guards are taking him and the rest of the royals to their rooms. They leave tomorrow evening."

I nod as Father and other officials go through a different pair of golden French doors, "Where are they going?"

Amelia shrugged, "Probably to interrogate Emerald. She did scream out some things that made her seem like someone who helped with your disappearance. Anyways, I'll show you to your room."

A guard is directing Lily to a pair of golden French doors, and Rose and Aaron are being escorted away. 'This is your new life, Ashlyn. Be ready', I said to myself as we walked through doors and down a corrider.