Dreamily, I walked up the stairs to the Crocodile Room. When Giselle asked what had kept me, I answered her and told that I was going to the ball with the prince himself. I'm sure she scowled and spewed some spiteful words about how horrible I was, but I did not hear. My head was spinning with images of dancing with the prince and entering with him. Everyone would see me on his arm. I drifted through my nightly routine of washing and getting into my night clothes. When I woke up there would be a package arriving for me that held a beautiful dress that I would wear to the ball that I was attending with the prince. My thoughts circled around that one fact until I fell asleep to wonderful dreams.

Just as he had promised, a dress was waiting for me when I returned from my morning bath. It was sitting in the center of my makeshift bed. After not being asked to the ball by the prince the previous night, Giselle had agreed to go with Jack from the inn. He had asked her at dinner the previous night and begrudgingly she agreed. She was expecting Christian to ask her. Hector would take Victoria to the ball since he had asked the first day of the tournament when they had a few moments alone. Giselle had gone out with Jack to purchase matching attire to wear and I could hear Victoria humming happily in her room as she brushed her hair. I was free to open my dress in peace.

I peeled away the tissue paper that was wrapped around the dress inside. I pulled the silky fabric free and held it up. The gold dress shimmered in the light. It was in a style similar to what they wore across the seas in Conan. Its high waist was wrapped in a thin sequined ribbon that turned into a crossing pattern across the open back. The sleeves were loose and billowing down until the golden cuff at the wrist. The skirt was double-ruffled and floated gracefully to the floor. Accompanying the dress in the box was a pair of golden slippers. With such an extravagant dress, jewelry would not be needed. I admired the fabric and twirled in the mirror. I could barely contain the small cry of excitement as I once again imagined how perfect this night would be.

I put on the outfit and reveled in how wonderful it felt to wear. In my excitement I had missed the small scroll of paper that was lying in the bottom of the box. It was tied together with a thin golden ribbon. It read: I hope the dress is to your liking. I will be arriving by coach to the Gilded Leopard at exactly half past seven this evening. Meet me there, my golden princess.

His golden princess. I liked the sound of that and clutched the paper to my chest and spun around again. I could hardly wait until this evening and the hours stretched out so it seemed like nearly an eternity away. I busied myself with making sure I looked as good as possible to match the dress. I braided my long dark hair and let it drape over one shoulder. I even went so far as to sneak into Giselle's room and use some of the golden glitter I knew she kept in her makeup kit. She would not miss the tiny amount that I adorned my cheeks with. I returned her things to exactly the position I had found them in.

Victoria was still in her room doing whatever it was she did to prepare for a ball. There was less than an hour until Christian would arrive for me. Neither of them had tried to stop me from attending the ball with Christian and I hoped it stayed that way. The minutes passed painfully slowly as I sat and watched the clock. I had tried to read to pass the time but every few seconds I would still glance up at the clock. I reviewed myself in the mirror again and again. I thought I looked well enough and imagined myself as Christian's golden princess.

It was while I was doing one final one over in the mirror that Victoria came out of her room. It was two minutes before the half hour. I felt ugly in comparison to her beauty. She had curled her red hair and carefully arranged it around a sparkling headband that matched her dress. The dress fit her perfectly, of course. Its flared skirt only accentuated her tiny waist. The dress had long sleeves that ended in a point on the back of her hands. The wide neck line was lined with elegant white ribbon with a swirling pattern that matched the subtle pattern on the aquamarine colored dress. Next to her I felt like a child playing dress up. Upon seeing me, Victoria turned up her nose in distaste. Still, I did not think my dress warranted such a reaction from her.

"Where did you get that dress, Ebony?" She sniffed. She did not even look at me when she spoke and was instead examining herself in a small hand held mirror. "Are you trying to blind everyone with the shine?"

"For your information, this dress was a gift from Prince Christian. It is he who will be accompanying me to the ball in just a few moments. As a matter of fact he is probably waiting for me to come downstairs right now." I huffed. I turned on my heel and left the room.

Behind me Victoria sighed and followed me. "Tonight I will be looking through your things to find the poison you used on the prince that possessed him to ask you to a ball and not Giselle. Honestly, I do not know what he sees in you if it is not a spell you put him under. You look like a knobby statue in that dress. It is much too garish and overstated."

I crossed my arms in an attempt to hide the dress and myself from her scrutiny. "Christian picked it out for me." I countered. "Would it be so ugly if Giselle was wearing it?"

"Giselle would never wear something so hideous." Victoria bluntly stated.

In the hall there were others walking out and milling around before the ball. Each couple wore outfits that complimented each other and I wondered what Christian would be wearing that would compliment mine.

I saw him standing next to his brother. He was also garbed in an exotic style of clothes. His well muscled arms were bared as he wore only a golden vest over flared golden pants. We both definitely matched each other. I smiled. It didn't matter what Victoria said, Christian and I would be the golden couple. Once we neared, I saw that he also wore the curled shoes that were a trade mark of Conan. His smile met mine as I approached.

Christian bowed, "There she is, my golden princess."

Beside him, Hector smiled at me and then turned back to where Victoria stood. He matched her well in his similarly colored suit. He took her hand and kissed her fingers in greeting. Momentarily Christian followed his brother's example and took my hand in his. The two princes led us to where one royal coach was waiting.

"I thought we could share a coach tonight," Christian said as we all sat down on the lavish seats inside as the driver urged the horses onward.

Hector had not let go of Victoria's hand since he helped her into the carriage. Currently his thumb was making lazy circles on her skin while she glared at me. Christian was adjusting his vest when Hector tilted his head towards Victoria, "Sweetheart, you are looking terribly jealous right now. Perhaps you feel that you are with the wrong prince this evening?"

Victoria jumped and smiled meekly at Hector. I grinned at his smooth way of calling her on her treatment of me. "Of course I don't think that. There is no one I would rather be with tonight." She quickly defended herself. "It is just that I was thinking how my sister so wanted to attend the ball with a prince tonight as well."

"Isn't Ebony your sister as well?" Hector gently asked.

Victoria fumbled over her words for a moment. I watched to see how she could possibly explain herself. "Well, er, yes, I suppose she is, but the sister I was referring to was Giselle. It has always been her dream to attend a ball with a handsome prince. I am sad that she is not here with us."

I caught the words Victoria left unsaid. She is sad that it was not Giselle here instead of me. I turned my eyes down and looked at my lap. In the edge of my vision, Hector's thumb was still moving against Victoria's hand. "Are you not happy that Ebony is here? My brother invited her for a reason. I'm sure your sister could get any number of equally fine men with her beauty and charm." Hector soothed.

I expected Victoria to argue about how Giselle deserved to be here instead of me and how she suspected I had poisoned Christian, but she merely smiled shyly. I had never seen Victoria as demure as she was now. She did not raise the topic again and even stopped sending me mean glances. She devoted all her attention to Hector and their conversation.

"Who is Giselle going to the ball with tonight?" Christian looked up from his vest and asked. "If she was so set on my invitation, will she even be attending tonight?"

I nodded. "She has accepted the invitation of a young man at the inn named Jack. Giselle wouldn't miss a ball for anything. I'm glad that you invited me though."

Christian beamed. "We had so much fun in the caves and then I barely had a chance to see you at the last ball so I thought tonight I would make sure that we could be together. No one will doubt that you are with me since it is a match and we match so wonderfully. This time, we will have more than one measly dance."

Ugh, writer's block. It seems that if it's not one thing it's another that rears its ugly head and makes me not want to write. I had to grind this last chapter out from between rusty wheels in my head. Hopefully, once I'm not so tired I will be able to write much faster.