The Magic of Aurelian

Kiran

It was finally time for the last ball. My mother was adamant that I would be introducing Lady Ella to them today. I nearly forgot that these balls were intended to be for my birthday, but my mother reminded me that I would be blowing out my candles at midnight as we did the mask reveal. Lady Ella had left each of the other two balls right at midnight, so I would have to find a way to convince her to stay later.

For the ball tonight, my mother had prepared for us all to represent gold. I felt like a gilded soldier in my costume of head-to-toe gold. I wish I had asked Lady Ella what she planned on wearing for tonight as I hated having to search every face for her.

“Prince Kiran!” Two women dressed as sapphire and emerald waltzed up to me, and I had no trouble figuring out that they were Sylvie and Aria.

“Are the rumors true, will you be announcing a bride tonight?” Sylvie couldn't help but ask.

“You shouldn’t pressure Prince Kiran like that, Sylvie.” Aria put her hand on my chest and tried to slide her other arm around mine. “I’m certain you will choose the perfect bride, but it’s rumored you will be selecting a bride from the Air Kingdom. I think that’s a wise choice, Your Highness.”

I peeled her body off of mine as she continued to attempt to get closer to me. “Those rumors are false, so I will not be announcing a bride tonight, but please don’t let that spoil your night. I have other guests to greet, so you’ll have to excuse me.”

Aria was always too much for me, so I took it upon myself to head out to the garden for some time alone. I had yet to spot Lady Ella, and the ball had been going on for a while. She didn’t say anything about not coming, so I held on to hope and would go back inside to search for her again once I was ready.

Eleonor

I watched as Kiran stepped outside after unlatching Aria from his side. I had to speak with him, sooner rather than later, or I feared I would lose my nerve. When I noticed him head out to the garden, I followed so that I could get this over with.

“Prince Kiran?” I called out so as not to startle him with my presence. “Prince Kiran?”

“Lady Ella,” I found him walking by some rose bushes, and he stopped walking to let me catch up. “You look breathtaking tonight.”

“Thank you, I hope you don’t mind me coming out here to find you.”

“Not at all, I have actually been looking for you.” Of course, he has. I bit my bottom lip subconsciously as I started getting nervous about revealing my identity.

“My birthday is at midnight, so I wanted to see if you’d stay later tonight, to watch me cut the cake.” He smiled nervously.

“Oh, I’m not sure I can,” Another lie as Aunt Jacinta told me this dress would last longer than the others, but I was so nervous that I was unable to stop the lie.

“Please, at least think about it.” He grabbed my hand and raised it to his lips, laying gentle kisses on my knuckles. My breath caught in my throat at his touch, and I practically melted into him as he stared back at me with his chocolate-colored eyes.

He wasted no time as he pulled off his mask and pulled me flush against him. He started kissing me as if the world was ending tomorrow, and I kissed him back just as desperately.

Kiran pulled apart from me for only a second as he led me further into the garden. He sat down on a bench and pulled me onto his lap before bringing our lips together again. He tasted sweet like citrus and honey, and I was completely lost in him. The truth that I had resolved to tell him became lost in the passion, and I no longer dared to reveal my true identity.

Kiran trailed kisses down my neck and over to my bare shoulder. He caressed every spot of exposed skin, and I felt I couldn’t breathe from the overwhelming feelings. Why couldn’t I be doing this as Eleonor instead?

“Ella,” He pulled back breathlessly and placed his forehead on mine as he caressed my cheek, “May I call you Ella?” I nodded as he continued. “I’d like to continue seeing you once these balls are over. I want us to get to know each other better.”

My heart clenched knowing I wouldn’t be able to follow through with his wishes. He must have seen the regret in my eyes because he looked at me confused. “Ella? You want that too don’t you?”

“Prince Kiran,” I pulled away from him and stood up. I couldn’t think with how close he was, so I walked away from his warmth. “I have enjoyed our time together, but I’m not sure it would be in our best interest to continue this further. I plan on remaining in Glimmerlore, but you’ll be here in Fairmist.”

“I don’t mind traveling to see you.” He tried to convince me, but I could see the hurt in his eyes as they glistened in the moonlight. He had put himself out there twice this week and was rejected both times.

“It’s almost midnight. Will you at least stay for the cake and mask reveal?”

I looked up, unable to respond as I felt a huge lump in my throat. I knew if I said anything, the floodgates would open and I would start crying, so I simply nodded.

We headed back inside, and Kiran attempted to pull me to the front where the cake was already set up. “Large crowds make me nervous, do you mind if I stay back?”

“Of course not, I’ll come find you after. You can meet my parents.” He said enthusiastically.

Again, I just nodded. He left me on the side, and I heard the chime of the midnight bell. I numbly watched as he blew out his candles and cut the cake. He turned and smiled my way, and I watched in slow motion as the other partygoers started pulling off their masks. Kiran started walking my way, and my heart rate spiked. There was no way I could do this, so I did the only other thing I could think of…I ran.

I shot out of the ballroom and to the staircase. Once outside, I cut through the gardens and continued running until I came to a clearing and took off flying. It wasn’t until I made it home that I realized I had lost a shoe. How did that happen without me noticing?

Kiran

She ran. I poured out my heart to her, and she just ran. I followed after her, but the only trace of her I found was her shoe of all things.

“When will you be heading back to school?”

“In a few hours.”

My parents shared a look between them.

“I’m fine, there’s no need to worry about me.” I practically growled the words out.

“Kiran, we just know how excited you were about this girl. Maybe you can travel to Glimmerlore to find her…or what if we use her shoe.”

“How would we find her with her shoe? If she doesn’t want to be found, then she won’t claim the shoe.”

“Well, what if we have all of the girls we invited to the ball try on the shoe? It’s rather tiny, I doubt it would fit many of the young ladies, and then you can narrow it down.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” My father agreed.

“I can arrange it for you, I’ll just put out a call to all of the young women, and whoever wants to can come try the shoe on during the week…and don’t worry, I’ll be discreet, I’ll just say that we would like to locate the owner of the shoe.”

My mother’s plan sounded ridiculous, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. She put out the message to all of the guests before I left for Aurelian, and I put it out of my mind after that.

The school week had been going by slowly. Eleonor had been more quiet than usual, but I can’t say I was any more talkative and engaging than she had been. I just wasn’t in the mood for socializing. My mother also insisted that I return home this weekend to follow up on the shoe, but at this point, I wasn’t sure I was ready to be rejected yet again if we found Lady Ella.

“Oh, Kiran, I’m so glad you’re here!” The high-pitched squeal threw me out of sorts. I was in the library trying to catch up on an assignment, so I wasn’t expecting the sound.

“Aria,” I nodded my head in greeting.

“We rarely get time to talk when we’re in class, but I just had to tell you. I saw your mother’s message, and I’ll be heading to Fairmist this weekend to claim my shoe.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, “Your shoe?”

“Yes, I can be so clumsy sometimes, and my shoe fell off as I was leaving.” She smiled at me trying to look cute, but her smile was anything but. Aria and Sylvie were the only two ladies at the ball who didn’t hide their identity from me, so I was glad to know there was no way the shoe belonged to Aria, even if she did claim it.

“We should have dinner together while I’m in Fairmist, or we could have dinner together here. I’m free tonight.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Aria. I’m not free this week. If you’ll excuse me.” I gathered up my books and headed to my room. Obviously, I lied about being busy, but I would rather go to my room, eat alone, and then lay in my bed while I stare at the ceiling than go to dinner with Aria. As far as birthdays go, 100 wasn’t what I thought it would be at all.

Eleonor

I was certain I had given Kiran the worst birthday present ever, which was running away from him. I had rejected him twice when I hadn’t even wanted to reject him once. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before, but I decided to bake him a cake and take it over to him. I was a baker after all.

I worked all evening to finish up the cake. It was a two-layer chocolate cake garnished with strawberries and blueberries. Once it was ready, I wrapped it up carefully and placed it in a box as I wanted to take it right over to Kiran.

I had never been to Kiran’s room, but he had given me his room number just in case I ever needed to find him. It was a short walk from my building, and I climbed up the two flights to Kiran’s floor carefully as I didn’t want to ruin the cake. I was proud of what I had made, and I had been avoiding Kiran all week, so I felt this was not just a birthday cake but a sort of peace offering.

As I arrived at Kiran’s floor and started searching the room numbers, I heard a familiar voice echoing through the hallway. What was Aria doing here?

I turned the corner and came face-to-face with her.

“What are you doing here!?” She screeched at me.

“I’m here to drop off something for Prince Kiran.”

“Good luck with that, he’s busy and won’t have time for you and your pathetic little offering.”

“I think I’ll take my chances and see if he really is busy. I’m sure he’d love to have a piece of this cake I brought for him.”

Aria laughed loudly, sounding almost maniacal. Whatever she and Kiran discussed must have upset her. “He won’t want your stupid cake.” Before I could pull away, her hand came crashing on top of the box, knocking it out of my hands and onto the floor.

I gasped loudly, and Aria just started laughing again. She stood there as I turned the box over and saw the damage she had done. I wanted to cry once I saw the smashed-up cake in the box, but I wouldn’t give Aria the satisfaction. She kept laughing loudly for a few more minutes before turning the corner and continuing on her way out.

I flipped over the box and set it on the floor, looking at the full extent of the damage. There was no way I could fix this.

“Eleonor, what are you doing here?”

I looked up to see none other than Kiran standing just outside of his door.

“Oh, I…I was coming to see you, and give you this cake…but it fell.” I gestured to the box of ruined cake.

“I thought I heard Aria laughing out here, she didn’t have anything to do with this by any chance, did she?”

“Oh, it’s…the box fell out of my hand.”

“You don’t have to cover for her, you know. I’ve already seen how she treats you.”

“Fine,” I huffed, “She knocked the cake out of my hands. I intended to give this to you as a late birthday gift. It’s ruined now, so I’m sorry.” I stood back up holding the messy box, and Kiran took it from me and peeked inside.

“I’m sure it looked beautiful before this, but I bet it still tastes good. Come on,” He nodded for me to follow as he opened his door and led me to his kitchenette. He pulled out two forks and handed me one, “Let’s taste it.”

“Really?” I giggled as he took a big forkful and ate it. “You don’t mind it like this?”

He swallowed his bite, “This is amazing, you made this? And no, I don’t mind at all, this is the best cake I’ve ever had, even with it being all mushed up.” He took another bite, and I joined him in tasting the cake. What nearly made me cry was now a sweet moment between me and Kiran. How was I possibly going to get over him if he kept making me feel like this?