Weeks passed and I continued to work as General Winter's assistant, writing letters he dictated and accompanying him to events and such while my sister organized his agenda of said events. I was pleased about how my life had turned out; I finally had a real job and could also bring money to our home and continue paying for our little sister's education. In my spare times, the General always called me to his private study (of which I was always mesmerized because of the size and the height of the ceiling, it was like being inside a huge white box) to dance for him and when I was alone in my bedroom, every night after a day of hard work, I always practiced new dance moves for the General.

I realised that I craved for the attention the General gave me. How he would look at me when I danced and how he would clap afterwards, how he would put his hands on my shoulders to congratulate me after a great performance and then slid them down to my backside. It was like being a star. And for him, I was. The most beautiful star, he once said after I dropped to the floor when I finished dancing for him after lunch. My sister was always sent home earlier and I learned how to dance for the General in several rooms of his house. His study was the General's favourite site, but one day I asked to dance in the gallery, where I had dreamed of dancing since the first day I stepped a foot on that house.

"Of course you can, Ivan. You don't even have to ask"

The General had said with a content smile on his face when I gave out a squeal of happiness and ran to the gallery, calling for him over my shoulder, not realising that that was interpreted as flirtatious behaviour. The General had groaned and followed me to the gallery, where I began dancing around with my scarf as a veil, standing and jumping over the reflection of the tall windows that decorated the long corridor. The General had watched me intently and I didn't understand why he was so fond of my dancing, but I didn't care, because when I danced, I felt truly happy and felt no worries.

One day the General was hiding a large box with a small red ribbon from me and when my sister was send home after a day of well-done work, he showed it to me in his private study. I couldn't believe what it was when I saw it for the first time. I thought it was all a dream. General Winter had bought a veil for me! It was a beautiful violet veil. The fabric felt so soft when I gingerly touched them with my delicate fingers, it was too good to be true. Finally I had my own veil and I didn't have to use my scarf as a veil anymore, for I had a real one, and that day I felt happier than in any of my birthdays.

"It matches the colour of your eyes perfectly"

The General said and I hugged him tightly while he was still sitting on his chair, in his usual pose, with his fingers intertwined and his elbows resting on the armrests of the high-back chair. He laughed at my sudden burst of happiness and encouraged me to dance and try my new veil. I removed my coat as I did every time I entered the General's house (as I later discovered, he made his servants light the fire so I would be hot enough to remove my coat and thus he could look at my body more exposed as I only wore a white shirt and brown pants tucked in my snow boots) and left it over the chair I always sat on when I was at the General's private study.

I began dancing slowly, with my back at the General and gyrating my hips as I ran my veil up and down my clothed back. A couple minutes into my dancing, I began noticing how hot it was in the room and opened the first couple buttons of my shirt. The General then stood up from his chair and walked over to me, putting his heavy hand over my much smaller hand, stopping me from removing it from where I had just opened my shirt. I looked at him with those, as he would say, "big and innocent violet eyes" questioningly.

He slowly lowered my hand until it was resting against my hip and I made sure that the veil wouldn't fall off my shoulders by securing it around my wrist. He took his time to admire my pale and smooth skin, which was now visible and could have easily been mistaken by the shirt because of its colour. He opened another button of my shirt and then another and another until he ended up un tucking it from my pants. I was blushing so hard that it covered my face and most of my upper torso. I was so embarrassed, but at the same time I felt something inside of me awaken; something that had been hidden for several years. I was aroused by what the General was doing and I could see his eyes were darkened and he was enjoying what he was doing. He took off one of his gloves and began moving the tip of his index finger up and down my chest, enjoying the feeling of my heated skin.

"Oh, General"

I said through my hand, which had gone up to cover my mouth in embarrassment, for I realised that what I was feeling was the same that the General was feeling, or even more. We were both aroused, but I tried to restrain myself from moaning at the General's touches. Said man leaned down and kissed my tummy, licking around my navel and I lost it. I couldn't keep my arousal to myself, as I moaned a little and then buried my blushing face in my hands. I could feel the General smirking against my skin as he trailed kisses up from my navel to my neck, which was still wrapped around the scarf he gently removed and laid down on the chair, alongside my coat.

My neck was my sensitive spot and I couldn't restrain myself as the General began kissing and biting at the soft skin there. I gripped his shoulders and scratched his back as he pushed me against the wall and licked where he had previously bitten. I had my eyes closed in pure bliss and couldn't stop moaning and sighing. It was heavenly; I had never felt so good in my entire life and at the same time I felt wrong. Like I was doing something terribly wrong, but it felt so good.

"You are so beautiful, Ivan"

And then I experienced my first kiss, with the man for whom I had danced several times, from the man who had hired me and who had my sister under his wing like a father would. His rough lips connected with my soft ones in a passionate kiss which had me melting in the General's embrace. He was so delicate with me, like if I was something that would break if he kissed me hard enough. I could feel something hard poking my thigh and I instantly knew what it was. The kiss lasted a couple seconds, perhaps a minute until he had to pull out because we were out of breath, but for me, it lasted hours, even days. The tingling feeling wouldn't leave my lips, even when I got home after a long walk from General Winter's mansion and my sisters asked me how my day had been.

"It was good; General Winter gave me a lot of work to do"

When I reached my bedroom, I took off my coat and left it on the bed, unwrapping the veil from my middle, as I had been forced to wrap it around me and hide it under my coat in order for my sisters to not notice. When I was about to sleep, I remembered the General's last words.

"Tomorrow, you will see the stars"

I didn't know what that meant.