Beauty Redeemed

Julianna walked into the ballroom and was surprised to see that so many guests had already arrived. So many exquisite costumes filled the room: gilded blue and purple peacocks and other birds intermingled with queens and soldiers and heroes and sheep and horses and mermaids and sea kings. Characters from story books she had read as a child and some she had never seen in her wildest dreams filled the grand room. Candlelight reflected off the stained glass windows that arched over the dancefloor like a cathedral and filled the room with a kaleidoscope of color. It was almost like stepping into a dream. On the other side of the room, she saw her parents sitting on their thrones, watching and smiling as dancers whizzed past her. Her mother was dressed like an angel —warm and soft and perfect. Her father wore a bright orange tunic with a giant sun burst on his back to represent the golden sun that ruled their land. She glanced to the left of her parent’s thrones and saw her brother Gabriel standing with the two girls from the northlands. Gabriel wore green from his head to his toes and had leaves sewn all over while red roses seemed to sprout out from every angle on his tunic. Julianna smiled. Gabriel did love his roses. He must have missed them terribly when he was in the winter lands. Erianna, the Snow Queen, wore a white dress covered in crystals, but Julianna noticed something else on the Snow Queen’s gown. Were those white roses? A slew of white roses wrapped around the bodice of the Snow Queen’s gown and gathered together in a bunch on her right shoulder, where a single white rose dipped in red around the edges sat. She liked roses too. Julianna wondered if the Snow Queen had figured out how to grow white roses in her realm. But that would be impossible, wouldn’t it? Wasn’t it too cold for anything to grow in that realm? Unless... Julianna looked back at her brother, and her spirit dimmed as she saw the way he looked at Queen Erianna. She seemed to be losing him to the woman of the winter realm, and she was beginning to wonder if he would ever fully come back to them. The Snow Queen’s younger sister, Brinn, caught Julianna’s eye and waved to her from across the ballroom. She wore a beautiful blue dress that fell like a crystalline waterfall around her small frame. She at least seemed nice and wasn’t there to steal her brother away. Julianna scolded herself for her thoughts about their visitors. She should at least try to be nice to them. They were their guests after all, and her brother seemed quite taken with one of them. Julianna smiled and waved back. She worked her way around the outside of the circular ballroom and came to stand beside her family at long last. “Oh, Julianna. Your gown is lovely. I love the gold embroidery. It brings an element of life and color from your realm.” Brinn reached out her hands to Julianna and took her hands in hers as she looked up and down at Julianna’s gown. “Thank you. That is very sweet of you to say. Your dress is quite exquisite as well, Your Highness. The different shades of blue are so vibrant and off-set your skin rather well.” “Thank you,” Brinn smiled and bowed her head. “You really must call me Brinn. Your brother told me so much about you I feel as though we have known each other for an eternity.” “I hope to learn as much about you as he has shared about me.” Erianna smiled at her as well. “You will have to forgive my sister. She has been dreaming of seeing the other realms her entire life and becomes very excited about experiencing new things. You do look beautiful, Julianna. I am so happy to meet you at last.” Julianna dipped into a curtsy and bowed her head toward Erianna. “Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet such a young and beautiful queen from the northern realms.” “Queen. I have to say, I am not quite used to that title yet. It was my mother’s for far longer than it has been mine, and I’m afraid it carried some negative connotations we are still trying to rectify, but I thank you for the kind words. And, following my sister’s insistence, please, call me Erianna. I hope the title of queen doesn’t prevent us from becoming friends.” Erianna looked at Julianna with such a sweet, delicate smile that Julianna’s heart twinged at judging the beautiful queen before giving her a chance to get to know one another. “I look forward to getting to know you better while you are here,” Julianna smiled and bowed to her again. Gabriel looked from Erianna to Julianna. “I’m glad you decided to finally join us for the party. It is a comfort to know you care about your brother’s homecoming.” Julianna’s eyebrow quirked up as she looked up at her brother. “And I hope your manners were not nearly this beastly while you were visiting the winter lands.” “Without you to keep him in line, he was positively boarish nearly the entire time he was in our land. Why do you think we brought him back to you?” Brinn smiled as she enjoyed watching the reunion of the two siblings. Julianna looked over at Brinn and smiled. “I’m glad to know he had someone else as spirited and quick witted to keep him somewhat in line while he was away.” “Yes. She was a constant reminder of the dear sister I had left back home.” Gabriel smiled as he pulled his sister to his side. Julianna’s smile widened as she drank in the warmth and scent of her dear brother, home at last. The lively music came to an end as the musicians finished that set of dances. King Godric stood and raised his hands, silencing the crowd. “Thank you all for being here tonight. It is a joy and a blessing to have our golden prince return home to be with us once again after his many months of absence in the winter realms.” Everyone in the ballroom broke out in raucous cheers and applauded the return of their beloved prince. The king waved his hands and silenced the crowd again. “It is also a great honor to welcome the royals from that land, Queen Erianna and Princess Brinnlenora. Please join me in welcoming these distinguished visitors to our humble land.” The servants handed him a glass, and everyone around the room took a glass and raised it to the wintery guests of their realm. “Long live Her Majesty Queen Erianna. Long live Princess Brinlenora. And long live Crown Prince Gabriel.” Shouts and cheers rose up from everyone in the crowd as they raised their glasses and toasted the royal guests. “Let the dancing continue.”