Alexis held back for a moment, wondering what to say. A simple ‘hello’ would have sufficed, but that would be so incredibly dull. While he hesitated, he took in her appearance. She was fairly tall, only an inch or so shorter than he was, with brown eyes and light brown hair, and her skin was not pale like that of the noblewomen who stayed inside for the most part of every day. She was enjoying herself, taking small bites of some kind of pastry, and when he approached she turned to face him with a look of slight wariness.

“Does that taste so nice that you’d rather eat than dance?” He accompanied his words with a smile.

“Well, I haven’t a clue what it is, but I certainly wouldn’t mind getting the recipe,” the girl replied. Her voice was mellow, not high-pitched or grating.

The prince laughed. Her words were bluntly honest, with a hint of playfulness. He got the feeling she didn’t know who he was. “I’m afraid I don’t know what it is either, nor how to make it. So it’s not just that you don’t fancy dancing then? Miss…?”

“Martha, you can call me Martha. I don’t dislike dancing, exactly, but I’ve only ever danced with my sister, and to be honest I’d rather just watch her dance.” Martha glanced over at the dancers, presumably looking at said sister.

“Ah, so you’re here with your sister.”

“Yes. Are you here with anyone, a sister, or a brother? Also, what’s your name, since you know mine?”

She definitely didn’t know who he was. It was quite refreshing, and it made him smile, a sincere, unintentional smile. “You may be the only person here who doesn’t know. I suppose you weren’t paying much attention earlier.” He suddenly remembered why she had seemed more familiar than most. “Wait, that’s right, you must be that girl who took such an interest in the gardens. I remember she had a blue dress like yours.”

“Wait, how do you know I liked the gardens? And you haven’t exactly answered my question!” Her words suggested irritation, but she kept the playful tone, and he found himself matching her.

“Yes, well, it’s not many people who would be so interested in them that they wouldn’t even look at the princes. As for me, my name is Alexis.”

“What, so you were around too, then? Oh well, it doesn’t matter. So why aren’t you dancing, Alexis? There are plenty of fair maidens for you to choose from, after all.”

“Actually I- Never mind, you’re right, it doesn’t matter.” If Martha didn’t know he was a prince, then there was no real need to tell her. “Can’t a man take a break? If I did every dance they’d be dragging me out along with some of those poor women. Not everyone has the stamina for dancing, but even with stamina you still need to pace yourself. This arrangement is quite tiring for the men, you know.”

“They should have let everyone attend, then, not just the maidens. That way the men wouldn’t be so outnumbered.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s one solution, but there would still be the problem of fitting everyone in. Also, this way at least one of every pair will know how to dance.”

“Some of us commoners can dance just fine, you know. Maybe we can’t twirl as well as you noblemen but we can certainly keep up!”

This girl had spirit. He was liking her more and more. “I wasn’t meaning to insult your abilities. As my apology, won’t you dance with me?”

“If being asked to dance counted as a treat then it might do as an apology, but it seems like you’d be happier about it than I would. Also, I was hoping to talk to my sister once this dance finishes.” She turned back to scan the dancing couples.

“There are still a couple of hours left, you’ll have plenty of time to talk to her.” He really didn’t want her to leave. He was dreading the thought of approaching yet another girl.

Martha found who she was looking for. “In that case, there’s plenty of time for more dances. If you ask me later, I might oblige.” And with those words she walked away, not even looking back to see him watching her as she joined another young lady.

He liked this girl. He had liked the dark-haired girl too, but it was different somehow. If he had to describe it, he would have said that with Maria, he would choose to talk to her over talking to someone else; with Martha he would choose to talk to her over not talking to anyone at all.

And so, after she had danced with the other girl, and Markus had kept half his mind on them and the other half on leading two different strangers in the polka, he approached her again.