I stood in silence as Lorna inspected the dining room table, floor, and tapestries for signs of dust. She was dressed up in an evening gown with a fur wrap draped over her shoulders, even though it wasn't even cold outside. Summer had dawned just the week before.

I could hear Old Mia bustling about the kitchen, preparing a five course meal for dinner. Somewhere above me in my room, she had already hidden my mother's dress. I hadn't looked for it yet.

"The tapestries have faded considerably," Lorna noted with distaste. "They must be replaced."

"I can sell them in the market Saturday morning," I said. "And use that money to find new ones."

She snickered coldly. "No one wants these," she said. "Besides. You will be going on a trip this weekend."

She caught me off guard. I looked up at her in surprise.

"What is that look for?" she said indignantly. "You are almost eighteen now. Surely you haven't forgotten that you are still a burden upon this household? No, it will not do to keep you here when you are of marrying age."

"I beg your pardon?"

She fixed her icy blue eyes onto me and smiled calmly. "Our guest tonight, Lord Terrowin, has connections to the royal family, and has so secured an invitation for the girls to attend the Prince's ball and meet Prince Stefan tomorrow night. In exchange for this opportunity, I have agreed to your betrothal and so you will be leaving with him Saturday morning to live on his estate."

My heart dropped into my stomach and I steadied myself. "I—I can't marry a stranger," was all I could say, my voice coming out meek and frightened sounding.

Lorna's eyes were full of happy cruelty. "Of course you can," she said. "There are worse fates, I assure you."

I shook my head. "No."

"Excuse me?"

I shook my head even harder. "No," I repeated. "You can't make me do something like that."

"You are such an ingrate," she snapped. "He is a lord with a title and a home and money and he has offered to take you off my hands and it is the best thing that will ever happen to you, I can guarantee that, girl. Now get back to your chores. He will be arriving in a couple of hours and I don't want you in our sight."

"I'm not marrying him," I said steadily. "I'm a lady, and I don't need a lord, or some stranger. I'm not a cow to be bargained over. My father would never allow this!"

Lorna had been waiting for me to say that. Her canine teeth poked out sharply from her smile. "Well dear, it happens to be that your father is dead. I told you once that you were alone in this world; now you will have a husband. You should be on your knees thanking me for this, but you are just a lowly brat. In any case, the deal has been sealed. You will be leaving Saturday morning."

If I were holding a plate, I would've thrown it onto the floor, smashing it into a thousand pieces. I would've looked Lorna in the eyes and told her I am not doing any such thing. Tomorrow night, I would be going to the ball and meeting the Prince. After that, she would never see me again.

But I said nothing, because I simply didn't believe it. Lorna had won again. I was going to be someone else's slave now, legally bound for life. Sharp pangs of despair tremored through me and she chuckled again as she saw my composure crack.

"Don't make a mess of yourself," she said, "you will also be attending dinner tonight to meet Lord Terrowin. If he doesn't like you, then our deal will fall through. And then you'd be on the streets, Mary. You don't want that—do you?"

How could I have ever believed that going to the Prince's ball would be possible, let alone life changing? Didi and Anna were destined to meet the prince—not me. I was destined to be married off to a stranger like the nobody I truly am.

"Well do you?" Lorna repeated loudly.

I couldn't stop the hot tears from welling into my eyes, nor could I stop them from streaming down to my cheeks. Lorna had seen me cry before anyway.

"Go to your room," she ordered.

I turned on my heel and fled for the stairs. Her words followed me to the top of the tower—"And be prepared to meet Lord Terrowin by nightfall!"

I slammed my door shut and locked it. I screamed into my pillow as loud as I could. I half suffocated myself before calming down enough to breathe again. It wasn't for a long time that I snapped out of it—one thought surfaced to my mind.

The dress.

I found it wrapped neatly and discreetly under my bed where Old Mia had hidden it. Carefully, I unwrapped it and held it out before me.

It's like I'm holding my mother, I thought strangely, my eyes travelling up and down the silvery fabric. She had worn it when she married my father—he always told me how beautiful she was, like a girl in a dream.

A dream.

I carefully folded it and put it back into its hiding spot. My normal wardrobe consisted of plain work clothes—rough blouses, worn skirts, stained aprons and my beat-up slip on shoes. Lord Terrowin would not be impressed with me if he saw me for who I really am, wearing what I normally wear. How could Lorna think I'd make a good bride for a lord?

And so the remainder of the day fell away while I sat on my window sill and gazed out at the King's castle that loomed over the village. You could see it from almost anywhere in the city—it was large, and built upon a hill so the highest towers stretched into the sky and disappeared in the clouds.

Eventually, Lorna rapped loudly upon my door. "Start getting dressed for dinner," she said curtly from outside the tower, "and do something with your hair."

As I lit a candle in my room, I heard voices outside. I peeked out of my window down below into the yard. Someone was being admitted through the gates! I squinted down into the shadowy garden, trying to get a glimpse of him—but the man was shrouded in a dark cloak as he led his horse to our stable.

Lord Terrowin has arrived, I realized.

An hour passed before Didi and Anna appeared at my door, their faces hardly able to contain their smirks.

"Your husband is here," Didi said brightly, taking my arm.

"He is waiting to meet you in the dining room," said Anna, taking my other arm. They were dressed in nice evening gowns for the occasion—the ones I had only just picked up from the seamstress. I had stopped crying hours ago, and now I only felt numb. The sisters chatted animatedly as we descended the stairs, and I moved my feet and my body accordingly, but I had left my mind and heart upstairs, with my mother's dress hidden under the bed. The one I was going to wear tomorrow night to the Prince's ball.

Lorna and Lord Terrowin stood before the grand fireplace in the dining hall, their shadows long and hauntingly spread across the floor. Lord Terrowin turned to face me when I approached.

He was a tall and bony man with a stony face and shadowy eyes. His head was bald on top, eventually giving way to scraggly grey hair that fell to his shoulders. He wore a long, dark coat.

"This is Mary," said Lorna by way of introduction. I said nothing as Lord Terrowin's eyes locked onto mine. He seemed to be surveying me—as if looking for something, but his lips remained pursed together. Finally, he nodded.

We all sat down as Old Mia covered the table with the first course of soup and bread. Lorna perched at the head of the table and chatted to Lord Terrowin about the Prince's ball the following night.

"This one will provide you with domestic labor for the rest of your days," she was saying, "and so you see it's only fair that you walk us to the gates tomorrow night to ensure entry to the ball. You did say you are a distant cousin of the King's?"

Lord Terrowin nodded vaguely, glancing towards me. I averted my eyes. I didn't like feeling his gaze on me. There was something particularly strange about him.

"Good," Lorna continued jovially, "then it is for sure that my daughters will meet the prince. What's that boy's name again?"

"Prince Stefan, mother," said Anna.

"Prince Stefan," Lorna repeated. "Yes. I remember hearing about his father, King Peter, back in the day. The king would disappear for months at a time and suddenly return, always bringing mysterious stories and rumors with him. It is a strange family. So Lord Terrowin, what is it you do in the country?"

Lord Terrowin's cold lips twitched into a half smile. "I'm a hunter."

Lorna gasped in fake joy and cast me a beaming smile. "Oh Mary, see, you are in for an exciting life!"

I just sat there staring at my plate. By the third course I felt sick to my stomach and excused myself to the kitchen. Old Mia wrapped me in a tight, wordless hug.

"She's going to throw me out," I whispered. "If I don't leave with Lord Terrowin."

"When is he leaving?"

"The morning after the ball. Lorna wants to ensure he will get Didi and Anna inside to meet the prince," I said.

"You're going to that ball," Old Mia said firmly, closing the kitchen door behind her. "Forget about the rest. Now get back out there and don't believe for a second that you are marrying that man. Not before you meet the prince."

So I returned to the dining hall and took my seat. And from that point on, when I glanced towards Lord Terrowin, I didn't feel fear. The secret inside of me was ripening slowly, and I dare not speak to accidentally let it out.

Before I knew it, the sun was high up in the sky and I was late to begin my chores.

I rushed down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Lorna and her daughters, my hands whirring in front of me in distracted movements.

I was going to the ball that night, and they couldn't stop me. Then I would be free. I didn't know how, but I trusted it would happen, and the idea strengthened me as the despair from the day before was chased away with hope.

Up in their rooms, Anna and Didi were buzzing with excitement, trying on their finest gowns in front of a mirror and chattering endlessly about meeting Prince Stefan.

"Who do you think he will choose, between the two of us?" Anna asked as she wrapped a long string of pearls around her neck. I discreetly set their breakfast platters down by the window.

"Well, you are the first born," Didi conceded glumly, "but your feet are huge. Why would the prince wants a princess with huge feet?"

Anna smacked Didi hard across the arm with her paper fan. "How dare you," she snapped. 'And besides, he won't be seeing my feet beneath my gown, but unless you plan on wearing a mask, how do you plan on hiding your hideous nose?"

Didi growled like a lion and pounced on her sister, grabbing her puffy sleeves in her fist and ripping it wildly. Anna shrieked, "Get off me, you're ruining my dress!"

They scrambled apart, faces red. Anna's sleeve was ripped clean off her shoulder. She charged over to the mirror to assess the damage and let out a howl of despair.

"Mother! Mother!" she cried. "Mother come quickly!"

I was halfway through the door when Lorna stormed in, knocking past me. "What is it?"

"Didi ruined my dress!" Anna howled.

I stifled my laughter as I darted out of their bedroom and downstairs to finish my chores. The plan was to remain calm and busy with my work as to not alert Lorna or the step-sisters of my secret. It was noon; only an afternoon remained between me and the prince's ball.

At five o'clock I helped Old Mia serve Lorna and the step-sisters their supper before the ball. Anna's dress had been changed out to one with short green sleeves and a trail of golden roses. Didi was wearing a simpler blue gown with sparkles on the bosom. I served them their lite supper of cucumber sandwiches in my serving clothes, wondering what shoes of theirs I could borrow to wear with my mother's silver dress.

"Eat quickly now girls," Lorna was saying to them, "Lord Terrowin will be arriving within the hour with a carriage. You'll need time to get the food out of your teeth before we leave. And we're supposed to be the first guests there."

"Mother," said Anna, munching on a sandwich, "I heard the ball doesn't start until after sun down. We will look stupid hanging outside the palace gates."

Lorna's eyes flared in annoyance. "You hush. I don't care what it looks like to everyone else, as long as you are the first girls the prince sets his eyes on. You will remain by his side the entire night. Do you understand?"

The sisters nodded silently.

"And you," said Lorna, catching my wrist in her grip as I reached for her plate, "tonight you will pack all of your belongings. Lord Terrowin insists you will be leaving at dawn."

She stared at me, waiting for an answer, and when I gave none she tightened her grip on me quickly before letting go.

"As soon as they leave I will get the horse ready," Old Mia whispered when I returned to the kitchen. "You focus on getting dressed."

I nodded silently and retreated to my tower, watching for Lord Terrowin to return with the carriage. As the city bell rang out deeply six times and the sun became low in the sky, a carriage entered the courtyard swiftly and stopped before the front door. A few minutes later, Didi and Anna came bustling out and clamored into the carriage. I turned my face toward the palace. It glowed and twinkled golden in the falling dusk. It radiated in the distance, like a jewel in the dark. My heart ached to look at it. Glancing back down, I saw the carriage disappear through the gates and out onto the street.

It's time.

I had my wash basin prepared, though the water had long gone cool. I washed quickly, combing the many knots from my hair until it shined down my back. I scrubbed dirt and soot from my feet, legs, and nails. I patted myself dry and stood before the warm evening air hanging through my opened window. Then, I slipped on my mother's dress and looked in the mirror.

This isn't you, I thought to myself. I was staring at myself, though it felt like I was gazing at a stranger. Someone I simply could never be.

It would've been me though, if my parents hadn't died. If Lorna hadn't taken everything from me.

Why can't this be me?

The girl in the mirror smiled in response.

And then suddenly, my bedroom door swung open. Lorna stood in the doorway, her eyes wide in recognition.

"What are you doing?"

I froze. Hadn't she gone with her daughters to the ball? Hadn't I just seen them leave?

She stepped inside, her eyes raking over my mother's dress.

"Where did you get that dress?"

I swallowed hard, though my throat had collapsed in on itself. "My—it's my mother's-"

"It is not," she interrupted furiously, "you are a thief! Take it off at once!"

My hands were shaking, but I didn't move. I couldn't move.

"Did you hear me, girl? Take it off, or I'll have you arrested and thrown in jail!"

"I'm going to the ball!" I erupted. "And I'm wearing this dress, and I have an invitation—you cannot stop me from going, by law!"

Lorna put her fist to her heart, her mouth hanging open in shock. In her other hand she grasped a dark rag.

"Did you really think you I would let you do that?" she said softly. A cruel smiled formed on her lips. "You have an early day tomorrow, my dear. I have come to arrange your bedtime."

She moved towards me, and I backed away. "Mia!" I cried, hoping she would somehow hear my voice and come to my aid. Lorna kicked my door shut and lunged towards me, pushing me down hard onto my bed. I tried to wrestle out of her grasp, but then she put that rag up to my face, pressing it roughly against my nose and mouth. As my oxygen was cut off, I breathed in a strong odor that sent lights flashing through my brain.

"Go to sleep," Lorna was saying, but her words seemed to be falling away.

I gasped for air as she removed the rag. The room around me began to darken. I reached out, trying to steady myself to my feet. And then everything went black.