Twelve Dancing Princesses

Prologue

Her eyes burned wicked, like a candle in the darkest hallways of the dungeons where no life lingered except the candle that prevailed in the dark. Her smile added a wicked allure and I watched. Lost in that cunning gaze as she faded in and out of the crowd that stood between us both, blocking my passing as I was pulled towards like a moth to a flame.

She moved along the edge of the crowd, eyes searing, burning a fury and a distraught look passed across her features that was a brief glimmer. I could see beneath the intricate lace of her mask and people that danced past my vision, taking away any sight of her until I was lost in a sea of twinkling lights, candleflames, lace and vibrant music. The sounds were a cacophony in my ear that brought the forbidden tremors of fear and memory too close to home.

I focused, I tried to focus on looking through a sea of faces half hidden behind lace or porcelain masks and smiling lips and cunning, twinkling eyes, trying to find any sight of those eyes that one could drown in without care or fear. Taking care to not bump into dancers that twirled and danced around, throwing me for a dizzying loop as though the room was spinning alone. Until I finally found balance out of the spinning crowd, my vision slowing down and it finally came to a quiet standstill.

She stood before me. Standing on the steps so she stood half a head over me. There no more than a couple inches between us, the air was tight, it was hard to breathe. Her expression softened but there was still that wicked smirk gracing her face. She leaned in close until her forehead resting against mine and I felt myself release a frozen breath, and I took in the scent of lavender and something intoxicating, I wanted to drown in it. She hummed a soft tune in my ear, a sound that drowned out the music behind me and for once, I felt more at ease than I had in years.

"You made it."