Page 66 of Once Upon a Royal Summer
CHAPTER NINETEEN
How All Good Fairy Tales End
Henry paced the upper level of the marble ceremonial staircase that overlooked the palace’s Grand Ballroom as a growing sense of panic gnawed at his insides.
Lacey had been due to meet him at the top of the stairs, just behind the red velvet curtain at the stairway’s entrance, ten minutes before the ball had been set to start. His gaze bore into the gilded clock with its deep blue lapis face. It hung above the spot where two divergent flights of stairs joined and became one wide staircase that led to the dance floor. According to its gold hands, he’d been waiting for well over an hour. Henry couldn’t keep postponing his arrival. The herald had already announced every guest and member of the royal family. He kept shooting worried glances at Henry, wondering why the Crown Prince hadn’t joined the festivities and was instead hovering around the edge of the ballroom like a teenager who’d been stood up for a school dance.
Henry nodded in the herald’s direction and held up a finger. One more minute.
He should’ve gone to Lacey’s room before the ball and escorted her to the ballroom, as if they’d been on a proper date. Because that was what this was supposed to be, wasn’t it? A real date—their first official one.
So much had happened since he’d first seen her at that nutty tea party. So much had changed. He’d changed. Henry was ready to tell Lacey exactly how he felt, and he’d foolishly thought the ball would be the best place to do so. He’d even arranged a little surprise for Lacey—a nod to the first time they’d danced together back in Ever After Castle. But now he was beginning to second-guess everything.
Where was she? Had she gotten lost on her way to the ballroom? The palace was a like a maze. Sometimes even Rose had trouble navigating the trickier sections of the castle, and she’d lived here all her life. Lacey had insisted she’d be able to find her way, though. And she’d charmed so many of the palace staff members by now that if she’d been wandering aimlessly through the royal residence’s halls, there would’ve been no shortage of people to help her find her way.
Traditionally, the royal family liked to greet their guests in a receiving line as they approached the grand marble staircase, which was why Lacey had planned on meeting Henry just outside the red velvet curtain. Tonight, though, everything had gone topsy-turvy. Up was down, down was up, and Henry felt rather like he’d been tossed about by one of the rides at Lacey’s amusement park. Even the queen had missed the receiving line, with no warning at all to Henry, the herald, or the royal courtiers who’d been buzzing about, trying to act as if they hadn’t been shocked by her late arrival. When his mother had finally deigned to make an appearance, she’d floated down the stairs with her head held high, as if nothing had been amiss.
But Henry was too concerned about his date’s whereabouts to think too hard on what had caused the queen to change her plans. He glanced at the clock again. If Lacey didn’t get here soon, she’d miss his surprise.
He strode to the end of the balustrade, checking once again to make sure she wasn’t waiting for him on the other side of the divergent staircases. His heart sank even lower when he saw no one was there.
Something was wrong. He could feel it.
Henry stepped in front of the curtain and scanned the ballroom floor with his gaze, searching for a glimpse of Lacey’s honey-blond hair. Again, nothing. But he did manage to spot Ian and Ava, laughing and dancing together on the left outer edge of the ballroom’s black-and-white marble floor. He managed to catch Ian’s gaze and beckon him upstairs with what he hoped was a subtle jerk of his head.
It seemed to take an eternity for the two of them to reach him. And when they finally did, the first words out of Ava’s mouth were, “Where’s Lacey?”
Henry’s temples throbbed. The back of his throat burned. He shook his head. “She’s not here. I was hoping you might have an idea where she was.”
A line appeared between Ava’s eyebrows and she shook her head. “I don’t. Ian offered to give me a tour of the decorated ballroom before all the guests arrived, so I left my room early. I haven’t seen her for hours.”
Ian held out his hands. “Let’s calm down. She’s got to be around here somewhere.”
But where?
The lapis-and-gold clock hanging overhead chimed, marking the passing of another half hour. Henry had a sudden, vivid memory of the big grandfather clock in the ballroom of Ever After Castle at Once Upon A Time and how untethered he’d felt when Lacey had pulled away from him, ready to flee and leave her glass slipper behind.
He blinked hard, vaguely aware of Ava offering to go to Lacey’s room to look for her, but then a strange sense of calm came over him as the smile he knew and loved lit up their little vestibule at the top of the stairs.
“Oh my gosh, Lacey.” Ava’s hand flew to her throat. “Look at you.”
Henry clutched his heart beneath the smooth silk lapels of his white-tie and tails. “I was beginning to think you’d pulled another Cinderella on me.” He barely managed to get the words out. His breath hitched in his throat at the sight of her, dressed in an airy, pale blue ballgown, spun from delicate netting and dotted with tiny crystals and sequins so luminous, the fabric seemed to shimmer as if it’d been dipped in fairy dust. Her hair was wound into the same sort of updo she always wore at the park, swept gently around a delicate tiara.
He took a closer look at the crown, and tenderness wrapped its way around his heart. So that was where the queen had been earlier. Instead of greeting their guests, his mother had been with Lacey, loaning her a tiara for the evening—a symbol of her acceptance of the woman who’d claimed Henry’s heart.
“Nope. No more dashing away at midnight.” Lacey shook her head. “In fact, I think I might stick around for good this time. I’ve never made it all the way to the end of a ball before. It’ll be nice to see how it turns out.”
Henry offered her his elbow and as they paused at the top of the grand staircase so the herald could announce their arrival, he dipped his head and whispered low in Lacey’s ear, “It ends how all good fairy tales end—happily ever after.”
“Presenting His Royal Highness, Prince Henry Frederick Augustus Ranier Chevalier, and Miss Lacey Pope,” the herald called out, and everything in the elegant ballroom seemed to go still.
The room itself was a sight to behold. Its painted ceilings, gilded molding, and massive gold chandeliers, casting a kaleidoscope of light and color across the sweeping floor, took Lacey’s breath away. There was opulence on every side, too much to take in all at once—columns covered in shimmering mosaic tiles, towering torchères topped with frosted bulbs, massive candelabras holding slender white candles. And flowers! Flowers were everywhere, covering every available surface in huge, overflowing arrangements, dotting the ballroom with explosions of color in a lush display honoring Bella-Moritz’s most esteemed summer tradition—the Flower Festival.
Lacey breathed in the heady fragrance of sweet peonies, dahlia petals, and roses of every conceivable color and variety. Their rich, floral perfumes made her head spin. Or maybe it was only the simple fact that she was here, by Henry’s side, when just a short time ago, she’d been ready to give it all up and run away as if an invisible clock had struck midnight, marking an end to her time with the prince who’d captured her heart.
She’d never been so aware that she was no longer in a theme park. The assembled crowd was far larger than her quaint little tea party in Ever After Castle, and every set of eyes was trained on her and Henry. He looked so handsome in his white-tie and tails. She really couldn’t blame anyone for staring. But somehow she got the sense the guests at the palace weren’t merely looking at him. They were smiling at both of them, gazing at Bella-Moritz’s beloved Crown Prince and the woman on his arm.
Happily ever after…
