Orna Puella

- XII -




Cerylia left for the Ball at eight in the evening, and since she was wearing a shawl around her shoulders, it didn’t even occur to me to look at the choker, which I thought was around her neck. I didn’t know that she left it at home until eleven fifteen in the evening. That was when I went into her room because I realized I left my hairbrush in there.

I walked in, turned the lights on, and immediately saw my hairbrush. It was sitting on Cerylia’s dresser. I walked towards it, grabbed the brush and that was when I saw the choker.

“Oh son of a bitch!!” I said loudly and grabbed the emerald. “Crap!”

I went into my bedroom where Raven was smoking by the open window.

“Is Vicky home?” I asked and he looked outside.
“Her car is here. Why?” he looked at me.
“Ugh… I need her to drive me to that damn Ball,” I said with frustration. “Cerylia forgot the bloody choker, can you believe it?!”
“Is it really such a big deal?” he squinted his eyes.
“Yes,” I nodded. “It’s a very big deal! She wouldn’t shut up about how perfect the damn thing was and about the fact that it’ll be the most important thing in her ensemble!”
“Pffft,” Raven said contemptuously. “It’s just a choker! She’ll be fine!”
“Just a choker?” I stared at him with mock horror. “Raven, we are talking about Cerylia! If she doesn’t get it by midnight, she will probably jump off the bridge!”
“Midnight?” he frowned. “Why?”
“She said that’s when they are doing the whole slipper thing. She really thinks she’ll be the Queen of the Ball or whatever the hell it’s called, and if she doesn’t have this choker…” I just looked at him without finishing the sentence.

Raven sighed and flicked his cigarette out of the open window.

“I see your point,” he said in defeat. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll go get Vicky,” I nodded.

****
I had no idea what time it was when Vicky finally stopped in front of the huge mansion that was the governor’s house. I shook my head. This place looked like a freaking castle with all the lights and decorations. Some people, I thought. Why would you need all this glitter?

“You want me to give it to her?” Vicky asked me and I sighed.
“I’ll do it,” I grumbled. “You will probably waste time by talking to people… I know you!”
“True,” she said seriously.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes or so,” I sighed.

Raven kissed my mouth.

“Hurry back,” he said.
“Believe me, I will,” I muttered and stroked his face.
“It’s ten minutes until midnight,” Vicky said and I sighed.
“Right. Okay, I’ll be back soon!”

I ran up the huge stair leading into the mansion and when I got inside, I groaned in frustration. The place was packed! Good Dragon, how do I find Cerylia in this zoo? I put my hand into my coat’s pocket, making sure that the choker was still there. It was. Okay, I thought, just look for the pale green dress. I started making my way through the crowd, glancing around frantically and to my greatest relief I saw Cerylia really soon.

“Cerylia!” I shouted and gritted my teeth when she didn’t hear me. Damn loud music, I thought gloomily. “Cerylia!!”

This time she heard me and whirled around. I almost laughed when I saw how happy she became after she saw me.

“Oh my Dragon!!” she breathed when I came closer. “You brought it!”
“Of course I brought it,” I rolled my eyes. “I would never hear the end of it if I didn’t!”
“I can’t believe I forgot it,” she was jabbering. “I got here and then I realized I wasn’t wearing it, and then I couldn’t figure out what to do, and then I thought that it was catastrophic, and then…”
“Okay, okay,” I winced. “I get it, shut up! Turn around so I can clasp it.”

She immediately turned around and I put the choker around her neck.

“Thank you so much,” she sounded like it was impossible for her to shut up. Like some valve got broken or something.

“And everything is flooding,” I thought and then the same weird feeling hit me again. “… Some kind of emergency,” I’ve heard someone say in my head. “Something to do with the bad pipes… The bakery keeps getting flooded or some shit like that.”

I shook my head. What the hell?! What bakery? I need to ask Vicky what this whole thing is about. Never happened before. Am I going crazy or something? Great, I am hearing voices… Ugh, this is bizarre!

“Okay,” I said finally. “You are all set! I gotta go. Vicky and Raven are waiting for me outside.”
“Thank you so much, Selena!” she said and I smiled at her.
“No problem.”
“Hey, do you wanna see the ceremony?” Cerylia asked.
“The slipper thing? Dragon, no! I gotta go, Cerylia! Tell me all about it tomorrow morning, okay?”
“Okay,” she sighed. “Say thanks to Vicky for driving you here!”
“I will,” I nodded and was about to leave when the clock struck midnight.

I shrugged at that and started to walk towards the front doors when someone grabbed my shoulder.

“Nobody is leaving until the ceremony is over!” he said with laughter and I looked behind me with a frown.
“Arlen, what the hell!” I said. “Let go! I am leaving. I only came here to give something to Cerylia!”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged. “You are staying until the ceremony is over.”
“No, I am not!” I said angrily, trying to pull his hand off my shoulder.

He laughed at that and I squinted my eyes at him. Is he drunk or something? Looked like it. And another wave of déjà vu hit me with nauseating speed. This happened before, I thought. The settings were different, but this happened before! Great Lizard, what the hell is happening to me?!

Arlen took a full advantage of my temporary disorientation and dragged me back into the mansion. I was about to slap his hand away when the governor rang the silver bell and everyone fell silent. Ah, crap!! I guess I am stuck here for now. I decided to wait until the damn ceremony begins and then just sneak out when nobody pays attention to anything but the stupid glass slipper. I caught Cerylia’s surprised look and shrugged gloomily, glaring at Arlen briefly. Cerylia frowned slightly and bit her lower lip.

“Come over here, will you?!” I thought furiously. “Come over here and get this idiot away from me!” It seemed like Cerylia interpreted my looks correctly and soon enough she made her way across the room.

“What’s going on?” she whispered while the governor was saying something about traditions and other crap like that.
“I am stuck here,” I whispered back. “I can’t leave until he shuts up. I am going to try and sneak out as soon as they start that stupid ceremony! Cover me, will you?”
“Okay,” she nodded.

“So let’s begin!” the governor finally finished his speech and the crowd let out a simultaneous breath of excitement.
“Yeah,” I thought. “Let’s begin so I can get the hell out of here already!” I knew that I was gone longer than ten minutes and I hoped that Raven is not going to come here looking for me. I hoped that Vicky would be able to make him stay in the car. If Raven shows up in here with Arlen in his current condition… I shuddered. That will be beyond bad.

Arlen looked at me and grinned.

“We are going to start here!” he called loudly and his father smiled at him and nodded.

Are you freaking kidding me?! I looked at Cerylia with horrified eyes.

“Get him away from me!” I whispered and I didn’t care that she suddenly had hurt look in her eyes. I’ll care about it later; all I wanted to do right now was to get away from Arlen and this mansion.

Arlen took the glass slipper from the red pillow when one of the servants brought it to him, and grinned again.

“Let’s start with you, lovely ladies, shall we?”

I pushed Cerylia in front of me. He will have to start with her. And while he is doing that, I am going to make a run for it. I didn’t care that I will look rude, or weird, or both. To my greatest horror, Arlen gently pulled Cerylia out of the way and stared at me.

“Selena, you are going to be the first one to try this slipper.”

Oh Talath, this is not happening.

“I don’t think so,” I hissed at him and he just snorted at that.
“It might not even fit,” he said lightly. “Just do it.”

I looked around and realized that everyone in the room was looking at me including the governor. Dragondammit!!

“Come on!” Arlen laughed and lowered himself on one knee in front of me. “Don’t be shy!”

I almost told him to go to hell but then realized that if I do that, Cerylia will become a social outcast since we are related. I gritted my teeth.

“Fine,” I muttered and kicked my right shoe off. “Hurry up. I have stuff to do.”

He smiled gently and grabbed my foot. I winced when he slowly ran his fingers up my ankle. Finally, he took the glass slipper and slid it onto my foot. I stared at it in disbelief. No, Talath, no, please… This is not happening...!

“Well, what do you know,” Arlen laughed softly. “A perfect fit!”