NIGHT, I. Rin [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗

 

It was a full moon night. As usual Lica was standing and feasting her eyes on the starry sky through the window. A year has passed since she attended the Prince’s Night ball. But as yet hasn’t she been able to forget Edward. However, sometimes it seemed to her that it had been only a dream. But doubts vanished as soon as Angelica, opening the wardrobe, saw her beautiful white ball dress, which she was wearing at the Prince’s ball. The dress was absolutely real and the girl began to hope that one day she would meet Edward again!

 

“Lica, you are not going to bed again?” she heard her mother’s voice behind the door.

“I am… I am going to!” the girl answered.

 

She was about to lie down when suddenly something large and dark struck the window outside and then slipped down onto the sill. It was the eagle-owl!

“Henry?!” Angelica whooped.

 

She immediately opened the window and brought the bird into the room. The owl had no signs of life. The girl put it on the carpet and began to sob:

“Henry! What have you done? How could you beat into the glass with all over the fluff?”

 

 Some of her tears fell on the owl’s head and it suddenly started up. Then he shook his head and one small feather fell to the floor. At the same moment the Prince Edward’s old servant appeared before Lica.

 

“Henry! You’re alive!” Lica was happy.

 

She rushed to the old man and hung around his neck. The Prince’s servant smiled but then said with serious face:

 

“Angelica, a young lady ought not to behave like a cur! In ad-dition I’m not feeling very well after a collision with your window.” “Oh, Henry, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I was just afraid that you had died. And when I saw that you had been alive, I was so

 

happy that I could not resist! But why didn’t you notice the closed windows?”

 

“Tonight the moon is so bright that apparently it had blinded me. So I had miscalculated a bit.”

 

Lica offered the old man to sit down on the chair and began to interrogate him:

 

“Well, how are you? How is the Princess? Because I was not there when you had returned from the Nightmare Forest.”

 

Then a little girl hesitated but then continued:

 

“How is Edward?”

 

The Prince’s servant stared at Angelica and began to speak:

 

“I and the Princess got out of the forest safely; although we had met some nasty nightmares, we reached the castle without any incidents. And then the Prince told us everything. He explained the Princess everything and asked her to let him go. Admittedly, the Princess held with dignity. She promised not to hinder Edward. The only thing that she regretted about was her blindness. And my lord is the man of honor. Therefore, he vowed that he would return the Princess the ability to see, whatever it would cost him! So Edward went to a very powerful witch, who lived on the edge of our king-dom after Goblins’ City. And we had not received any news from him for ages. But recently he had come back. The witch gave him a magic potion that returned the Princess her eyes. The girl can see now and has gone back to her country. But strangely something has happened to the Prince. He has completely changed. He does things that he didn’t use to before. He became arrogant, sarcastic and cold. His thirst for power began to frighten me! The other day he told me that he would like the whole world to be plunged into eternal night and he would have become absolute ruler of the night. You know, Lica, I have known Edward since his childhood and I can state with full responsibility that after his visit to the witch he has become a totally different man. But the strangest thing is that he does not remember many things. For example, when I reminded him about the annual ball for Admirers of Night he was very surprised and then he just charged me to do it. However, he used to invite guests to his ball personally! Then I reminded him about you. And he said without batting an eye that he did not understand who you were. With the help of a magic mirror I had to show Edward last year’s ball, where you were dancing with him in the center of the room. Seeing him with you the Prince smiled wryly and said: ‘Well, Henry, if you want you can invite this girl! Withal, she’s pretty sweet.’”

 

“What?!” Angelica exclaimed. “Pretty sweet?! He told me that I was beautiful!”

 

She jumped out of the bed and began to pace nervously from one corner of her room to another.

 

“Lica? Are you still awake?” she heard her mother’s voice behind the door.

 

“I am sleeping! It’s just a bad dream!” she replied.

 

“It is very suspicious how the Prince has changed,” Henry continued, “that’s why I came here to take you with me to the ball for Admirers of Night. And there together we shall understand everything somehow!”

 

“Let’s fly!” Angelica agreed.

 

“But are you going like this?”

 

The girl looked at herself in the mirror and saw her standing in pyjamas.

 

“Yeah...” she drawled. “I am not ready for the ball. But I still have that white ball dress, which Edward had given me as a present!” “You know, the Prince doesn’t like bright colors any more.

 

Now he prefers black, dark brown, dark blue and burgundy. So let’s fly in pyjamas and in the castle I’ll find something for you.”

 

 

The ball

 

Henry got quickly two feathers. One he stuck to Angelica’s hair and another to his. Soon the two birds flew out of the win-dow of Lica’s bedroom towards the Kingdom of Night. The girl remembered that wonderful feeling very well. The feeling of flying! The first time she had been confused so she hadn’t really looked around but now she was enjoying herself in the night scenery of the sparkling moon. She was flying over dark woods and forests, glistening lakes and rivers, cities and villages. Everything looked too mysterious and inscrutable.

 

Reaching the castle the birds as before flew in to the window of the tall tower and along corridors got to the small hall. Here Henry hit the ground and became a man again. Then he pulled out a magic feather from the owl Lica and she immediately turned to the girl.

 

“Wait, I’m not for long!” the old servant said and quietly left the room.

 

A few minutes later he returned with a luxury black dress and black shoes.

 

“Get dressed! We are short of time!” Henry said and gave it to Lica.

 

“But it is very black!” she tried to protest. “I’d rather put on something burgundy.”

 

“I am telling you, get dressed!”

 

The old man went out leaving Angelica being at a loss. But just a few seconds passed as she pulled herself together and quickly put the dress on. The dress was gorgeous! Lica put on the black shoes and pleased with herself said:

 

“At least this time Henry had made no mistake with the size.” She looked in the mirror and did not recognize herself... She saw a very beautiful young girl in the mirror but it was something  unfamiliar in her to Angelica.

 

“It’s just the color; it doesn’t suit me!” she decided to herself.

 

She left the room. Behind the door she saw the Prince’s ser-vant who was impatiently waiting and shifting from one foot to the other. Seeing Lica he, satisfied, nodded his head.

 

“You look just as if my Lord prefers now,” he said contentedly. “Come on! You must invite him to dance. Now he is unlikely to do it himself. But keep alert! You should talk less about yourself and try to find out about him as much as possible.”

 

Henry gave his hand to Angelica and led her to the huge hall where the ball had already begun.

 

Lica looked around the room from the stairs. As last year there were a lot of people. Men and women in the Viennese masks were all around the girl again. Some of them were waltzing; others were standing at the walls, talking and laughing merrily. Angelica was trying to find Edward among them. Suddenly she thought she had seen him. The girl moved through the crowd of people but someone grabbed her hand and whirled in the dance. He was a tall and skinny man in a mask. Lica tried to escape but couldn’t; the man was just laughing. Then he handed Angelica to another man in a mask who made her dance again. Lica could not get rid of these unexpected admirers. She began to feel dizzy of the endless dance as then she saw Edward. He was standing at the wall and watching with interest what was happening with her. He was wearing a dark blue suit holding a Viennese mask in his hand. When they made their eyes meet he laughed cheerfully. Angelica pushed her next fel-low and moved to Prince. Suddenly the Prince Night put the mask on his face and got lost in the crowd.

 

“What’s happening?” the girl surprised. “Edward would nev-er hide from me or even more laugh at me!”

 

She continued walking and looking for the disappeared Prince and soon she saw him. He was standing and flirting with two girls in bright dresses and Viennese masks. Lica went toward him. At this point one of the girls opened a big fan. And when she closed it, Edward disappeared again.

 

The Ball was on and Angelica was trying and trying to find the Prince. Again she climbed the stairs and suddenly saw the Prince Night waltzing in the hall with one and then the other partner girl.

 

“Now or never!” Lica decided.

 

She quickly came down and mingled with the crowd of dancing people. Dancing she passed from one partner to another and finally came face to face with Edward. Prince had nothing to do but start dancing with her.

 

“You can dance very well!” he grinned.

 

“And you too!” Angelica retorted.

 

It was so strange to dance with the man who had declared his love very recently and now pretended to be an unfamiliar to her. The girl took a close look at the young man. Yes, something had changed but what? Lica could not understand it.

 

“And you’re so...” the Prince began to speak. “Yes, I know I’m so sweet!” Angelica interrupted. The Prince Night looked at her and then said:

 

“And I think we have known each other! You’re Angelica, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am!” she nodded.

 

She wanted to tell him everything but she remembered that Henry had asked her to talk less about their feelings and find out more about the Prince. Therefore Lica took courage and said:

“I thought last year we had made friends.”

 

“Maybe... I do not remember!” the Prince said. “You know I was very busy.”

“And also you had declared your love to me,” Angelica said quietly.

“Had I?” Edward raised his eyebrows. “Really?” “And...”

The girl had not finished when the music stopped and the Prince Night bowed gallantly. Then he turned around and went to the entrance.