Midnight

Ten

Kit stopped next to me and motioned to the swing. "Please." He said. I hesitated and tried to act like I wasn't a little scared.
"I shouldn't." I told him softly.
"You should." He smiled at me. I smiled back but shook my head again.
"I really shouldn't."
"You should." He laughed softly. I looked at him and smiled again.
"Then I will."

I moved in front of the swing and slowly took a seat on it. Kit stood behind me and placed his hands on the ropes on either side of me. I looked up at him once I was seated and found myself lost in his eyes again.
"May I?" The Prince asked. I nodded at him. "Please."
He reached down and pulled the swing back a few feet before carefully pushing me forwards. The corners of my mouth turned up as I swung forwards on the swing, then back into Kit's hands. He pushed me again and I was starting to remember why I had wanted a swing of my own when I was a little girl.

A I swung back for the third time, one of my glass slippers slipped off my foot and landed in the grass.
Kit stopped the swing as he noticed and I placed my bare foot on the ground. He stepped around the swing and knelt in the grass to pick up my shoe.
"It's made of glass." He noticed, looking up at me in wonder. I lifted a shoulder in a small shrug.
"They're very comfortable." I told him, repeating my fairy godmother's words from earlier tonight.
"Allow me." Kit said as I pushed the swing closer to him. I smiled shyly.
"Thank you."
I lifted the hem of my dress up so Kit could gently place my glass shoes back on my foot. His hands were warm when they touched me, but they still sent shivers down my leg.
"There." He whispered when my shoe was back on my foot. He remained kneeling on the ground in front of me, but he reached forwards to pull me closer to him.

"Won't you tell me who you really are, Ella?" He asked softly. My heart beat a little quicker at his question.
"I'm afraid if I do, everything would be different." I tried to explain as best as I could. If he found out I wasn't an actual Princess...
"I don't understand." Kit said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by the loud chiming of a clock.
It was midnight.
My heart sunk as I realized I must leave, and quickly. I turned to the Prince before he could say anything else.
"I have to leave." I told him breathlessly. "It's hard to explain, I'm sorry, but I must go."

I stood up from the swing and quickly made my way to the door. I was afraid that if I looked back, I would never want to leave, and I would be too late in escaping before midnight.
"Wait, where are you going?"
I could hear the confusion and the small bit of amusement in Kit's voice as he called after me. I stopped halfway out the door and looked back.
"Thank you so much for the wonderful evening. I enjoyed every second of it!"
Then I turned and kept running down the corridor, looking for the way out. I didn't have Kit to guide me this time and I silently prayed that I wouldn't get lost.
My heels tapped against the stone and I paused for a brief second before turning a corner. I was relieved to recognize the path Kit and I had walked on earlier this evening as we talked about the King.

I ran down the path until I reached the door of the Palace that the two of us had excited earlier this evening as well. I slipped inside the portrait room and hurried to the other set of doors across the room. I was proud of myself that I hadn't gotten lost yet, but now I needed to make it to the front of the Palace. That would be harder, I would have to go through the ballroom, hundreds of people, and Kit, who was probably pursuing me by now. He knew the Palace inside and out and it wouldn't surprise me if he caught up with me.

I exited the portrait room and easily found the ballroom again. It was just as loud as when the Prince and I had left it, people were still dancing and laughing, and the music was still playing.
"Excuse me." I whispered to the people that I passed in my hurry. I slowed my pace down a little, trying not to draw attention to myself any more. Many people would already recognize me from my dance with the Prince at the beginning of the night, and I wanted to avoid further attention as I tried to slip away.
"I'm so sorry, excuse me." I whispered to more people. I was heading for the staircase across the room, but I wasn't getting anywhere quickly. I would have to cut through the middle of the ballroom and avoid all the dancing people.