Iliana waited a little while before she was sure her mother was asleep, then she lit the lamp that sat on her nightstand, and sat there with the red envelope in her hands. Should she open it? She had told Celsey that she’d tell her what it said. And tomorrow Dray would want to know what she thought of it.

I have to read it. Iliana took a big breath, opened the flap and took out the card, but she didn’t look at it. On the count of three, she told herself. One. Two… Two-and-a-half…Two-and-three-quarters…Two-and… Oh, the heck with it! Three!!! She looked down at the card. In scrawling, looping, golden letters it read:

You have been Invited to attend the Thyme Ball,

Being held on the 27^th of September.

A Feast will be served, along with Dancing

& other Entertainment. Please arrive on time

At Seven-Thirty in the Evening. Sincerely,

Assorted Lords & Ladies of the Court of the King.

Iliana couldn’t believe it. Was this Dray’s way of asking her to go to the ball with him? Wasn’t he performing at the ball? She didn’t understand exactly what this meant, but the only way to know would be to ask. Iliana didn’t know how to dance, and she was sure she didn’t have a proper dress to wear! She could always say no, but then she pictured his sad face. No, she couldn’t tell him no. What was she going to do?

She put out the lamp and lay in bed, thinking. Finally she fell asleep, to be woken up several hours later by the same twisted face that had had been plaguing her for weeks.

The next day Iliana told Celsey she’d tell her about the card later that night, which was met with an exasperated sigh and a profound pout. But Iliana still didn’t know exactly what was meant by the invitation, and didn’t want her friend to run rampant with theories like she herself had the night before.

When Dray picked her up from the trolley station he didn’t say anything about the card, and Iliana finally found the courage to bring it up when they had nearly reached the meadow.

“So…about the invitation…”

“So you did read it?” Dray asked. Iliana nodded. Dray was looking at her expectantly, and she decided to just air all of her worries.

“The thing is… I don’t know how to dance, and I don’t have a nice dress, and I’ll probably embarrass myself more than anything, and…” she stopped when she saw him smiling at her.

“Are those the only problems?” he asked. “Would you go with me if you knew how to dance, had a dress, and if I promised to embarrass myself far worse than you ever could yourself?” He was teasing her now.

“Maybe… except for that last part. You don’t have to embarrass yourself.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Wait, what?”

“You will go with me if I teach you how to dance and get you a dress.” Dray said it as a statement, not a question, and he seemed so happy that Iliana didn’t argue with him, though she wasn’t sure if she actually wanted to argue.

Imagine that, me, going to a ball. Iliana couldn’t help but smile back at Dray.

It was as busy as ever at the shop, but Dray still came by that afternoon, pushing his way through the crowd to give her a flower like always.

“I’ll teach you how to dance this Saturday, then we can go buy you a dress,” he said before he left again.

“You don’t have to-” she started to say, but he’d already turned away from the counter and in no time he was lost from sight.

That night when she walked home with Celsey, her friend demanded to know about the card.

“Dray’s taking me to the ball next Saturday.” Celsey’s mouth hung open.

“What!!! You have got to be the luckiest person alive! How do you get so lucky?” Iliana smiled goofily.

“I just am, I guess.”

“So what are you going to wear?”

“I don’t know. Dray’s going to take me shopping on Saturday.”

“Can I come?” Celsey clasped her hands in front of her, effectively begging to be allowed to tag along. “If you let me come, you’ll only to owe me one favor!”

“I suppose so. I’ll have to ask Dray-”

“Yay!” Celsey hugged Iliana, seemingly not hearing the part about asking for permission. “You’re the best friend ever!” Iliana decided to let it go, and they chatted about dresses all the way to Celsey’s house. Iliana knew she would have to tell her mother, and she wondered if Rose would want to come dress shopping, too.

“Mother,” Iliana said during supper.

“Yes?”

“Dray has asked me to go to the ball with him.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” Silence. “Well, what do you think?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, Iliana. You are plenty old enough to make your own decisions.” Rose smiled at her daughter, and Iliana smiled back.

“On Saturday Dray’s going to teach me how to dance, and then he’s going to buy a dress for me. I don’t want him to, but I think he’d buy me one anyway, so I thought I might as well pick one I’d like. Celsey wanted to come with us, but I should probably ask Dray about that.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind, he’s so accommodating. And if Celsey goes, I’m definitely coming too.” Iliana chuckled.

“It’ll be quite the outing then.”

When she woke up on Saturday morning she was nervous. Not about the dress shopping, Dray was of course willing to let everyone come along with them. It was the dancing. Of course Dray would be so polite and probably say she was a natural, but she would know she stunk.

Dray picked her up early so they would have enough time to pick fresh flowers from the meadow and get all the cleaning done before her first ever dance lesson. All of the chores were done in a timely manner, and the only thing left to do was to hang up the laundry to dry on the clothesline out in the tiny backyard. Iliana insisted on doing that herself, since some of her underclothes were in there, and she was not quite that comfortable with Dray. While she hung up the clothes, Dray busied himself with washing the dishes from lunch.

When Iliana opened the door to go back inside, music floated through the air to her ears. She went into the kitchen to find that Dray had pushed the table and chairs up against the wall, and that he had set up a record-player on the counter. He was bent over, fiddling with it, trying to make it play louder, she guessed. He looked up as she entered.

“Ah, there you are,” he said, straightening. “It’s time for your first dancing lesson.” He held out a hand, and Iliana took it.

“I apologize in advance for stepping on your toes.”

“Oh, stop it,” Dray said, chuckling. “Have you ever tried to dance before?”

“No…”

“Well then, how do you know you can’t do it if you’ve never tried?” When he put it that way, it made Iliana feel a little better.

First Dray told her the basics of how to hold her arms and where her hands should go. Then he showed her the 1-2-3 technique. Surprisingly, Iliana didn’t step on his toes, not even once. After a few minutes of practicing, Dray started the music and they were dancing. Every once in a while Dray would twirl her around or show her a fancy step, which she tried to imitate, but mostly they just swayed back and forth. Then he flipped the record over, and it was a little faster than the other music. He started to do a fast ‘waltz’, as he called it. Iliana tried to keep up, but it was bit too fast for her. So Dray switched it back to the other music.

“You’re pretty good, for your first time,” Dray said, holding her hand lightly in his own, his other hand at her hip.

“Thanks. I just hope they won’t play that fast music at the ball.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If today is any indication, you’ll do just fine. And besides, if you embarrass yourself, I’ll embarrass myself even more. Just as I promised.”

“But that would just make me more embarrassed,” Iliana said. He thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“Then you better not embarrass yourself in the first place.”

“I’ll try,” Iliana said, giggling nervously.

“Really, Iliana, you don’t have to worry,” Dray said gently. As Iliana gazed up into his eyes she found that she really believed him.  “I’ll make sure that it’s a wonderful night.” Dray paused, then leaned forward slightly, but in that moment the front door swung open and in walked Rose, who had been escorted back from her weekly chat with Celsey’s aunt by Celsey herself.

“Let’s go dress shopping!” Celsey called excitedly down the hallway. Iliana stepped back from Dray, feeling her cheeks warm as her friend and her mother came into the kitchen. Dray stepped to the counter to turn off the record-player, then turned to greet them with a smile.

“Good day, Rose, it’s good to see you again. And this I assume is Celsey?”

“Oh, Dray, you haven’t met Celsey, have you?” Rose asked.

“I can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure as of yet.”

Iliana cleared her throat, then introduced them. “Celsey, Dray, Dray, meet my friend Celsey.” They shook hands and Dray gave her a big smile, which Celsey returned.

“Glad to have you. I am hopeless with the latest women’s fashions, and I have to make sure Iliana has the best.”

“You really don’t have to do this, Dray,” Iliana said.

“Money is no object, Iliana. You shall have the best!” And that was final.