Final Banquet

Lavender was the final color before white. Amie gazed at the beautiful dress lying daintily on her bed. It exuded the elegance and grace she was meant to convey to all the guests waiting for her in the banquet hall. She was about to present herself to be formally offered to Prince Peter. If Prince Peter accepted, they would officially be engaged and their marriage date would be set for exactly one year from engagement. At that point, Amie's birthday would forever be associated with the anniversary of the union between two royal families through wedlock.

Amie's nerves were getting the better of her. Almost everything about Prince Peter was perfect, except for his hatred of his mother. The same hatred he would have for Amie if he ever found out she was a mage. She only could hope he would change his mind before his mother passes, or else Amie's fate would be sealed as well.

She tried to focus on something other than the worst. They had plenty of conversations between the two of them that were wonderful and filled with laughter and joy, there was no reason to focus on the one thing that was negative. After thinking of several of their old conversations, Amie's mood was lifted. She was still nervous about the formal events of the evening, but the excitement of knowing she was going to a better place kept her spirits high.

Julia entered the room just after Amie slipped into her dress, "I'm so sorry for being late! Look what I have," She pulled out a beautiful lavender-colored flower hairpiece, "Took me ages to find."

Overjoyed, Amie took it in her hands to get a closer look, "It's beautiful, Julia! Thank you so much! I can't believe how lucky I am to have someone like you in my life."

Amie's reaction filled Julia with joy, "I'm glad you like it! Now let's get it in your hair, we don't have much time."

Julia helped Amie with the finishing touches of her look before it was time to head to the banquet hall. Just as in the past, after helping Amie with dressing herself, she then helped Amie mentally prepared herself to leave her room. Once Amie was mentally and physically ready, it was time to follow the usher to the banquet hall.

For what was likely the last time she would ever hear it, she was announced as, "Princess Adeline of the Kingdom of Lutetia, daughter of King Javert."

***

Amie made her entrance and took her seat with her family. It almost felt as though her first banquet was repeating itself. Jacques was nowhere to be found again. Amie looked to Queen Zephine for any emotion on the matter, but she didn't seem to appear to be filled with so much disdain this time as before. Come to think of it, looking around there was no seat reserved for Jacques.

Queen Zephine was talking to King Javert in hushed tones, but Amie could just barely hear what they were saying, "Yes, don't worry he's locked up, he won't be able to interrupt anything."

King Javert answered back, "Good, this is the last place we need to see him make a scene."

Amie immediately knew they were talking about Jacques. She surmised they must have preemptively locked him up in the dungeon so he couldn't crash the banquet and cause a catastrophic scene. Amie thought it was probably for the best anyways, especially with Jacques' behavior becoming more and more erratic.

The night went on smoothly and just as planned, the ceremony began just after dinner. Amie and Peter made their way to the ballroom. All of the guests followed through and stood on the outskirts of the dance floor. Amie and Peter stayed in the center and waited for their cue. The dance before the official ceremony began, and the two danced around the ballroom with perfect choreography. Neither one of them made a single mistake as onlookers watched and judged.

At the back of the ballroom, there was a double staircase which met at a platform that overlooked the ballroom and came close to the chandeliers that were precariously suspended above the dance floor. King Javert and Queen Zephine were waiting there along with King Sancho and Queen Isabella. Once the dance was done, Amie made her way up one side of the stairs while Peter made his way up on the opposite side. They reached the top in unison. The announcer, who was also waiting for them at the top, asked Peter loud enough for all of the guests to hear, "Prince Peter of the Kingdom of Navarre, son of King Sancho, will you take Princess Adeline of the Kingdom of Lutetia, daughter of King Javert, as your bride?"

Peter answered proper, "I will so long as I have the blessing of two kings."

King Sancho answered first in a warm tone, "You have my blessing."

King Javert, in his characteristically cold voice, answered next, "You have my blessing as well."

It was the announcer's turn to speak again, "With two kings' blessings, the marriage is set! This day one year from now shall mark the day these two will be joined in wedlock."

The ceremony came to an end. Amie and Peter turned to bow before descending the stairs again. Once they both reached the bottom stair, the crowd erupted in cheers and began their festivities for the night.

Amie kept her composure throughout, but seeing Queen Isabella just now unnerved her. She looked far more frail and weak than she had when Amie visited her in Navarre. Amie knew her time was coming to an end far sooner than she thought. It looked as though it might be any day.

She had no intentions of bringing it up to anyone that night, however. Tarnishing the mood of the night was considered great enough of a sin that it could cause the wedding to be called off. Instead, she had to hide her feelings and continue on with the night as though everything was alright.

Amie spent a great deal of time next to Prince Peter. They both enjoyed a few glasses of wine while they chatted away just as they had behaved the first night they met. The two of them listened to congratulations from countless party attendees and carried on with their duties to the guests in between flirtatious conversations with one another.

At some point late in the night, all of the guests were preoccupied with themselves and the party was going well enough that the two guests of honor found themselves at the outskirts of their own party. All of the guests had congratulated them and chatted them up before going to find their own respective groups to spend the rest of the night with. Peter thought this was a perfect opportunity to whisper into Amie's ear, "Follow me." Amie obliged and with that, the couple wondered off together to find a secluded spot to be together.