A/N: Sarah is getting ready for the ball, and receives a surprising guest.
The red dress is the most exquisite thing Sarah has ever seen in her life. She can't stop touching the unimaginably soft material or the beautiful embedded stones that look like they could be rather valuable. Her fingers follow the decorations as she marvels at the dress, already imagining how she'll look in it; she'll surely be the most beautiful lady in the midnight ball.
This idea makes her squeal happily in anticipation. Everything is going even better than she could have expected, and her mind is filled with dreams and plans. She will shine like the most brilliant star.
To accompany the dress, she picks long red gloves, a tiara with red stones and a necklace with a jewel carved into the shape of a heart, and it's all worth a queen as far as she's concerned. Then she spreads the garments on her bed and takes a long moment just to admire everything; she hadn't known to expect such luxuries when she first came here... Well, he does own a castle and dresses finer than anyone she has ever even imagined, after all. If only the other girls from the village could see her now!
Sarah hasn't even seen him today, but she's not too worried: he's probably just busy taking care of preparations, or some other lordly business like that. She's not even sure how these relationships with aristocrats should work, anyway. Maybe he prefers some space for now... to fuel his passion for her when the night comes. Yes, that is probably it.
She's rather excited for the evening and what will happen. He has promised to dance with her all night, which fills her with pleasant anticipation. It has to be more exciting than what she has gotten used to back in home. At first she thinks it would all be better if that silly young man wasn't here: of course he had to run after her although she – at least she thinks so – made it very clear what she was going to do and who it is she's going to dance with... But then, the looks of jealousy on his face at tonight's ball are worth it, Sarah decides. The only way it would be better is if him and the Count got in some sort of fight over her.
Mama would disapprove of such thoughts, but she's not here, and there's nothing wrong with daydreaming, is there? Everything is just so perfect, she has admirers – both of them securely under her thumb – and there's going to be a grand ball... And many after that, she's certain of that. Maybe his excellency will throw another party for her some time soon, if she just asks.
When the day begins to fall and Sarah starts to get ready for the ball, she realizes she has a problem: she's not going to be able to do the laces at the back of her dress. For a moment, she just sits pondering what to do. Should she ask his excellency for help? No, that won't do: Sarah doesn't want him to see her before the ball; she needs to make an impression on him, see his eyes widen at the sight of her, and that is not going to happen if he's there to help her dress up. Then she thinks that servant of his, the ugly hunchback who had also delivered breakfast for her and shown where she could find a bathroom. The thought of that creature touching her makes her shiver with disgust. Isn't a man of the Count's status able to provide nicer servants? Well, she's going to make sure that changes as soon as possible. She really needs a handmaid if she's to be presented as a proper mistress for the Count.
In the end, her desire to impress her new lover is stronger than her abhorrence of the hunchback servant, and so she exits her room to shout for the creature (she's not entirely sure Koukol is a human). Koukol appears quickly enough – moving with rather impressive pace, she notes – and listens quietly as she declares her request. The hunchback stares quietly at her for a moment and then turns around, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared; Sarah is left with her mouth hanging open. Does the servant expect her to conjure the dress on herself? She'll tell his excellency of this, and then he is going to send the arrogant creature packing! She needs everything to be perfect and that's not possible without the dress!
Some time later when she's already starting to panic, Koukol returns... but not alone. With him, there's a tall, beautiful blonde woman. It takes a moment for Sarah to realize she knows her: it's none other than Magda! Yet the woman with hunchback is also like a stranger. Her hair, usually neatly braided and down, is now large and wild, pillowing about her face. Sarah is certain Magda had a nice tan when they had last met, even if it is winter, but now all colour is gone: the older woman is almost as pale as the Count. She has forsaken her plain clothes and is now wearing a dark dress instead, finer than anything either of them ever owned back in the village. The most drastic change is in her eyes, however: the friendliness, the warmth – they're gone. Instead, Magda's eyes are cold, even somehow scornful.
And Sarah, instead of being happy to see a familiar face in this old vast castle, feels angry: this is supposed to be her victory! It's her ball! Magda must have heard of her departure and gotten jealous, following her here to see if the Count would forget all about Sarah and pick the older woman instead.
"What are you doing here?" Sarah finally demands, after she has recovered from her initial surprise and venomous thoughts.
"I was told you need help with your dress", Magda says finally, her voice somehow thick, as if she had difficult time speaking. Sarah can't imagine why that is, but doesn't wonder about it either – she has bigger concerns than that.
"I do, but that doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" Sarah repeats, eyeing the servant woman suspiciously.
"It doesn't matter. Give that dress to me", Magda answers, and her words sound more like an order than a request. Sarah doesn't like her tone one bit, and she makes a mental note of talking to his excellency about how the people around here need to be more respectful of her. Nevertheless, she does turn and hand the dress to Magda.
The older woman's face stays impassive as she holds the dress so that Sarah can slip herself in it.
"Tell me, what are you doing here, really?" she asks again when she turns around so that Magda can start lacing it up for her. For some reason, she's feeling nasty tonight and the words splutter out of her mouth before she can stop and think of them. "Did you get jealous of me? That would make sense, considering you only got a inn-keeper and I have a count."
"Foolish girl, you are, Sarah", Magda answers, her voice barely a whisper. She pulls at lacing so hard that air escapes from Sarah's lungs and she gasps for breath. "You don't even realize what's going to happen? You have no idea what's going on here? Do you actually believe you're here because of some silly infatuation?"
"I know perfectly well what is going on! I'm finally free and have a rich powerful man as my patron, which is more than can be said of you!" Sarah snaps.
Magda pulls at laces again, even harder this time.
"Silly goose!" she hisses. "Don't you see he has no interest whatsoever in you? When he has had what he desires, you'll be deposited. But I... I shall rise. Everyone will see. You know, I suppose I should be grateful for you. If you weren't such a silly, unthinking child, none of it would have happened!"
"Stop! You're hurting me!" Sarah whimpers; Magda is pulling the laces so hard that the younger woman fears she's going to suffocate... Suddenly, the blond woman lets the laces go loose, and Sarah can feel her cool breath on her neck...
"Oh yes, it's going to hurt... but only for a moment. Don't be scared", Magda whispers in her ear, and then Sarah can feel the older woman's mouth on her skin...
"MAGDA!" an unfamiliar voice yells from the door and Magda jumps back. Both of them turn to face the door, only to see a young man with long silver-blond hair standing there. He's dressed in a fine form-fitting suit, made of exquisite lavender fabric. He's rather good-looking, and the way he carries himself seems to suggest that he knows that very well.
"Get out", he snarls to Magda, who leaves the room with a graceful gait Sarah hasn't noticed about her before. When she's gone, the young man turns his face at Sarah. She can't really decide how to read his expression, but she does get the impression that he's not particularly fond of her. "Are you quite ready?"
"No, she didn't finish..." she answers. For some reason, her voice sounds choked and weak. He huffs and with two long strides, he's in the front of her.
"Turn around. I'll do it", he orders and again Sarah finds herself mentally brooding, forgetting all about her confrontation: the Count's castle seems to be full of overbearing people. When he starts working on the laces, she doesn't ask why he's so good at it, but she does wonder who he is. The only thing she can do, however, is catching her breath and making sure her lungs are still in working order.
"What is wrong with her?" she finally asks when the stranger is fastening the laces.
"Nothing serious. Now get ready. Vater will be expecting you to join us soon", the blond man says and before Sarah can voice her surprise, he's already gone.
She doesn't know why, but when she looks at her reflection in the small handmirror, her face is white.