"Presenting Duke Philip Cygnus of East Cilane with his wife Duchess Valentine Cygnus of East Cilane and their son, Lord Adam Cygnus and their daughters, Lady Dawn Cygnus and Lady Freya Cygnus!" the host bellowed through the room, the trumpet blaring. The family walk down the stairs together.

At the bottom, Freya said, "It's so annoying that my name is after yours because of alphabetical order! I mean, we're twins!"

"How does it matter?" said Dawn. Freya sighed in frustration. Finally, Dawn looked at the scene unfolding in front of her. It was magnificent. The royal ballroom of Cilane was decorated with glittering chandeliers and colorful ribbons of all kind. It was filled with hundreds of people. All of their outfits were as grand as her own, if not grander.

"Lady Dawn, Lady Freya, you look exquisite!" squealed a voice from behind them. Dawn and Freya turned around to find the voice belonged to Lady Marianne. Even though Marianne was a year older to them, she acted very childish when it came to balls and ball gowns and anything else pretty.

"Lady Marianne, so nice to see you!" Dawn said, glancing at Freya and then her brother who was smiling broadly. His cheeks were slightly red... Dawn bit down a smirk. It was not time to tease her brother.

"Yes, how are you? We haven't talked in a long time!" said Freya politely. Lady Marianne giggled.

"Why don't we sit down! The dance will only begin in another 10 minutes, after an announcement by King Edward!" She said, excited. Dawn and Freya smiled.

"Sure," said Dawn. The went and sat at a table and spent time chatting about each other's dresses.

"Hey, did you hear about what the white knight did last night?" asked Lady Marianne. Both sisters nodded. Dawn immediately smiled with a twinkle in her eye.

"He's so brave!" Lady Marianne exclaimed, "It's no wonder he's competition for Prince Christopher. They call him the red knight. We don't know who's better - the white knight or the red knight. They haven't met, I think." Freya nodded again, listening to Marianne talk. You're wrong, Dawn thought.

"My mother was so annoyed by all the chatter in the marketplace today. I swear she was about to burst!" said Freya. Lady Marianne giggled again, her curly blonde hair bouncing.

CLINK, CLINK. Everybody looked up to see the King standing with his arms raised.

"A toast," he said, "To all the new participants of court! To all the young men and women out here whose first time it is to attend a ball!"

"That's us." said Freya, nudging Dawn who then nodded back.

"Unfortunately, my children Prince Christopher and Princess Evelyne will not be joining us today as I promised. They will be here at the New Year's Festival which is in a month and the following Spring Ball next year, on February the 5th!" King Edward explained. A cheer erupted from the crowd and every stood up to give a standing ovation. The King bowed and the crowd quieted down.

The air was still unsettled because even though it had been 6 years since the late Queen Regina had passed away, it was awkward when the only member of the royal family attending the ball was the King. Everyone was hoping to see the Prince and Princess. However, the gloom passed and the surroundings turned into vibrant chaos as everybody scurried to find a dancing partner.

"Excuse me Lady Dawn, may I ask your hand in the first dance?" a young man came up to her. Freya grinned at her and Dawn shot back a glare.

"Of course. What's your name again?" she asked, politely.

"I'm Robert Bronson, a knight in training."

"Oh," Dawn said looking to Freya again.

"He was probably the shirtless one who made that mistake with the sword..." Freya whispered, unable hide the grin that was forming on her face and Dawn blushed. But before Freya could make a fool out of her sister, Robert whisked Dawn away. Freya was probably right. Robert did have the same black hair.

Dawn smiled politely again and they began dancing to the music. Clearly, it was awkward for Robert because Dawn was taller than him. She was taller than most guys. She was almost as tall as her brother, who was about 6 feet tall. Dawn, took pride in being tall - it meant her mother wouldn't force her to wear high heels. If she did, she would be taller than almost everyone in the room. Most girls were around Lady Marianne's height who was almost 7 inches shorter than her! Her sister was much taller than Lady Marianne, but still shorter than Dawn

The music's pace started increasing and poor Robert had a hard time keeping up with Dawn. Instead of slowing down, she let go of him and twirled on her own, laughing. Suddenly, she bumped into another person.

"Ouch, sorry." she said, turning around and grabbing hold of the person's hand so they wouldn't fall. When she looked up, she found herself staring straight into the face of a blonde boy, probably her age - 17.

"It's fine." he said, slowly steadying himself and then Dawn.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Dawn nodded. She looked into his face more closely.

"Your eyes are really pretty. They're forest green." she said.

The boy looked at her confused.

"Thank you..." he muttered. She blushed.

"Sorry about that... Hey, I never caught your name." she said.

"I'm Justin. You?" he asked.

"Dawn. Nice to meet you Justin." she replied. He smiled.

"You too."

The music suddenly stopped and Dawn realized she had left her dance partner. She looked around and found him sulking in a corner.

"I've got to go check on Robert..." she said to Justin, "I'll catch you later!" Justin nodded and she walked over to Robert.

"Hey, Robert. Sorry I left you..." she started.

"Whatever. It's fine. You're too tall for me anyway. Dancing with you was weird." he said. Dawn smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry..." she muttered. Robert got up and then walked away. Dawn sighed and went to Freya who was sitting by the balcony.

"Well? How's it going? It's our first ball..." said Freya.

"Let's say it could be better. My dance partner ran away cause I'm quote-un-quote, too tall for him." Dawn replied sighing. "But I did make a new friend today. Kind of... His name is Justin. And guess what! He's the same height as me! Not shorter!" she said.

"Oooohhh...." joked Freya, "Someone's excited about her new friend..." Dawn rolled her eyes.

"What about you?" she asked Freya.

"Nothing much... it's just this really good looking guy named Elliot asked me if I could dance with him all four times..." her sister said.

"WHAT?!?", Dawn almost yelled back. Freya put a finger to her sister's mouth.

"Shhhhhhh." she said.

"Well?!?" demanded Dawn.

"Well, what? I said yes. Let's hope I don't get bored. Anyways, I spotted little Lady Marianne and MR. Adam-who-is-our-brother, dancing together - swoony eyes and all." said Freya. Dawn looked thoughtful for a while.

"I guess having Marianne as a sister-in-law wouldn't be bad..." she pointed put.

Freya rolled her eyes, "It would be a giggle party everyday! A pain, I tell you." The sisters talked some more and then returned to the table.

The next dance was with her father. It was a pleasant one. No annoying complaints about being too short from her father. The time passed normally enough and by the end of it, Dawn felt very hungry.

"Freya, want to grab something to eat?" Dawn asked her sister, who agreed. They walked towards the buffet and grabbed an assortment of foods - chicken pot pie, sandwiches and fruit tarts. Dawn tried her best not to stuff herself. It was hard because the royal palace food was amazing.

"Dawn, relax. We have time." said Freya looking at Dawn weirdly.

"Mmhmm..." replied Dawn slowing down a bit. After eating they walked around the room and had reached their table when the trumpet blared, giving a 2 min warning to the third dance.

"My lady, may I have the third dance with you?" said a voice. Dawn looked up to see a young man standing in front of her, a good 4 inches short. Dawn nodded, agreeing.

"You must be Lord Benjamin." she replied, slowly standing up and taking his hand. "Aren't you Count and Countess Lanchestor's son?" asked Dawn. Lord Benjamin nodded.

Even though Benjamin and Marianne look alike, Marianne is much, much, much better looking, she thought to herself, noticing the sweat droplets dripping down Benjamin's small face.

Unfortunately for Dawn, Benjamin wasn't the most ideal partner either. 5 min through the dance, he had stepped on Dawn's foot about 7 times. On the 8th time, Dawn let out an exasperated sigh. A few more minutes passed by with more and more mistakes made by Benjamin. He was sweating profusely by then.

"Ouch," yelped Dawn for the 20th time.

"Enough!" she yelled.

She brought her left leg high and stamped him on his foot.

"How does it feel? Not so good, right!" she said, snatching her hand from his and storming away. By then the dance was over anyways, so she headed towards the table. Before reaching, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find herself face to face with Justin again.

"Hi." she said.

"Hey, what happened? I say what you did to poor old Benjamin." he replied. "Nothing. Do you know how many times he stepped on my foot! I got sick of it and did it back." she declared.

"You may have hit him harder than you thought. Poor guy's foot is all red." he said.

"Mine is too." she debated.

"Want me to carry you to safety, my lady?" he asked with a grin.

"No, thank you. I might just accidentally punch you on the face if you try." she said, grinning right back.

And you wouldn't get back up... she thought to herself.

"If you're leg isn't that injured my lady, may I ask your hand in the last dance?" he asked with a genuine smile.

"Why, you certainly may." Dawn. He took her hand and led her to the middle of the dance room. The music started and they began dancing. He wasn't that bad of a dancing partner.

Freya spotted her and waved and then looked at Dawn questionably. Is that him? she mouthed to Dawn. Dawn nodded back, smiling.

"Was that you sister?" asked Justin. Dawn nodded.

"She doesn't look a bit like you. And here I thought you came from a fairy realm." he said smiling softly.

"And I thought you were a mermaid. But I guess both of us were wrong." she said. He chuckled.

"Are you a knight too?" she asked.

He nodded, "I am. But I was on a short break - kind off. I injured my shoulder a week ago and it'll take a few more days to heal before I can start fighting again."

"Oh," she said, "Are you good?"

"Quite," he replied, "If I say so myself. But the prince is better than me. Better than anyone. Except the white knight maybe." Dawn bit down a smile for that. The hidden compliments she kept getting made her happier - it was a much better feeling than her mother's constant nagging. But it was fine. Her mother did love her.

The music started to speed up again.

"Would you like to twirl, my lady?" Justin asked Dawn. She grinned, nodding. He twirled her and her dress fanned out.

"You look beautiful..." he muttered.

"Thank you," she said, "Now, it's your turn!"

"You - want to twirl me?" he asked questionably.

She laughed, "Yes, it's fun!" He held her finger and moved in a circle.

"Okay...maybe you just stick to it... You look better anyways." She burst into laughter and he couldn't stop himself from laughing with her. Both of them went to the table and sat down together. Justin was in the middle of telling a joke when the King appeared again with an announcement.

"Hello all, I hope all of you enjoyed the night! Now, I'm sure all of you were wondering why the entire royal family couldn't be here. Well, we are rethinking our kingdoms' safety and protection. Actually, we wish to meet with the white knight for a discussion about it. We were hoping that the knight or someone the knight knows is present here today and is willing to come to the castle tomorrow morning for an audience. Please spread the news. Have a good week everyone!" said King Edward.

The crowd's whispers was louder than their applause. However, this is what the King wanted. He wanted word to spread so the white knight would hear about it.

---

Dawn was stunned. The King? Wanted an audience with her? What am I going to do!?! she panicked. She breathed in deeply and then out. It will be fine, she told herself as her family was guided through the doors to the carriages waiting for them.

As soon as she got home, she changed and ran to her sisters room.

"Freya. Are you there? Can I talk to you?" she asked, knocking lightly on the door.

"Yes. Come in." Freya said. She was brushing her hair on her bed. "What's up?" she asked. "Well... Okay, I'm going to be honest." said Dawn looking down. Freya nodded, waiting.

"Um... you know the white knight people are talking about. Well, that's me." Dawn said. She looked up to see her sister's reaction.

"At last! God, do you know how annoying it is to know you're the white knight and not do anything about it!" she exclaimed.

"I know right!" replied Dawn, "Wait, you knew?"

"Obviously. I mean, I'm your sister. I put it together easily." Freya said.

Dawn nodded, "You heard the King right. What should I do?"

"I say, you should go. I mean what harm's going to come from it?" asked Freya.

"Well, for starters, they're going to expect the knight to be a boy!" replied Dawn.

"Uh, there's this thing called a wig. And you have a manly enough voice if you try. Just stuff something inside your shirt for a flat chest. It's easy enough." Freya insisted.

"But, it'll be awkward and uncomfortable..." grumbled Dawn.

"You'll be fine. Come on! It's so interesting! Please?" Freya begged.

"Okay..." grumbled Dawn. "Look, you sound so manly, I almost thought you were Adam." said Freya smiling. Dawn sighed in frustration.

"Anyways, I need to give you something." said Freya, walking towards her cupboard. She brought out a small box with a necklace and a bracelet.

"Where did you get those?" Dawn asked.

They were beautiful. The stones were icy blue mixed with a little of turquoise. It matched both of their eyes perfectly.

"It's an heirloom. I found it in a dusty old drawer in Grandmother's old room. And guess what! They turn green and become warm when someone is lying and stay blue when someone is telling the truth!" she whispered.

"They're magical! Amazing! And also, why are we whispering?" Dawn whispered back.

"Because it's a secret between us. The bracelet is mine and the necklace is for you." Freya told her.

"Really? Thank you!" Dawn exclaimed. Freya gently took it out of the box and put it on Dawn. "I'll never take it off." said Dawn with a smile on her face. Freya smiled back.

"Come on, it's time to turn you into a boy!" she said grinning. Dawn rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling too.

--+--