You enter the Grand Ballroom of the Royal castle, feeling nervous and excited at once.Tonight is your first appearance in high society, with people like Duchess Hale, famous for her salon of dresses imported from faraway lands; Baroness Von De Marf, who owns most of the guest houses in Grimar; and of course Lady Attal, whom you've been pining for. Oh, there will also be a princess Rosalind, but you won't recognize her, because the theme of the ball is the Night Masquerade. No one will know with whom you danced and flirted this night, though knowing the many personalities involved, flirting may be the last thing you do here, for the sofas behind the curtains are so attractive... You are pulled from your thoughts by a slap on the arm with a fan. Your sister, Madeline, stares at you sternly from beneath a dark purple lace mask adorned with the feathers of some exotic bird. She clears her throat and, covering her face with a fan, leans toward you.

"I'm off to find Sir William, you go and dance with someone. Don't get into trouble, please."

You roll your eyes, remembering Madeline's annoying boyfriend. Even though she's as crazy about him as she is about him, you think his expectations are too high. For example, he wants at least five children. That's a nightmare! You'd never agree to that, but Madeline seems fine with it. Sometimes, in the evenings, she sits in her mother's old armchair by the fireplace and flips through a catalog of children's clothes, sighing with delight. You never understood what's so cute there, clothes like clothes, just a size three smaller. But back to ball.