By the time the sun had set, my stepsisters were already fast asleep and I was ready to sneak out for the night. I grinned to myself at how Victoria thought she had so much power over me that I would obey her every command. She had hoped to ruin my day; instead she made it all the more exciting. My heart raced as I slipped into Victoria's darkened room to retrieve my stolen dress. She had never been the most imaginative of people so it was simple to locate where she had hidden the dress box, but it was another matter of how I would get it out of the room. It looked like she had dumped her entire jewelry case on the box lid. It would be very difficult to remove everything without making an awful lot noise. I took a deep breath and began removing the rings since they were most likely not tangled with anything else. Fortunately, Victoria had laid the box near the window so I could see just enough to move the jewelry. I carefully laid the jewelry on the floor beside me. Victoria would not be happy when she woke to find a pile of jewelry and no dress.

I pulled a particularly long necklace wrong and a heavy brass bracelet thudded to the floor with an all-too-loud thud. I froze and peeked over my shoulder at the sleeping girl in the bed. Victoria did not stir other than to pull the sheets closer around her. I let out the breath I had been holding. I had thought for sure I was caught, but I continued to remove the tangle of earrings and necklaces carefully. Once I made sure that only a tangle of necklaces remained, I just scooped them all up and laid them on the pile. My dress was free and so was I. I tiptoed back out of Victoria's room and hid the dress box outside on the balcony behind the large statue of a crocodile. I was fairly certain it would not rain tonight so my dress would be safe. Now it was time for fireworks.

As quietly as I could manage I changed out of my nightclothes and into a pair of men's breeches and tunic my brother had given me years ago. The outfit was well worn, but still good. It was what I always wore in the woods with Andrew when we climbed trees and ran around. It was much easier to move about in than a woman's dress. I slipped boots on and hurried out of the inn. There was practically no one around as I dashed out into the street. The only people I saw on my way down the stairs were a pair of guards dozily standing at the doors. They jolted up as I skipped past them, but they did not stop me. The street was more crowded. It seemed I was not the only one who went out to see the fireworks. I would have to find a good vantage point to view the sky. I could already hear the first few booms and barely see the flashes over the rooftops.

I had to force myself to not skip merrily down the street and walk normally. The fireworks were lighting the sky and tomorrow I would attend a royal ball that would start the princess's wedding celebration. I was sure Giselle, Victoria, or anyone else could bring me down on this night. I looked for somewhere to see the fireworks from. I knew that there was a more rundown section of the city near the Gilded Leopard so that was where I went. There were less tall buildings there. The Old Town, as it was called, reminded me of the lower city that we had passed on the day of our arrival. The buildings here were not large and elegant, but more homely. I could see the fireworks better from the Old Town, but not well enough to suit me. There had to be some building that would raise me above the rooftops to see the glittering night sky.

I saw it from a street away. There was an old church with a bell tower. Surely that would be high enough. I briskly walked to the other street. It seemed the church had been abandoned; a few of the stained glass windows were broken and no light came from inside. Deciding it was abandoned; I gingerly pushed on the large oak door and went into the church. It was a very small building with only a chapel and perhaps a couple of antechambers. The steps to the bell tower were near the front door and easy to find. They were made out of wooden planks and I was not sure how stable they would be. I slowly put one foot on the first one. It did not break so I went up another and another. At the top there was a thin platform that circled where a bell once hung. The four open windows on either side provided me with a lovely view of the town, but I did not come to see the town. I looked out at the fireworks. Rainbows of color were exploding over the castle. Some of the explosions ended in sparkles or flittering colors that danced against the black of the night sky. I leaned on the sill and placed my head in my hands. It was because of this position that I did not see the person coming up the steps.

"Who are you?" A voice asked. I jumped and spun around.

A tall man about my age stood opposite of me on the platform. He wore a white shirt that loosely hung off his thin frame and dark breeches similar to mine. His straight blond hair hung slightly over his eyes and an impish smile danced on his lips. His nose pointed upwards, adding to his impish face. He leaned on the railing and looked across the gap at me. The light of a particularly bright firework lit his face. I gasped when I saw that his eyes were black. They weren't small and beady like a rat though. This man's eyes were alert and sparkling. It looked as if he was on the verge of laughing, and I found it unsettling.

"Who are you?" I asked him in return. He did not seem trustworthy to me. People who lurked around abandoned churches couldn't be part of polite society.

Now he laughed a clear ringing laugh. "I asked you first, if you recall. Besides this happens to be my bell tower so I think you should tell me who you are."

I tilted my head in defiance. I wasn't going to let myself be afraid of this person. "This is an abandoned church, it doesn't belong to anyone."

He stood up straight as if to walk over to my side of the bell tower. "Of course it's mine. This is where I come to see the fireworks – my very own front row seat to the show. It seems I will be sharing it tonight though, not that I mind."

He didn't move from his spot, but his black eyes stayed focused on me. Not knowing what to say, I just repeated my question, "Who are you?"

He rolled his eyes and brushed his hair out of his face. There was a playful lilt to his lips. "If I tell you, then you have to promise to give me the same courtesy." I nodded. "Very well, my name is Kol. It's like kohl, the black powder used as makeup for eyes, but spelled differently."

I looked at his eyes. It suited him; his eyes were as black as any makeup I had ever seen. He tilted his head towards me, wanting me to tell him my name. "I'm Ebony."

For a moment he looked surprised, but then he smiled broadly. "How curious it is that we both have names that relate to the color black, don't you think so, Ebb?"

"It's Ebony," I corrected. "Perhaps it is a bit odd."

I stepped back when he came over to stand on my side of the platform. The flash from the fireworks cast his face in an odd mix of light and shadow. I conceded that he was not unattractive to look at. His jaw was angular and his features made him look wickedly mischievous. I shook my head; I did not know him at all. I shouldn't be focusing on how handsome this stranger was. He looked out the window. "Is this your first time to see the fireworks?"

I did not return to where I was standing before at the window. It was too small a space for both of us to look out at the same time unless we were awkwardly close together. He did not seem dangerous, but I couldn't be too wary. "This is my first time in the king's city. My stepsisters and I arrived two months ago for the royal celebration."

Kol snorted. "I thought so," He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

He took a deep breath and held up his hands in an almost defensive position. "Now, Ebb, I think we can be great mates. We obviously both have very good taste in firework watching locations. I want you to respect our new friendship and keep that in mind with what I have to tell you. Also know that I am sorry and that it was for a good cause and if I knew that I was actually going to meet you at some point that I would have done the exact same thing all over again."

I didn't understand what he was saying; it didn't make sense. "I've never met you before," I said slowly. "We can't be friends already."

"In honor of our potential friendship, know that if we can get past this we can get past anything and are destined to be friends for life. I actually have met you before, once. You see I am cursed with hopelessly light fingers and when I see some poor lass with her coin purse out in the open I just can't resist. I am willing to repay what I stole in friendship." Kol explained.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This street urchin was the one who pick pocketed me! I could feel myself getting angry. "It was you who stole my money?" I shouted.

Kol still had his hands up. "Ebb, there is no need to get upset over this. There were only a few copper coins in it - hardly worth the bag it was in. I would have gone for the other bag you so carelessly hung next to the coin purse, but I thought you would want to keep your purchase."

"You should have taken that one." I mumbled. I must have had the most rotten luck to meet this thief in a church bell tower of all places.

One corner of his mouth twitched up in the beginnings of a smile. "I'll keep that in mind for next time."

I looked up to glare at him and laughed at the absurdity of it all. He had gone through all the trouble of stealing a few coppers but to be nice he let me keep what I bought when I had wanted him to steal the more expensive item. Then to meet that same person in the most random of places, it was all just so strange. I chalked it up to being one of the many strange things that I was sure would happen while I was in Pharyss. I found I couldn't stay mad, even at the man who stole from me. I was still too excited for the ball to let anything bring me down. "How about you just stop stealing from people?"

Kol grinned, "Would that I could, Ebb. But as I mentioned before, I'm a hopeless thief."

"And here I am in a bell tower with you, I must be insane. I've only just met you and the only thing I know about you is that you are a thief."

He shook his head indignantly. "No, that is not all you know about me. I told you my name."

I rolled my eyes and leaned on the railing, "Since I know you so well, I guess I can just-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence because the railing splintered underneath me and I pitched forward and fell off the platform. I was so surprised I didn't even scream.

And thus Ebony plunged to her doom.

The end.

I'm just kidding. I'm having way too much fun to end it so soon. It's like I want to write right now, but then I also have to sleep and if I did start writing the next chapter would be up in a few hours and I'm not trying to go for a record of how many chapters I can write in a day.

If I don't update before Valentine's Day, just know I love you all!