"The guest list seems fine," Queen Elora said, and Kate let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Are the decorations and theme approved?" Eric asked anxiously.
Elora closed the holographic screen in front of her, and looked at him.
"I still don't understand what you, Lucian and the girls are doing here," she said.
"They're our creative advisors," Adelaide jumped in to say.
"Creative advisors," Elora repeated, looking at them like they were crazy.
Aurora didn't speak a word.
"But yes," she continued. "The decorations are good, and the theme is quite interesting. The invitations?".
Aurora handed Queen Elora her sketchbook, and saw her see the three invites - one a typical Halloween party invite with bouncy words, the next a card looking like it was made from the Victorian Era, and the third being an invite with the words in the font of Times New Roman and that of a typewriter.
The Queen skimmed through them a few more times, before choosing the last one. She gave it back to Aurora, who was careful to make sure their fingers didn't touch.
"Huh," Eric said. "That's Aurora's favorite as well".
Aurora still didn't speak.
"Will the invites be hand delivered, or sent virtually?" Elora asked, looking at Aurora, expecting her to answer.
But Kate jumped in. "We'll have them hand delivered by the next week, and also send a virtual invite as a reminder two days before the ball".
Elora nodded.
"Thank you, My Queen," Adelaide said, and they all walked out of the room.
"Aurora!" she heard the Queen call.
Aurora turned back slightly.
"We loved the painting. Thank you," she said, smiling tentatively.
Aurora curtsied and left the room.
"You know you can talk to her, right?" Eric said, once she joined them.
"For what? Every time she tries talking to you mother, she gets insulted and hurt. She doesn't deserve it," Adelaide said, speaking for her.
"It affects her just as much as it affects you. She's very fond of you, Rora," Eric said, still looking at her.
"So is my mother," Lucian added.
Fond of her.
What a joke.
"Right," she said, stalking in front of them.
"Aurora! Wait up!" they said loudly.
"I'll be in my room finalizing the design. Alone," she called back, walking away.
***
The ball was a great success.
Aurora, dressed as Emma, from Jane Austen's masterpiece was making periodic rounds around the ballroom, making sure everything was alright.
The decorations were perfect - Kate truly was amazing when it came to those.
"Aurora!" she heard a few voices call, and she whirled her extremely ruffled dress to face the twins running towards her.
"Oomf!" she said, as she fell to the ground, unmindful of the people whispering and staring at her.
"And who may you be, My Ladies," she asked, bobbing her head the best she could.
"I'm Alice. From Alice in Wonderland," Elanor said, giving Aurora a hand, helping her stand up.
"And I'm Matilda," Elodie said, pulling Aurora's other arm, as Elanor had a hard time pulling her up.
"You dropped your hat, Miss Woodhouse," Lucian said, handing Aurora her delicate hat.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Aurora said, taking in Lucian's flowy black robes and red and gold scarf wrapped around his neck.
He had even drawn a lightning shaped scar on his forehead - with his ruffled black hair, he made a perfect Harry Potter.
She frowned.
"Why is your face so wet?" she asked, noticing the drops of water dripping down his face.
"Apple bobbing counter," he said dismissively, before adding, "Honestly, you and Aunt Elora are a beacon, dressed in such frilly dresses".
"She's dressed as Elizabeth Bennet, right?" Aurora asked.
"Yep. That's her. Mama wanted to dress identical to her, but Aunt Elora convinced her to dress up as Rebecca," Lucian said, laughing.
"Rebecca, as in... from Daphne de Maurier's book?" Aurora asked, looking around, searching for the Queen of Italy.
"Yeah. Something about dressing like a manipulative sadist appealed to her," he said, before pointing to a woman in a pale green mermaid dress and an enormous hat. "That's her".
Aurora bit back her comment that his mother was very much in character.
She laughed as she saw Eric walking towards them.
He had dyed his hair red, and it stood out.
He made a wonderful Mad Hatter.
Except for the fact that a thin, gold crown rested on his head.
"I hate you," he muttered to Lucian. "So many women. So many dances. I feel like a prize cow".
"If it makes you feel any better," Adelaide said, walking towards him. "You make a very handsome prize cow".
"Ew!" Lucian said. "Don't flirt with him in front of me!".
"Agreed," Aurora said, nodding.
"All these women think that I'm the only prince available, since this darn thing keeps reflecting the dim light," Eric said, pointing to his crown.
"Why did you wear it then?" Aurora asked.
"Because Father insisted. In return for him dancing with the multitudes of women," Eric said.
"Your sacrifice is recognized," Aurora said, saluting slightly.
"Yeah his sacrifice. You know how many times I've been groped in the past hour? Thank god I wasn't wearing the sexy bunny costume as I originally wanted to wear," Adelaide grumbled.
"Addy! Kids here!" Aurora scolded.
Adelaide bent down and asked the twins, "Did you hear what I said?".
"Nope," the girls said in unison.
"See?".
Aurora shook her head.
"Speaking of costumes, what are you supposed to be?" Lucian asked Adelaide.
"I'm Rosalie. You know, the vampire from Twilight?" she said, sounding deeply offended, pointing to her extended canines.
Lucian snorted.
"Oh! You're all here. Did you see how Queen Elora is dancing with the guys? She's awesome!" Kate said, hurrying towards them.
"Elora?" Aurora asked, standing on her toes for a better view of ballroom.
"Oh wait. Was that Queen Elena?" Kate asked, looking very flustered.
They all nodded in unison as they saw the Queen flitting along, dancing with the men.
Aurora thought she saw a sliver of silver in the man's hand, but it seemed to disappear as quickly as it had appeared.
"Do you kids ever go anywhere without each other?" they heard a voice ask, and saw King Edward approach them, his wife's hand looped around his.
He was wearing a deerstalker hat, and a long coat.
"You make a handsome Sherlock Holmes, Your Majesty," Aurora said, grinning at him.
"Thank you, my dear. And you are... Elinor or Marianne Dashwood?" he asked.
"Close, but no. Emma Woodhouse," she replied.
"Answering your question, Uncle, nowadays, no. Because I'm in love with one of these girls," Lucian said dramatically, putting an arm each around a blushing Kate and an amused Aurora.
"What?" Queen Elora asked.
"Who said I was talking about them?" Lucian asked, bending to hold his younger cousin's hands.
Aurora chuckled.
"Is he truly in love with one of them?" the King asked curiously, looking at his son.
"Maybe," Eric said, shrugging. "Maybe I'm in love with one of them too".
"It's definitely not me," Aurora clarified when the King looked at her.
"Thank God for that," the Queen muttered, but Aurora heard her.
Just like her sister, she too thought that Aurora wasn't worth enough to have an amicable companionship with her son.
Aurora took a deep breath, and balled her fists. She could have left, like she did the previous time, but why should she?
This was her Ball - she was the one who organized it.
She would not let a single comment ruin her night.
Though she did find it hard to restrain her tears.
But she wouldn't acknowledge that.
"So, Your Majesty," she said, looking at the King. "How do you like the party?".
"It's wonderful," he said, grinning like a young boy. "It's been a long time since I had so much fun".
"All credit goes to Elanor and Elodie," Aurora said, pleased with his comment.
"I knew I heard my favorite brother-in-law somewhere," Queen Elena said, suddenly standing besides Aurora.
"I'm your only brother-in-law Elena," he said, his tone very fond.
"Hmmm," she said. "Escaping the women, are you, Edward?".
Edward shrugged.
"You won't believe the amount of people who've tried to behave inappropriately with me. Dukes with beautiful wives, actually," Elena said conversationally.
"Their sons are just as bad," Adelaide supplied.
"Vincenzo is going to wage war on Illea if he finds out," Edward said.
"I'm going to kill each and every one of them," Lucian said angrily.
"Oh relax, my bambino. Your mother knows to take care of herself well," Elena said, laughing as she whipped out a fan out of nowhere and slapped his hand.
"Ouch!".
"See!' she said triumphantly.
"Can you give me something similar please," Adelaide pleaded. "Even movie stars aren't so... bleh".
"Come, darling. Learn from the master," Elena said, steering Adelaide away.
"I guess that's my cue to leave as well," Aurora said, curtsying.
"The party truly is lovely, Aurora," Elora said.
"I'm glad it met your expectations, Your Majesty," Aurora replied, gritting her teeth, before walking away.
Hi guys!
Hope you like these two chapters - I know they were a tad bit dull, but I promise, the next few chapters are absolutely amazing!
Like always, thank you for your love and support!
Alright, so I got a couple of questions, and I picked two out of them to answer.
Q1. If you could reread a book with no knowledge of what happens, which one would it be?
Well, that's a tough one, but I'm going to say the Throne of Glass series. That's the one series that has never disappointed me, and I would really, really love to reread the books (atleast the first two ones) again, with no recollection of what happens.
Q2. Favorite Hogwarts house?
That's an easy one - Slytherin and Ravenclaw. I honestly kind of think that Gryffindor is overrated, but, oh well.
PS : I'm a Ravenclaw xD.
Do DM me or comment with your feedback and questions for the next chapter.
XOXO
The Fidgeting Monk.