Bellona had spent the evening cleaning and preparing for the ball. Arlo and her talked when they passed in the hall every now and then. Both of them were in charge of drinks for the night, so they met up in the ballroom before hand and talked about their past and future ambitions.
"But I relied on my grandmother to teach me, but she passed, so I was hurt and didn't want to learn any craft, so I'm studying Law."
"Really? Bellona the lawyer.... sounds cool."
"What about you Arlo? Where do you wanna be?" Bellona set glasses on a tray along with Arlo.
"I want to work here really. It's simple." Arlo shrugged.
"But don't you want more?" Bellona leaned in because she figured his answer would be quiet.
"I'm comfortable where I am." His eyes didn't meet her brown.
"Good. There's nowhere else for you anyway." Donovan appeared.
"Of course your majesty." Arlo gulped.
"Get to work. No time to talk."
"We can do two things at once. We were doing our work."
"Your job is to do as I say baker girl! And you will do as I say when I tell you to stop talking!" Donovan snapped, almost surprised at his own rage. He marched off, pushing past other servants who were surprised too.
"Where are you going?" Edith asked her son in the hall on the way to see the ballroom preparations.
"My fitting for tonight's suit." He said through gritted teeth.
"That girl said something didn't she?" Edith smirked.
"Yes, that's the problem. She wasn't working."
"So?"
"So she was talking to Arlo instead of working."
"Or was she doing both and you didn't want her talking to him? He's charming, isn't he?"
"No."
"I gave Bellona's mother news to tell her daughter that she can have off tonight to enjoy the party."
"I trust she'll make the best choice." He walked past his mother and went into the fitting room.
"Your majesty, blue or red?" A seamstress asked as he approached.
Donovan thought about it. He looked good in both. Blue was like water, but red was like warm fire, or blue was a waterfall and red was lava. The black suit was the same, but the trim on the collar and sleeves of the jacket and the shirt was the color change.
"Red."
"Bellona?" Her mother called, walking into the large dining room.
"Mom?" She walked up to her.
"There you are! The queen told me that you're off duty for tonight if you want to join the festivities!" Her mother clapped with excitement.
"Uh..." Bellona thought about Donovan. He would be upset if she took the invite.
"Well...?"
"Not tonight. Maybe the last day of the ball, but this is my first day, and I need to work."
"Are you trying to impress that young man over there?" Her mother looked over at Arlo.
"Yes, but not him." She needed to impress Donovan so he liked her. She didn't want her boss to hate her, and after talking back to him, she needed to make it up.
"Ahh, the king I guess you mean. Have fun." They hugged and parted.
