T-Girl fairy tale 5

Getting Ready for the Ball

Jared tried to stay out of the way as his step mother hurriedly fussed with her daughters elaborate ball gowns. Patrice's was a deep emerald green trimmed a gold that almost matched her hair. The gown fit tightly and was scooped deeply in the front as was the current fashion in Italy. Gold lace trimmed the scooped opening and her modest bust line did an apt job of filling the opening.

Evelyn's gown was a dark red trimmed in silver and it fit her like a glove. It was cut similarly to Patrice's, but it made Evelyn's more voluptuous figure look even more curvaceous. The red of the gown made her dark brown eyes smolder surrounded by her dark auburn hair. She was having a hard time keeping those eyes from drifting to Jared who was standing near by holding various accessories for the girls. He could see the lust for him in her eyes.

"Ladies, I want you to focus on the task at hand. You are going to this ball to find a husband. Preferably a very rich one. The Princess will have many cast offs for you to choose from so please be diligent in your pursuits. Evelyn, pay attention! I swear girl you wander around with your head in the clouds more than ever nowadays!" But for the first time Martha truly noticed where Evelyn's attention was focused. Jared. She thought to herself, 'Oh no you don't, my succulent step son. You may spend the rest of my days servicing me, but you'll not have my youngest daughter!'

"Jared, come with me. Ladies proceed to the carriage and I'll meet you there in a moment"

Jared was slow to follow Martha so she grabbed his ear and pulled him along. As she did she spoke to him menacingly,

"I saw Evelyn looking at you just now. You will not have her. She's too young to be falling in love with some penniless sot such as yourself!" As she continued dragging him up the tower stairs toward his room Jared felt compelled to retaliate with words of his own.

"Are you crazy woman? Do you think I actually have designs on Evelyn? You think I want to spend the rest of my life being buggered in the ass by my little step sister's fat prick? I only treat her well because she treats me well. I have father's dress doublet and hose so I will be attending the ball tonight. Perhaps the Princess will choose me and then you can be shut of me forever!"

"My foolish boy, I have no interest in being shut of you. I intend to keep you here on this estate working for me and servicing me in any way I fancy. You'll not be going to the ball tonight or any other night!"

They had arrived at Jared's room. She threw open the door and stormed inside. She saw the out of date golden doublet and black hose lying on the bed. She pulled the dagger from the sheath in her bodice and picking up the doublet began to cut it into shreds. Jared cried out and lunged forward pulling the doublet from her hand but it was too late. The damage had been done. As he stood looking in horror at what his step mother had done he heard the door to his room slam shut behind him, then the key turning to lock the door. With a cry of anguish and rage he threw himself at the door. Jared pounded the solid wooden door to no avail as he continued to scream in rage. After a few moments he quieted and he heard her say from the other side of the wooden barrier.

"Jared, you belong to me and I intend to share you with no one. Not even my daughters. From now on you will learn to service me and no other. You will take your fathers place in my service and in my bed starting tonight."

Jared heard her footsteps retreating back down the stairs and within moments he heard the carriage leave and start down the drive. As the sound of the carriage faded into the distance a smile began to grow on Jared's face. The smile grew into an unabashed grin. That's when someone began slowly clapping behind him. He whorled around and there stood his Fairy Godfather grinning back at him as he clapped his approval.

"My boy, that was a performance fit for the Princess herself!"

Jared bowed deeply in his best imitation of the actors he'd seen in plays past.

"Thank you, thank you! I have to give all the credit to god and my remarkable acting coach! I'll be here till Thursday! Try the veal!"

Gerald guffawed at that and for a moment all was right in the world. Finally Gerald and Jared's laughing slowed to mere chuckles that they could somewhat control. They wiped their cheeks dry and Jared again looked at the shredded doublet in his hands.

"Come lad, slip those on. We must get you to the ball."

Incredulously Jared looked at the torn clothes in his hands.

"I can't wear this. They'll laugh me right out of the ball room!"

"Leave that to me son. Get them on and I'll take care of the rest."

A somewhat skeptical Jared took off his work clothes and after a quick wash up began donning his fathers best dress doublet and hose. They sagged horribly. His father after all had been a much larger man than Jared.

"I don't suppose in one of the many jobs from your past you were a tailor?"

"Not just any tailor, but the king's own!"

Gerald closed his eyes and began chanting words that Jared heard but couldn't remember. The clothes began to flutter gently at first as if in a summer breeze then more strongly as if in a spring gale. A bright light enveloped Jared. So bright that he had to close his eyes, yet even with them closed the light still hurt, then suddenly everything went dark and still.

Jared slowly opened his eyes and once they adjusted to the dimness of the room he could see the magnificent clothes his godfather had created for him. Jared could only gape at the beautiful silver and blue doublet with the accompanying blue hose. In his hand was a matching blue velvet mask trimmed in silver, with a silver tie and on his feet he wore a pair of black suede slippers with pointed toes that turned up on the end. He had a silver cod piece that matched the silver of his doublet.

"This is incredible! How did you ever create such amazing clothes?"

"I created nothing. All you wear is an illusion. It is exceedingly difficult to create something from nothing so I used your father's clothes as the base for the illusion, they are mended and tailored to fit you, but other than that they look the same. Over those clothes I cast an illusion of the clothes you see. Anyone seeing them or touching them will believe them to be real. Only another person of exceptional magical abilities would be able to see through the illusion."

Jared touched the clothes with his finger tips and they felt just as his eyes told him they should feel. He held up the mask and looked to his godfather questioningly.

"Yes, well I did create the mask. One is not required for the ball, but it is acceptable and generally thought that with the nature of this ball some of the suitors might want a bit of anonymity. I suggest you wear it at all times tonight. Especially since your step mother and sisters will be there and may recognize you."

"How am I getting to the ball? Have you whipped a pumpkin up into a fine carriage for me to ride in?"

"A pumpkin? I have never heard of such a silly thing! Thor is waiting for you in the stables. I've changed his coloring some and his tack has been embellished to match the elegance of your clothes. The illusions will last until sunrise unless someone recognizes you. If you are recognized they will completely disappear and you will once again be seen as poor gentry upon an old plow horse. So be wary and do not allow yourself to be discovered."

Jared stepped up to his godfather and unabashedly embraced him. After a few seconds hesitation the surprised Gerald embraced his godson as well and patted his back.

"How can I ever repay your kindness to me?"

"By..." Gerald stopped for a second to clear his throat. "going to the ball and winning the Princess's heart of course!"




Jared at the Ball

The finely dressed livery man stepped up and took the rains to Thor from Jared with out a second look. Jared with his head held high, looking straight ahead strode up the stone steps in into the castle. Once inside the imposing foyer he turned to the right and proceeded to the ballroom. Jared stopped at the top of the grand marble staircase to look out over the glittering crowd of revilers. Many swirled upon the dance floor while others stood in small groups talking or in some cases flirting. The ball had been going on for sometime and Jared knew that he was arriving a little late. It was possible that the Princess had already chosen a husband. Jared stopped a butler walking by and asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Has the Princess chosen a husband?"

"Nay my lord. Many men have retired to her interviewing chamber, but none have been chosen as of yet. I would be happy to have the Chamberlin present you to her Highness if you are interested in being considered."

There it was. Simple as that he could be presented to her and perhaps she would choose him. Only he thought of Evelyn and wasn't sure he wanted to be considered for the position of husband to the Princess. Jared looked over to the dais upon which stood the Princess's empty throne. The butler followed his gaze.

"I'm sorry my lord, it appears her Highness may have wearied of the festivities and retired for the night. Perhaps you can be presented at a later date."

As the butler turned and walked away Jared felt as though he'd let his godfather down. He despondently walked down the polished stairs dragging his hand along the smooth white marble of the banister.

Jared walked over to the buffet table where morsels were placed for the guests to nibble on through out the night. He had just picked up a small gilded plate when he was bumped by someone. He turned and there stood a beautiful blond haired woman in an incredibly ornate golden ball gown. The close fitting ball gown made it hard for Jared to find her face and for a moment as his eyes got lost in her cleavage. Finally with the greatest effort he found his way to her face and was greeted with piercing blue eyes and a radiant smile. The rest of her face was covered with a black satin mask trimmed in gold and tied with a golden ribbon.

"I am so very sorry my Lady!"

"Oh it is I who am sorry. Sorry I did not bump into you earlier this evening. Then there I was not watching where I was going and have fortuitously bumped into you now."

Her obviously forward comment took him aback for a moment. He stood there with his mouth agape, working with out hope for words.

"Come my Lord, unless you are attempting to imitate a brook trout stranded upon a stream bank please take me out upon the dance floor and let us dance. It has been a long and danceless evening so far and I intend to take advantage of your offer to dance as an apology for your clumsiness."

Jared felt like some country bumpkin as he couldn't seem to find any words in his head that would fit out of his mouth. But it didn't seem to matter to this beautiful woman. She stepped over beside him and taking his arm steered him out onto the dance floor. He was so transfixed her beauty that he didn't notice that all the revelers cleared a spot for them on the floor or that many of the people were pointing at them and whispering behind their hands. The music swelled until it filled the ballroom and then swept them all into motion.

For the next several hours they danced. Their hands touching, their eyes smoldering, his hands sliding around on her waist and hips in the manner called for by each dance. He heaped mountains of silent praise upon his father for insisting that he learn to dance as a boy. For the two of them, time stood still. They passed pleasantries and he told her his first name, but both did everything possible to steer clear of who they really were. And oh how they flirted! Each caress, each touch, each brush, bolder than the one before, continually fanning the now raging fire of their lust for each other. The strain was more than they could bear and their need for each other had become positively palatable between them.

"You are incredible."

He whispered to her as a dance move brought his lips close to her ear. She sighed delightedly.

"As are you my Lord."

"I don't mean to be too forward, but I must have you."

He whispered in her other ear on the next dance step.

"And you shall. Every inch of me."

Without waiting for the music to end she took his hand and led him from the ballroom. Bypassing the small room where she'd taken all of her previous suitors she stepped out into a back hallway. He felt different to her, not like her suitors, but someone who wanted her for herself, not her station. Angel wanted this romantic feeling to continue in a room with a real bed. As they scurried up the hallway Jared noticed a woman wearing a dress that looked exactly like Patrice's in a corner. Strangled cries from the corner told him that it was Patrice and she had obviously found her potential husband. In the dimly lit hallway he could just make out the movement of her hips as she thrust herself into whoever the unfortunate man was, stinging him as a spider would a fly.

Angel gave them barely a glance as she hurried farther down the hall to an intersection where she took a quick left. The next hallway was smaller and lined with doors down either side. To Jared it seemed that she knew exactly where she was going and he had no more than thought that when she opened the last door on the right and pulled him into the darkness.