THE ROYAL BALL: Part Three

Eve was woken by the soft sounds of Elizabeth calling her. She squinted her eyes because of the bright light seeping into the room from the windows. The window were a row of long and wide vertical columns from the ceiling to a few inches above the marble floors. Elizabeth had drawn all the curtains and was stretching at the foot of Eve's bed. Eve sat up as she yawned and stretched her arms.

"Wake up... We'll be late for breakfast and I heard my parents arrived late last night so I need to go and see them." Elizabeth said drowsily.

"I had a nightmare again....It was awful. For some reason, lord Bezel waged war against Ceaser and....aww it was horrible!" Eve said as she got out of bed.

Elizabeth sat on the bed and hummed in response. She watched Eve walk to the dressing table and look at her reflection.

"Those markings have moved again, Eve. You should ask for someone who can help you with it. I'm worried. Ever since you encountered that man you have been having dreams of the worst things that could go wrong."

"I will." Eve said calmly as she touched the side of her neck where the markings were visible.

They both sighed and looked at each other through the mirror.

"Shall I wash my hair?" Eve asked trying to get Elizabeth in a good mood.

She turned to face her friend with a smile that was immediately reciprocated. They went to bath and both came out from the bath with wet hair. They combed through each other's wet hair and made a single braid on either side of the head. Elizabeth's hair was shorter than Eve's that went down to her ankles while Elizabeth's reached only below her buttocks. Eve twisted the braids together and let it hang over her right shoulder. Elizabeth on the other hand let the braids hang freely behind her. They wore matching pink dresses and went out hand in hand.

The upper floors were very quiet but soon sounds could be heard clearly. There was noisy chatter everywhere about what they would wear for the ball and some of them were planning to get new gowns and suits.

"It seems like we are all just going to have breakfast alone." Eve said after observing that everyone looked busy.

"Ohhh! If you always wake up so late then how do you expect to know anything that's happening." a sharp feminine voice said from behind them.

Eve and Elizabeth turned around to see who it was. A princess just about their age stood in a crimson gown with her red hair flowing behind her.

"Princess Penelope. What a pleasant surprise." Eve said exasperated.

"Please don't pretend. I already know what sort of snake you are." Penelope said calmly while she glared at Eve distastefully.

Elizabeth grabbed Eve's arm and went away with her for fear that Eve might kill Penelope. They went outside and could see that some carriages containing food stuffs were arriving. Terra was busy giving instructions alongside Julius but there was no sign of Ceaser.

"Isn't he a little too proud for a prince?" Elizabeth asked sighing.

"He might just be unwell." Eve defended him.

"He might just be unwell." Elizabeth mimicked Eve,"Queen Terra was also unwell prior to his arrival but look at her. She knows she has to make an appearance like a good leader."

Eve said nothing in relation to Ceaser and suggested they help out. They walked towards Terra and Eve was feeling anxious about what Terra would say to her after their last meeting years ago. She hadn't been nice to her back then so she worried Terra would think she was hypocritical.

"Good morning, your majesty." they greeted her with a bow.

Terra turned to look at them and offered them a beautiful smile as she waved away the servant who was showing her the material for the curtains they were going to hang in the great Hall.

"Good morning ladies. What brings you here where it's dusty?" Terra replied turning around fully to look at the two maidens.

"We wanted to help out. You look quite exhausted yourself." Elizabeth said.

"Ohhh...The work is almost done. Ceaser only left us the scraps to deal with so don't worry." she said with pride laced in her voice.

"The prince?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

"Yes. He left late last night to get me the best seamstresses to prepare clothes for us and even arranged for more food, tables, chairs and the like. He has already done a lot. I wander if he is back yet." she said looking around for him,"How have you been, princess Eve?"

Eve was startled by the sudden attention and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Fine. How about you?" she finally said.

"As you can see, I have been perfectly fine. Your mother told me about your engagement to lord Bezel. He's a good match for you and I can tell he really adores you."

Their eyes looked for a few seconds and Eve was the first to look away while Terra continued to look at her without even blinking. Eve was saddened by the fact that Terra thought Bezel was good for her but she smiled to mask it up.

"I spoke to him last night after dinner. Do you know what he said?" Terra continued,"He said I should make sure you and Ceaser don't meet privately or be seen together in public within a meter radius for your safety."

"What?!" Eve and Elizabeth asked at the same time.

Terra smiled and moved closer to Eve. She place her hand on Eve's shoulder and patted it lightly. They were almost the same height but Eve was slightly shorter. Terra looked at Eve's shoulder and saw the strange markings she knew Crow was only capable of causing apart from Ceaser. She frowned slightly but mastered up a smile. Eve and Elizabeth failed to notice these little changes because they were still in deep contemplation.

"What he meant was that he will hurt you if I let you even so much a stare at Ceaser for too long. If you have any underlying feelings for Ceaser, then keep them buried for your own safety. Bezel is not fully human." Terra warned her.

"Not fully...human? What do you mean?" Eve asked confused.

"He's like you and Ceaser....one of the special ones. He has had a over three lifetimes to master his ability and I fear you two..." she paused and looked at Elizabeth,"...you three cannot beat him in an all out assult."

Terra walked away after saying that leaving the two maidens shaking. Three lifetimes? Did that mean Bezel had been reincarnating with his memories and his abilities? How did she know if she was a full human herself? They looked at each other for a long time but still felt their own resolve fail them. Elizabeth suddenly laughed making Eve fear her friend had lost her sanity.

"Eliza, what is the matter with you?" she asked.

"How strong can one man be? Reincarnation or not so you really think he can fight all three of us at once and still win?"

"It might just be the two of us. We don't know if Ceaser would involve himself in all this."

"True but still I have hope in us."

"People don't win fights because of hope, Eliza. He has experience and we don't."

"Who has experience?" a deep unfamiliar voice asked behind Eve.

Elizabeth smiled at the man making Eve turn around. It was a man with short black hair and pale gray eyes. Elizabeth blushed upon seeing her hearts cry in front of her.

"No one important, sir." Elizabeth chirped happily,"Do you remember me?"

"Of course. I wouldn't just walk up to a random pair of maidens for gossip, would I?" he answered seriously.

Eve finally registered that this was the man Elizabeth had told her about.

'If Elizabeth's description of him was right then he also one of the special ones or he was Crow.' Eve thought to herself.

"Of course. How silly of me to ask such a baseless question." Elizabeth said shyly,"We didn't get the chance to properly introduce ourselves the last time we met. I am Elizabeth Veldet."

"My introduction can wait. The queen asked me to aid the princess with the markings that I so effortlessly placed on her the last time we met in flesh." he stated.

Elizabeth was shocked at his confession and watched as he bit his finger until it bled then placed the finger on Eve's neck leaving behind a red spot of blood on the pale white skin. The blood was absorbed and the markings disappeared. None of them asked him to explain himself and a second later, he pulled his hand away from Eve with a piece of straw he pretended to have been taking out of her hair. His finger was fine and he smiled brightly.

"I am Crow." he introduced himself bowing a full ninety degrees down.