Maxwell regarded her as she approached. “Good day to you, my lady.”
“Lord Maxwell, always a pleasure.” Anna-Marie offered a soft, polite grin. The lord served as an excellent excuse for her to insert herself into the conversation. She turned to Melody. “You’re the one they call the Angel of the Spring Ball.”
“Oh, my lady, empty platitudes, I assure you. I am Cecilia McMarden, nothing more.”
Melody dropped into one of her trademark curtsies, sparking multiple internal debates around her. She wasn’t a noblewoman? Perhaps the other ladies needed to review their etiquette. Or perhaps she was just that good.
Anna-Marie, however, was immune to such concerns. You’re telling me this is the hottie I missed in spring?! I’m so stupid!
Calm, but not at all recovered, she said, “I’m sorry I missed your dance with the ever-charming Luciana here, but they say all who witnessed it felt whisked away to paradise. I don’t intend to make that mistake again.”
“P-paradise, my lady? I’ll, um, certainly do my best to live up to those expectations.” Melody did what she could to conceal the nervous twitch of her lips. She was not aware “they” had been saying anything at all about her dance with her lady.
Anna-Marie, watchful as ever, did not miss the subtle change in her expression. She took no offense. Pretty girls were pretty. This one so much so that Anna-Marie’s mouth moved before she thought. “I hope you’ll consider me for next year’s same-sex dance.”
“I, um, pardon?”
“If I may!” blurted Luciana. “Terribly sorry, Lady Anna-Marie, but Cecilia is already spoken for next year. And I’m afraid I’m not budging. Even for you.”
Beatrice blanched. “L-Luciana!”
Picking a fight with the perfect lady. Did she have a death wish?
“Oh, is that a fact?” Anna-Marie said.
Sparks flew between them. What would win this confrontation? Luciana’s love of Melody? Or Anna-Marie’s love of women? Truly, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
Unfortunately, they would have to postpone their grudge.
“How about this?” Anna-Marie said. “I’ll pull a few strings with His Highness, extend the same-sex dance to, say, a dozen or so more songs.”
“An excellent idea!” Luciana said. “Then I could dance with Cecilia a dozen times!”
“I was hoping for a compromise.”
I’m going to the ball next year? This was news to Melody. She had a few opinions about it.
“And what does that make us?” Beatrice said. “Chopped liver?”
“I’m expecting a dance too,” said Luna.
“Don’t forget me!” Milliaria chimed in.
It was only then Luciana noticed something. “Lady Anna-Marie, is His Highness not here with you tonight?”
“He sends his regards, but he’s terribly busy,” she replied. “I’m here with my brother, as it happens. Well, I was before he wandered off to say hello to someone. I suspect he’s long said goodbye and resumed the ritual with someone else.”
Luciana looked confused.
“Is something keeping His Highness?” Melody asked for her.
“I suppose Cecilia wouldn’t know, being a commoner,” Beatrice said.
Luciana asked, “Know what?”
“Now, you I can’t make excuses for. It’s the talk of the capital. Wait, yes, I forgot. You were away for the summer.”
“What’s this rumor you speak of, Lady Beatrice?” Melody asked.
“They say there’s a Rordpier princess here in the capital. At this very ball.”
“A Rordpier princess?”
Melody and Luciana turned to Anna-Marie.
“Her Imperial Highness Ciestine van Rordpier, yes,” she confirmed. “Rest assured, Prince Christopher will make an appearance tonight, but escorting the princess.”
“Oh, wow,” Luciana breathed. “Have you met her yet?”
“Me? Oh, no. I’m but the humble daughter of a marquess. I’ll be seeing her for the first time tonight, same as everyone else.”
If even Lady Anna-Marie hasn’t seen her, I’ll bet no one has, Melody thought. But wait a minute.
“Lady Anna-Marie, I thought Rordpier and Theolas were on, well, unfriendly terms.” Melody had perused a number of items in the library during her time as Lect’s assistant at the academy, and one particular record said as much. Albeit in more complicated terms.
“You’re very well-informed for a commoner,” the lady replied. “You’re exactly right. Some hundred years ago, our nations warred, and relations have been strained ever since. Her Imperial Highness’s attendance tonight is meant to be the first step toward repairing that bridge.”
“She’s here to repair relations?” Luciana’s mind connected what few dots presented themselves. “I-is Prince Christopher marrying her?!”
She wasn’t alone in her assumption. Political betrothals were hardly rare. The other ladies eyed Anna-Marie with sympathy and concern.
Anna-Marie didn’t even blink. “We’ve only just begun the process of reparations. If there’s to be a betrothal, it’s a ways off. She’s to begin attending Royal Academy this upcoming semester.”
“Goodness, an imperial princess at the academy,” said Milliaria.
“She’s about our age. You never know, she might end up in your class.”
“Oh, I’d be honored.”
Anna-Marie smiled timidly. A typical reaction from a typical noblewoman. “Realistically, though, we can expect her to end up in Prince Chris—”
Another wave of quiet chaos rippled through the ballroom.
“Who could that be?” Melody said.
She glanced toward the source of the commotion to find the crowd’s next object of fascination coming through the center door, the one reserved primarily for counts.
Anna-Marie’s eyes narrowed. “She’s here.”
Maxwell wore a similar expression.
Melody’s eyes widened as two men and a girl entered the ball. One of the former was tall and rugged, with hair of silver and tidy but nonetheless prominent stubble—the vice-chancellor, Count Cloud Leginbarth. To his left, being escorted by another man with a long, dark ponytail, was a young girl, an ethereal, beautiful girl with hair the same striking shade as the count’s and eyes like the ocean itself.
The girl resembled not just the count but also someone else nearby.
Are you the one? Anna-Marie thought, hope and anxiety mingling in her heart. Are you our heroine? Our Saint?
Meanwhile, Melody had thoughts of her own. Wow. She has my hair and eyes. I wonder if they’re a common combination in this world.
Far less urgent thoughts.