Chapter nine:
My mind was filled with excitement and worry as my carriage drew closer and closer to the Palace. I could see the brilliant lights from the road and I could almost hear the hundreds of people talking and laughing inside and around the castle.
My carriage was one of the last ones to arrive. I heard the guards shout at each other to keep the gate open as Mr. Goose steered the golden carriage into the Palace courtyard.
When it came to a stop I looked out of the nearest window. My mouth gently fell open and I then realized why Dulcy and my stepsisters had been so excited about going to the Palace. The castle was beautiful, it's walls were bright white and they shone in the dusk. The carriage had stopped right in front of the huge flights of stairs leading to the open front doors.
A footman opened the carriage door and the other one helped me down. I stepped delicately onto the stone of the courtyard and took a deep breath.
Have courage and be kind.
"I'm frightened, Mr. Lizard." I whispered to the nearest footman. He heard me and scooted closer. I sighed and turned my head to look at him.
"I am only a girl, after all. Not a princess."
"And I'm only a lizard. Not a footman." The lizard told me. "Enjoy it while it lasts!"
I smiled at him, thankful for his encouraging words, and looked back up at the huge flight of stairs. Then I took another deep breath and began to walk up. I tried to hurry without looking like I was running, but as I got closer to the castle I could hear a man announcing something.
"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, my Lords, Ladies, and Gentleman, distinguished visitors, and people of our land!"
His voice was loud and he sounded much like the man who had announced the ball in the marketplace two weeks ago. His voice grew louder as I got closer to the castle. Once I reached the front doors, they slowly swung open and revealed a beautiful hallway. I didn't take the time to admire the inside of the Palace, although I would have loved to, for I was already late.
"The Prince will now choose his partner for the first dance! Let our ball commence!"
I smiled when I heard the man's final announcement. I thought of my stepsisters who were probably praying to everything they could think of that the Prince would choose them for the first dance. And deep inside, I found myself wishing the same thing for them.
At the end of the long hallway there was a set of double doors that I could hear applause through. Without hesitating in case I changed my mind, I raised my hand and softly knocked on the door. The doors swung open, much like the front doors did, and I was faced with the inside of the enormous ballroom. My eyes widened as I realized that I was standing on the top of another set of stairs that led to the bottom of the ballroom. At the start of the ball, every attender would start here and excitedly walk down, but I was the last visitor to arrive and I was standing by myself. My eyes wandered around the ballroom and I took in everything I could without looking like I was staring. There were huge chandeliers with thousands of candles on them, hanging everywhere throughout the room. The marble floor could hardly be seen by the amount of people standing on it, all dressed in the finest clothes imaginable. And they were all staring at me. But I ignored the wild staccato of my heart and the flushing of my checks as I slowly made my way down the stairs.
At the plateau halfway down, I stopped and remembered my manners. I sank into an elegant curtsy, like the ones I had practiced with my mother and father so many times when I was young. My bright blue dress clouded around my legs and pooled on the floor as I bowed my head in respect. Then I slowly rose and continued my slow decent to the ballroom floor.
The people's eyes never left me and it suddenly occurred to me that the Prince was nowhere in sight. I remembered the announcement that had been made just a moment ago that said the Prince would choose his partner for the first dance. But the Prince, or his partner, were not to be found.
My glass shoes finally landed on the hard marble ballroom floor with a soft tap. The people started making whispering noises and began moving respectfully out of my way. I gently frowned, not being able to think of a reason why they would move for me. Then I saw him, across the large ballroom, smiling the same smile that had been forever in my mind since the first day we met.
Kit. The people were moving out of his way, not mine, and they were all bowing their heads as he passed them on his way to me. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, my mind racing just as quickly as my heart.
Why were the people bowing to Kit?
Where was the Prince?
Unless...
My heart stopped for a moment and I quietly took in a small breath of surprise.
Kit was the Prince.
I looked at him with realization and I could see his smile widen and move up to enlighten his blue eyes. He started moving towards me and I met him in the middle of the ballroom.
The people had created a circle around us, and I could almost feel their anticipation. Kit's smile hadn't faded and I began to smile at him as well.
He looked incredibly handsome, dressed in a white uniform with light blue accents, and his silver sword was strapped around his waist as decoration. His dark brown hair still had the curls in it, even though it was neatly combed out of his face.
I found myself wondering if I looked anywhere as beautiful as Kit was handsome, but then promptly remembered my fairy godmother's help. She wouldn't have made a dress for me that wasn't beautiful, so I pushed the silly thought from my head and focused on Kit.
He was standing only a foot away from me and he looked like he was still having trouble believing that I really stood in front of him. It occurred to me that he might have been waiting for me, like I had been waiting for him.
"Mister Kit." I whispered with a small smile. He sighed, his blue eyes never leaving my face.
"It's you." He whispered back in what sounded to be relief. "Isn't it?"
I gave him a small nod and watched as he began to smile again.
"Just so." My voice was soft, letting only him hear what I had said. The people around us were now almost completely silent and I worried that Kit would be able to hear my heart beating.
"Your Highness," Kit began breathlessly. I breathed out a quiet laugh at the title that felt so strange to me. "If I may, that is, it would give me the greatest pleasure if you would do me the honor of letting me lead you through this first..." He trailed off, his eyes still taking me in as if he thought I was just an apparition in front of him that would soon disappear. I waited for him to finish his sentence, but when he didn't I finished it for him.
"...dance?" I asked him softly. He smiled again and then voiced a quiet laugh.
"Yes, that's it. Dance."
I found myself loving the way his eyes lit up when he laughed and I wished I could see him do it all the time.
I nodded at him, and he took a step forwards, our noses almost touching.
At his first movement I immediately knew what dance we would be performing. It was a dance I had actually learned from my father from watching him and my mother do it in our parlor so many time.
Kit placed his hand on the small of my back and gently drew me closer to him. My face flushed at the contact and the corners of Kit's mouth turned up. The beautiful music started playing as soon as the Prince had placed his hand on me.
The music matched the dance I had guessed we were dancing, and I tried to remember how exactly the dance was carried out. Kit certainly knew what he was doing, and he placed his other hand behind his back. My hands remained at my side for the time being as Kit and I slowly started swaying to the music.
My dress swished beautifully from side to side and I heard many Ladies gasp and whisper at what I was wearing.
"It's so beautiful." They were saying.
"How elegant."
But despite the whispers I was hearing I somehow knew that many of the Ladies were not looking at me, but at the Prince. I wasn't at all surprised by the fact, if I weren't dancing with him right now I too would be watching him. Kit turned us in a small circle and as we turned I caught sight of my two stepsisters and my stepmother. All three of them were watching us with the upmost astonishment, and both of my stepsisters were staring at the Prince. I knew they didn't recognize me, due to my fairy godmother, and I allowed myself to smile as we turned.
When I faced Kit again I was sure that he could see the blush on my checks.
"They're all looking at you." I told him. He smiled and shook his head at me, his blue eyes radiating confidence.
"Believe me," he said "they're all looking at you."
The Prince gently spun me out from him and then pulled me back, following the dance my father had taught me. Then his left arm came out from behind his back and he placed it under my right hand. Our hands swung upwards and then downwards and Kit took his hand from my back and placed it behind him.
I was slightly relieved that he was leading the dance, not I, because the memory of the routine was not coming back as easily as I had thought it might.
As our hands gently drifted upwards for the third time, Kit spun me in a circle and I placed my right hand by his check when I faced him again. The Prince placed his hand on my waist again and he took my right hand with his left. His fingers laced through mine for a split second before he spun me out again and I drifted a few feet away, just like the dance was supposed to go. As I spun, my dress bloomed out around my legs, my glass shoes visible for a second.
Kit and I repeated the movement again and as I turned for the second time, I found myself smiling widely as my dress spun out around my legs. The Prince held his arm out to me when my spin took me closer to him. I placed one of my hands on his arm and the other in his hand. Kit was smiling again, he hadn't stopped since the dance started, and I was starting fell that odd feeling again, the one I couldn't recognize as anything I had ever felt before.
After turning in two slow circles with him, my hand left his arm and I turned halfway out from Kit, my hand still holding his. We stepped in another circle like like, our eyes never leaving each other's.
The people around us continued to whisper softly and gasp whenever my dress spun out. But the people had faded from my mind. All I was seeing was Kit, he was all I wanted to see right now. Then the Prince pulled me closer to him and our hands fell together perfectly like we had practiced the dance together before. His right hand rested on the middle of my left side and my left arm was on his shoulder. Our other hands were joined together, warm and strangely comforting among a sea of people staring at us.
The two of us continued dancing this way, and I counted my steps in between the moments when I was supposed to tilt my head sideways and down.
One, two, three, four, lean,
One, two, three, four, lean
After a while I found myself naturally following the dance without having to think about anything.
I let out a small laugh as I danced with the Prince and his eyes brightened. I was enjoying myself immensely, and I wished I could always dance like this with someone I liked as much as Kit. After a moment, Kit lifted our joined hands in the air and spun me around again. I turned in a quicker circle and when I was closest to him, our hands switched and I repeated the movement on his right side.
After I stepped back to Kit, my back was to him and he placed his left hand on my waist. My left hand went to his on my waist and I placed it overtop his larger one. Our right hands were together as well as we gently stepped through the next part of our dance. The music was growing louder and my heart beat sped up slightly.
The Prince and I moved so we would be facing each other again, his hand at my waist still and our hands folded together. We repeated the steps from before, him stepping us around the room and I, tilting my head to the side every four steps. This time the dance went slightly quicker then the time before. Our feet danced perfectly in time with the music and with each other.
The Prince spun me out again and I turned quickly, then came back. We started stepped backwards, pausing every few feet whenever the music stopped as well. The music was beautiful, it echoed slightly off the marble walls and floor and created a perfect sound that was wonderful to listen to.
Kit and I then spun outwards together at the same time, our backs to each other for a split second before we held each other again. We repeated the step twice more and I heard the people around us gasp whenever we spun.
Then as Kit and I smoothly stepped together for a few seconds, he put his hands on my waist and gently lifted me into the air. I smiled as I kicked out of my feet out, the fabric of my dress flowing beautifully around me.
The people around us gasped loudly in awe. I let out a small laugh as I was placed back on the ground and Kit and I continued our smooth dancing.
We stepped together and turned in one circle before Kit lifted me for the second time. I placed my hands on his shoulders when he bent down and spun me as I was off the ground.
The people gasped again and began to clap.
Kit gently placed me back on the ground after a few seconds. Our faces were inches from each other's, both of us smiling and breathing heavily from the excitement.
The song was almost finished, and as the last movement, Kit took one of my hands and placed his other on my waist. I placed my free hand on his waist as well as he slowly tipped me back towards the floor.
The we broke apart as the song came to a close. I sunk down in a curtsy and Kit placed a hand on his chest and inclined his head.
I remembered practicing my curtsy with my father for this song, laughing as I was never able to keep my balance. I smiled as I remembered all the wonderful memories and the even better memory I had just made with Kit.
The people 'awwed' and 'oohed' as we finished and broke into applause. My checks flushed as I looked back up at the Prince to see him smiling at me.
I stood from my curtsy as the people began talking together before the next song started.
"That was wonderful." Kit told me, making my checks flush even more.
"Your checks are pink too, are you excited?" He asked me with a smile.
I placed a hand over one of my checks and looked shyly down at the ground.
"I am very excited." I admitted.
"As am I." He responded. Then he bowed again at me and offered his hand. "The next song is about to start. Will you dance with me again?"
I didn't hesitate to take his hand as other people started coming out into the dance floor. I saw Anastasia and Drusella holding the arms of two gentleman in suits and I smiled again at the thought of them seeing someone they didn't recognize dance with the Prince.
Kit was right, the next song did start almost immediately. The song was quicker and more upbeat then the one we had danced to a moment ago, but I recognized it from my childhood as well.
Kit and I started dancing with the people as the song started, swaying back and forth and occasionally spinning together. About halfway through the song, Kit leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"Come with me."
I nodded and followed the Prince out of the busy ballroom. Nobody followed us or stopped us in the process, but I was sure that Kit at least would be missed very shortly.
He led me into another room close by where we could still hear the music from the ballroom. He closed the doors behind us and I took the time to try to catch my breath.
"So you're the Prince." I said as he turned around. He looked at me before smiling and turning away.
"Well, I'm not the Prince. I'm just a Prince."
"But...you're name's not really Kit." I said to him. I could imagine that he hadn't given me his real name the day we met in the forest. But the Prince shook his head and smiled again.
"Oh certainly it is. And my father still calls me that when he is especially un-peeved at me."
"But you're no apprentice."
"I am, I am still my father's apprentice, learning my trade."
I laughed and let out a small sigh.
"Oh, gosh." I laughed again and started to walk slowly around the room, taking in all the paintings and portraits.
"Please forgive me." Kit said, slowly following me. "I thought you might treat me differently if you knew who I was. I mistook you for a country girl, and now I see that you didn't want me to see who you really were either."
I smiled at him and nodded.
"Of course I forgive you."
Kit nodded and looked happy with my decision. Then he held out his hand for me to shake.
"No more surprises?"
I hesitated for a second. He thought I was a Princess, didn't he? I would have to tell him sometime, sometime before midnight tonight. But I took his hand anyways.
"No more surprises." We agreed.