And there she was.
If you weren't looking for her, you would have never seen her; amongst the beautiful faces and elegant ballroom gowns, the serving of drinks and ubiquitous chitter-chatter, it was easy to be lost in the crowd. But most especially for her: the daughter that no one spoke of. It wasn't that she was not nowhere near as beautiful as her three older sisters, or that she was a disgrace to the royal family name in any way. She just let herself fade into the background, and never bothered to try to come out.
But in between the graceful bombardment of women with petty talk, I had been keeping my eye out for her. I had seen her on few occasion, usually with her mother and sister out on royal affairs. Though never having a personal encounter with her, her appearance was etched into my memory: her silk pale skin speckled with the occasional brown freckle; her high cheekbones always colored with a natural pink blush, and an elongated narrow nose to compliment her facial structure; her curly reddish-brown hair always tied into an elegant bun on the top of her head, with perfect stands left out to cascade across her face and down her neck. How such an alluring person could go so unnoticed was incomprehensible to me.
When I spotted her, she was off in the corner, by the edge of the curving stairwell: a place that no one would look. I bid farewell to the two young ladies whom were speaking with me, and made my way over to her. She was fiddling with her gloves, and slightly jumped in suprise when I approached her.
"My apologies," I said. "I had no intention to startle you."
"No worry," she said, folding her hands and resting them in her lap and looking off to the distance. It was the first time I had heard her speak, and her voice was far more sweeter than I could have ever imagined. I cleared my throat and took a seat in the chair next to her.
"Surely you know who I am," I began, not knowing how else to start.
"Of course I do. You are the first grandson of Madame De'Jonnettte. Alderic, is that not so?"
"It is."
Silence. This was not going as well as I had anticipated. Unlike her sisters, or most other women, she did not snatch the opportunity to speak when spoken to. Her gaze remained straight ahead the entire time. Her short, straightforward answers made me hunger to interact with her more.
"Why do you not drink and dance like the rest of the folk?" I asked, hoping to get a longer response from her.
For the first time, she looked at me in the eyes, but only briefly. I caught a glimpse of her emerald green orbs, before she turned away again and answered, "I suppose I am just not like the rest of the folk."
I leaned forward. "And how so?"
She looked up to me again, noticing my change in proximity. Surely by now she had noticed my interest. She hesitated, then sighed and said, "You shouldn't pursue things that you truly don't care to know."
"Oh, but I do! I care to know quite a bit more about you." It was time to stop prancing around my desires. At this, I gently picked up her right hand and softly kissed it.
When I lifted my head, I met her gaze. "And what is it that you already know about me?"
I kept her hand in my possession, gently stroking the silk material of her glove with my thumb. "I know that you are the last born daughter to Sir Franck and Madame Esther, of the Roparzh family, who are the crownholders of--"
She laughed a soft purr and removed her hand from my possession. "Oh dear, please. If such descriptions are the first to slip your tongue when speaking of I, thou knows nothing of I at all."
In my head, I silently panicked. But I calmly reclaimed her hand, placing one hand underneath and the other on top. "As I've said before, I would be honored to get to know you more."
By now, her mouth was morphed into a small devilish smirk. I could tell that I had finally clearly conveyed myself, as she was looking my over. Thankful I had taken my maid's advice on the choice of outfit, I sat up a little, straighter, so that she could see every stitch of the handmade suit tailored by the most renowned seamstress in all of Europe. Once her eyes made their way to look at mine, I was ready to make my final move.
"Would you do me the honor of a dan--"
"Have you ever seen the upper levels of the palace?" she interrupted me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. At a brief loss of words, I responded, "Well..no, I don't believe I have."
"Oh, that's such a shame! You absolutely have to see it; it's marvelous. As a matter of fact, it would be my honor to act as your personal escort and show you the inner parts of the palace. And then," she said, taking my hand and gently placing it in her lap, "Perhaps we would have time to explore the lower levels of the castle as well."
I was following on quite loosely to what she was saying, until she placed my hand on her gown. My stare moved from my hand, up to her face. By now, her facial expression was completely elegant, but I could quite surely see some devilish ulterior motive in her green eyes. Was I imagining her obscene implications?
Before I could finish processing the last few moments, she rose from her chair and held out her arm, hand slightly bent, waiting for me to take it. Flabbergasted, I looked up at her, hoping for some sign of the end of this cruel joke. But her head was turned away from me; all I could see was her exposed smooth neck. Not knowing whether to curse the heavens or say a thankful prayer, I stood up, and took hold of her gloved hand. Not once looking back at me, she gracefully led me up the wide curving stairwell, to learn the secrets that lie in the depths of the Roparzh palace, which could potentially expose more than just the majestic architecture of the inner crevices of the castle.
