The next morning Princess Isabella met with Lady Sophia in the courtyard. The morning sun shone brightly, the blossoming flowers brought on butterflies and ladybugs. The sweet scent of the sun, the freshly watered flowers and the aromatic tea all filled Isabella's senses with delight.
She adored nature and all its beauty, whilst lady Sophia was constantly shooing away any creature that dared fly close to her. They sipped on their tea and nibbled on the freshly baked lemon cookies.
"So you're telling me that you danced with the Prince of Arcoi! How scandalous!" Sophia squealed with excitement. "Wait, first you danced with him not even knowing who he really was, and then the king met with him and told you to dance with him! Why do I always miss these juicy moments in your life."
"You are making such a fuss over nothing. You know that my mother insisted that I mingle with everyone, was I to refuse anyone a dance?" Isabella raised her eyebrow at Sophia, smiling again. "He was such a good dancer though, it was like dancing in the clouds, I thought I might giggle with excitement when my father said to dance with him. I was so worried they would end up fighting."
"Everyone knows Arcoi and Verdesaint have bad blood for as long as history has been recorded. I wonder what they spoke about." Sophia pondered, before changing the topic squealing again. "Oh, he sounds like a real charmer! Forbidden love is my favorite kind of love!"
"It's not forbidden love! We simply shared a dance, and he was a rather good dancer, each time he opened his mouth he only had sarcastic quips!" She sighed in frustration. "and I couldn't stop myself from getting worked up and telling him to leave."
"Serves that Arcoi prince right! No one shows our princess disrespect and gets away with it. If I was there I would have given him a piece of my mind. " Sophia rambled on, as Isabella began to feel more guilty.
"No, I don't blame him really, I had no idea that we were so hard on the people of Arcoi, he said that they sent people to request meetings with the King but they never got to the palace to even request a viewing. And no one treated him with the respect of a Prince, even now I recall father barely treated him like a Noble. I understand why he was so tense now, and I acted poorly. I want to find a way to make it up to him." She vented to her friend.
Sophia sighed. "Well you said you were going to Arcoi with the king soon, so you have some time to prepare. Let's think of something together!" Sophia smiled at Isabella. "How about a scarf?"
"That won't do, he doesn't seem like the type, besides their fabrics are far more superior than our own, wouldn't that just offend him?" She wondered.
" 'He doesn't seem like the type', you had two dances with him, surely you couldn't know him that well to know his type." Sophia rolled her eyes. "So what did you have in mind then?"
"I haven't thought much about it I'm afraid, the only thing I thought of so far was perhaps a gem statue." she answered sheepishly.
"A statue?" Sophia snorted. "What kind of statute? A Trojan horse?"
"Sophia! It was just an idea!" She exclaimed, sighing." I was just thinking of how I just started lapidary class where we hand carve gemstones, so I thought I could make something small. But I have no clue what statue I should make."
"You know, that is a good idea, why not a dog, that's an animal that symbolizes friendship?" Sophia offered.
"Perfect! That's exactly the message I want to convey. We got off on the wrong foot, maybe we could start over and sort out some of these age old disputes. I am sure that will please mother and father!" Isabella squealed happily.
Later the Princess met with her lapidary instructor for advice on carving the stone dog. The instructor spent all day providing options for the different gemstones she could choose from before Isabella finally decided on Onyx.
Over the course of the next few days she had met with her instructor to plan and slowly carve the dog until it was finally complete. The instructor had it sent off to polish and then returned it to the princess in a little box to offer some protection to the carved gift.
Isabella was pleased with her handiwork and was finally ready to meet with Prince Alexander.
Isabella and Sophia strode around the palace garden as they discussed the fast arriving day of departure to the kingdom of Arcoi. The sun prickled through the thin clouds scattered in the sky, making what would have been a hot day, the perfect temperature for a stroll with her friend.
Sophia wore a blue blouse and navy waist pants, her ruffled shoes fluttered with each step. Isabella wore her favorite white sundress, a tumble of silk hugging her upper arms, wearing simple white heels.
Sophia was in charge of holding the umbrella they shared, Isabella's fair skin burnt easily in the sun, thus Sophia's thoughtfulness to bring along an umbrella to keep her in the shade.
"So did you finish making your gift for the Prince?" Sophia could barely contain her excitement.
"Yes, let's take a seat on that bench over there, I brought the gift along to show it to you." Isabella smiled as they walked toward the bench.
She reached into the purse she had carried with her, pulling out the box, she placed the box in-between her and her friend and carefully opened it to reveal the small black dog she had hand-carved. Sophia reached out gently touching the carved marks on the dog.
"My this is a thing of beauty." She sighed happily.
"I hope he likes it, and that this gift could help us move closer to peace." Isabella thought aloud.
"He would be a fool not to like it." Sophia chuckled.