When we arrived back at the manor Annika was waiting for us at the gate. As soon as she saw us, her lips tightened, and her eyes looked so reproachful you could have thought we were covered in blood: we were actually slightly dishevelled looking: my own hair had come undone, and now swept all over my face in the vigorous wind, and Breena looked so elated, with her bright scarlet cheeks, her bright eyes, her enchanted smile and loose strands over her eyes, it was no surprise Annika looked so reproachful. It was obvious we had had the time of our lives, and she didn't like it.

'You were not supposed to go out!' she cried as soon as we'd started climbing the steps towards the door, 'you were supposed to do your homework, and then amuse yourself in your room!'

'Annika, your zeal is exceedingly irritating. I would that you keep your mouth shut more often,' I drawled as grandly and insolently as I could, and Breena added:

'For know that if words are of silver—silence is of gold.'

And like this, with our hair all messed up and our cheeks scarlet, we swept past the dumbstruck Annika, head held high, cloak trailing behind us and abandoned her at the door.

When we were upstairs, we both tumbled on our beds laughing so hard Breena nearly cried, the tears running down her face. Finally, we calmed down, and merely lay on our beds, looking up in the deep sky of azure over our heads.

'We don't have any homework,' I said presently.

'Yeah,' Breena said, and silence fell again.

'Are you looking forward to the ball?' Breena asked after a while.

'The ball?' I had forgotten, 'oh, the masked-ball? Yeah, I can't wait till evening. And you?'

'Oh yes. It really sounds exiting. A masked-ball! Ideal to find the prince charming…'

'Breena, when you have this kind of scary ideas, I think I wish I could runaway and hide somewhere. And anyway, one sweetheart's enough.'

'What do you mean?'

'Your Head boy pet, remember?'

'Oh ha-de-ha…'

There was a sudden knock at the door, making me jump.

'You are wanted downstairs for dinner.'

Neither me nor Breena bothered replying. We just removed our cloaks and gloves, tidied our hair and went downstairs, feeling like posh Victorian ladies.

The night had fallen outside, and feeble electric lights had been lit in the large corridor, which was crossed by sweeping waves of nearly palpable cold. Breena shivered, and so did I, and then we entered the warmth of the dinning room, where Aunt Aurora sat primly. Annika, who had disappeared the time we came out of our room, came in the dining room by another door, carrying lot's of dishes and putting them one after the other on the table under Aunt Aurora's steely eyes. When she finished, the aunt kicked her out with a majestic sweep of her hand, and we started eating. It was an oppressing business: each single movement was controlled by the aunt, who would now and then utter a cutting remark about my elbows having an uncanny tendency to rest over the table, and Breena's hands being exceptionally graceless for someone as young as her—behold, she could not even hold fork and knife properly. Breena, sweet and obedient, improved her manners, astonishingly quickly; while I went on eating just as I usually did: my elbows on the table, cutting my meat with the side of my spoon, drinking in great long gulps and slamming down my glass of the salt when I had finished using them. Breena soon won her aunt's approving eyes, but on myself, I gathered a black cloud. One moment or another, the cloud would burst and the rain would come lashing down.

The dessert was a large cake of with coffee cream, richly decorated with icing flowers and leaves. The aunt primly cut us each a slice; all three of them put together less than one eighth of the cake. Breena took her slice with a thanks, and ate silently. I nearly ripped mine form the aunt's hand, and when I had finished wolfing it down, I asked unceremoniously:

'Could I have a second slice please?'

It was already something to get me to say please: what I wanted I usually requested imperiously. But the aunt didn't seem to understand how polite I was. She looked up at me, and said:

'I have been observing you, Ruby. You may be a de Casteel, but your manners are just as fine as a wild boar's. Three hours in the silent-room. Annika!'

Annika came in, looking humble.

'Take this young lady to the silent room. Three hours.'

'Am I allowed a book?' I asked politely.

Aunt Aurora gave me a strange look, and then said:

'No. You are dangerous enough. Go now.'

I quickly glanced at Breena. She nodded, and I followed Annika out of the room, turning just before I was out, and saying:

'Goodnight Breena, Aunt Aurora. Sweet dreams.'

Annika could barely keep the glee out of her face as she led me down the hall, through a small door underneath the stairs, and down a narrow, dark corridor, lit by a single bulb over the door at the far end of the small corridor. She opened this door, and I found myself in a narrow room: the walls were painted white, bare and ugly in their dull blankness. Stone flagstones made the floor, and the room was so silent it was frightening. There were no window, and the door was thick—when it would be closed, the room would be even more silent. A silence that I was starting to dread, even though silence didn't usually bother me. A single bulb watched me from the high ceiling, and behind me, Annika finally let her face split into a wide smile.

I stepped into the room, and said:

'You may relieve me of your presence. Be gone, woman.'

She whipped around, and went out, slamming the door shut behind her. I heard a key turn in the lock, and then there was only silence. I broke this silence:

'Hello, Bulb. We'll have to find you a name, won't we?'

The bulb didn't reply.

'I promise I won't come up with something terrible, like Light or Sunshine or something equally dull. Let me see…Orion's nice. It means son of light. It doesn't suit you much though. You are very dull. I know I sound mean an all, but I think honesty's probably better than flattery, if you want to be real friends. And I am dull too, anyway.'

I went on like that. Then, I started telling the bulb stories about tiny men with long white beards and squeaky voices kissing beautiful princesses with navy-black hair. I rose from the cold floor on which I had been sitting, and started pacing about, gesturing wildly as my tale became more and more exited.

'If I could just learn how to fight with a sword!' I yelled at the bulb, who glared at me quietly, 'I'd kill a king and take his place!'

I went on like this for so long as I lost any idea of time. I raved and yelled and gestured wildly about. I screamed for a sword, and the right to fight for my freedom, I shrieked about the wind and the sea, both wild and beautiful and mighty, I slammed my fists into the hard white wall until they bled, and then, I stopped. Blood; shiny crimson in this room of clean matt white. Smiling, I started writing on the wall, with one blood-stained finger, things like: "Disobedience is a try at both freedom and courage; this is why it should be considered with friendship," and "And when we can't dream any longer, we die."

I had just written that and choked on it when a key creaked into the lock. I jumped, and swiftly hid my bloody fists behind my back. The door opened, and a voice whispered:

'Ruby? Are you alright?'

'Yeah!' I exclaimed, and rushed out, into Breena's arms. She hugged me quickly, and then pulled me away, and whispered urgently:

'C'mon, let's go! I took stuff for us to change into a found in one of the rooms, it's cool, but we mustn't get caught!'

She closed the door again, and locked it.

'What if Annika comes?' I asked, as we ran up the narrow passageway and staircase.

'She won't be able to open the door. I stole her keys. When we'll come back, I'll lock you back in, and you'll accuse Annika of not letting you out on purpose.'

'Yeah,' I said, grinning fiercely, 'I'll do that all right…'

We reached the great hall, and headed as quietly as we could towards the door. Breena opened it, only a few centimetres, and we both slipped out, shutting it back behind us.

We ran down the stairs and along the iron barrier which surrounded the aunt's manor, and when we were definitely out of sight, we stopped to catch our breath. Breena was dressed in a long, white nightgown, old trainers at her feet and her hair free of there braid swept over her cheeks and eyes in the nocturne breeze. She was holding to big, canvas bags.

'I put on my old trainers so that I'll be able to throw them away, and she won't know I went out,' Breena told me, grinning.

'Clever girl, you thought of the twelve dancing princesses, didn't you?' I asked and we both laughed.

'I wish we could run towards a beautiful castle with exquisite princes waiting to dance with us,' Breena said, as we started walking again, into the field of high grass bordering the tall, mighty forest, which rose black against the deep blue sky, on which scintillating stars glittered like splinters of diamond scattered over an endless sheet of azure velvet.

'Ew, don't say this Breena, it's gross.'

We stopped in the middle of the field, and Breena handed me one of the bags.

'I took what I thought would suit you best. Don't complain, or you can run straight back into your silent room, right?'

'Yeah, right, whatever you say,' I said darkly.

I opened my bag, and took out the first thing: it was a dress, with a bustle that was so tight it would probably never fit me, and several layers of skirts. The sleeves were long, and very large, like those sleeves women have in the Lord of the Rings. I said incredulously:

'Breena…'

'Put it on, Ruby, and stop moaning,' she snapped at me.

'It's never going to fit, Bree!' I protested feebly.

'Ruby, put it on, or else.'

I started pulling off my black jumper, and then I awkwardly pulled the dress over my head. I had to compress my chest to the maximum to slip down the tight bustle, and then I spread the skirts around me, remove the black gypsy one I was wearing.

These skirts were made of one layer of velvet, loose and flexible, which opened in long slits to let show long strips of satin. These strips trailed to the ground, and underneath them was yet another layer, this time of old lace, and doubled with gossamer silk. The bustle was of velvet, making my waist seem tiny and my breasts nearly existing, and baring the top of my throat and neck. The sleeves hung around my arms like water, silky and gentle. I couldn't see the colours at all in the dark, but they were all dark, so I was satisfied. It was the only satisfying thing, though.

'Breena,' I started.

'Ruby. Wait till I've seen you then I'll tell you if you look terrible. I promise.'

I sighed, folded my previous skirt and shirt and pulled them into the bag, removing what was left inside.

I pair of shoes, jewellery and a mask fell on the floor. I held up the shoes, which were satin slippers, and said:

'Breena, I am not wearing those shoes. I'm keeping my boots and stockings.'

'It's alright, Ruby, as long as you keep the dress,' she answered softly.

I then looked at the jewellery.A thin silver necklace on which a single tear of emerald, matching earrings, and a superb silver charm bracelet, from which hung a small silver symbol of Aquarius, which was my zodiac symbol. I pulled on the earrings, necklace and bracelet, hoping I wouldn't break them. I am quite good at breaking jewellery. Then I held up the mask: it was made of velvet, embroidered with satin leaves and arabesques. The velvet was dark green, and the satin was slightly paler green. I grinned, because the mask was wicked, and pulled it on, tying long silk ribbon around my head, through my hair.

'Can I turn around, now, without risking your screaming?' Breena asked.

'Yeah, you can. You'll be the only one screaming.'

We both turned around, and I couldn't help it, I gasped.

Breena was dressed in a gown of the darkest blue satin, the neckline low and revealing her throat and shoulders, which were milky white in the gloom. Her sleeves were, like mine, loose, but slit all the way from shoulder to the end, so that her arm were bared when she raised them, white and pure and adorned by exquisite thin golden bangles. The bodice of the dress was tight, and tied around her waist and chest by long, pale blue ribbons, matching the underskirt, which showed under the dark blue over-skirt where it spilt open, at the back, letting the train of pale blue silk and white lace trail majestically over the floor. Her feet were clad in pale blue satin, and a river of sapphires and diamonds (real ones!) lay on her throat. Two tiny falls of glittering white gems hung at her ears, and her hair tumbled down in a glorious fall of dark ink, more blue than black, matching the satin sky over it. Long strands blew across her face and mouth and neck, and she looked, truly, absolutely, queenly. Her mask was pale blue, with embroidering of navy at the end, making it look like a butterfly hiding her upper face from her forehead where the hair kept falling and hanging, to the tip of her nose, revealing her lovely, sweet cherry mouth. As I said, I was in weird way strangely sensitive to beauty, and the one I now faced was beyond anything you could imagine.

'Hey, Ruby, are you all right?' Breena laughed with delight as she saw the look on my face.

'You are beautiful,' I said, unable to say something else, but it was a rare compliment coming from me, and she laughed again, her eyes, blue in her mask, glittering with joy. And then she stopped, and stared at me.

'Ruby…you…wow,' she said.

'What!' I exclaimed, giving her yet another proof of my paranoia as I touched my face to see what was wrong.

'You are gorgeous!' she said, and she looked so awed that I nearly believed her.

'What the hell are you talking about?' I snapped.

'Wow, I thought I had a good taste in clothing, but…I went beyond myself! You look…wonderful!'

She went towards me, picking her brush from her bag, and started combing my hair, careful not to untie my mask. She brushed the strand here and the, brought some down over my face, into my neck, smoothed them as well as she could in the stubborn nocturnal wind. Then she smoothed my bustle, arranged my sleeves, straightened my mask, and spread my skirt, so that it trailed even farther. Then she straightened herself, and looked at me, a proud, pleased look in her face.

'We would make the likes of Serenity Blake go green with jealousy,' she told me, and laughed.

We set off towards Thornwing, leaving our bags behind and laughing with delight at this reckless, wonderful thing we were doing, in the middle of the night without anyone knowing, dressed like princesses from the middle ages.

'I found the dresses in a chest in one of the rooms, when I explored while you were locked away. What did you do to make time pass?'

I looked down guiltily at my knuckles, which were still bleeding and hurting in a dull, constant throbbing, and said vaguely:

'Oh, you know...'

We finally arrived at the manor's gate, and there, we found something which surprised us into a halt: carriages, real, wooden, horse-drawn carriages, were parked all over the courtyard, and lamps, in glass globes, were everywhere, on the floor, in the fountain, hanging from the manor's walls, over the gates…And people, dressed in floating, weird, superb clothes, walked in and out, in groups of two.

We went in, me leading Breena, and climbed the steps to the door, which was wide open, so that anyone could enter. Me and Breena exchanged a look, both took a deep breath, and went in.

The main hall was wide, and dazzlingly lit with hundreds of glittering glass lamps, which, like outsize, were everywhere. At our side, a great arch stood, letting way into the ballroom.

The ballroom floor was magnificent, like water, smooth and shiny and shimmering. Petals and dead leaves were scattered over it, but unnoticed because so many people were in the room. Tall woman with trailing gowns like those me and Breena were wearing, or with strips of silk or satin dangling from their slender limbs. Men in ancient long, perfectly tailored silk suits straight from the Victorian times, or clad in armours of gold, iron or silver. Tiny dwarfs is tough leather clothing and with trailing beards, or lithe, small women who seemed to undulate and float over the floor, clad in long white robes with crowns of flowers on their angelic golden heads. Colours were bright or dull, materials rich or poor, looks beautiful or ugly, and on the whole, everything was splendid.

One half of the room was for people to talk and refresh themselves; long table covered in white tablecloth and dishes in large silver plates such as I had never seen before: tiny red berries, silver fruits, crystal jugs filled with some shimmery, weird golden-green liquid, long slices of brown, sand-like stuff, and many other things I would have been unable to describe.

The other half of the room was occupied by the wide dancing-floor, at the end of which the orchestra, composed by tall, blond women with ghostly air and long, white robes. Two or three of the women sang low, sad songs, as others played harps, xylophones and other instruments. A piano was in the corner, untouched and glossy black in the colourful room.

'Listen,' I told Breena, who was gazing around in wonder, 'we'll split, right? I bet you want to find a beau and dance the night out, but I want to speak with interesting persons and observe. So, we'll meet at midnight, just beside the fountain, and from their go back to Edgerise.'

'Let's stay till two in the morning.'

'We can't... And, listen, let's take other names, right? You'll tell them that's your name, and if they ask, you're allowed to say it's not your real name, but don't say it anyway. It could cause trouble.'

'Right. What shall we call ourselves? Hey, let's be Sapphire and Emerald.'

'Right. Yeah, cool. Emerald's wicked, and Sapphire's brilliant. Ok then, don't forget, midnight, Cinderella, midnight…'

A/N Ok, this chapter was again from Ruby's POV. Unfortunately, I had to split the whole of the original chapter into 3 parts, because I thought people might have a problem reading it all in one go. So I split it into 3, so there is one more continuation of Ruby's POV.