Adventure continued

Sixteen year old Princess Ella Wright strolled down the corridor. Along the walls there were candles, lighting the long hallway. Ella was wearing a floor length blue silk gown. In her long straight brown hair sat a tiny silver tiara that was decorated with diamonds. Around her neck she wore a pearl necklace with on shimmering ruby.
Ella turned to the mirror hanging on the stone wall near the entrance to the grand ballroom. She took one last look at herself. Beautiful and elegant she thought. Now that she was satisfied she entered the ballroom.
“Hello,” she said as all eyes turned to face their princess. They greeted her sincerely. She smiled and waved as she walked to her parents, the king and queen of Carsile.
“You’re late,” whispered her mother when she reached them.
“Sorry,” Ella replied. “I was getting ready,”
“This is a very important evening,” said her father sternly.
“I know father, I’m sorry,” she said.
“Ok, well please try not be late for our next ball,” he said.
Ella’s parents walked off to speak with a rich man about the recent lack of rain. Ella scanned the room for her friend Annabelle. She found her standing in the center of the room smiling and motioning for Ella to come over. Quickly, Ella walked over to her friend. Annabelle had light blond hair and dark green eyes. She was wearing a silver dress and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She looked very elegant. Annabelle’s parents were the king and queen’s most trusted advisors. Along the years Ella and Annabelle had become good friends.
“Hello,” Ella said.
“Hello,” said Annabelle. “Lovely ball,” she said.
“Of course,” replied Ella. It was a very lovely ball. The ballroom had tall ceilings that were decorated with paintings of the kingdom. There was crown molding all around. On the walls hung portraits of the all the royalty Carsile had ever had. There were flowers placed on all the tables. And everyone was wearing formal clothing and through the room people were dancing and walking about.
Just then Ella felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Hello princess,” someone said. Ella turned around to see who was there. It was Samuel Richards. He was the son of the duke of Carsile. Samuel bowed and his orange hair fell in front of his face. He stood up and pushed it out of his hazel eyes.
“Hello Samuel,” Ella said. She did not care for him at all. Samuel had oily skin and unkempt hair. And she found Samuel to be quite rude and a bore. Yet she had to pretend she liked him. The king and queen were good friends with the duke and his wife. So they had told Ella she must be friendly with their son. Her parents secretly hoped she would marry Samuel. Ella was terrified of that, because in the end her parents could force her to marry him.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked her.
“Of course,” Ella replied. Ella gripped lightly onto his hand. As he led her off she glanced back at Annabelle, she smiled and walked off into the crowd.
Ella placed her delicate hand on Samuel’s shoulder. And he placed his hand on hers. Ella glanced over his shoulder at the band and wished for them to stop playing. While watching she accidentally stepped on Samuels’s foot.
“Ouch!” he said. “Ella, you’re doing it wrong. Let me lead,” he said angrily. Ella said nothing. She did not even turn her head. Except now she was glaring at the band. There were only three people. One was playing the violin and one playing the fiddle. And the third was playing the flute. The music was slow and calm.
“Ella,” Samuel said.
“Yes,” Ella said through gritted teeth. She kept her head on the wooden platform that the band was on as they moved back and forth and side to side across the white marble dance floor.
“If you are to be queen on day, then you must take dancing lessons,” he said. Now Ella turned her head. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Samuel.
“Well, thank you for the suggestion Samuel,” she said. “Perhaps you could teach me,” Ella said in an attempt to make it seem she enjoyed his company.
“I am a very talented dancer,” he said. He then began to drone on about all of is boring accomplishments. Finally the band stopped playing and Samuel released his grasp from her. The king and queen were standing on the stage. The king was wearing black pants and a red coat. The queen was wearing a lavender gown with flowers embroidered at the top. And lace lined the top of the dress, which sat right below her shoulders.
“Oh, I must go,” Ella said. She dashed off away from Samuel and climbed up onto the stage to stand beside her parents. The king stepped forward.
“Welcome everyone!” he said. “I hope you are enjoying the ball so far. Tonight is a very important night. It is the 100th anniversary of this kingdom,” he said proudly. Cheers erupted through the ballroom. When the cheers had died down Peter continued speaking, “I hope you all are enjoying you evening so far,” he said. The king droned on for some time talking about how special the kingdom was. Ella found it all to be a bore. She stood there smiling at the people of her kingdom as her father made his speech.
“Enjoy the ball!” he concluded. More cheers burst out through the room. Ella followed her parents down from the stage. The band stepped back onto the platform. The three men resumed playing their instruments.
Gracefully Ella walked through the crowd and greeted the people of the kingdom. She smiled admiringly as she passed the people. As she was walking someone nearly crashed into her.
“Oh, excuse me,” he said. Ella recognized the man at once. He was Nicholas, the servant. Although she did not know why, her parents always seemed to have Nicholas close by, so she knew him well.
“That’s fine,” she said. But when she tried to move past him cried,
“Princess, wait,” Ella stepped back.
“Yes?” she replied.
“Umm, I have a question for you,” he said. Ella sighed.
“Well, your question is?”
“Right. Do you know if you parents will be going out after the ball?” he asked. Ella found this a peculiar question. But she was anxious to get away from Nickolas so she though nothing of it. “No, they will be here all night,” she replied. And before Nickolas could say thank you or even bow she was off.