Chapter 2 - Desire to Find the Lady

It didn't take long for the entire castle ball attendees to see the undressed Rella. A few minutes of shock encompassed the venue, just enough time for Rella to leave the ball. Then shouts and exclamations at the sight - at least half of which were quickly hushed as they clustered into small groups to discuss what must be Atrobell's latest technology. 

The Queen quickly sent off her personal guards to chase the lady and bring her to the Queen in a private room located a little away from the ball. They don't need to embarrass the lady any further.

The Queen walked as quickly as she could keep graceful steps and made her way to the Prince. He was still shocked, ears red. The Queen rolled her eyes, before putting up her fan and asking the Prince, 

"My son, do you know who the young lady was? It must have been a shock."

"Ah, yes,..." he started, then coughed, gaining composure as he turned to speak to his mother properly, "A shock, yes. Who she was, I am unsure. I do not think she gave her name, though truthfully there have been too many names spoken tonight to remember them all at once."

"I see. What do you make of her?" the Queen asked, trying to keep her tone even. 

The Prince rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something other than her escaping figure. 

"Ah, her calves were clean..." he trailed off as he realised that that wasn't any better and hung his head.

The Queen scoffed, "Anything from the dance itself, or just her body?"

"Wha- ah, she had a nice smile." 

The Queen again rolled her eyes. "That it? It's not bad to be attracted to someone's physical appearance," she paused as the Prince raised an eyebrow at her before clamoring for more, "Well, it didn't seem as if you were impressed by any of the other ladies before this one." 

The Prince sighed, "Yeah, she seemed the most comfortable of the castle first timers, and the least clingy of those looking to find their way up." 

"You think she is trying to seduce you on purpose?" the Queen asked.

"Well, I mean..." the Prince coughed again, barely whispering, "Her dress... disappeared. I can only assume..."

"Ah," the Queen realised the Prince had no understanding of the significance of the dress. As she herself had watched the the dance closely, given the hair colouring was new and the Queen does intend to wed her son at some point soon, the Queen had seen the young lady's face and didn't think the young lady had let her dress disappear on purpose. 

"I don't suppose it possible she was excited for today and got scammed by an inefficient conman? Giving a strange dress for cheap?" The Queen tried to think up something 'reasonable' to explain the dress. She didn't want to let this lady go yet. But she also didn't want her son to know of her involvement in the Underworld. 

The Prince frowned, "Why would someone sell something like that? And for cheap?"

The Queen sighed quietly, "Either the dress didn't work as made and was sold for cheap, or it was expensive as there is magic involved, and didn't work as intended on the day, today." 

The Prince looked perplexed. 

"Ah!" Eric, a Rose Guard and friend of the Prince exclaimed, chiming in with, "Could it have been Rumpelstiltskin?" 

The Queen's face didn't crack, though the hold on her fan increased in pressure. "And why would you bring him up now?" the Queen asked, knowing his obsession was almost as absurd as his inability to capture a single gnome.

"Well," Eric replied, "I was chasing him yesterday, but when I caught him, he escaped again. But his pants disappeared in his escape, so, maybe he was trying to get rid of the evidence."

The Queen rubbed her temple with her free hand. While Eric was right on one hand, he was also completely off base. "Yes, yes, Rumple's failing magic could have conned the poor lady." 

"Prince, we should find the bottom of this case and free her of her embarrassment!" Eric spoke passionately to the Prince. 

The Prince nodded, "I see. It would be remiss of me as Prince to let an upstanding citizen be fooled by a known criminal that we failed to catch." 

"Yes, if that is the case, we should find and compensate her for failing to look after her decency," the Queen chimed in, glad the Prince now had a reason to connect with the lady.

Another Rose Guard came to the Queen and whispered, "Your Majesty, the lady escaped on a horse, but we did find her shoe left on the stairs."

"Oh my," the Queen feigned concern, "Hold on to it and let the Prince take over the case in the morning. We mustn't let our mistakes ruin the life of a lovely lady." 

The Prince coughed again. "Yes... Lovely..." he murmured.

* END CH2 *