𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖔𝖔𝖗𝖘 to the garden had been left open to allow guest to freely step out of the ballroom for a moment to wonder the garden. The garden illuminated by bright raging fires inside of large golden firepit columns that lines the pathway on either side. The columns stood on a square decorative base that had carving in the side of it along with detailing in the rim that overlaid the top and bottom edges of the square. On the top of the square was a large circle with another small circle placed on top of it as another base holding the decorative pillar that held the firepit safely on the top. The circle base wasn't necessary but it gave the column more depth and detail making it appear more grand. The pillar that ran through the center had detailing throughout it with different diamond or vast shapes spaced out as a constant swirled ring ran through the empty spaces. At the top was two decorative full body dragons back to back, their wings touched creating a holder for the bowl of the firepit to sit perfectly in. Some of the columns had two decorative full body griffins standing on their hind legs facing each other as of they where fighting, their tails and front paws connected creating a holder for the bowl, while the wings were flared out on their backs. Both animals being significant creatures to the royal household. The entire garden shimmered as the moonlight and the fire fought in providing the most light, as it sparked a gold like the ballroom but a stream of silver from the moonlight laced its way in-between the fiery gold. Although dark shadows crept throughout the garden as the few trees there were blocked the bright light from the fires, allowing for secrets to hide in the casted shadows. The chatter from the guest in the ballroom along with the music could faintly be heard throughout the garden.
Emily knew that going outside wouldn't attract any attention as everyone's attention was on The Evil Queen, although one watchful eye caught sight of the raven haired girl leaving. The a heavy sigh escaped her lips as she stepped out of the doors. Trying to quickly pass by guest that where wondering the garden without attracting any attention or unwanted conversations at the moment. Although it was unsuccessful as the guest turned whispering to each other as confusion danced across their faces as they where watching the Princess hastily walk through the garden looking behind her ever so often, as to make sure someone wasn't following her. Finally breaking out into a run as Emily grabbed a handful of the skirt of her dress pulling it above her ankles. Running through the maze towards The King's statue, she wanted to be alone with her father to try to find some guidance. Instead when voices filled the quiet maze the close the princess came to the entrance of the area the statue sat. Slowing her run into a brisk walk as she saw the opening in front of her, dropping the left side of her dress as she placed her left hand on the plants of the maze gently grazing her hand over the leaves calming herself as the corner of her lips curled upwards into a smile. As the princess turned the corner her smile quickly faded as she froze in her tracks her eyes widening. The sight of her fathers statue was a touching one with flowers covering the base an along the ground, mostly all of the guest had made their way through the garden once to leave flowers for the late king out of respect. Although the princess was not able to enjoy the sight of her father's statue as her attention was on the two guest standing in the center of the open area, before she shrunk back behind the wall of the maze watching her suitor stand hand in hand with another woman. The princess was not jealous but knew she could possible use this against him, as her mother would not stand for him even associating with anyone except her daughter.
"I don't understand why you are even indulging the idea to be with her." The woman scoffed as she turned to face Thomas with an annoyed look plastered on her face
"My Lov-"Thomas was quickly cut off by the woman he was with
"Don't. You just told me she slapped you because of a comment over her fathers statue."
"Listen! I don't love her. She's just as pathetic as the statue not to mention she has a temper not fit for a princess and little manners for a lady of royalty. She is worst then that servant they are saying will become a Princess" Thomas huffed
Emily's face scrunched in frustration her eyes filled with sorrow as she let a quiet scoff escape her lips as she listened to the conversation thinking to herself, I've heard enough. She turned around heading back through the maze from where she came from, her gaze fixated on the ground. The words hurt her only making herself more upset as she was mad at herself for letting what he said affect her. Her mind racing with so many thoughts and questions as she wondered why she would allow an opinion of a nobody and someone she hated to affect her so much. It wasn't Thomas's who hurt her but the event of the past day finally caught up with her, toppling like dominos with the last push she could handle. The princess had wondered through the garden to the other side as she lost in her thoughts, fighting the tears that threatened to fall ever now an then. Emily looked up to see the statue of her mother and her standing in front of her starring at her with disappointment. She shook her head slightly as she turned her head away letting her gaze fall to the ground once more as she was overwhelmed by everything. A hand was gently placed on her shoulder making the princess jump turning her attention to the person that had been following her since she left the ballroom. The tears started to fall from Emily's eyes as she hugged her Aunt tightly, Farrah returned the hug as she brought them both to the ground. Farrah held the princess in her arms as she stroked her hair for a moment gently shushing her niece like a mother, as she tried to call Emily down enough to speak. As Emily's soft cries turned into muffled sniffles her aunt brought herself back from the hug looking at her with sympathetic eyes.
"Emily... What's wrong?" Farrah questioned tentatively as she wiped the tears away that still rolled down Emily's cheeks.
Her niece took a deep shaky breath in as she tried to compose herself before letting the breath escape her lips. Emily felt a bit embarrassed to have been crying over everything that had happened but was glad her aunt found her rather then someone else. The princess went on to speak telling Farrah everything even what had happened with The Evil Queen, although she had been hesitant about telling her that part. She felt relived to have someone to speak, to tell them everything that had happened, someone that would understand unlike her mother. Farrah listened tentatively to everything her niece had to say, concern spreading over her face as she listened to Emily tell her about the Evil Queen. She knew her sister would have an absolute fit, one worse then her argument earlier with Emily before the ball once she found out what happened with the Evil Queen. But Farrah also knew Emily made a grave mistake with what she did at the village and she could only protect her for so long till that mistake caught up to her niece. She sat comforting the princess for several minutes till she had told her everything. Farrah tilted her head to the side looking at her niece tucking the lose hair in her face behind her ear as she wasn't sure what to say. The silence making Emily uneasy as she waited for a response hoping her aunt wouldn't be displeased like her mother would.
"I know I've made a mess of everything..." Emily mumbled as she looked down at her dress running her hands over the fabric worryingly
Farrah sighed as she stood up fixing her dress as she was still thinking "Well.... with the evil queen you certainly have. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to help you." Her lips curled upwards into a smile as she help out a hand for her niece. "As for Thomas... We will take care of him."
Emily took Farrah hand as she helped her up a smile forming on her lips as she hugged her aunt once more "Thank you Aunt Farrah.."
"Your welcome my dear. I will do everything I can to help." Farrah comforted as she returned the hug before stepping back "Now I must get back to the ball before Helena realizes I've been missing. Something you will also need to do soon."
Emily nodded in response as she knew her aunt was right for if Helena found out she would lose her temper with them both. Watching Farrah quickly disappeared into the garden before she turned her attention towards a noise from the rustling of the hedges. Emily thought it might be other guest making their way through the maze so she brushed the idea of checking who it was off as she did not care to talk to anyone at the moment. The Princess wondered through the quiet garden lingering as it was peaceful and she was left to her own thoughts. She made her way towards one of the water fountain the wind began to blow gently making the garden come to life as the branches started to sway and rustle. Emily took her heels off caring them in her left hand as she let the cool grass comfort her while she walked barefoot into the fountains open area. There was a large decorated fountain that sat in the middle of the open area and four stone benches that on all sides sitting again the hedges. The princess made her way over to the fountain placing her right hand in the shimming water, creating small ripples as she moved her hand through the water. Finally she sat down on the edge of the base of the fountain listening to the water splash over the edges of each bowl into the next as looked, taking the tiara off of her head and placing it next to her as she peacefully sat there letting the gentle breeze sway through her hair while watching the glistening constellations in the night sky. But as she was watching the ball from the small opening in the hedges she didn't notice that someone was behind her till she heard a familiar voice shriek her name. Her head quickly snapped towards the voice to see her three friends heading towards her, confusion washing over her face as she stood up and didn't understand why they were outside.
"What are you three doing out here?" Emily questioned as her brow furrowed in confusion and almost annoyance as she wanted them to stay inside.
"We need to t-" Elizabeth was cut off as a blow to her side was met by Eilonwy's elbow.
"We need to see if you were ok." Eilonwy innocently spoke as she smile brightly holding her hands behind her back as she glanced at Odette with a slight shake of her head
"What the hell?" Elizabeth hissed at Eilonwy as she held her side due to Eilonwy's hit not being as friendly and gently as it should have been
"Ohh hush." Eilonwy mumbled as she turned to Elizabeth with a roll of her eyes as she went to speak to her, allowing Odette to talk to Emily.
As Emily watched her lips curled upwards into a smile as she tried to hold back a laugh as she watched the two blonds bicker like sisters. The princess turning her attention to Odette who just shrugged before both of the girls laughed shaking their head at their friends behavior. "What was it you all where doing out here?" The dark brown haired girl inquired as she tilted her head to the side.
Odette took Emily's arm as she walked both of them back towards the fountain and away from the two blonds that were arguing. She let her mind wonder for a moment trying to decide if it was the right time or not to tell the princess about the encounter the three of them had with the Queen. Odette looked over inspecting her friends expressions as she quickly took note of Emily's eyes and face which were still slightly red from crying. With the notice that her dear friend had been crying she knew now was not the time to mention the Queen's conversation to her, it would only cause the princess to worry more rather then help her. "We just wanted to make sure you where alright."
Emily's face softened as she turned away looking in front of them as they kept walking till they both sat on the edge of the fountain. "Thank you, but you really didn't need too."
"You know, you will have to go back in there even if The Evil Queen is here?" Odette asked as she placed a hand on Emily's arm gently
The princess hummed in response with a nod as she kept her gaze down while fiddling with the fabric of her dress, knowing her friend was right. Odette sighed watching her friends worried behavior but her attention was quickly drawn to someone walking towards them, her eyes widened in surprise before she turned her attention back to her friend.
"You don't have to worry though.. we will do all we can to help." Odette added sweetly while a friendly smile played on her lips before she picked the tiara up and placed it in Emily's head as she stood placing a hand on the princesses shoulder. "It seems we aren't the only ones that are here to help either."
The princess brought her gaze up from the ground as her eyes locked onto the man walking towards them a shaky breath escaping her lips as her eyes widened slightly a small spark returning to her brown eyes. "Damon?" Emily gasped as she rose from the fountain "But how?"
"Charles is a better negotiator then The Queen." Damon was wearing a formal black suit jacket that had gold detailing along the seams of the jacket as well as swirled floral designs following the seam. A black patterned velvet vest was worn underneath that also had very minimal gold detailing following the seams, the gold on the vest could just barely be seen but helped to pull the jacket together. A simple white colored blouse jetted out from the sleeves of the jacket and the neckline of the vest. His pants wear a simple black with black leather boots. The outfit he wore made him look as if he was a noble guest rather then a guards.
"But how did you get Charles to let you out after my mother?" Emily questioned as she hugged him tightly before stepping back and looking at his outfit realizing he was just as dressed up as Merryweather. "Your not in your uniform?"
"I told Charles that I didn't know you had left because I had to go do something for one of the other guards. The outfit is for the ball, Merryweather wanted us all here." Damon spoke with confidence like he was trying to convince himself that Charles would go against the Queen's wishes without having some other plan up their sleeves. But also realized he let part of Merryweather's plan slip hopping the princess didn't pay much attention to his last comment.
"Charles won't do that it doesn't make since, he's to loyal to my mother.." Emily mumbled as confusion washed over her face as she turned away getting lost in thought as she wasn't sure why Charles would go against her mothers wishes unless her aunt was right that she wouldn't follow through on her threats. She had barely heard what Damon had said about Merryweather thinking to herself about the conversation earlier with her maid, 'Is that what she had meant?'
"Charles and The Queen thought their might be an attack tonight to repeat what had happened to your father, they decided it was a better idea to have more guards stationed then fewer incase something happened." Damon lied as he took a step towards the princess. He had quickly come up with a lie knowing that it was a reasonable excuse and that Emily might not want to dig at the conversation more if it was a repeat of what had happened to her father. He knew the princess would probably not believe that Charles let him out as that was The late kings' faithful servants that had helped get him out of the dungeon to be at the ball with them to watch out for Emily.
The princess turned her head to the side looking at him with a raised eyebrow before she shook her head throwing her hands up in irritation as she spoke with sarcasm. "Oh, that's lovely..... Really helps with the stress..."
Odette who was still standing by the fountain let a laugh roll from her lips at her friend's tone and mannerisms. Her laugh caught the attention of Emily who looked at her with shocked expression with a scoff as she rolled her eyes playfully at Odette. The Princesses attention was draw behind Odette for a moment at she watched Elizabeth and Eilonwy who where still bickering with each other oblivious to anything else. Odette catching where her friend's gaze was at as she looked over her shoulder and shook her head before looking back at Emily who shrugged her shoulders with a large smile playing across her face as Odette shrugged back shaking her head once again.
"Well, I guess I will leave you two alone." Odette chucked with a hint of frustration in her tone at the two other women. A smile playing on lips as she bowed her head to the princess before turning on her heels facing Elizabeth and Eilonwy with her arms crossed.
The princess let a laugh escape her lips as she was amused by the three women, she waved to Odette which caught the attention of Elizabeth and Eilonwy who both turned their heads with wide eyes as a childish oh no expression washed over the women's faces. Both of them turning to face Odette like children going to be scolded by their mother, as Odette placed her hands on her hips at the two girls. This only made Emily chuckle with a shake of her head as her lips curled into a large smile at the actions of the three blonds. 'They really are a odd group', Emily thought to herself before turning back towards Damon.
The princesses worry about her mother returned as she looked at Damon and then hit him on the arm slightly. "I was worried about you. I told you my mother is crazy."
Damon looked at her with a furrowed brow "I know you did but I wasn't going to let you try to escape with out help."
"You don't get it! She came after you because you got involved, you can't help me or she will do it again!" Emily huffed as she throws her hands up in the air before turning towards the fountain and grabbing her heels from were they sat on the edge.
"I don't get it? Do you hear yourself?"
The princess threw her hands in the air once more in frustration before she started to storm away from him heading through the maze with a grumble. "You...Your so frustrating!"
"I'm frustrating?" Damon questioned as his face scrunched in confusion before he ran after her following right behind her. "How about you, I'm just trying to help in anyway I can because you won't let me do anything else."
Emily stopped in her tracks turning around to face him the frustration showing on her face as she was getting annoyed she couldn't get through to him that she was trying to protect him from Helena's magic. "I'm trying to keep you from getting killed by my crazy mother!"
"Emily stop. I can handle myself, your not going to just push me away because you think I'm going to get killed."
"NO! You see, you don't understand! That's exactly why I do not want you to get involved, I can't-" Emily was cut off by Damon placing his lips on hers
Damon pulled back away from the kiss as he looked at Emily who's face was slightly scrunched in confusion but before she could say anything he spoke. "You worry to much, your not going to lose me Emily."
"You....you are so frustrating" Emily protested as she let her gaze wonder to the ground before turned from him and started walking again
The deafening silence between the two as they walked was uneasy as the sounds from the garden and the ball helped to fill the silence between the two. Emily didn't want to fight but she could never seem to get across to him how much danger he was in if Helena found out, her mother had already threatened him earlier and she knew something wasn't right with what he was telling her about Charles letting Damon out. While Damon didn't want her to worry about him he knew he could never tell her that Merryweather and the others actually broke him out of the dungeon as Helena said she would deal with him after the ball, he knew The Queen was dangerous and had magic but he had never seen anything first hand he was always told by Emily, a servant or another guard which made him question if some of the stories just over exaggerated what she was capable of. Both of them lost in thought as they walked through the lively garden, stealing glances at one another out of the corner of their eyes unsure what to say or do to make the other understand or to fix the situation. As they started to near the entrance of the garden leading back to the ballroom, the clatter of metal armor echoed through the quiet garden as they watched some of the castle guards start to make their way into the garden. The princess along with her personal guard both quickly ducked into the shadows of the garden watching as the castle guards disappeared into different part of the garden, the two weren't sure if the guards were looking for the princess or if they were looking for Damon. The pair hopped to stay out of sigh using the shadows along with the tall trees and hedges to keep hidden but as they started to make their way to the ballroom doors the sky erupted with light. Fireworks where being set off behind the castle for the ball lighting the sky with bright vibrant colors as well as illuminating the garden with light but also drowned out the noise of the echoing of armor as the guards walked. Emily gave Damon a worried look before he disappeared into the garden allowing the princess to head for the doors without attracting to much attention. The princess placed her heels back on before she picked up the front of her dress running towards the doors before realizing that guest were now starting to make their way to the open doorways but also into the front of the garden as they were watching the fireworks. Emily slowed her pace to a brisk walk as the guest slowly tickled out she was a few feet from the stairs before she stopped and turned around to look up at the fireworks acting as if she had been watching them, incase anyone of importance noticed that she was walking back from the garden. The fireworks lasted for several minutes before they started to slow down allowing Emily to make her way up the now crowded stairs as mostly all the guest were watching mesmerized. Smiling and greeting some of the guest as she walked past them the loud noise from the fireworks washed out the excited voices of the crowd but ever so often the crowd would over power the fireworks with their excitement. The princess finally reached the top step as the finale of the fireworks was set off. She turned on her heels watching as they burst one right after the other along side other that were set off at the same time filling the void before more fireworks were set off, it looked as if stars were being unleashed into the sky. Finally the fireworks came to a stop as the smoke started to clear blowing in the wind the guest erupted into thunderous applause as they turned towards each other speaking as smiles played across all of their faces from the excitement from the fireworks, the applause lasted but a moment before it died down leading the guest to start returning back to the ball but the joyful voices still echoed as they all spoke to one another.
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✧☾ 𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 ☽✧
I had no idea what to put for the gif.. So you get Odette as the gif for this chapter.＼(ﾟｰﾟ＼)
Thank you all for being so patient with this story.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Emily's small break is because I wanted us to be able to finally see the events of the past day catch up to her, also I wanted a nice moment between Farrah and her....
Leave a like and any thoughts you had on this chapter in the comments!
Thank You again
(Last updated: July 4 2021)
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