Warnings: Trees can be very scary…

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Shall We Dance?

I lifted the day gown I had on over my head and discarded it carelessly on the floor. I could pick it up when I got back. I felt the satiny fabric of the gown slip across my fingers like a whisper, caressing my palms like the faintest breath of wind. I opened my eyes and drank in the sight of the iridescent fabric; it was the color of the forests in summer, a rich, dark green that drew the eye and captured it in swirling hints of dark purple.

Reverently, I donned the ball gown, closing my eyes to let myself fully experience the silken fabric pour down my body like a cool river of fabric. My hands found their way through the streamlined black sleeves, appearing at the other end as if by magic. I reached around behind my back and tied the trailing ribbons with the ease that practice had brought me. The ribbons, in turn, tightened the bodice and accentuated the high empire waist of the gown. I spun around in front of my triple mirror, admiring myself from all sides.

I smiled at my reflection and swept over to the vanity, reaching for the cosmetics I knew were there. The shadows that lined my eyes were darkened with black ink that had been specially imported for the royal family from the deserts of Eeliae. I glanced at my reflection and admired the way that my eyes had taken on an exotic flair. Next, my questing fingers alighted on a jar of a scarlet gloss, and I spread that over my lips, taking pains not to smear it all over my face in the process. I pouted at myself in the mirror as I brushed a shimmering powder across my cheekbones; I looked better than I had ever looked before.

An intricate network of silver chains draped over my dark hair and caught behind my ears, giving me a halo of refracted candlelight. I added matching earrings and a necklace, smiled at myself again, and proclaimed my work complete.

I tiptoed across the carpet and picked up my latest pair of dancing slippers, slipping them on and tying them with practiced ease. The soft black leather conformed to my foot almost instantly, and I smiled in satisfaction; tonight's dancing would be less painful the other nights. The finely made shoes were embroidered with sliver beadwork in swirling patterns, and I chuckled softly to myself as the beads caught the light. As usual, the slippers matched my outfit perfectly- or perhaps my gown matched the shoes, I was never sure which.

My slippers whispered across the plush carpet, softly speaking in their own way. I picked up the two goblets, one in each hand, making sure that I knew which was which. The untouched wine was in my right hand, the tampered in my left.

I snuck out into the hallway, pushing the door open with my shoulder and moving only after I heard the latch catch. Making my way to Adrian's rooms was difficult in the dark, but I managed with time to spare. He greeted me at the door, and took the goblet I proffered.

"Hello, milady," He said gravely.

"Milord," I nodded, transferring the goblet from my left hand into my right hand. "I trust that your night is going well so far?"

Adrian smiled coolly. "So far, everything has been perfectly fine. I wonder if it shall stay that way?" His ambiguous remark made me catch my breath suddenly.

"Don't you trust me, Adrian?"

The rich, dark wine spilled onto the creamy carpeting, creating a burgundy stain. "No."

I sighed sadly. I had brought this on myself, but it still hurt. "Of course not." I stood. "You have to. So you will." I turned to him and raised my glass to him in a mockery of a toast, knowing full well that it was I who held the drugged wine.

"Are you sure?" He stood as well, and gently tipped the glass away from my lips.

"You will," I repeated, lowering my drink slightly. "Would you like some?" I asked him softly. "I would not drink it, for I fear that it is not pure enough for my feminine tastes, but perhaps you would like some." I held the cup out towards him, but he disdained it.

"I should think that it is not pure enough for me, then, either, if you could not drink it." A smile tipped the corners of his mouth upwards.

"Ah, but therein lies the problem. I may drink what I like, but you may not." I hated being cryptic.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "My tolerance for alcohol is low, I fear, so you are right there." Adrian peered at me quizzically, wondering what it was I was trying to tell him.

"I would drink naught but water, if I were you, and possibly not even that." I tipped my goblet of wine over the place where Adrian had spilled his earlier.

"The water here is simply not like the water at home."

I agreed with him politely, "Indeed, it is not."

His hand found mine and clasped it tightly. "What may I drink, then?"

I smiled wryly. "Drink in the wonders of the world, the beautiful things, the ugly things, the hateful things and the wonderful things. Drink in what you see, and save it for later."

Adrian brought my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it gently. "Then I shall drink in the sight of you, my love, in your beautiful gown and new-made slippers."

Blushing, I drew my hand away.

"Why, dear-heart, are you wearing such attire?" I felt his hand rest lightly on my shoulder, then slip down my arm and take my hand again.

"Questions explored are questions answered, but questions left alone fester and kill." I bit my lip, hoping he understood.

"I believe that you should go, Princess. It is not seemly for you to be here at this hour and alone." He smiled gently and whispered, "Go. I shall catch you."

I grinned at him; he knew what to do. I had almost made it to the door when I turned around and flung myself into his arms, holding him tightly. "I love you," I murmured into his shoulder.

"Go." Adrian pushed me off of him and propelled me towards the door. "I shall catch you."

The knob turned under my hand and I pushed the door open. Looking back quickly, I saw that Adrian was no longer standing there. I frowned, but crept out into the hallway and found that I was in time to join the procession of my sisters.

"You made it," Alyssa giggled, catching my eye. "I'm proud of you."

Maria touched my shoulder in a friendly way, "Good work, Elensar."

"Yes, wonderful," Lark and Wren congratulated me with one soft voice.

Johanna nodded and smiled, but said nothing.

Carmen and Carina were next, kissing my cheeks simultaneously. "You followed your heart," Carmen said, smiling softly.

Carina continued, "We thank you for it."

I grimaced inwardly; they had no idea what I'd done.

Isabel thanked me, followed by Jeanette who gave me a warm congratulations and a bubbly Faelyn who could not stop hugging me a praising me effusively.

Once Evadne swept up though, the others except for Alyssa slid back into the shadows. "Elensar," she started, looking me up and down. "I must say I did not expect you to choose this path, but I really do think that you have chosen well. Your family is whom you turn to, so it is right that you chose this way. Thank you, and I am very, very proud of you Elensar. You are a true Princess." She curtseyed somberly, and then walked away.

I looked at my feet, hoping no one said anything else to me. I was lucky; no one did. We reached the door and Evadne opened and led us through in single file, from oldest to youngest. Lark followed Evadne, and at her side walked Wren. The triplets came next, three abreast, Faelyn, Jeanette and Isabel sauntering side my side. Carmen and Carina stepped daintily after, steadying each other as they descended the steps. Alyssa led the way for the rest of us who did not have identical siblings; Johanna and Maria preceded me.

As we walked down the steps in near darkness, the hem of my dress suddenly snapped sharply across my shins and I stumbled slightly.

"Elensar?" Maria's pale face turned to look at me. "What happened?"

"Someone's stepped on my dress!" I blurted, unthinking.

"Don't be silly," Maria scolded me softly. "You're the last one."

I glanced over my shoulder fearfully, very suddenly very superstitious in the dark. "Of course. It must have been a…a…"

"Nail?" The words ghosted past my ear from behind me and I tensed. I hope that Maria hadn't heard them.

"On a…nail." I nodded and smiled weakly, but Maria had turned away to watch her own steps down. I dared to look over my shoulder again, wondering what I might see. No one looked back at me, just an empty staircase. I shivered. Was it Adrian, or was it Markus? The whisper had given nothing away.

I began to doubt whether Adrian had understood my instructions after all. I looked back again, and still saw no one. I choked back the thoughts of doom that filled my mind.

Everything was going to be fine, I told myself. No one would die, Adrian would be my knight in shining armor and we'd be living happily ever after by afternoon.

Or, protested my pessimistic doubts, Adrian is lying in his room, wondering what death is like. I'd be stuck in this horrid routine for the rest of my life, dancing till dawn and pretending nothing was happening by day. There would be no happily ever after…

We stepped into the wood of spangled silver, the soft lights gleaming upon us like stars. I picked up my skirts and hurried onward, glancing over my shoulder just in time to see a sprig of silver leaf break off all by itself and then disappear.

I stifled a scream.

"What is it now, Elensar?" Maria turned back to me, worry lining her forehead.

"The-the branch." I gibbered unintelligibly. "It's –it- I mean, um, broke! Yes it broke! Off and floated. Then it went away. Like, disappeared." I nodded. This was too much.

"Don't be such a goose!" Maria chided me. "That's impossible. You must be imagining things." She turned away again and pointedly struck up a conversation with Johanna.

"This is impossible," I muttered to myself, "And yet we are doing it. What's to stop a branch from breaking?" I decided that there was to be no more looking over my shoulder.

As we crossed over into the forest that was gilded with gold, I heard the sharp snap of a breaking branch and spun around, hoping to catch whoever was doing that in the act.

Nothing. There was nothing there.

The branch waved at me, bobbing up and down and I gaped at it in horror; this was not happening!

"Maria!" I squawked and dashed up to her. "It did it again!" I pointed in vain at the empty air.

"Elensar," she said, forced patience coloring her voice, "I don't see anything. You must be seeing ghosts already." She chuckled and touched my cheek. "They'll disappear soon enough, dear."

I hated it when she patronized me, but I nodded. "Right. Ghosts." I paused and thought for a moment before speaking, "But no one's dead yet."

"Key word is yet, lovey," she replied merrily, grinning at me.

I gazed at her in fascinated terror. How could she be so insensitive? It wasn't right. "Of course," I responded uneasily.

The path took us beneath trees that dangled with diamonds, glittering captivatingly above our heads. I promised myself that I would not look behind me this time, no matter what I saw or heard. I would not.

However, when the branch that was broken off tickled my neck I shrieked very loudly. Everyone stopped to turn and look.

"Elensar?" Alyssa moved to my side, wrapping her arms around me.

"The branch broke, I didn't touch it, I swear to the highest heavens I didn't!" I blathered on, making my excuses in wide-eyed fear. "And then it touched my neck and oh dear, I think I'm not feeling very well," I concluded, laughing hesitantly.

"Let's walk, sister," Alyssa cajoled, pushing me along. My other sisters turned around warily, many of them giving me a strange look. "Come on."

I kept as close as I could to my other sisters, until I saw the lake. Then I rushed ahead, as the others did, hurrying daintily down to our waiting princes.

"Princess Elensar?" Johan helped me into the swan-shaped boat. "You look a little peaky tonight."

I settled myself neatly on the seat opposite of him. "I just had a little bit of a scare coming through the woods tonight; twigs kept disappearing right before my eyes." I smiled tiredly. "I'm sure I'll be fine now."

"Of course you will, nothing out of the ordinary can happen now, can it?" Johan smiled comfortingly at me. "Nothing."

The boat chose that moment to rock sharply, and I could have sworn I hear a muffled curse.

"Nothing?" I queried weakly. Johan looked shaken as well.

"Um…" He obviously couldn't explain it. "Let's go. I think we might be a little late already."

"Yes, let's." I had to admit, I would be very glad to get out of that accursed boat.

The craft slid across the glassy water, moving slowly and awkwardly compared to the others that floated before us. My head dropped heavily into my hands and I groaned, "Not again."

"We seem heavier than usually," Johan said with a frown. "Perhaps it's the heat?" He ventured.

I snorted into my palms; the night was breezy and decidedly cool. "Yes," I agreed with him, trying to rationalize the seemingly impossible events. "The heat."

Finally, we docked on the other side of the lake and Johan handed me out of the elegant vessel, taking my arm as we walked up the steps to the ballroom. "You're shivering," He muttered, almost sounding guilty.

"I'll be fine." Johan answered with a noncommittal grunt and we hurried inside. My sisters and their partners were already there and had taken their positions on the floor, waiting only for the last two stragglers to arrive. We slipped into place, and the conductor brought his baton up with a sharp intake of breath.

Then, as we stood, tensed and ready, the music flowed out over the room in a graceful waltz. The notes poured over us, washing away any doubts we might have had and sending us swirling around the room in an ocean of silks and satins, velvets and laces.

Johan caught my hand with a smile, bringing it to his lips for the brief moment that we were together. I smiled back, undeniably happy to be doing what I had loved to do for so many years.

A cough as the music ended drew the collective attention of the entire room; Adrian stepped out from behind one of the arching plants along the sides of the room, looking haughtily around. "Hello, ladies, gentlemen." He bowed, and turned to Johan. "May I take this lady from you?"

Johan, ever deferential, acquiesced with out a moment's thought, relinquishing me to Adrian.

"Maestro," he called, "Shall we have music?"

Author's Note: You can't believe how sorry I am that this took so long! My time has just been taken up by the evils of school, the evils of family occasions and the evils of just life in general. Yep. Not a lot of time. But a big thank you anyway to all of you who reviewed! They make me feel so special! XD

To all of you:

ElvisLivesAgain: Thank you! Well…this update isn't exactly tomorrow, but hey…at least I updated, right? P

Miss Piratess: Excitement indeed!

Lilred-07: Do you think she did the right thing:)

V: Thanks! )

Nadia: You have a point. I will definitely have to work on that section. Thanks for pointing it out!

Dragonblade Goddess: Haha, she's becoming a rebel!

Panemonium: Thank you, and I'm glad you liked that chapter so much. I wasn't entirely happy with it, but if it explains things a little, then that's excellent!

Athena Diagon Cat: Yes, time for helping Adrian!

Rainkisser: I told you you'd have to remind me the next time! P…But anyway, good luck with soccer and yay for finished music concerts! I just finished mine…and I am so glad that it's over. Your jokes are interesting, to say the least. Very…um…thought provoking? Haha.

Cerri: Yay for people loving this story! Lucky you…you must be out of (or almost done with) school now. I think it's…14 days now. :D

ElvenSilver: Thanks for so many compliments! I had entertained the idea of getting it published…and if I work really, really hard I might. Hopefully. :Crosses fingers: Thank you again!

Ancient Princess2815: Thanks:o)

HalfBludPr1ncess: I do need the constructive criticism, and thanks for telling me what you thought. I wasn't as happy with it as I had been with others. There wasn't really enough action in it for me, I think. Thanks for critiquing! )

Leatusluna: I don't think hurry is part of my vocabulary…P

Once more…Thank you! A lot of you say that you love seeing that I've update…well I like seeing that I've got reviews! So keep it up! …Please? P