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Evening found us fussing with last minute details over our dresses. Mari had her hair curled into beautiful ringlets, and had just a hint of silver eye shadow to match her jewelry and dress. The dress was Valerian red, had a square cut neckline with short sleeves, and at the waist, just off-center, was a starburst in diamonds. From there the dress opened into a slit that showed white and draped elegantly to the floor. She wore a silver necklace with three rubies lying above the satin material of her dress. On her head was a princess’s crown, with a diamond in the center, and a ruby on either side. I kissed her cheek. “Princess Mari, you’re beautiful.”
She beamed at me. “I know.” And twirled around the room in her sparkling, white shoes.
I smiled and turned to Cathy. “And you look just as beautiful, Cathy. You’re going to turn heads.” Cathy was dressed in blue, and the sash at her waist was pure white and tied in a bow. The dress went to a few inches below knees, had a modest v-neck, and butterfly sleeves. Her necklace was a silver chain and she wore what she called the America bracelet, which was silver and set with a red stone, a clear stone, and a blue stone. I didn’t know if they were precious stones or not, but I figured they were. Just in case anyone wondered which country she was from, she wore a jeweled American flag pin on her left shoulder. Her hair was loose, styled into waves that went to her shoulder blades, and although her makeup wasn’t as subtle as Mari’s, it suited her. I pressed a kiss to her cheek too.
“You look pretty too,” Cathy pointed out. “Where’s Martin?”
I smiled. “He’ll be here soon. Don’t you worry about my date. He’s not going to stand me up.” A knock on the door sounded. “I’ll bet that’s him.” I moved to the door and opened it, and saw Martin’s smiling face change to shock as he took me in, then soften as what could only be described as an adoring smile settled on his face.
I was wearing a white dress that was fitted from the waist up. Gold designs were stitched on the bodice, down to where the soft gold colored material wrapped around to meet over my stomach, and then from there, the dress flared out in a bell shape in white with the gold stripe going down the center of the dress to the floor. That gold stripe was accented by stitched designs in white along each side of the gold. Gold and diamond earrings sparkled in my ears, a delicate gold necklace from my father resting at my throat, and I’d even let the servants apply a little makeup. My hair had been styled into curls and waves and was pulled back at the nape of my neck by a jeweled pin. A few curls had escaped and framed my face.
“Joan, you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he murmured, stepping inside. He set the box in his hand down and rested his hands at my waist. “And I am the luckiest man in either world,” he said as he leaned forward to brush a kiss over my lips.
Cathy and Mari were giggling. “Told ya,” Cathy said smugly to no one in particular.
Martin’s eyes smiled as he stepped back and he picked up the box again. “I do believe this will work,” he said, handing the box to me.
My corsage was there. It was a white rose with gold glitter or gold flakes on the edges of the petals, and attached to a gold-colored band. I pulled it out and slid it on my wrist. “It’s beautiful, Martin. Thank you.”
“No. You, my lady, are beautiful. A rose can’t compare to you.” He brought my hand to his lips. “If you’re ready, I’ll take you down.”
I stepped out in the hall, and had the pleasure of seeing Remy and Liam’s eyes go wide with the same shock I’d seen in Martin’s eyes.
Liam whistled slowly. “I do believe the queen will approve. Saved the best for last, did you?”
“I was told to specifically save this one for one of the Geidy balls.”
Mari and Cathy came out now, and I smiled at them. “Girls, your escorts are here as well.” I had asked Liam and Remy earlier that day to escort the girls.
Cathy walked up to Remy and curtseyed properly. Remy smiled and bowed to her, offering his arm. “My lady.”
Cathy giggled and rested her arm on his. She was tall enough to manage it, since she’d hit her growth spurt early. Liam bowed to Mari. “Princess Mari.”
She curtseyed to him and rested her arm on his as well, just an inch or two shorter than Cathy so she only had slightly more trouble, but she managed and we started down the hall. We had to be announced in, and as princess, Mari went first. I let Cathy go ahead of me, and then Martin and I stepped up and gave our names to the herald. He announced us, his voice rising over the murmured voices below. “Captain Martin Gonhiad of Valeria and Lady Joan Ilion of the United States of America.”
Heads turned, and I had expected it. I fought the nervous smile on my face but didn’t quite manage it as we descended the steps to the ballroom. “They’re all staring,” I whispered with some resignation.
“Of course they are. How could they not?” He pressed another kiss to my hand and led me down the aisle to the thrones where King Irvin and his queen were sitting, and we respectively curtseyed and bowed.
“Rise,” King Irvin said. “It is our pleasure. Captain, if it wouldn’t trouble you, I would like to dance with your lady during the night.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Martin said.
“Lady Ilion?”
“It would be my honor, Your Highness,” I murmured past the panicked knot in my throat, curtseying to him again. I hoped that he would claim his dance early and not make me stick around until the early hours of the morning. I couldn’t very well leave until he had claimed his dance.
The next couple was announced in and we moved out of the way with one, last subservience. My hand was clenched tight to Martin’s. “Great,” I whispered. “The king. The king for pity’s sake!”
Martin squeezed my hand gently. “You danced with plenty other royalty.”
“It’s not the same! The only king I danced with was Demetri, and I saved his life so he can’t dislike me.”
Martin swallowed a grin and I hissed, “Stop laughing at me. I don’t like dancing and I only learned how weeks ago!”
“Something wrong?” Randall asked, coming over, a line of worry on his face.
“She’s going to dance with King Irvin. She’s a little nervous.”
Randall handed me the wine glass in his hand. “Sip, Joan.”
I did, and struggled to calm myself. “I have this mental image of stepping on his foot and one of the many servants throwing me in the dungeon. I don’t like this.” I grabbed Martin’s arm with my free hand. “Tell me I’m not going to destroy everything if I screw up tonight.”
“What brought this on?” Randall asked, perplexed.
“He’s the head of this stupid conference! Give me a target and I’ll hit it with almost any weapon you give me but I’m so not playing my strengths here!”
“I believe he’ll be so dazzled by your beauty, he wouldn’t notice if you knocked him to the ground,” Martin murmured.
“Yeah, right,” I muttered, but it was helping.
“And you should realize that whatever happens here has no bearing on the peace conferences,” Martin continued. “He can’t harm Valeria, and he definitely can’t do anything against the Flip Side.”
He knew me too well, and I was greatly appreciative of that at this moment. “Okay, well, good. One worry off my mind.”
Randall snorted. “I don’t know where you get these ideas.”
“From the stories of kings in the Flip Side,” I hissed at him. “Don’t even pretend all the royalty over here is kind and generous and forgiving and loved by everyone! From what I’ve seen, royalty has a tendency to get offended over the least little thing. I don’t know enough to be sure that I won’t offend him!”
“Just don’t call him an idiot, or any of the things you said to King Nadem the fourth,” Martin offered helpfully.
“Thanks,” I muttered. I took another sip of the wine and scanned the room, trying to breathe evenly. “Where are Mari and Cathy?”
“There’s another ballroom, a smaller one, just for those seventeen and under. Older than that, and they join us.” Randall patted my arm. “You look gorgeous, Joan. You really do. It wouldn’t hurt to smile, however.”
“Right at this moment, you’re out of luck.” I scanned the room again and stopped on a familiar face, eyes wide. “Holy cow! Is that Hillarie?”
They turned to look, but Martin was grinning. “Holy cow?” he repeated.
“Shut up. Wow, look at her!”
Hillarie was dressed in bright yellow, and she looked good in it. Her dress was poofed from the waist down, and from the waist up was skin-tight and strapless. She was turning heads too, and then she spotted me and came over. “Joan! Look at you!”
“Look at me?” I managed to get out. “You’re wearing neon yellow! Do you glow in the dark?”
“Not quite, but close,” Hillarie said, smiling. “Do you like it?”
“I do. I would never wear it, but I like it.” I eyed the necklace. “That’s a yellow diamond, isn’t it?” The stone was about the size of my thumbnail.
“It is. Passed down through the family. Florinda has one just like it.”
I shook my head. “The amount of valuables you royal people carry is frightening. A thief would cry with joy if he could get in your room.”
“And what’s that?” she asked, tapping the back of her head to indicated my jeweled pin.
I touched it in horror. “It’s real?”
She merely smiled.
“Don’t you people ever wear fake stuff? Where do you find these stones? Holy cow!”
“There again with the holy cow,” Martin murmured. “Why have I never heard this particular expression before?”
“Because you use phrases like ‘by the crown’.”
“Where did you get this particular phrase?”
“Where did you get yours?” I returned.
“We swear by the crown. It’s an oath if you want a solemn vow for anyone believing in the crown. Do you swear by holy cows in the Flip Side?”
I opened my mouth, then figured out what he was doing. “Oh, shut up,” I muttered.
He just smiled at me.
“Quinn couldn’t be here,” Hillarie said. “There was a problem in our country that needed him to take care of it. He’ll be here tomorrow.”
This caught my attention. “Light Bearers?”
She nodded, coral pink lips tightening. “Yes. But like I said, he’s dealing with it. He’s also bringing them to the Geidy prison so they can be held with the other Light Bearers.”
“What’s the prison like here? I assume it’s as dramatic and state-of-the-art as everything else.”
“Oh it is,” Hillarie agreed. “It’s all underground. They have the latest technology in the prisons, including electric walls.”
My eyes widened. “Electric walls?”
She nodded.
“I’ve got to see one before I leave,” I told Martin. “That’s amazing!”
“You don’t have that in the Flip Side?”
I shook my head. “The standard jail cell with iron bars. Well, I assume its standard here.”
They all smiled. “Your Flip Side roots come out at the oddest moments,” Randall commented.
The music started at that moment and Martin stepped forward. “Excuse me, but I believe I need to claim this dance. Good to see you again, Hillarie.”
I didn’t hang back, although I wanted to, and I was relieved when I noticed others already out on the dance floor. “You’re trying to calm me down.”
“You know how to do this, Joan. You’ve been doing it since we left Valeria.” He rested his hand at my back and took my hand. “And I want to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room to show who she’s partnered with. It’s custom to dance the first dance with your partner.”
“What happens if the king asks me to dance something other than the waltz?” I almost froze as that idea hit. “I don’t know how to decline that!”
“Joan, you’re turning into a worrier before my eyes. You’ll be fine. Dance.”
I obeyed, and as I focused on that, my jittering nerves started to calm. None of the other ruling royalty had asked to dance, other than Demetri, but Martin’s calm and self-assuredness was starting to wear off on me. I was dancing now, wasn’t I? And I’d yet to miss a step.
Martin led me around on another dance and, now that I was into it, started using complicated moves and showing me off.
After the second dance, others started to cut in and Martin handed me over with a quick wink. “Later, my lady,” he murmured, and there was an emphasis on ‘my’, as if to say that I was his and he relished in that little detail. And so I was smiling when I accepted the offer to dance from a general of Unti.
I danced for a solid hour. Over the course of our travels I’d built up stamina, but I was reaching my limits. My feet were starting to throb and I wanted desperately to sit down.
Thankfully, Remy came to my rescue. “My lady, would you like something to drink?” he asked, skillfully whirling me off the dance floor.
I sank into a chair gratefully. “You’re a saint, Remy.”
He picked up two glasses from a nearby table and handed one to me. “I may not know you like Martin knows you, but I’ve had enough practice to read when you’re reaching your limit. I think I can give you a break for few minutes.” He sat down next to me.
“Then while we’re sitting, tell me what was up with that shaman. Maxwell.”
“The only shaman in the world to be able to read emotions. Supposedly the fourth in all of history, but that’s never really been confirmed. He does it at every peace conference. Whichever country is giving the formal invitations has two or three people picked. One year he did five. They were from Zou, and had just saved their country from an attack by a small group that makes the Light Bearers look sane. Those five men and women figured out they were planning on blowing up some place of importance in Zou, evacuated the site, and managed to locate and dismantle the bomb while holding off the attackers who were trying to kill them.”
“Wow,” I said, impressed.
“It was an interesting reading that year. Everyone was sure he was going to pick you. No one was sure about the rest. I won three hundred because he chose Cathy too.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I said dryly. “Nothing I like more than walking into a potentially awkward situation where I have no idea what’s going on.”
“He doesn’t tell anything embarrassing. Well, nothing other than the fact that you and Martin are in love,” he teased. “He lists off some strengths, some weaknesses. If he likes what he sees, he says it’s an honor to meet you. If he doesn’t like what he sees, and it’s happened, though not at a peace conference, then he says something else.”
“Is he here tonight?”
“Oh, no. Shamans don’t come to these. They have their own peace conference meetings, and they always meet during the first ball. Gets them out of social functions.”
“Lucky them,” I muttered. “I have to stick around until King Irvin claims his dance. And hope I don’t fall over or something.”
“I taught you better than that.” He took a sip. “And I will mention that you outshine everyone here without even trying.”
I smiled at him. “I think you missed your chance to flirt, Remy. You had a prime opportunity, and you didn’t take it.”
He understood the question there and his eyes watched the dancers on the floor as he replied. “I know better than to involve myself in a messy situation. I also know when my efforts are going to go unrewarded, generally. Maybe it would have made you feel better temporarily, but you can’t love me like you love Martin.” His eyes moved back to Martin finishing a dance with a princess of Cantralin. “And I can’t love you as much as he does. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy your lessons.” He flicked a smile at me. “I am, so I’m told, a romantic a heart, and I believe in soulmates. You aren’t mine, however enchanting you are.”
I flushed slightly, but I smiled back. “I hope you find your soulmate, Remy. She’s lucky, whoever she is.” I sipped the fizzy drink appreciatively. “Are you thinking your soulmate is that Cantralin princess?”
His eyes, which had indeed been watching that princess, darted to me. “I’m sorry?”
I gave a serene smile. “You’re sneaky, but I’m better. She was very sweet when I talked to her at Cantralin. Youngest of three, and just turned twenty.”
“Are you setting me up?” he asked, eyes sparkling with laughter.
“You can admit or deny, but this is the third partner she’s been with, so I know you’re not watching someone else.” I sighed and stood. “I’ll let you have your dance, and then you can waltz yourself over to her and give the poor girl a breather.”
His mouth twitched into a smile. “I am being set up.” But he rose and took my offered hand. “Perhaps Martin’s caught himself a romantic as well.”
“I have to entertain myself somehow. Since you’ve involved yourself in my love life, I feel obliged to return the favor.”
He chuckled and spun us into the dance. After the song had ended, a man tapped on his shoulder to cut in and I grinned at Remy as I curtseyed and accepted the hand offered to me while he went and offered his hand to the Cantralin princess.
Several dances later, Liam cut in. “Your sister and Mari are having a fine time. I checked for you.”
“Thank you. Have you seen Remy?”
“Not that I recall. Why?”
I smiled. “No reason. I just wondered if he was entertaining a certain Cantralin princess.”
Liam chuckled but his eyes gleamed. “Really?”
“And you’ll get to give him grief over it tomorrow, so I just made your day.”
I’m just enjoying this,” he said smoothly, stepping just as smoothly into a complicated step that I followed with ease. “You’ve improved considerably and I’ve yet to see you looking at your feet.”
I laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t be able to see them, as you wisely pointed out that particular day when I couldn’t stop looking at them.”
“And you’ve learned you can talk and dance at the same time.”
“Yeah. Look at me go.”
As we came to a halt, a voice said, “May I claim my dance now, Lady Ilion?”
I turned and saw King Irvin, and my mouth went dry. If anyone knew how to dance, it was the king, and he would know if I made any mistakes. And I was sure to make them.
Liam bowed to the king. “Your Highness. She’s all yours.” To me, he murmured, “Don’t forget the other thing I pointed out that day, Joan. And enjoy yourself.”
I curtseyed to the king, rose, and took his offered hand.
“I’ve observed you,” he commented as we spun around the floor. “You dance very well.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. So do you.”
“My competency is less admirable than yours. May I inquire as to what it was that your previous dance partner pointed out to you?”
“He was reminding me about the lessons he taught me. My competency in dancing was acquired very, very recently. One of his points was to tell me not to look at my feet.” But the one he’d wanted me to remember was to have self-confidence.
He chuckled. “A habit my tutor has a hard time breaking of my son. He is compelled to make sure his feet move in the direction he wants them to and it drives our tutor to his wit’s end.”
“How old is your son?”
“Seven.”
I realized suddenly that I hadn’t been referring to him by his proper title and mentally cursed myself. “I apologize, Your Highness, for forgetting to show proper respect.”
“Nonsense,” he said, spinning me in a complicated step as he mirrored my moves. “I don’t need bowing and scraping to know when I’m being respected and when I’m not.”
“I apologize anyway, Your Highness. I’m still unused to referring to anyone by a title.” He had nice, green eyes, I decided. Eyes that smiled when he did, but that could go cold in an instant when he needed to be firm. I could feel myself liking him more and more.
“Does your royalty not require it?”
“I spend most of my time with Princess Mari, Your Highness, and Queen Florinda and King Alan are very understanding when I forget or break a rule. There are things I’m not quite accustomed to yet.”
“Such as?”
“Balls,” I said before I thought.
He chuckled and his eyes lit with his smile. “You don’t like them?”
“I’m unfamiliar with them. We don’t have them in the Flip Side. Your Highness,” I added quickly.
“I see. So you did have to learn quickly.”
“Very quickly, sir. I mean, Your Highness. I’m sorry.”
“Dispense with the titles, Lady Ilion, because I can tell you’re struggling to remember them. I know Alan and Florinda don’t demand it as much as others may and you are close enough to them that you would feel out of place to use it on a friend.”
I was slightly suspicious. “Do you have a talent of your own, Your Highness?”
“I do not. That’s just what my shaman has told me.”
Around us the song was coming to an end, but he didn’t let go. “Since I am enjoying this conversation and your dancing skill immensely, I would like to claim another dance, Lady Ilion.”
“You may if you call me Joan.”
His green eyes lightened with his smile. “Joan, then. Tell me about your relationship with the little princess. She’s almost like family, yes?”
“She is.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Mari is a good girl, and sweet. She needed a friend, and so did my sister at the time. They’re both very close.”
“Yes, Maxwell said that.” He twirled me out and in. “And he also said that the bond between you and your captain is quite something.”
“We love each other,” I said simply.
“Ah, love. Yes, I understand. I have as much devotion to my wife as Maxwell has hinted at between the two of you. We have four boys to show from it. One of them has been flirting with your sister, or so I’ve been told. She’s a beautiful girl, just like her sister is a beautiful woman.”
I smiled. “Your flattery is appreciated, and I will agree that Cathy is very beautiful. She takes after our mother.”
“You are her guardian now, correct?”
“I am.”
“She is lucky to have you, if she has no one else.”
“Thank you. May I ask a question?”
“Please do.” He moved agilely out of the way of a couple who spun too wide and pulled me easily me with him, keeping both of us in step with the music.
“I’m curious about your tattoo. What is it?”
“It is the fault line that runs under our country, the fault line that is responsible for many of our earthquakes. Are earthquakes common in the Flip Side?”
“In California they are, which is roughly where we are at this moment.”
“California,” he repeated. “Yes, I remember that. And you are from New Mexico.”
“I am. Can I ask what the fascination is with destructive forces?” I asked, my forehead creasing. “Arrows, tornadoes, and earthquakes. It’s a little disturbing. Your Highness,” I added, wincing.
“Your honesty is noted and appreciated. We define ourselves by what shapes us, and long ago, it was earthquakes. A particularly violent one struck and destroyed part of this castle. Eighteen people died, including the daughter of the current king, and the family left the castle. It was left in ruins for years because of the cost of repair and because the royal family could not bear to think of it and the daughter they had lost. It has been fixed for many years now, but in memory of that, we emulated the giant crack that ran through the floor. That was many, many years ago. Since then we’ve made sure that we would not place anyone else in the same danger.”
I considered it. “A story that must be very important to your country.”
“Yes. I could bore you with many more details, but our song is coming to an end and I believe your date is coming to reclaim you.”
We spun to a stop. Sure enough, Martin was threading his way to us. “Your Highness,” he said, bowing to King Irvin. “If I may, I’ve found myself missing the company you’ve been enjoying.”
“And delightful company she is,” King Irvin said, eyes sparkling again. “Joan, it was a pleasure.”
I curtseyed to him. “The pleasure was mine, Your Highness. Thank you.”
He bowed to me and moved away as Martin took my hand, murmuring, “I thought I would come save you, just in case you needed it.”
“I didn’t, but thank you. He’s not so bad. I think I like him.”
“I was sure you would,” Martin said with a smile. “You did just fine.”
“My sister’s flirting with one of his sons.”
He laughed at that. “Cathy flirts with a great many people. She’s a socialite.”
“Yes, she is. She likes this sort of thing. I’m learning to tolerate it.”
“You don’t like this?” he inquired, spinning me into his arms for a minute.
“Maybe I like this part,” I said, smiling up at him.
“That’s what I thought,” he said with satisfaction.