Author's Note: Just a quickie to those of my readers that have been following it for awhile and have not read the old chapters in a while…I changed her age to 20.  Because if she's 25, I realized, then she's too much older than her sisters :) Also, some things in and about the ball might be a bit modern, so don't kill me over the little details. Thank you so so much! P.S. Sorry it's so long…I didn't know how to break it up. Also, a lot happens in the next 2 chapters, so pay attention! :)  *Emma*

            Sunday arrived, and Venitia instinctively awoke at seven o'clock.  She laughed in triumph that she did not have to do any work today.  Well, getting ready is pretty tiring, she thought, and the laughing stopped.

            She ate breakfast and went to her mother's room around eight.  Arwen had three dresses laid out on her bed: hers, Venitia's, and Muriel's.  Almira's had already been taken to her room.

            "There you are, dear," Arwen said to Venitia as she entered the room. "Poor little Muriel is still asleep.  She was up all night trying to finish her portrait," she smiled.

            Venitia chuckled and sat down on her mother's chaise. 

            "You should probably take a bath first, darling," her mother said.

            "Right," Venitia said, and got up to leave. 

            "Oh and sweetheart, don't dry your hair.  It will be easier to put up," her mother reminded.

            Venitia nodded and left.  She took a bath, using her better soaps and fragrances.  She smelled like lavender when she got out.  Looking before she left, she checked to make sure no one was in the hallway.  Then, she quickly ran to her mother's room in only her undergarments.

            Her mother's hair was already up in an intricate braided bun.  Muriel was there, as well, but looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.  The servants who were there to do their hair were trying to get the little girl to sit up, but she kept falling back onto the bed. Arwen laughed and told them to try later. 

            "Mm, lavender. It will go well with your dress," she said.

            Venitia smiled.  "Should I do my hair first?" she asked.

            Arwen thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose so.  It will take a while before Muriel will be ready to do anything."

            Venitia giggled. Her sister was now out cold.

            Arwen told the servants that she would do her daughter's hair, and they left to do undoubtedly any number of the preparations there still were.

            Arwen started by curling Venny's long locks.  Venitia never was sure how her mother did this, because she never was able to find out.  It always took a long time, so Venitia looked through Muriel's sketchbook that she had left on the table.

            The drawings were an assortment of nature and people.  There were many of her mother and father. Venitia was surprised when she stopped at a sketch of herself.  She was riding Crystal out in the fields.  When had Muriel drawn this?  She always felt a pang of guilt when she realized she didn't spend as much time with her littlest sister as she should.  Her artistic abilities were amazing, though; it looked exactly like her.

            At least an hour later, Arwen told Venitia to look in the mirror.  Her hair was curled in soft tendrils, though it still easily went almost to her elbows.  She smiled at herself in the mirror.  Her mother bade her sit back down, and started working again. Muriel stirred once, but then fell back asleep.

            "Do you like it?" Arwen asked the second time Venitia looked in the mirror.

            Venitia's hair was pulled in a bun at the base of her neck, but curls came softly down to frame her face.  She smiled her answer.

            "Oh dear, look at the time.  We had better get some lunch," her mother said.  She left for a moment or two, and came back with servants who were carrying trays of food.

            "Don't want anyone to see us," Arwen winked.

            The smell of the food woke Muriel up, and she ate with them.  She now seemed more awake, and Arwen started on her hair as well after lunch. 

            It was now at least two o'clock and the ball started at six. 

            "I think we may have been a little precautious," Arwen said. "We have plenty of time.  But what shall we do? We do not want to leave and spoil our lovely hairstyles, do we?"

            Both sisters shook their heads. 

            "May I draw you?" Muriel asked.

            They nodded, and Muriel jumped up and got her utensils.  It was an excellent way to pass the time.  It easily took Muriel, the ever perfectionist, two and a half hours to draw them, with breaks of course.  When she was finished, she showed it to them. It was perfect of course. 

            "Just what I have always wanted," Venitia said. "A portrait of me in my undergarments," she laughed.

            "Now, we can get dressed," Arwen said.

            Her mother's gown was a deep rose red satin.  It had long sleeves and a studded bodice.  It flowed to the floor and was edged in rhinestones. Muriel's dress was a light pink that went well with her white-blonde hair and freckled skin. 

            Venitia thought that she had the best gown, however.  It was a deep blue velvet.  It was sleeveless, and had a strip of midnight blue that edged the top.  It pinched in, in the back and had a bow at the small of her back.  It made her eyes pop out and her hair seem like a raven's.

            Her mother gave Muriel a necklace of rose quartz that matched her dress perfectly.  Muriel seemed very excited, event though she was only staying for two hours. 

            "Here, take this. It will match your dress perfectly," Arwen said.

            Venitia took a necklace of deep blue sapphires and diamonds from her mother's hand. She put it on; her mother was right, it did match perfectly.

            As for Arwen, she had a huge array of jewels to choose from, almost all from Aragorn.  She chose a necklace of rubies.

            "Now, let us see what we can do with our faces, shall we?" she said, sounding like a little girl going to her first party.

            She did Muriel first, and although Muriel thought it was a lot, it actually was only a tiny bit of rouge for her cheeks and a little on her deep brown eyes.  She spent more time on Venitia, who never used rouge for it looked a little too ostentatious on her pale, pale skin.  But her eyes were painted blue to match her dress and red rouge was put on her lips.  Arwen never put anything on her face, but tonight she put on just a touch of rogue to complement her dress. 

            "We still have an hour.  Shall we go check on Almira?" Arwen asked.

            They both nodded, and their mother poked her head out of the room.

            "All clear," she said with a smile, and they dashed quickly down the long hall to Almira's room. They knocked.

            "Who is it?" they heard a servant's voice say.

            "Arwen…let us in, quick!" she said hurriedly, for they saw the king at the very end of the hall.

            The door opened and they scampered inside.

            "Well? What do you think?" Almira's voice said.

            She was standing on a pedestal in front of her mirror, and looked beautiful in a forest green dress that flowed to the floor.  It had thin straps made of tiny emeralds and sequins studded the top that hung low.  Her deep auburn hair had been pulled up and put into an intricate twist near the top of her head.  Carefully put strands of hair flowed down to frame her still-tanned face.  The dress made her sparkling green eyes stand out.

            "Oh darling…you look beautiful," Arwen said, a little breathlessly.

            "Almira…you do, you look exquisite," Venitia added.

            "You be-oo-tiful," Muriel said.

            Almira smiled wide, undoubtedly very happy for all the attention.

            "I'm so excited!" she exclaimed, starting to hop up and down, causing a servant fixing a sequin to prick herself.

            They stayed with her until ten minutes before the ball, when Aragorn came into the room.

            "All my girls," he said, hugging them all.  "You all look dazzling, especially you, birthday girl," he said to Almira.

            She blushed and smiled.

            "I think that this will go well with your gown, my dear," he said mischievously.

            "What?" Almira said excitedly.

            He brought his hand out from behind his back.  It was a sparkling necklace of emeralds.

            Almira gasped. "It…it's beautiful," she said.

            "Allow me," he said, and fastened it around her neck.  She looked at herself in the mirror.

            "Perfect," her father said. "Now for the bad part…I know your older sister will have forewarned you about this, but you must go greet your guests."

            Venitia snickered behind her hand. Almira looked slightly crushed.

            "I will go with you," he said.  He extended one arm to his daughter and one to his wife, leaving Muriel and Venitia in the room. "Come quickly, dears," he said.

            "I want to go now!" Muriel said once they had left.

            Venitia laughed. "Alright, let's go," she said.

            They made it to the hallway before the ballroom when Venitia noticed something.

            "Oh no!" she said in distraught. "I forgot to put my shoes on!" she exclaimed.

            Muriel began to laugh. "Oh be quiet," Venitia said, starting to laugh at herself as well. "You go on ahead, I'll go back for them," she said.

            Muriel nodded, still laughing, and headed into the ballroom.

            Venitia hurried back to her room, taking all the twists and turns of the many hallways. It took her a good two minutes to make it there, and she bounded into the room.  She threw open her closet and retrieved the two sparkling blue shoes.  She put them on as she hopped back out of the room.

            Taking a moment or two to regroup, she suddenly thought of something and doubled back into the room.

            "My hair will look a fright," she said to herself.  She looked in her mirror and noticed that no, her hair looked perfect. She rolled her eyes and scolded herself for being so silly.  Taking a glance at the clock, she noticed it was now five minutes after six. "I'm late!" she said to herself and leaped back out of the room.

            She walked as fast as she could in those shoes, and cursed the palace for being so large.  What do we even need all these rooms for? she thought angrily to herself.

            She finally made it to the ballroom.  She took a deep breath from walking so fast, and skipped ahead of all the courtiers waiting to greet their princess. 

            She stood at the top of the stairs and looked around.  The ballroom was already crowded, and a large pile of presents stood next to the head table. The decorations looked stunning. So do the tablecloths, if I do say so myself, Venitia thought, smiling to herself.

            "There you are. Muriel said something about shoes?…I don't know, she was laughing too hard, I couldn't tell what she was saying," her father said, approaching her.

            "Oh…yes, I, um, forgot to uh, scrape them.  They were too slippery," she quickly said.

            Her father looked puzzled, but shrugged.  "Well, go down and start dancing," he said, leaving to check on Almira.

            Venitia started to descend the stairs when she suddenly stopped.  Who was at the bottom, waiting for her, but –

            "Teagan?" she said in shock.

            He smiled. "Surprised, your highness?"

            She continued down the stairs to meet him. "Well…yes! I had no idea you were going to be here!"

            "Mother missed the city, and when we received the invitation, it seemed like the perfect reason to come back," he said, kissing her hand.

            She continued to stare at him in shock when he said, "Would you care to dance, your highness?"

            She shook herself out of her astonishment and nodded.

            "When did you arrive?" she asked as they stepped onto the dance floor.

            "Just this morning.  We are staying with a good friend of my mother's," he said, anticipating her next question.

            "Have you seen my sister yet? You did not meet her on your last visit."

            "No, actually. My mother did not wish to wait in line," he said laughing.  "She said 'We'll see her anyway, why wait for fifteen minutes just to shake her hand?'" he said, impersonating his mother's voice.

            She laughed. "Well, the last ball was in your honor. Are you sure you are fine not being the guests of honor?" she said teasingly.

            He smiled. "It is actually quite painful," he said in a false voice. "I'm not receiving all the attention!" he said with a dramatic flair.

            They both laughed. "If I may be serious for a moment, however, you look beautiful, your highness," he said sincerely.

            She blushed but still managed to say, "Venitia. My name is Venitia."

            He only smiled, and they continued dancing for about a half an hour.  Poor Almira was still at the top of the staircase, greeting guests. 

            "I'm sorry Teagan, but I feel I have to go check on my sister.  She has been greeting guests for forty-five minutes," Venitia said.

            "Of course," he said.

            She scrambled up the stairs, to where her poor sister looked like she had been frozen.  The line was waning, but Venitia decided to help anyway. She planted herself right next to her sister and took over.  Her sister seemed to wake up a bit, and was extremely happy at only now having to nod her head.

            After twenty minutes or so, they greeted their very last person.

            "Now you can finally have some fun," Venitia said.

            Almira smiled graciously and they headed for the staircase. Venitia started to descend, but Almira seemed glued to the top.

            "What's wrong?" Venny asked.  Her sister was staring down at the bottom of the steps. Venitia followed her gaze and saw Teagan, staring up in the same manner.

            "Who is that?" Almira finally asked in dazed voice.

            Stunned, Venitia answered, "Um, that's Teagan. He and his family stayed with us after you left."

            "Teagan," Almira repeated.

            "Come on, I'll uh, introduce you to him," Venitia said, still confused.

            Almira merely nodded, and Venitia pulled her down the stairs. Teagan still stood at the bottom, staring at Almira.

            "Teagan, this is my sister Almira.  Almira, this is Teagan," Venitia said.

            Not once looking at Venny, Teagan said, "An honor," and kissed Almira's hand.

            With a hazed look, Almira only smiled in return.

            "Would you care to dance?" he asked her.  She nodded, and they headed to the dance floor.

            "Allllllright, what just happened there?" Venitia said to no one in particular.

            "I think they fell in love," a voice said next to her.

            She turned her head and saw Donovan.

            "Sorry I'm late. It took me a long time to get rid of all those sequins," he said, smiling.

            She laughed. "You really think they fell in love, though?" she asked.

            Chuckling, he said, "Yes, I really think they did."

            "Hmm, strange," she murmured.

            They stood there for a couple of minutes, just staring at the dancers.  Then she said, "You want to dance?"

            He looked surprised. "Oh no, no, I don't dance."

            "Oh come on," she started to pull him.

            "No! No, seriously Venitia, I don't dance," he said, resisting.

            "Well, now you do. Come on, I'll teach you for a change," she said with a smile, and he finally gave up and she pushed him onto the dance floor.

            "Alright, now you put your hands here and here," she said, placing one of his hands around her waist and the other in one of her hands. "I put my other hand here, and then we dance!"

            He stood stock-still.

            "Sheesh, you weren't jesting were you?" she said.

            He shook his head no.

            "It's easy, you just –" and she started to show him.  He stared down at his feet the entire time, but he got the hang of it after many, many tries.

            After about three dances, he was moving more easily and was able to put his head up.  So they got of the corner they had been in and moved to the center of the floor. 

            They passed Teagan and Almira several times, staring into each other's eyes. Venitia was still shocked, but she focused on Donovan, who seemed self-conscious in the sea of nobles.  His clothing was every bit as fine, but Venitia had an inkling that the clothes didn't matter that much to him.

            "You are doing great," she assured him.

            He only smiled.

            After an hour, the orchestra stopped the music and everyone sat down. The servants stood to the side, ready to serve the food.

            Aragorn stood up and rang his glass. "In every man's life, he has to take a moment to step back and look at the life he is leading," he paused and laughed at himself. "My children…they are growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday that Almira was just a child.  Now she is turning sixteen, my oldest is twenty, and even my youngest child has turned ten. Yesterday I was thinking about this new life I lead, and how different it is than my old one.  It is certainly more fulfilling," he smiled, "but it is also more heartbreaking.  Just the other day I realized that before long, my children won't need me anymore. Strange…..I went on so many journeys when I was younger, yet nothing compares to this journey.  It is the hardest but most rewarding journey anyone can go on, isn't it?

"The day Almira was born was crisp and cool. She herself looks like the autumn, doesn't she? Deep reds and bright greens.  Curious how my children reflect the seasons they were born in.  Venitia looks the bright, snowy January day she was born on, and Muriel resembles the cheerful June day when she was born.  But I digress.  My point is, is that Almira has exceeded any expectation we could have ever had.  She is friendly, intelligent, and a good-hearted person.  I may not be happy she is turning sixteen, but I think she is," he laughed.  "Well, let's eat!"

Venitia looked at her father as he sat back down. She had never realized how hard their growing up was on him.  Especially Almira, who had always been his little girl. She had stayed a child for as long as she could, but now she realized that it was time to grow up.  Venitia was startled to see tears in her sister's eyes, but didn't say anything.  Instead, she found herself inspired.

She, too, stood up and rang her glass. "So sorry for holding the feast," she said as she noticed many people looking at her in surprise, "but I would also like to say something."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I have always looked at my sister as a child.  Four years is not a large separation of age, but I grew up very fast while she always wanted to be a child.  When I went into her room earlier, before the ball, all I could think of was how much she had grown up.  When she went away on her voyage, I missed her terribly, and when she came back, I thought she was a different person. But then I realized that her heart had stayed the same.  She may not act like a child anymore, but that child is still in there.  But tonight, my little sister has grown up." She started to get tears in her eyes. "If being a parent is the hardest job, then being an older sister must run a close second.  I had always wanted my sister to stay the way she was, but now that she has grown up, I realize she's perfect the way she is.  I…I didn't plan this beforehand, so I don't really know what to say," she laughed at herself, "but I guess I'll end with this.  I love my sister, no matter what age she is."

She looked down at her sister and raised her glass.  Everyone followed. "To Almira, the princess of Gondor," she said.

"To the princess of Gondor," everyone repeated, and drank. 

Crying, Almira leapt up and hugged her sister tight.  Venitia laughed.

"I love you, too," Almira whispered in her ear.

Venitia smiled at her before saying, "Now we can eat!"

The servants, looking very hassled, started serving the food.  Everything was Almira's favorite food, right down to the chocolate cake. 

After dinner, Aragorn asked for the first dance with Almira.  Arwen and Venitia stood to the side.

"That was beautiful, dear, what you said," her mother said in elvish.

"I had no idea what I was doing," Venitia answered in elvish as well, and chuckled.

"That was what made it so beautiful. It was from your heart," her mother said.

***Okay, I'm going to end this part here, and the next chapter will be the rest of the ball because this getting ridiculously long, and we still have a ways to go yet. Thanks! :)