Apples of Gold (complete)

Part 27 - The Ball

Part 27 – The Ball ©2018 CarolynAnnAish

Two days before the Official Ceremony of Installation of the Crown Prince of Justiceburg, which would be followed by a ball convened in the ballroom itself, Arpius awoke, an hour before dawn, with an anxious feeling... 

Rising, he strode to the alcove where Vance slept. Pulling back the curtain, he saw Vance sitting on the side of his bed.

"What is it, Highness?" he asked.

"What do they do at a ball, Vance?"

"Don't you know?" Vance stared up into the earnest blue eyes and added, "They have music and they dance."

"Music, I know, like the bell chiming and the trumpets... but what is it? —to dance?"

At Vance's frown and puzzlement, Arpius said, "No, I don't know about it. I don't think I've ever seen it or done it. Not ever. And I haven't been in a ball chamber. Ball? Do they toss around a ball or something? Is it a game of some sort? —I should have asked about it before, but we've been busy with everything else, and now, this ball thing is next..." As Vance raised his eyebrows further and closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath, the prince demanded, "What? Tell me about it."

"I... it... it's a dance... you don't have a ball, not that kind of thing, you dance. The men dance, and the ladies dance and sometimes they dance with each other..."

"Dance? Why don't they call it a dance? Why a 'ball'? —Strange. I must find out the origin of such a thing like a dance called a 'ball'. I need to go to the ball chamber, now."

"It's called a 'ballroom', Highness."

The prince strode to the door and opened it. Speaking to the guards who stood to attention at the sight of the prince in his silk nightshirt, he ordered, "Take me to the ballroom. I've not seen it before."

"We should dress first..." Vance began. Running to the dressing room, Vance snatched up two dressing gowns, one for himself and one for Arpius.

The king and queen, summoned by Karl, met with their son, in the ballroom. That the prince and his valet were dressed in night attire, was not the concern. It was that Vance was trying to show the prince, in this dimly lit chamber, how to dance. The queen would have laughed out loud but at the serious set of both Arpius' and Vance's faces, she stifled her mirth.

Later that morning, before breakfast, Arpius learned about dancing and 'how to'. His mother, the queen, obliged by showing him how, with the king as her partner. Humming lightly, the pair danced across the chamber before King Lemuel left his wife with his son to continue the lesson.

"How did we miss this?" the king asked Karl as they walked back to the king's chambers. "I can't believe we just assumed that our son would know how to dance. It makes sense that he would not know about it. In the past four years, have we not had a ball here?"

Shaking his head, Karl had no answer to give the king.

"Yes, we have. But our son did not attend. He was confined to his quarters when we had company. How did we miss this? We'll grant the queen leave today and tomorrow to be with our son and teach him the protocol of the ball and how to dance."

***

It was early afternoon and Arpius found himself walking on the purple carpet towards the king's throne. This time, nobility from every province of the kingdom were there, and the prince sensed the change in atmosphere.

Last week, he mused, it was friendly; like being with my family; now it's formal, very proper... people seem more... distant... and it feels... cold...