auteur : Genevievebarbie
bron : fanpop.com
Author's Summary : Prequel to Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses. The story of how Prince Randolph and Lady Isabella faced hardships and difficulties and later on, fell in love and got married. This is my first fanfiction so please no flames. Lastly, please read and review!
Rating : T
Category : Romance, Drama
Disclaimer : The main characters of the story are owned door Mattel. I own all the supporting characters and the plot.

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Chapter 12 : The Ball

Three days later, it was time for Athena's welcome ball.

Isabella, Ilana, Lalaina and Natalie descended the stairs of the ballroom. Technically, it wasn't right for them to be in the ball as guests, because they were maids in the castle. But then, the twins hadn't been stripped of their titel of being Duchesses. A small chat with Lucinda as Isabella did the finishing touches on Lucinda's ballgown, and Lalaina and Natalie were allowed to come too.

There was no need for her to worry that someone would recognize her as the kidnapped Duchess, as no one ever saw her, thanks to Miranda's strict rules for her to stay at home pagina for chores. Miranda was running cold with a fever, so that was a plus. The only reason Lucinda knew who she was was because she had met met Isabella as a 6-year-old, and could match the facial features.

The girls descended the stairs and moved to a side of the ballroom – which was right under the giant bedroom with the amazing secret gateway, which still worked, even after atleast 20 times of being there.

Isabella glanced at herself in one of the mirrors on the wall. She was wearing a dark purple ball gown, with a thick golden border at the bottom of it. On the top, boven part of her ball gown, she had round puffy shoulders, her sleeves see-through near her wrists, meer golden decoration, and a single, white jasmijn in the center of her neckline. The whole japon, jurk had a beautiful, swirling pattern in dark purple. Her hair was in its signature bun, but instead of a plain purple ribbon for it as usual, her ribbon too had a jasmine, which could be seen between the top, boven and bottom parts of her bun, at the back of her head. Other than that, she had some light makeup on, including roze eye shadow, and glossy roze lips. A simple golden halsketting, ketting with a purple gemstone pendant finished her look.

She looked at Ilana in her dress. She was wearing a lavender ball gown, which was pretty similar to isabella's ball gown, as it also had a thick golden border at the bottom of it, had round puffy shoulders, and meer golden decoration. However, unlike Isabella, instead of having a purple swirling pattern, Ilana had a golden pattern. Her sleeves too, were different. They were a simple lavender, with pearls on them. After a lot of persuasion from the girls, Ilana had agreed to style her hair like Isabella, but with no flower. Lana had some bronze eye shadow, and glossy roze lips. To finish her look, she wore a vlinder pendant necklace.

volgende was Lalaina. She had opted to wear something a bit flowy. Her green ball japon, jurk had a velvety look to it, and didn't have much golden designing. It was the top, boven part of her japon, jurk which was the highlight. From top, boven to waist, a gradient green color contrasted her rok and sleeves. Her puffy shoulders were a bit long, and reached the midpoint between her shoulder and elbow. Her sleeves, which were actually elbow-length gloves, were made of see-through cloth. Her hair had its usual bun, and she had a green eyeshadow, and red lips. The only complicated accessory she wore was a 3 strand pearl necklace.

Lastly, Natalie. She wore a simple blue gown, with golden lines crisscrossing it. She chose not to have puffy shoulders, and her sleeves and shoulders matched with her skirt. Her top, boven was a different cream colour. Her hair was in a slightly bigger bun than usual, and had a braided look to it. Blue eyeshadow, roze lips, and she was done, as chose not to wear a necklace.

And best of all, it was the girls themselves who made not only these gowns, but also the Queen's and Athena's gowns.

Isabella was suddenly snapped out of her admiring everyone's dresses, as she heard the Prince's entrance. She turned around to see him dressed in dark blue, which brought out his light blue eyes. The sleeves strained on his arms, showcasing his muscles and... Wait, what?! How did she think that? She was just vrienden with the prince, just friends. She trusted him, liked him, yes, but it wasn't that sort of liking. Right?

Right?!

Unfortunately for her, Lalaina the hopeless romantic, noticed where and who she was looking at. So while Ilana and Natalie were chatting away, she slipped over to Isabella, without the latter realizing it.

"Ooh, looks like Ilana was right, u do like the prince!" came a whisper behind Isabella. Isabella could have died when she heard that. She told her sister not to tell Lalaina and she did!

"I... What are u talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. And what's this about meeting him everyday just to 'chat'" Lalaina made quotes in the air.

Isabella's eyes widened. Now, she just had to kill Ilana. That was supposed to be top, boven secret! Of course, she didn't tell Ilana it was top, boven secret, but that wasn't the point right now. Point was, she was betrayed!

"I have no idea what u are talking about," she zei stubbornly, but unfortunately, her body betrayed her and she blushed.

"I knew it! u do like the prince! Eee! But wait, you're probably so upset since he's engaged. Oh, no. "

"Lalaina, shh."
"What?"

"Randolph's coming towards us!"

"Ooh," Lalaina wiggled her eyebrows, and for a second, Bella was confused, until, "You're on first name basis with. His. Highness."

Oh, goodness.

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Over the past few days, Athena had grown fond of the prince. However, most of what she knew of the prince was from her father, who had said, "Prince Randolph is brave, young, talented, and from an impeccable royal family." So when it was time for the first dance, she was glad it was tradition that she and Randolph have the first dance together, so as to get to know him better.

"So, what is it that u like to do most?" she asked, a few moments into the dance.

"Depends. Would u like to know what I mostly tell people of what I actually prefer?" he questioned. Truth be told, she was surprised when she heard that, not expecting him to be so straight forward.

"How about both?" she asked, after a moment's hesitation.

"Well, normally I would say horseback riding of fencing. Perhaps even hunting."

"What about reality?"

"Horseback riding and fencing, yes. But not hunting. I find it very...gruesome," he said, as he searched for words, "Though, I do like the piano, and maybe dancing."

"You like to play muziek and dance?" she cajoled, holding back a laugh. It was difficult to imagine him doing so.

"Yes. Not very manly, I know. What about u though?"

"Me? I mostly like painting, and the opera. And of course, my absolute favorite, reading, especially romance novels."

"Romance novels? Pardon me, but I'm not fond of those."

"Oh." This bummed her out, as she hoped that he liked piano and dancing, two un-manly things, he would perhaps like romance too.

door this time, the dance ended, and both moved away. As his hand left her's, for some reason, she felt odd. Not a good odd, either. She was surprised to see that when the seconde dance begun, he went to another maiden. It wasn't tradition for Athena and Randolph to dance a seconde dance as well, but she had thought they would.

Whoever this maiden was, was at least a jaar than both her and Randolph, door the looks of it. She seemed to be quite close to him too. Randolph too, seemed to be fond of her. And suddenly, Athena felt a little twinge in her.

A twinge of jealousy. She had to find out who that stranger was.

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From the seconde dance onwards, Isabella and Randolph had a blast together. Not only were they able to be close to each other, they could talk and laugh as much as they want. Until, their conversation took a turn.

"So," began Randolph, getting Isabella's attention, "How are u allowed in here? No offense, but maids aren't usually allowed..."

"Oh. I just... had a chat with your mother," she said, hoping he didn't catch her nervousness on the subject. Besides, it was the half-truth anyway.

"You chat with my mother? Since when?" he asked.

"Since I sowed her one of her dresses.." another half-truth.

"You mean her ball gown? Mother hasn't stopped swooning over it. And I have to say, it's really good."

"Yeah...." this was an outright lie. "Thanks..." she added, and when she realized that she had just been complemented door him, she blushed.

All of a sudden, the doors to the ballroom opened, giving Isabella meer worry. The three people who had stepped in were Miranda, Anastasia and Drizella. How was they even here when Miranda had a cold?! Hurriedly, and as sneakily as possible, she hurried outside, into the gardens, hoping not to get caught door them. Ilana, she noticed, was doing the same, only, she went deeper into the castle.

Her actions, however, were not missed door Randolph, who had run after her and grabbed her hand. Feeling his hand in her's, she felt a slight warmth and even comfort, and felt guilty for what she was about to do next.

"What's wrong?" he asked, catching his breath.

"Nothing!" she said, but her tone implied something completely different.

"It's not 'Nothing'. What is it?" he asked her, meer seriously than before.

"I told you, it's nothing!" Wrenching herself from his strong grasp, which immediately got rid of all the comfort she felt, she raced back to her room, ignoring his calls for her.

And at that moment, she felt even meer guilt than before.

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A/N : hallo guys! How was this chapter? I've been posting my own fanart on what the girls look like at the ball on this club. Do check it out! Also, from now on, there's a high chance that other than every Saturday, I will also post new chapters every Tuesday. Read, review and favorite. Bye!