[Ginger]

Ella's parents feel it is their duty as king and queen to find and match their daughters with eligible suitors. They travel across the land once every year like clockwork, this time to a neighboring kingdom where trees with bright plumage are in bloom year-round. Every year, stubborn, intelligent, and creative Ella turns it into a game of questioning the intelligence of suitors. Upon arrival, a note was placed in her carriage while she was in town. A young man had invited her to a private dance in the castle courtyard, someone whom she had never seen or heard of before. She reluctantly agreed to his acquisition by sliding a responding note under the door of the address written on his note.

Much to the dismay of her parents, Ella ignored the arrogant suitor they assigned to her in the ballroom. When she figured no one was watching, she sneakily went out of a back entrance of the castle and made her way to the arranged meeting spot of her secret admirer. Upon arrival of the dimly lit, elegantly landscaped corner of the courtyard, she saw a handsome figure waiting by the largest cherry blossom tree she had ever seen. The was a small, wrought-iron table with candles, a dozen roses, and dinner for two arranged neatly on a rose tablecloth. When she approached him, he picked up a rose, took the last few steps towards her and gently placed it in her hand. "Ella, will you be mine?"

To be continued...