Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 14)

Ch.6 Ballroom talk

(Flashback) By the time night has fallen, Brooke has found Danny's horse as she rode off to King Arthur's castle where it was already packed with guests ready for the ball. After coming to a stop near some trees, she got off the horse and pulled it towards a tree where she let it stand.

"You may have a funny name" she smiled while stroking its hair "But you can sure ride like the wind."

She then turned to see more people arriving dressed in their ball gowns and suits.

"Well I can't go in looking like this," she told herself while looking at her outfit that was not made for a ball "Looks like it's time for a wardrobe change."

She then reached into her small leather satchel where she pulled out a small notebook along with a thin wooden case as she opened it to reveal a quill pen. But she knew it wasn't just any quill pen, unlike other pens, this one was enchanted, giving her the power to write anything and making it come true. And knowing what she was going to write, she flipped opened her notebook to a blank page where she began to write with the quill.

Brooke's clothes transformed into a beautiful Cinderella-like ball gown.

And just like that, her clothes began to transform into a ball gown as she watched the transformation beneath her. Pretty soon, her old clothes were gown as she was now wearing a gold and silver gown, perfect for a ball. Wanting to see herself, she wrote in her notebook with the quill of a full-size mirror appeared in front of her as she admired her new look. Besides the gown, she also had on some makeup along with her hair that was curled and into a duo.

"Oh yeah," she grinned, "Now we're talking."

Now ready, Brooke made sure the horse was settled as she began her way towards the castle. Once inside, she walked past the crowd and across the dancefloor while gazing around for Danny. And that's when she spotted him in one of the corners as if he was trying to hide from view. Wondering why he was there, she watched as he suddenly pulled out a dagger from his belt and examined it, but what really got her concerned was when she noticed his attention was turned to the visiting prince who was greeting some ladies. 

After watching him put the dagger back while using his coat to hide it from view, she began to make her way towards him as he walked past the crowd to make his way towards the prince. And just as he came to a stop in the line, Brooke went up behind him and tapped his shoulder as he turned around and stood there surprised when he saw her.

"Hey" she greeted with a smile.

"Um, hey" he replied, still surprised when he began to admire her dress "Nice gown."

"Thanks. You wanna dance?"

"Oh um," he mumbled while avoiding eye contact "Thanks but, I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"You don't seem busy to me," she remarked when she spotted something on him "Oo, you've got a petal on you."

She reached out and pulled off a middlemist petal that was stuck in his shirt collar.

"I guess this is your lucky flower huh?" she smirked as he just gave a small snicker "Come on, dance with me."

"But-"

"Danny, you don't have to keep avoiding me, we can still hang out even though we're broken up. Come on, one dance."

After letting out a sigh in defeat, he took her offered hand as they went onto the dance floor and began to join the people in the ballroom dancing.

"If you're here for your motorcycle-" Danny began, "It's out in the back."

"Thanks, I also found your horse, he's out in the front."

"Thanks."

They continued to dance when Brooke added- "So tell me, why are you here?"

"What? A guy can't go to a ball to have fun?"

"Not unless he's planning something else."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you, Danny, I know when you're trying to hide something, like that dagger of yours for example."

His face got stiff as he tried to act calm as he spun her.

"I don't know what you're talking about" he declared.

"Oh yeah?" she doubted when she reached down and pulled his dagger from his belt "Then what's this?"

His face then turned to fear as he tried to grab the weapon back as she held it away.

"I saw you hiding it" she explained as she kept the dagger hidden from the view of the people as they danced "And then I noticed you were staring at the visiting prince."

"Would you give me that!" he hissed as he snatched the dagger away and quickly putting it back on his belt as they went back to dancing.

"Why are you really here Danny?" she demanded, "Cause I know you didn't come here to 'have fun'."

Knowing he was caught, Danny let out a big sigh as he had no choice but the confess.

"You're right" he mumbled, "I didn't come here to have fun. That visiting prince, I'm here to kill him."

At that moment, Brooke felt her stomach drop as he spun her again.

"Why?" she asked in shock.

He sighed, "Because that prince killed Merlin."

Now she was even more shocked.

"Oh yeah, I heard about Merlin's death," she remarked, "I've always wondered what happened. I'm so sorry Danny."

"Yeah well," he grunted, "I should have seen it coming, he was mortal after all."

"But, are you sure you wanna go through with this? You may have killed Wendell by accident, but I can't see you actually murdering someone on purpose."

"I'm surprised myself, but Merlin was like a father to me, he took me in and raised me as his own after my parents died. And now that he's gone, I've got nowhere to go."

"I beg the differ."

"What?"

"In case you forgot, we've got a bunch of friends out there who are willing to help. Besides, we're not kids anymore, we're adults now, it's time to move on with our lives and take care of ourselves."

He didn't say anything as he just looked down with a sad look.

"I don't know" he breathed when he stopped dancing "I can't think right now, thanks for the dance, but I really need to get going."

"Danny wait" she tried to stop him, but he had already walked off and disappeared into the crowd.