They’d made it downstairs with no fuss, arriving near enough the door to the hall that they found their place in line quite easily. "Dark Magician King Keith Monfort of Nilheim, and Princess Henrietta Doryn of Nilheim."

An attendant announced Keith and Henrietta as they entered the hall. It was decorated with spring flowers and pastel colours, and magical lights that floated about the hall.

Keith led Henrietta to their place in the center of the hall, preparing for the first dance. Over her shoulder he spied the King and Queen of Drendil, looking furious. The King bit his finger, and the Queen glared daggers at him over her fan. They stood amidst nobility from Drendil and Servalt, and the King turned to speak with a clean shaven middle aged man all dressed in green.

Keith and Henrietta had a while to wait as all twenty or so debuts were announced, and Keith decided his time would be better watching Henrietta instead of her awful parents.

"What was your Dexterity again?" He asked out of the corner of his mouth. They were meant to be on display and poised - ready to start with the music.

"21." Ria murmured. "What's yours?"

"42."

"...I guess our first dance won't be that bad. I was kicking myself that we didn't practice." Ria glanced around the hall. "Not that I'm worried; I've activated my Etiquette Skill."

"Is it a useful Skill?"

"40% bonus rate to critical success in Dancing, Dining, and Discourse."

"Do you use it often?" Keith wondered, recalling how many times he'd been affected by their conversations; confused, intrigued or amused.

"Yes, but it's just a reminder for socially acceptable boundaries. I usually ignore it a lot when I'm not surrounded by Nobles." Ria explained.

"And since you came to the Dark Enchanted Forest?"

"Being able to tell when I was making the lizardfolk uncomfortable that first week really helped."

A flute sounded throughout the hall signaling the dancers. Keith lifted his hand palm up and Ria gently placed her hand on his. Her hand was smaller, calloused, with blue nail polish that matched both of their outfits.

That hand could crush his bones in a second, but that never stopped him from wanting to hold it.

The first step of the dance was a reverance, where each couple bowed or curtsied to the other. Then Keith swept his free hand to Henrietta's lower back and they danced. A light Ayre filled the room, and suddenly Keith wasn't paying attention to the crowd anymore.

Ria was smiling. She looked up at him and whispered. "I'm sorry."

The words drew Keith out of his enjoyment. He spun her, skirts brushing his legs as she went, then drew her back into his arms. "Is that more ‘punishment’ time in the dungeon I hear?"

She let out a laugh. It was meant to be a serious dance, but neither of them much cared. Ria leaned closer than was proper, "We're going to have to face them after this, won't we? My parents."

Ah, she'd seen them as well. They weren't hard to miss, standing at the edge of the dance floor and glowering.

"We could just kill them?" The joke was in poor taste. He made it anyway. "They would make lovely corpse roses."

"Keith!?" Henrietta missed a step but her own Dexterity saved her as she completed a dip.

"Yes?"

They were apart at arm's length as drums faded and the last notes of a flute sounded. Keith and Henrietta came back together just as the music came to its end.

"I love you too."

It was only then that Keith realized. In all the planning and preparation and panic over the evening… he‘d slipped and confessed. In the stairwell of all places.

It hadn’t been the most romantic place to say 'I love you' for the first time. He wanted to kick himself, but instead he just smiled down at his princess. Knowing she felt the same way was exhilarating and humbling.

How did this even happen? One minute he’d been challenged to a fight to the death by some girl with a big sword who smelled like scones, and the next he was dancing the night away and getting ready to propose.

Cheering resounded about the hall, in honour of the completion of the first debut dance. Keith offered his hand and escorted her off the dance floor - in the opposite direction of her parents.

He wanted a drink in hand before he faced the King and Queen of Drendil. Not to imbibe, but to keep his hands busy so as not to summon flames and light them on fire.

Henrietta loved it when he lit things on fire.

Alright, she loved flying through the air while he lit a dungeon on fire. He would get in trouble from multiple sources if he lit someone on fire in the ballroom. Grand Duchess Calisto would give him that disapproving look. She was a menace - and a neighbour worthy of respect. Better to shatter a glass.

Chloe was standing beside the drinks table with Julia and the Grand Duchess. They toasted Ria and congratulated her on her first dance.

Keith watched over the princess as she accepted a glass of sparkling cider from Julia. His gaze swept the room, taking in all the important and unimportant attendees of the evening.

Minstrel Bronwynn had stepped onto the dias close by where the musicians were set up.

Gerda, the bridge troll, leaned against the wall like one of those wallflowers Feliwyn wrote about in her lurid romance novels. How had she gotten an invitation?!

Their Royal Highness was poised as an elderly man and chatting up a pair of debutantes. Keith was too far away to smell the telltale perfume favoured by the ruler - but he couldn't imagine any other ruler on the Valaria continent that would wear violent pink arachne silk robes in such an… ostentatious manner.

It was a good idea to come this way, Keith thought. Henrietta would be surrounded by her friends when her parents finally caught up with them.

Which was, unfortunately, right now.