A/N: Thank you all so much for humoring my ridiculous little story
"Katherine, darling, you look lovely this evening."
Kate turned from where she stood examining her reflection in her bedroom's full-length mirror to see her father entering through the doorway to her left. He wore his nicest tuxedo with his military commendations hanging prominent on the lapel. Across his body he wore a red sash, just like the one she would be putting on momentarily. Despite the fact that she wore one of the most beautiful gowns her designers had provided to date, Kate also wore a frown. This made her father chuckle.
"You would be even lovelier if you smiled."
"I have nothing to smile about." She sighed and wandered away from the mirror, wishing there were a way she could sit down. Unfortunately, due to the vast amount of fabric adorning her body—not to mention the corset and petticoat—sitting was nearly an impossible task.
"Of course you can smile—you're about to meet dozens and dozens of men seeking your hand in marriage!"
Kate shot her father a look indicating that was the very reason she could not smile. Her father sighed. "I know you're not thrilled about this Katherine, but-"
"Not thrilled!" She barked out. "I'm horrified. I don't understand why I can't meet a man on my own terms. Why can't I go out into the world—go to school, travel?"
"Because you're a princess and that's not what princesses do." Her father responded. Kate huffed and turned her back, obviously displeased with his reasoning. "Katherine, please. Just give this a chance. I'm not saying you have to find the man you'll marry tonight, but you might. After all, your mother and I met at a ball just like this one."
"I know that." She mumbled, but that didn't mean she would find the same thing. Besides, how was she to know that even a small percentage of the men at the ball would be genuine? The unofficial reasoning for the ball was to find her a suitable mate, so how was she to know they weren't just saying what she thought she wanted to hear? To her, nothing could have been more off-putting.
Kate's father walked up behind her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "Just try and keep an open mind, okay? Maybe you'll even have a little fun."
Castle couldn't believe his luck as he strolled through the opulent ballroom at the palace. There was so much to see! So much to observe! He doubted the four hour long event would be sufficient time for him to take it all in. He wanted to memorize every moment—this was the absolute perfect setting to be involved in one of his stories; he just knew it!
After tasting some champagne and nibbling on some delightful treats, he retreated from the crowded party atmosphere to the less busy balcony to jot down some of his thoughts before he lost them. He needed five or six minutes to himself and then he would rejoin the event.
The night was cool, but not unpleasantly so. Actually, with the restricting fabric of the suit he was unused to, the night air was a welcome departure from the warmth of the ballroom. He hadn't realized just how warm it was until he stepped outside and felt the crisp air against the beads of sweat along his brow. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his forehead before returning it. In doing so, he dropped the pen from his hand and it skittered across the marble balcony surface, where it came to rest teetering on the edge of a stairway. For a moment he thought the pen would stay, but before he could reach it, it tipped and clattered down the stairs.
Cursing to himself, Castle chased after the pen, not realizing he was traveling headlong into someone until he saw the cloud of ivory fabric descending onto the spot where the pen came to rest. "Oh-oh sorry. Excuse me I….oh…" His voice drifted off when his eyes caught sight of the stunning woman before him. He would have been rendered speechless from the beauty of her high cheekbones and her sparking brown eyes alone, but what really did him in was the red sash across her torso. He didn't know much about these events, but he knew what that meant: royalty. Shit.
"Are you all right?" she asked, her melodious voice indicating concern.
"I…um…dropped…there…" He stammered out, managing to point with his index finger to the area beneath her skirt.
Her brow wrinkled. "You…dropped something?" She backed down a step and her skirt revealed the pen, which he scooped up hastily with an apology. "A pen?" she asked, her voice indicating amusement. "You brought a pen to a ball?"
Her tone indicated a pen was a silly and useless as bringing a garden spade or rake; his cheeks flared with heat. "Um, yes. I…I like to write down inspiration." Sheepishly, he held up the worn notebook, which was clutched in his opposite hand.
She tilted her head, curious. "For what?"
His cheeks descending into a deeper blush he admitted. "I'm a writer."
The beautiful woman's face brightened immediately. "Oh! Anything I might have read?"
"I'm afraid not; I have yet to be published."
She hummed and walked up two steps so they were on the same level. She gazed down at the book in his hand and then back up at his face. "Looks like you have plenty of material there."
"I do. I just…I haven't much spare time."
"I see. Well, don't let me keep you from the party," she said, nodding back towards the house.
"Oh, you're not keeping me, your highness." He added a respectful head bow on to the end of his statement.
The woman hummed again. "In that case, would you care to walk with me for a little bit? I was finding it very…stifling in there."
He nodded, hardly believing his luck. "Of course—if that's what you want."
She smiled and led the way back down into the gardens. Once they'd reached the stone path she looked over at him and asked, "So, what do you like to write about?"
Kate hated to admit it, but her father had been right—she was having a good time at the ball all thanks to the mysterious writer man she had run into. He was interesting, funny, and surprisingly easy to talk to. Simply put: he fascinated her.
During their stroll around the gardens he told her all about his novel ideas. Some were fantasy, some were humorous and every single one was one she wanted to read. It was plain from the way he spoke; he had a way with words.
When the night grew too chilly for her, she suggested they return from the party. As she ascended the stairs, she nearly tripped on her oversized skirt, and he reached out his hand to assist her. She took it willingly and immediately took note of the roughness in his fingers and palms. This initially surprised her as she had not felt many hands like his, but when he smiled at her when they reached the top of the stairs she realized it didn't matter that he was probably not a nobleman. Plus, it explained why he did not have time to work on his writing.
Back inside the ball, Kate asked him to dance and though he hesitated and stammered out that he wasn't sure how, she insisted anyway and dragged him on to the dance floor with her. He stumbled and almost stepped on her dress a few times before they found their rhythm and began twirling around the floor with all the other guests. She didn't realize it at the time, but she must have been wearing an ear-to-ear grin, because when she caught her father's eye, he gave her a nod of approval.
Unfortunately, her fun was short lived. After their second dance, Kate was pulled away from her newfound friend to attend to her duties as party co-hostess. She promised she'd find him again, but nearly an hour passed before she did. That time, they snuck out on to the balcony and talked for almost forty minutes about the party and her favorite activities before they were discovered by one of her father's assistants.
After being forced to dance with almost a dozen men, she set off searching for the writer again, only to have great difficulty finding him. She enlisted the help of one of her assistants, but it still took nearly an hour. When she found him, he was seated in the corner of the room scribbling in his notebook; this made her smile.
"Would you like to dance again?" she asked, smiling even broader when he jumped; she had clearly startled him.
"Oh, um, to be honest, my feet may have had enough for the evening."
She laughed with relief. "Mine too!"
He scooted over a chair to leave one vacant for her. "Please sit."
"I wish I could, but I can't. The dress." She added when his brow crinkled.
He bobbed his head, tucked his notebook back into his jacket pocket, and stood. "Then we will dance and suffer foot pain together."
She laughed and took his hand before they began twirling across the floor. Despite her aching toes, she could have danced with him forever—felt the warmth of his hand on her lower back, his breath against her cheek, but she knew that could not be, for the strike of the midnight clock meant the party was nearly at a close.
"What time it is it?"
"Midnight, I believe." She responded without much thought. No sooner had the words left his lips that he gasped and broke their embrace.
"I'm sorry—I'm sorry. I have to go!"
Stunned, Kate watched him scurry through the crowd. She called out, "Wait!" but it was too late; he was too far from her. With a grunt, she picked up her skirt and hurried off towards him, clearing the crowd on the dance floor just in time to see him bump into a waiter, resulting in them both crashing to the ground. She gasped and rushed over, but when she reached them he was already back up, sprinting.
Kate made to go after him, but instead spotted the rectangular object on the floor next to the waiter. As the man climbed to his feet she asked, "Excuse me, could you hand that to me please?" she asked, pointing to the notebook. Unfortunately with her skirt there would have been no way for her to get it herself. The man in the white jacket handed it to her with a nod and Kate clutched the book tightly to her chest. She opened the front cover and then the back, but there were no markings of ownership.
She wanted to see that man again, talk to him, dance with him. More importantly, she needed to return the notebook, which she knew to be very important to him, even from their short time together. The problem was: she didn't even know his name.
There will be 1 more part after this.