Royal Ball II

Amaya stares at the food in aversion. Lucan may have impelled her to come down, but there is no way he can thrust the food down her throat. Lucan doesn't give her any attention as he eats quietly. She has already stressed him enough and he isn't apt for her persistent need to bicker.

Amaya sits with folded hands still not touching her food for almost five minutes, compelling Lucan to speak.

"You are not eating your food," he lets out, dropping his fork back on his plate as he watches her intently.

"I told you I don't want to"

"If you don't like it, you'll be served something else" he proposes

"No, I don't want anything from you. I'd rather starve" She mumbles obstinately, inducing Lucan to groan in annoyance. He is not prepared to argue with her. He's had enough in the last several days

"Your collar bones have grown so deep that they can now retain water. If you keep doing this, you could wind up disappearing into the air," he says, and Amaya grimaces.

If he is trying to make her eat, then he is doing an awful job at it. Amaya concludes inwardly, still not budging.

He pauses for a while before he finally speaks. "Why don't you want to eat?"

Her stomach chooses to betray her by grumbling at that point. She grips it tightly with her hands, refusing to give in.

Lucan is about to part his lips when his mother appears out of nowhere. Amaya finds the smile on her face aggravating, but she doesn't say anything; instead, she concentrates on her meal and begins to eat because Lucan is now preoccupied to taunt her for giving in after proving stubborn

"Have you told her about the ball?" his mother inquires as she ambles to a seat and sits on it.

"No I haven't" he admits, taking a mouthful of his steak, still not informing Amaya about it.

"Well darling" she gazes at Amaya who scowls at how pleasant Rebecca is feigning to be when she isn't. "There is a ball coming up tonight and....."

"I'm not interested," Amaya says as punctures her steak to take out her anger.

"Is there a reason for that?" Rebecca tilts her head to the side as she asks with phony concern

"Because I don't see my use there" Amaya shrugs in a casual demeanor.

"It is a party to celebrate your mate for being king. You ought to be there"

Amaya doesn't say anything else. She doesn't deem the situation fit for her to waste her saliva. Her no is her no and they can't compel her to appear at a ball she doesn't wish to.

Rebecca is about to speak when Lucan intervenes, which Amaya appreciates. He leans up close to his mother and whispers something into her ear. She gives him a nod of affirmation and returns to her food. At that point, Amaya's nosy nature takes over, but she doesn't behave accordingly.

Amaya gets up as soon as she finishes her meal and prepares to go when Lucan speaks. "The maids will fetch you five ball dresses to choose from for the ball celebration,"

Amaya is too weary to answer back. She has been screaming all day, and the only thing she craves is sleep, not a ball.

Promptly after she gets to her room to honor her fatigued eyes, she hears a knock on the door and groans in frustration. Out of annoyance and with the hopes of the person leaving, she doesn't give an answer, but just as she had foreseen, the door opens. When she said no one took her seriously in this place, she wasn't joking.

Six of the maids allocated to her by Lucan all march in with a dress in their hands. Lucan is the last to enter. Probably he wants to make sure she doesn't maneuver her way around and not go to the ball.

"Great, just great" she mumbles under her breath as she sits up from her bed.

All the ladies line up in a straight line while Lucan leans on the closed door.

They all turn to Lucan, waiting for the notion for them to start and he gives them a head nod. They all raise the beautiful dresses. All were beautiful ball dresses, but Amaya isn't impressed.

"Do you like it?" he says to her, studying every of her expression.

"A booth and trousers will do the job for me thank you"

Lucan sighs in frustration. "I understand your desire to radiate power in your dressing, but you can't wear that to a ball"

"You can't tell me what to do" she scrunches her eyebrows.

"Amaya" he begins, pressing his lips together as his eyes smolder. "Please" he blurts out, taking the full room by surprise.

The maids did not expect such words from the king and neither did Amaya. With just that statement all her anger melts away alongside her obstinacy. Going to one ball party won't hurt anyone, her inner self says to her and she fully succumbs.

The red dress with a big bow ribbon positioned at the waist seems too over the top for Amaya. The yellow dress appears too revealing in the chest area and Amaya doesn't relish the idea of being seen as a sex object at the party. The blue dress is better than the yellow, but Amaya isn't impressed with it. Finally, a dress catches her attention and it is the one Wendy holds. A peach ball dress like the rest, but it is different in the area of simplicity. If she wants to not stand out tonight, then the dress is it. It is embellished by stones at the neck line but not as gaudy as the other designs.

"I'll go with that one" she points at the peach dress. "Now can I be left alone?"

"No, you'll start getting prepared, starting from now"

"But the ball isn't until nightfall"

"And it's almost dusk" he states and Amaya groans in exasperation. This is the last thing she wants, but the look on Lucan's face gives the notion he isn't going to let her juggle this.

"Fine Wendy put the dress down. I'll get ready and be down as soon as possible" she says and as Lucan realizes the card she is playing, he speaks up.

"No, the maids will be the ones to dress you"

"Great," she says out loud with an uninterested expression on her face.

Lucan walks towards her. She isn't sure what he is about to do until he kisses her on her right cheek. Immediately he does that, her heartbeat increase as she swallows hard. He then saunters back to the door.

"That'll be all" Lucan says to her and leaves promptly.

A while after he leaves, his mother emerges from the door exuding her usual powerful aura. Even without her saying anything, Amaya is able to comprehend she is here to counsel the maid on what to do. Amaya doesn't know if she is genuinely doing it to bring order or if she just has a degree in pissing Amaya off.

"Good evening ladies" she beams at them, then averts her gaze to Amaya.

"Don't seat. You have a lot of things to get to" Rebecca rebukes her

Amaya reluctantly gets up, looking around for the so-called "things" she needs to do.

"The maids will prepare your bath and you will be properly washed for nothing less than an hour. You will..."

Amaya doesn't let her finish because already has an issue with the first sentence. "I can wash by myself," Amaya explains, not failing to express her strong disapproval of what the woman uttered.

"We know that, but that is not how things are done here. If you don't have any more complaints, I shall continue" she says and Amaya presses her lips together to show she doesn't have anything else to say.

"You will be corseted and dressed in any dress you pick. Your hair..." Amaya notices how Rebecca furrows her eyebrows in contempt as she stares at Amaya's hair. "Your hair will be treated and styled appropriately and you will be taught how to walk and dance during the ball. The dancing part can be skipped at your command because of your leg"

Amaya is too stunned to speak. All she can ask herself is what the hell did she sign for when she accepted to go to the ball? The only reason she accepted was because Lucan swallowed his pride and pleaded with her, but at this point, she almost regrets ever considering it. Initially, the plan was to stay and heal, but now she is going to balls with the same people she despises so much.