The night was the same as every other, until she saw the new girl.
Carmilla had been to hundreds, thousands of balls just like this one, the same pompous people, the same music, and the same boring conversations. She only came to these things because it was required of her, and it was taking its toll.
That was, until she saw her.
She was short in stature, a brunette with her hair up in an elegant bun, wearing a periwinkle coloured gown. But the thing that Carmilla noticed most about the girl was her sparkle. The way her eyes glittered, the life in her smile; she was captivating.
She must have sensed Carmilla's gaze on her, because she looked around and caught her eye, flashing a grin in her direction. Carmilla didn't often smile genuinely, certainly not at these events, but she felt one creeping onto her face in response.
The girl's gaze dropped to the floor, only to flick back up to Carmilla a second later, a light blush rising on her cheeks. She bit her lip for a second, before gathering her skirts and starting to walk serenely in Carmilla's direction.
Carmilla knew her heart wasn't beating- that had stopped years before- but she felt as though it was about to burst out of her chest. She couldn't take her eyes off the strangely enchanting girl making her way across the room.
She stopped in front of Carmilla and inclined her head slightly.
"Good evening," she said, her voice chiming over the noise of the orchestra. "Lady Laura Hollis." Carmilla smiled politely at her, trying to keep her composure.
"Good evening, Lady Hollis. I'm enchanted to make your acquaintance. I'm Lady Carmilla Karnstein."
"Call me Laura, please," she smiled, her tone just a tad more informal than would generally be accepted in this situation. "What a beautiful name you have, Lady Karnstein!"
"In that case, Laura," Carmilla rolled the name on her tongue, "please take the liberty of calling me Carmilla. I'm afraid I can't take credit for my name, though- my mother is to blame for that." Laura widened her smile.
"Well then, Carmilla, I suppose I ought to congratulate her on her outstanding choice."
"I suppose you ought," Carmilla replied. "Although my mother is perhaps not the greatest company that one could take."
"Well, I suppose that would be yourself, Lady Karnstein," Laura said, accompanied by a smile. Carmilla felt a pull in her chest.
"Why, Lady Hollis, I do believe that was a compliment!" exclaimed Carmilla, trying to act as though she wasn't enraptured by her.
"I suppose it was," replied Laura. "I intend on us being great...friends, and so I must entrap you," she said playfully. Carmilla grinned.
"I think you may have achieved that already," she said softly. They drew closer together, their eyes locked.
Carmilla almost leaned in to kiss her, when she suddenly averted her eyes and took a step back.
"It seems that we're rather neglecting the rest of the gathering," she commented as neutrally as she could. Laura nodded.
"Perhaps in order to not seem rude we ought to dance," she suggested. Carmilla raised her eyebrows delicately.
"Why that would be quite preposterous, Lady Hollis! Other guests might think it strange that we have no male companion," she replied.
"Of course, Lady Karnstein, I was quite forgetting myself," Laura said.
"However," said Carmilla slowly, "It does seem a shame that we should be unable to partake of the merriment as a result of the lack of suitable partners." Laura nodded.
"It rather does," she said. Carmilla paused for a second before responding.
"I believe that the music would still be quite audible in, for instance, the library, don't you?" she asked innocently. Laura's cheeks twitched, clearly trying to suppress a smile.
"It's quite possible," she answered. "I suppose we wouldn't know without being there." Carmilla nodded.
"I suppose not. Would you be agreeable to investigating?" Carmilla cocked an eyebrow.
"I would," Laura said.
They linked arms and walked slowly to the ornate door of the ballroom, smiling politely at the gentlemen that they passed and inclining their heads in recognition of the doormen.
Once they were halfway down the corridor, Carmilla moved her arm to take Laura's hand in hers, and pushed open a tall oak door.
The library was enormous, housing thousands of books and Carmilla briefly admired it as she shut the door behind them. However, her attention quickly diverted to Laura.
"Ah," said Carmilla, tilting her head. "You can hear the music in here," Laura smiled in agreement.
"You can," she said.
"It would be a shame not to take advantage of it," she breathed, stepping closer to Laura. Laura moved closer to her so they were face to face.
"It really would," she agreed. Carmilla slipped a hand around Laura's waist and the other into her hand, and pulled her closer.
Laura interlocked her fingers with Carmilla's and put the other hand on her shoulder.
And suddenly they were whirling around the room, their eyes locked, their bodies pressed together, lost in each other.
Carmilla didn't know how long they danced for; it seemed to last an eternity and no time at all. She didn't know how much time had passed when they stopped dancing, when Laura's hand moved down from her shoulder onto her back. But she did know that the moment their lips touched, time stopped.