The music ended and I was free of SåskÏa's spell. The people clapped, delighted for the entertainment. Some maidens were actually asking SåskÏa how to do the dance but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't mimic the fluid movements. Their corsets probably restricted them. SåskÏa spotted me amidst the crowd and smiled. I felt my stomach weaken. I was in love with her and I had told everyone I was not.

"You never told me you were such a marvelous dancer," I said as she approached.

"You never asked."

"How was I to know?"

"Oh, you could have brought it up. You could have asked, 'SåskÏa can you dance?' and I would have replied, 'but of course my liege, I'm a princess of Jarvana. I know many dances that are strange to you, would you like to see?'" She flitted around me, making up our imaginary conversation if I had been curious enough to ask her.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I missed breakfast and the noon meal!"

"Mandy made plenty of food, why not indulge yourself?" I motioned toward the room where the food was.

"Ah but all I wish to do is indulge in dance! Come, come, be my partner," she commanded and grabbed my hand. I didn't budge. I would break if I were to dance with her. She and everyone else would know I was in love with her. I did not know if she even would return my affection. I wouldn't be able to take her refusal.

"What is wrong? Are you a fumble-footed wolf?" she asked.

"I was going to get more to eat," I said.

"Oh. Well have at it and then come find me when you are done," she let go of my hand. I wished I could have held it forever, but she disappeared among the crowd of dancers.

I went back to the food table and grabbed a piece of cake. The frosting was silky and delicious.

Lord Blaine had a chance to catch up with me while I was eating.

"Prince Kellin, what a marvelous ball you've put together in your family's absence," he smiled. It was in a polite manner yet still a hint of mockery was evident.

"I had the lady SåskÏa plan it."

"Who is she? Is that the girl everyone has been talking about recently?" He took a piece of cake as well.

"Yes, she is the dancer you just saw,"

"Oh! What a gorgeous creature she is. If your sister didn't like me so much, I just might try to steal the lass away."

I frowned. For one thing, Elle did not like Blaine at all. Secondly, he admitted that he would try to gain SåskÏa's affections, when he knew everyone thought she was my lady. I wanted to punch him in his smug face.

"Yes, well I'll be sure to pass your thoughts on to my sister when she returns," I said hollowly.

He frowned then, took the hint and left.

"Prince Kellin, you promised me a dance!" the lady Farrah whirled up to me.

I remembered telling her that I did not promise her anything. She was holding a glass of raspberry wine and her tone had a giggle in it. No wonder.

"I'm eating," I said.

She pouted. She was a pretty girl and I saw many young men at the entrance of the room that had their eyes on her.

"Very well, but only one," I set my plate down.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the dance floor. We entered into a slow waltz. Farrah shouldn't have had so much to drink, for a waltz would only make her dizzy.

"Oh Kellin, you are the best prince. Darius can't hold a candle to your suave footwork," she hiccupped and I stepped on her foot on accident.

The girl was intoxicated. She merely giggled after I stepped on her. I spotted Jernigan and Auntie Hattie waltzing about. I decided I'd rather keep my food digested so I looked away.

In the other direction, I saw a flash of white feathers go by me and there was SåskÏa, dancing with Alfonso. She gave me a questionable look, for I was supposed to be dancing with her when I was done eating. The music switched to a sarabande and I switched partners but not to SåskÏa. I was paired with a lass younger than me that was awestruck in my presence. She must have known who I was. It was spread around the guests that the prince was dressed as a wolf. I switched partners many times but never to SåskÏa. At one point I saw her in Blaine's arms, and it took a lot of princely politeness not to tear them apart.

Finally the sarabande ended and I went to find her. She was in my line of sight, waiting for me to ask her to dance but Evangela cut in front of us, halfway there.

"One more dance your highness?"

I forced a smile, and was the politest prince my parents could ask for. "As you wish, lady."

I took her hand and led her back to the ballroom floor, and as I turned to face Evangela, I saw SåskÏa's face. She was hurt at my accidental avoidance of her. Dodging many men with white feathers trailing her, she fled the ballroom.

"Excuse me my lady, but there is something I must attend to," I bowed. Ferdinand was standing nearby, keeping a lookout. I grabbed him and placed him in front of Evangela. "This is Ferdinand, and he is a great dancer."

I didn't know if that was true but I trusted Ferdinand to keep Evangela happy while I was away.

I traveled down the corridor to the kitchens since that's the way SåskÏa had run. I turned the corner and there she was. Her back was pressed up against the wall and her arms were crossed.

"Who was your lady?" she inquired. There was a hint of bitterness in her tone.

"She's just a wealthy widow from Orthor. She's never been to Frell before," I answered.

"She is beautiful," she sighed.

"So are you," I couldn't help but to blurt.

"Thank you," she said it so cordial. She was miffed at me.

"Did you know that there is a secret passageway that leads to the old castle behind that cabinet?"

"Really?" her interest was piqued.

"Yes. I found it when I was younger. No one knows about, not even my family. It's my only secret," I opened the door of the cabinet. It was behind the pantry, and no one knew about it. I grabbed a torch from the kitchen corridor and stepped into the cabinet. I had to hunch my shoulders a bit for I had grown taller since I last entered.

"You're not scared are you? 'Tis just a tunnel," I held out my hand.

"I'm the bravest girl you'll ever meet," she grabbed it, all of her anger melted away. I closed the door behind us. It was a little chilly and many cobwebs were hanging above our heads.

"What was it used for?"

"Perhaps a way to get from one castle to the other without getting rained or snowed on?"

"I think maybe they used it to escape if they were under attack," she touched the earthy wall.

"Kyrria has never been attacked," I stated.

"I wished I had one of these in Jarvana, maybe my mother would be alive," she said which quickly put a somber feeling in the air.

"I have to tell you something," I spoke suddenly.

"Yes?"

"It's important for you to know because I don't want to lose you,"

"Just tell me Kellin," she came closer to hear.

"Jernigan wants to test you, to see if you are a real princess,"

"Oh? What kind of test?"

"A ridiculous one. It is so idiotic, and you would only fail."

"Are you saying that I couldn't pass an idiotic test set up by your pompous-ass councilor?" she smiled.

"No! I mean that…never mind what I meant. They have stacked your bed with twenty mattresses and have placed a pea under the bottom-most one. When you sleep tonight, they expect you to be sleepless and bruised by the pea because princesses have such delicate skin," I explained.

SåskÏa wasn't concerned but laughed. She laughed and laughed after what I spoke of.

"So what if I don't wake up sleepless and bruised?" she caught her breath.

"Then you are considered a fraud and get thrown into the dungeon for lying," I looked at the ground.

She wasn't laughing anymore.

"Are you serious? You would let them do that?"

"I am serious and the counsel has decided that is the consequence for failure. They want you to fail SåskÏa. You are different from everybody and it threatens them."

"Do I threaten you?" she asked, stepping even closer, her eyes searching me. They sparkled in reflection of the torch flame.

"No."

She stepped back and sighed. "I guess I'll have to stay up all night and you'll have to beat me some."

"Excuse me? I am not going to hit a lady," I was taken aback by her plan.

"I need to have bruises for them to believe I am a real princess by their standards," she explained.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I won't be angry. I will condone you for beating me, now please a few punches into my arms and I'll be as bruised as a banana," she stuck out her arms.

"I refuse," I shook my head. I didn't want to touch her. What if I had beaten her and became ill because she didn't give me permission to touch her?

"What if I attack you?"

"Oh please, you won't attack…" I was wrong. She came at my like a wild thing from the forests. Her nails dug into my skin and she pushed me back. I dropped the torch and grabbed her, holding her back with all my strength. She was adamant on injuring me. I pushed her and she fell but was right back on her feet, her white dress was starting to get tinted from the dust.

"I'll stop when you beat me," she said and lunged into me, knocking me back to the ground. She actually grabbed my hair and yanked on it. I yelled as I found her arm and twisted it. She yelped.

"Sorry…" I breathed but she hurled herself at me again.

"Twisting my arm won't leave any bruises!"

She was mad! I finally stopped our futile struggling by shoving her hard into the wall. She fell and laid still.

"SåskÏa! SåskÏa!" I shook her with worry.

She gingerly opened her eyes and smiled at me, "I think that will leave a mark or two."

We dusted ourselves off and continued to the old castle through the secret passage way.

"What is this?" she asked, fingering an engraving in the wall. I held the torch up to it. In the wall, a heart was carved, in it, it read 'Lars + Elia.' I never had noticed it before.

"Lars was my great-great-great-grandfather who lived in the old castle," I said. I didn't know of any 'Elia'. Lars had married the lady Cecily. I wondered if he had an affair?We moved onward and there finally came an end to the tunnel. I knocked on the ground above us and it was hollow. It was the way out. I opened the trap door; it was dark in the old castle. I handed SåskÏa the torch and helped her up to climb through the way. I then hauled myself up. We were in a small room, the one that no one knew about. I opened the door and we emerged into a corridor.

I showed her around the old castle, explaining it was still used for small cotillions and private weddings. I told her that my grandfather and Grandmum Olga were married there a long time ago.

We exited the castle into a blizzard.

"Ohhh!" she exclaimed covering herself up, "It's freezing!"

"It's not that long of a walk back to the castle, come on," I motioned for her to follow.

"I'd rather just stay in the old castle," she stepped back.

"Here, I'll carry you," I turned around and offered my back.

She jumped on and I trudged through the deepening snow. It was about ten minutes of trudging before we came to my castles front steps. We were both freezing. Upon entering, many guests had fallen asleep on the ground. Ladies were fanning themselves and gossiping. Men were drinking and toasting and laughing. The Kyrrian Instrumentalists were collapsed in one part of the room while the Minstrels of Bast had taken over, entertaining the remaining crowd with ballads.

I set SåskÏa down. The clock at the old castle was chiming four in the morning. Had I been dancing that long? Or had all the time slipped by while I was in the tunnel? I accompanied SåskÏa back to her room. There was a fire already going when we entered. There were also twenty mattresses piled onto her bed. She stood by the fireplace to thaw, and I noticed her perfect silhouette in the glow.

"Stay here, as long as you'd like," I said softly with a smile. I couldn't help it - she made me happy.

"I will, thank you. And thank you for that adventure, and well…telling me…" she smiled warmly and glanced at the bottom mattress. A bruise was already beginning to form on her arm where she had knocked it. Jernigan would be so surprised.

She slipped off her feather sleeves and laid them across a chair. I bowed and turned to go have the sleep of my life. No one would be waking me in a few hours; the whole castle was out from the ball.

"Wait just one moment," SåskÏa stopped me. I turned around with a tremendous yawn to get the point across that was on my way to sleep.

"You owe me a dance," she stated.

It was true; I hadn't shared a dance with her all night. I was scared to touch her, If I did, I could become ill. She was not my lady. I had tried to prove that to everyone and by not dancing with her, I had caused her feelings to be hurt.

"Very well," I nodded tiredly and walked to stand in front of her. We had no music to dance to.

"Aren't you supposed to hold your dance partner?" she inquired as I stared down on her, trying to figure out how to touch her without it affecting me.

I nodded again, "If I touch you…I mean do I have your perm," I asked flustered. She stared at me amused and gently grabbed my arm and placed it on her back.

"Kellin, I saw your face the night I stumbled in and asked you for help, only you. And ever since then you've had my consent to touch me," she spoke smoothly, just like her skin on her shoulders that I was feeling. She grabbed my other arm and placed it on her waist, then pressed into me further than any dance ever required so her face was almost level with mine. She whispered into my ear, "Anywhere."

We began to dance a slow allemande. She was so gorgeous. Her hair was tousled from our crawl through the passageway, but it remained shiny and smooth. Some had fallen into her face, I brushed it away but my hand lingered on her cheek. Her whisper of 'Anywhere' was suggestive in my mind, echoing still.

"But you…you aren't my lady," I said, confused at what she was saying.

She smiled slightly, "Says only you." Her arms pulled my neck downward so that she was suddenly kissing me. I didn't want her to deny me, yet, she was the one who was kissing me, and so she must have had feelings for me too. It was as if though a weight had been lifted from my chest. I deepened our kiss, pulled her closer to me if that was spatially possible. She was mine then, and I was flying. Together we maneuvered ourselves so that she was leaning into her tower of mattresses for support of my intense kissing. It became very warm around us. I moved my kisses down to her neck to her collarbone so she could cool her face. She was breathing heavily. We were both totally and utterly euphoric, she grabbed my face and began to kiss me again. I was getting way too warm from the activity. My fingers found their way to my tunic's buttons and hastily unfastened them. I threw it onto the floor, leaving me in the thin white shirt.

SåskÏa pulled away and yawned, "I think I shall retire."

I wilted, slightly annoyed at her decision to sleep then of all times.

She went behind her dressing screen, and threw off her feathery gown, only to come out in her nightdress. It was too dark to see the delights I had witnessed that morning. She started to climb the ladder, and halfway up blew me a kiss. I smiled, and took leave, but not before I whispered, "Sweet Dreams, my lady."