Juicy pieces of information: The second step

Cordelia stood in front of a small mirror in the bedroom assigned to her. She was checking herself out in her blue colored ankle length gown Jael gave her to wear since she bought no load with her. The gown did not look new but it fit her svelte body perfectly. Cordelia then combed her long auburn hair, letting it to fall down her back like a waterfall.

She came out of the room and went downstairs to the pub. Jael already had customers this early in morning. There was a light chatter of people; drinking, laughing, eating and betting. The moment Cordelia got down from the last step, the chatter subsided until there was a pin drop silence.

Heads turned and raised to Cordelia's direction.

"Jael, how could you harbour an angel like her", a black haired man with beards under his chin asked in a throaty voice.

"She is a traveller", Jael answered without bothering to look at the man that asked the question. "Coming to Melan for the first time",

"Hello Beautiful, looking for shelter? My house is a safe abode for you", another man with chestnut hair said to Cordelia as she walked past him.

Cordelia knew she had a striking beauty that can charm birds off the trees. She had a body that could raise a man's temperature. Now, she wished the gown wasn't so tight fitting but that would not make any difference anyway. Recalcitrant males will always misbehave no matter what the woman wears.

"What can I do to help you? I have to repay the for the help you rendered me", Cordelia came near the table where Jael was serving her customers with pints of beer.

"Just stay behind the counter and oversee what is going on", Jael said after she served the last cup.

Cordelia did as she was told. She started to think about the next line of action. Which was to get to where the Grand Prince lived. Cordelia thanked her stars for letting her come across a pub owner. The pub was one of the places she could get juicy pieces of information. Cordelia's step one was to get to Melan as fast as possible. Now, her second step was get information about the principality and its monarchy. This information she got from Jael last night was a gruesome one. She saw a group of five young women of her age discussing and giggling to themselves. Gossipers. The upholders of information either good or bad, urgent or trivial, meaningful or meaningless. Cordelia stood up from the stood she was sitting on and walked briskly to the table of the young women.

Just when she could hear what they were saying, a smile plastered on Cordelia's face.

"... His Royal Highness, the most handsome in land and beyond. I wished he could just ask for my hand in marriage...", one of the women sang with mirth.

"...Are you there when His Royal Highness came with his brother to the market a mouth ago? The monarchs are just so overwhelming with beauty...", another woman said to her friends.

As Cordelia got to the table, she could tell that these women are the admirers of the Grand Prince.

"Good morning", Cordelia greeted, "Did you mind if I join you?", she asked.

"Yes you can", one of the women said while others nodded in affirmation.

"I heard you talking about His Royal Highness, can you tell me some things you know about him?", Cordelia inquired, feeling interested.

"You don't about the Grand Prince? Every woman in Melan and beyond knew who Grand Prince Sylvester Avery is", the first woman whose hair was tied in a ponytail spoke to Cordelia.

"He is an epitome of hotness", one of the women seconded.

'The Grand Prince was that famous?', Cordelia thought. There was no way she could have heard about him. After all, she was always busy going about her father's business. She never had the time for gossip and listen to what the maids and women in her kingdom would say

"This is my first time of hearing about him", Cordelia said, looking as if she was clueless.

"His Royal Highness is not handsome, he is beautiful",

"He is also the most kind and caring of all monarchs in the history of Melan. He refurnished the Ivory Palace to his taste. He made the lives of the commoners and the poor live in comfort and happiness. You cannot tell who is poor in this country. Everyone lined in equality and justice", the first woman continued.

"He is a man of good taste. My kind of man", another woman giggled.

"And what you should know is that the Grand Prince is single. Every year, in the night of the middle day of the year, His Royal Highness host a ball and dances with every woman that was invited",

"All of them?", Cordelia questioned with her eyes stretched.

"Yes, all of them", the woman answered. That was a lot.

"The ball is always crowded with woman and the Grand Prince never dances with the same woman twice", another woman in the group added.

"Nearly all the women in Melan who have come of age have danced with the Grand Prince", the third woman added.

"The ball will hold at night?", Cordelia probed and they responded with nods, " What about the beast that roams the night? Will it not stop the ball from happening?", she whispered .

"The night of the middle day of the year is the only night the beast never troubles Melan. Everyone is allowed to be outside in that night", The answerer replied.

"When is the ball?"

"In the next two days".

Cordelia looked satisfied after her questions had been answered. The Grand Prince seemed to be a good leader. The people of his country loves him and yet, he destroyed her own kingdom and rendered it into ashes. Hearing how these women fawning over him sort of made her blood boil.

The information she needed, she got it. Her second step had been taken and she have already found the third one; enter the Ivory Palace. All she had to do is to get invited and attend the ball. But there was just one problem, she did not know how to dance.