Story of Azladoria

Chapter 10: The First Dance

Natalia glanced around the large ballroom as she took a sip of wine. The party had just started. People from all over Gladoria and Azalea, but also many other kingdoms, crowded the room. That was a first for her. Nobles of other kingdoms usually went out of their way to avoid interacting with her. Nobody from Metarkon was present, but that was not surprising.

Natalia was done up very fancy, wearing lots of makeup and a very beautiful dress. It was more than she was used to. In Gladoria, she normally wore clothing similar to what the upper-class wore, dresses, tunics, and slacks made of fine materials. Respectable looking, but still quite practical.

The most extravagant she had ever dressed was at her coronation, and then the day she had met Queen Vivienne. What she was wearing now put both those outfits to shame. Nonetheless, she did not hate it. Despite being somewhat uncomfortable, she looked very nice.

She wondered what Vivienne would look like when she eventually arrived. The councilors had explained the party would go on for an hour or so before Queen Vivienne would join in on the festivities. Natalia thought it kind of silly that Vivienne was meant to be skipping her own engagement party, but it was not up to her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalia saw a foreign price coming her way. She turned to face him as he came up to her and watched as he bowed. This surprised her. The few royals she had interacted with never showed her any courtesy.

"Prince Marcos, of the Berenjena Kingdom. It is truly a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance, Queen Natalia." He said.

Natalia quickly disguised her shock with a curtsy back to him.

"It is an honor to be meeting you as well." She replied politely.

As the party went on all the foreigners came up to her, one by one, to introduce themselves. Each of them rarely left her side and one duke had even followed her when she went to fetch a drink.

Although she was glad to finally be getting the recognition she deserved, she could not dismiss their disingenuousness. Previously they had treated her like dirt on their shoes, now that she was engaged to Queen Vivienne, they were following her around like aimless sheep. Acting like they couldn't get enough of her!

The sycophants, the snakes, she had thought to herself as she conversed with them. She would play the perfect queen with her fake niceties, but she had no intention of befriending any of them.

She took another sip of wine as the Ambassador of Drovele prattled on to her.

"My, my! You've been drinking quite a lot tonight! Should I be offering my congratulations or my condolences?" He asked. Natalia figured she was supposed to be amused.

"I just like the wine." She told him.

"Yes, I suppose it's fine. But in Drovele, you know, our wine has shavings of gold in it.."

"That sounds like a waste of valuable resources." She said.

The ambassador opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of fanfare. The chatter in the room ceased and all eyes turned towards the large ballroom doors as Queen Vivienne entered.

And oh, how stunning she looked. Her blonde hair done up left her beautiful face on display, her magnificent ball gown perfectly matching the color of those ocean eyes.

Natalia watched mesmerized as Vivienne walked towards her and dipped into a curtsy.

"You need not exchange such formalities with me, my lady. It is unnecessary.." Natalia murmured, gently taking Vivienne's face and raising it up to meet her own.

"You look so beautiful.." Vivienne whispered to her, her eyes glancing down Natalia's figure and back towards her face.

"And as I recall saying to you before, there are no words that can bring justice to your beauty. You are truly the most magnificent creature I have ever laid my eyes upon." Natalia replied, stroking her cheek.

Vivienne smiled at her, that gorgeous smile with that deep and profound look in her eyes stirred something in Natalia. Something she never even knew existed.

By now the attention was off of them and the musicians had begun playing the intro to a slow piece. People were coupling up to dance.

"May I have this dance?" Natalia asked, holding out her hand.

"You may." Vivienne smiled again and joined their hands, leading Natalia to the middle of the dance floor.

As they began the slow dance and wrapped in each other's arms, looking deeply into Vivienne's eyes, Natalia thought of nothing but how easy it would be to hold each other like this for the rest of their lives.