Read! Despite the fact that I already posted this...I made quite a few changes. :)

Sophie was freezing. She promised herself that she would never be outside in Prague during the winter ever again. And she also didn't want to be here, with her patron.

The esteemed Archduchess, Isabella of Croy, was invited to a ball, and was allowed to take a lady-in-waiting. But Isabella's favorite lady in waiting was sick, so she had to subside with Ms. Chotek. Neither was too thrilled about the other being there.

They were standing outside the palace in Prague, waiting for someone unknown to Sophie, to come and get the party rolling, so to speak. This fact only made everyone out on the lawn more anxious.

After waiting another ten minutes, they were all let into the Château. That is, upon giving the invitation and names to the guard on duty. Sophie was glad to get out of the cold, snowy weather.

Once the pair was in the main ball room, Isabella dismissed Sophie from her service for the evening, much to her relief. now, the lady-in-waiting was standing near the door to the balcony, watching the people dance with partners they have never met.

She saw out of the corner of her eye that a tall, slim man walking to a group of girls before turning away, and trying again. Sophie decided that he was just some poor servant, not wanting to be lonesome like herself.

He kept walking up to girls, stopping for a few seconds then turning to the next. Apparently everyone was turning him away. She felt sorry for him; she knew what he was going through. Not that she was ever able to ask men to dance. But she couldn't remember the last time a man asked anything of her, or even looked at her.

Sophie glanced away from the poor man and focused on the clock at the far end of the room. When she he turned her head, he was standing right next to her. She almost leapt out of her skin!

"I'm sorry, miss. I didn't mean to startle you, do forgive me," he said humorously.

Sophie held her tongue, she didn't want to seem too easy going towards someone she just met; which happened to be exactly the opposite behavior of how women are supposed to act. Instead, she crossed her arms, solemnly.

However, the man didn't leave like he did with the other girls. He even had the nerve to start laughing! She was about to say something, but he beat her to it.

"Would you like to go outside, miss? It's getting a little stuffy in this room," he bowed slightly and held out her hand for her to take.

Sophie hesitantly accepted it, not sure if Isabella would approve her going to a secluded area with a stranger. But that is what ultimately made her decision in the end.

He led her to a platform with a low railing on which you could sit. With only one other couple out here, it was much quieter on the balcony.

"I'm sorry, sir, but what is your name?" She asked calmly, while sitting down on the railing

He smiled again, "I'm terribly sorry, miss, my name is Franz. Let us just say our first names, skip all the titles."

"I'm Sophie," she smiled back. "Why do you not want to say our ranks?

"They're a hassle to say, and it takes too long to recite."

Sophie was a little skeptical, so she raised her brow but kept silent. She eventually dropped her head and gathered her winter coat around her waist to keep her warmer.

Apparently Franz noticed, because he took off his suit jacket and draped it across Sophie's shoulders. This action made her look into his dark, emerald green eyes. He smiled softly at her. Franz put his warm hand on her cold face, leaning in ever so slightly, she did too.

But right then, they heard a commotion from inside the palace. A loud crash made them jump a mile apart. Sophie noticed that Franz's face was beet red, and assumed hers was the same shade.

She wouldn't look at his face; she instead went into the ballroom to see what happened. Sophie didn't even bother to check if Franz had followed her.

Apparently the noise was just a pair of crash cymbals to obviously notify something. Her heart rate went back down to normal, and she looked around for Franz, tuning the other sounds and people out of her mind.

But she couldn't find him anywhere. She was about to go back out to the balcony to see if he had stayed there when all of the sudden, Sophie heard his voice over the newfangled microphone. She turned her attention to the stage to see the tall man standing toward the people, with Emperor Franz Josef behind him.

To say that Sophie was shocked would be an understatement. Her mouth hung open wide, with her eyes as wide as saucers. Of course! Why else would he want to keep his rank private. He's in line for the throne. Sophie thought to herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for coming to this ball tonight; it really means a lot to me that you all came just to celebrate my thirtieth birthday, and it is almost 1895, I plan to make this next year special. I'll hand this microphone back over to my uncle, please talk amongst yourselves," Franz ended his speech with a deep bow.

She watched the Archduke walk calmly down the stairs that were connected to the platform, and made his way to a wide eyed Sophie. She noticed that other people were looking in her direction now.

"I'm sorry Sophie; I didn't think you'd be very comfortable talking to an archduke who is next in line."

She was about to respond to Franz when out of the blue, someone walked up to the couple.

"Archduchess Isabella," Sophie said with a curtsey and a nervous tone.

The archduchess nodded slightly in the direction of Sophie, but turned her attention to the emperor-to-be.

"Happy birthday, your Imperial and Royal Highness. May it be a blessing to you and give honor to God. But I am afraid that I have to be going now. Come along, Sophie," Isabella demanded.

Sophie bowed her head slightly and quietly trailed after the older lady. She was about to clasp her hands together, when Franz caught her by surprise and took her right hand and kissed it ever so softly, making her turn beet red again. He let go just as quickly as he grabbed it, and turned briskly the other way.

Sophie stood there for just a moment, too shocked to move, before speeding after the Archduchess. When they got back to Palais-Albrecht, Sophie went straight to her chamber and thought about what the strange man had meant when he did that form of affection.

A couple years later, Sophie was dismissed from Isabella's service after the archduchess found a pocket watch on a tennis court with Sophie's picture that belonged to a certain emperor-to-be.

Six years after the winter ball, Sophie was holding her newly born son with her husband, Franz, standing over her shoulder.

Umm, I decided to re-write this...or change it, I noticed that I put what happened in real life instead of what happened in to story(in regards to the last paragraph). This is still going to a competition in December.

And this does have factual things...The mic was technically created in the 1870s, so it is possible that they could have some sort of loud speaker type thing at this time...Also, you already know that Franz left his watch with Sophie's picture in it at the tennis court...And Palais-Albrecht is where Isabella of Croy lived...Isabella is obviously Sophie's, umm, patron? I don't know what it's specifically called.../:

Anyways, Review please, I wanna know what I can improve. :D