The first dance ended, and to his surprise Markus found himself being asked to dance. He refused with the excuse that he had to find his sister, and set off to do just that. It was half-way through the fourth dance, however, before he caught sight of her. She was dancing with a gentleman wearing a simple black suit, and even from across the room he could see that she was laughing. He would find her once the dance was over.

The crowd was much thinner now. Some young girls had been dragged away by their long-suffering mothers. Some women had fainted from dancing too much or tripped due to their overly-tall shoes, and had been taken away by the palace servants. This meant that ladies who would have been standing around now had partners to dance with. A few of the younger women had decided that while they were here they might as well dance and settled for dancing with each other.

Markus was nibbling on some tasty but unidentifiable snacks from one of the tables dotted around the edges of the room. He was watching Isabelle and waiting for the dance to finish, when one of the few men not dancing came over to stand with him. The man was an inch or so taller than Markus, with black hair, bright green eyes, and skin that seemed naturally tanned in contrast to Markus’ slight browning from working under the sun. He wore a purple suit with gold tassels, and he seemed so much the image of a nobleman that Markus almost laughed.

“Does that taste so nice that you’d rather eat than dance?” the man asked with a friendly smile.

“Well, I haven’t a clue what it is, but I certainly wouldn’t mind getting the recipe,” Markus answered.

The man laughed and admitted that he also didn’t know what it was. “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.”

“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?”

The man smiled. “You may be the only person here who doesn’t know. I suppose you weren’t paying much attention earlier. 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!”

“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. 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!”

“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.” Markus looked back at the dancers, searching for where Isabelle was now.

“There are still a couple of hours left, you’ll have plenty of time to talk to her.”

Markus spotted Isabelle just as the dance finished. “In that case, there’s plenty of time for more dances. If you ask me later, I might oblige.” With this he left Alexis and made his way across the room to his sister.