The Midnight Ball

5

Note: Ramonda, just picture her with longer hair
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The men led them through a strange forest, with trees made of silver and gold, bearing what seemed to be diamonds, instead of fruit or nuts

She tried not to look at them too much, no one else was paying them any attention

They reached a wide clearing, and suddenly, a sweet melody was heard, though there were no instruments, and no one else to play

Each one of the men bowed to a princess, the princesses curtsied

And they started dancing, and dancing, and dancing

It was a whirlwind and soon Ismie lost herself to it

Till suddenly it stopped

The hour tolled 5..

It was sunrise

They were lead back to the shore, and sailed to the other shore, entered the opening, ascending the stairs, and finally reached the closed door just as it opened

Elinore welcomed them back

Ismie found them all looking at each other, wondering why they felt so tired, and their feet hurt so, strangely she couldn't remember what happened that night, she had only a vague feeling, that there might have been dancing

Upon inspecting their aching feet, they were astonished at the state of their slippers, for they were worn almost to ribbons

The Pembroughs exchanged a look, and promised to replace their slippers as soon as possible

The girls were left to rest, and were not disturbed till lunch

After they had their meal, they gathered in the grand hall

Ismie started asking, if anyone remembered anything

They told her they did not

She emphasized: Nothing?

They confirmed

Elinore cleared her throat: It's better not to talk about it

Ismie: I never understood that, why wouldn't anyone talk about it?

Anushka replied with a haunted look: At first, people would ask, but they never got an answer

Mariko continued: And whenever someone try to dig harder into it, something bad would befall them

Ismie was silent for a while..

Then she thought out loud: So no one remembers..

Margarette came, lowering her voice: They already told you that, or is it too hard for a simpleton like you to understand

Ismie ignored her

Ramonda was looking at them, her gaze was inquisitory, but she was too polite to ask

The subject was dropped, and soon there was to be a dance

The princes joined them

Navid came and asked Ismie to dance

He was interesting, witty and funny

She had a great time

They danced twice. Then he was obliged to dance with other girls, and he did

She was approached then by Ferdinand, who smiled at her charmingly. He was very handsome, he even had dimples

Yet, as much as he tried to put her at ease, she couldn't help but being nervous

He chatted with her as if he wanted to get to know her, but she answered him with as short as answers were allowed to be by propriety

Unlike her conversation with Navid, which was open, as if they were old friends

It was not all dancing, the princesses were beseeched to exibit their musical talents

They were all proficient, in almost everything, but Ismie's one saving grace was a pretty singing voice. It wasn't gorgeous, but it was better than some

Margarette, who passed right behind her whispered: Oh look, at least you have some accomplishment. I was rather starting to think you were talentless