The beautiful blonde girl wove her head, smiling and holding up a crystal glass, slightly touching it with a small silver spoon and producing a tinkling noise.
Everyone in the room stopped dancing, looking at her.
“Thank you for the attention, ladies and gentlemen!” said the girl. By her side, there was another girl, a brunette proudly wearing a diamond tiara. “As you all may know, I am Princess Alice de la Iceflower. By my side, there is the one and only Queen Sissa Romanova.” There was a pause for the jolly cheers. “We are so happy that you all could attend to our ball! It is a great honour to have you in our humble castle.”
“Perhaps you are wondering what it the purpose of this ball.” Queen Sissa said, softly. “Well, we have someone very special we would like to introduce you. A remarkable lady of our court who deserves a highlight for her undoubted virtues and talent.”
“Please, welcome the wonderful Lady Rosemary!” Alice said, indicating the red carpet.
Everyone made space for a dazzling young woman dressed in a red Victorian ball gown inlaid with small pearls on its corset and white lace decorating the edges of her sleeves and plastron. Pearls and rubies hung on her ears and laid around her neck. The gentlemen politely bowed to her, mesmerized by her presence and beauty.
She walked regally to the center of the room, and noticed how everyone had their eyes on her, forming a circle around the three women.
“Lady Rosemary is not only the obvious beauty before your eyes” Princess Alice smiled “She is also very talented novelist!”
There was a surprised murmur among the crowd.
“Yes, and we would like you all to get to know the lady and her work better.”
“Alice and I have read your wonderful book ‘A Penny’s Worth of Affection’ on Wattpad, and we must say, Lady Rosemary, what a masterpiece!”
“Oh, thank you!” she smiled.
“May we know when your writing gifts started to bloom?”
“I believe it was back on my school days. On my final year I wrote a mini series. A little project for the school’s paper.”
“I’m sure it was lovely.” Alice smiled. “And why did you decide to share your talent with us on Wattpad?”
“My brother suggested I should try the site. He knows how much I love reading. After reading a couple of the stories here, I decided to give writing a try to see if my stories were good enough.”
“And what a great success you are! You have over eight thousand loyal fans now, who helped you to accomplish the so wanted Watty Awards! Best Popular Historical Fiction!”
“Oh, yes!” she laughed. “What a delight!”
“Why don’t you tell us a bit about this episode in your life? I’m sure it was a great moment for you…”
“Most indeed… A Penny's Worth of Affection is a story conceived out of one of my numerous fantasies about a head strong, courageous woman who finds out her brother has fallen in love with the fiancée of a ruthless duke, Lord Phillip. Penelope must find a way to save her brother from the wrath of the duke, in the process, she finds herself going head to head with Phillip on numerous occasions but eventually falls in love with him.”
“It was truly a pleasure to read it.” Queen Sissa said. “I fell in love with Penelope, what a great girl, so ahead of her time…”
“Speaking of time…” Princess Alice said “We noticed your talent and preference for Historical Fiction. Two of your stories are of this genre. Why this preference?”
“Oh, I've always loved Historical romance. I grew up reading Barbara Cartland's regency romances and loved every single book. So writing historical fictions came easy for me!”
“Barbara Cartland… That explains a great lot!” Alice nodded.
“Do you plan to try again to Watty Awards this year?”
“Perhaps, but I'm not sure I'll enter this year.” Lady Rosemary said, winking.
“Oh, we would love to see you again on the Wattys!” Alice said. “We are sure you would win once again.”
“And tell me, milady… If you could go back in time and live a day on the past, when and where would it be?”
Lady Rosemary bit her bottom lip. “Mhmm… Oh well, truth be told, there are several moments I would love to live through again.” She replied, dreamingly.
“Oh, don’t we all?” Queen Sissa smiled.
“And do you have any inspiration?” Princess Alice asked. “Or any favourite books? Historical, I mean?”
“My favorite published historical romances are basically anything written by Barbara Cartland, Judith Macnaught, Sarah Maclean, Christina Dodd and Catherine Coulter. On Wattpad: The Black Knight, The Marquis Mistress, My Fair Lady, All the Wrong Reasons, The Compromised Duchess and Wonderland by Night.”
“What a set of wonderful stories.” Alice nodded. “You surely have not only talent, but also good taste!”
“Oh, you flatter me, thank you!”
“Well, shall we proceed with the ball?” Queen Sissa asked, looking around.
“One moment, Your Majesty!” a young, handsome lord stepped forward. “If I may… I would like to ask something to Lady Rosemary.” His eyes met hers, meaningfully.
“Oh, well, go ahead, young man.”
“Lady Rosemary…” he said, nervously. “What would you say to all the Historical Fiction writers? Any advice?”
“Ah…” she replied with a shy smile. “Oh well… My advice for historical fiction writers on Wattpad is, do what you love doing and try sticking to historical facts (especially the language of the period you're writing about and the then acceptable social norms) as much as possible. Because it gives your story that much needed credibility.”
“What a valuable advice, milady!” Alice applauded.
“Well said, Lady Rosemary. Well, I suppose we now can continue?” Queen Sissa stood up. “And I suspect that the most desirable lady in the room already has company?” She added, looking at Lady Rosemary, who was now standing with the charming gentleman, and winked.
“Let us continue then!” Alice said. “Maestro! Play the Reginella!”
At the sound of the romantic Neapolitan song, they all danced, although all the ladies in the room had only one thing in their mind: They must start reading A Penny’s Worth of Affection as soon as they got home.
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