He reached back up to her and placed his hands on her waist. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and she could just make out his face in the starlight. His dark hair flopped to the side.
His smile faltered as he stared up at her. “I’m terribly sorry about being so secretive in the tower room earlier today. I truly was not thinking, and I did not mean to raise my voice at you. Now is not the time, but please allow me to explain my actions in the future.” His expression was earnest.
She nodded. He owed her nothing, but she was touched that he wanted to see her again.
“Thank you.” His eyes brightened, and she placed her hands on his shoulders as he carefully lifted her from the horse.
“Thank you for the ride, my Lord.” She stepped backwards to break their contact as soon as she was safely on the ground.
“Miss...?” He paused.
For some reason, she hesitated. She wanted to share her name, but she was also incredibly aware that she was a lord’s daughter working as a servant in the palace. She did not have to share her father’s name, though. Likely nothing would come of it. “Ashlin, my Lord.”
“Ashlin,” he whispered. “Goodnight, Ashlin.”
She dipped her head and all but ran around the house, happiness radiating from her core. She slipped inside the kitchen, where a wall of warmth hit her unexpectedly. The fireplace was still blazing, which was odd as it should have faded down to a few coals by now. Something was wrong.
Her stepmother was sitting at the small kitchen table, tears flowing down her face.
Ashlin froze. All thoughts of the kind prince and his endearing horse left her mind. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what to do...” The broken woman pushed a folded piece of parchment across the table.
Ashlin closed the door behind her and sat down to read the document, expecting the worst.
We greet Lady Cabril and her daughter Lady Ashlin Cabril
with the most humble of felicitations
and wish to invite them to a ball held in honor of
His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Ian Omaris Sirilian.
It is the dearest wish of our hearts that our eldest son be united in marriage
with a noblewoman from Iseldis or beyond.
You are invited to present yourself to His Royal Highness at this ball
on the seventeenth day of Moore at the royal palace.
Our deepest gratitude and felicitations,
His Royal Majesty, Frederich Sirilian
Her Royal Majesty, Cara Mafrenstin
The elaborate parchment was stamped with the seal of the royal family.
Ashlin gently folded it closed. She had been invited to the ball. For a moment, she forgot the fact that her life had changed and they had sold all her fine dresses. She could see herself entering the ballroom, wearing a beautiful blue dress, and bowing to Prince Ian as he greeted every guest that entered the room. He wouldn’t recognize her as the servant girl, of course. He would merely smile at her with that laugh behind his eyes and bow over her hand. She would thank him for the invitation and then sweep into the dazzling ballroom itself. The dance floor would come alive with movement and the air would be filled with the sounds of laughter and conversation, rounded out by the elegant harmonies of the kingdom’s best musicians. Prince Onric would see her from across the room and work his way through the crowd to ask her to dance. “This is wonderful news!”
“Stasiya was not invited...” Her stepmother sniffled.
“Because her father was not a nobleman...” Ashlin filled in the older woman’s words. “Don’t worry, we will figure something out, I am sure.”
“Instead they wasted an invitation on you,” Lady Cabril continued as though she had not heard Ashlin’s words, “and you can’t even go.”
Before it even had a chance to take root, the small dream in Ashlin’s mind disappeared. She was a maid at the palace. Of course she could not attend the royal ball. If she was lucky, she might catch a glimpse inside the ballroom to see the beautiful gowns. Every dressmaker in the kingdom was probably overflowing with requests. If she had been apprenticed to Mistress Cedrice, she could have created one of the dresses that would be worn to the royal ball. Instead, she would be scrubbing the ballroom floor both before and after the event.
