That Dancing Princess

Chapter Five

 Dinners like this always bored Princess Kobra. She couldn't even remember this new nobleman's name, but she supposed it didn't really matter; he seemed more interested in her sister Elize than he did in her. But it didn't really matter what his name was, did it?

 These suitors were all so stupid. They all thought they were so brilliant; she'd seen their attitudes. They all thought they could find out the princesses' secret and become king someday. None of them ever returned, so she didn't know why more of them even bothered to come.

 And they were all boring, as well. In fact, Kobra had wondered if all men were that boring. But the old gardener's new assistant, the Stargazer...he seemed interesting. There was, to start, the mystery with that name. It was strange, she thought, for someone to name their child Stargazer, and she didn't believe it was his real name. He was polite, not only because she was a princess, but he seemed to be genuinely polite. He certainly wasn't boastful like some other men she had met, so perhaps he was modest, too. It would be nice to be acquainted with a polite and modest young man.

 Soon, it was time for the princesses to retire to their bedroom for the night. They all listened as the door was locked from the outside.

 "And now, sir, let us show you to you sleeping quarters." Princess Sharon was one of the oldest of the princesses, and they all liked to think of her as their leader. She certainly had the leadership qualities. She led their newest suitor to a curtain hanging in a corner of the room, which she pulled back to reveal small sleeping space. "That is your bed there. Sleep well, sir. And please, do leave the curtains as they are. I'm sure all of us, yourself included, value privacy."

 Before he could say anything, she pulled the curtain across again, and then turned to smile at the rest of her sisters. "Now, then." She sat down on her bed. "What do we think of that one?"

 "You're the one he was enchanted with, Elize," Alissa said to Elize, whose beds were next to each other. "What did you think of him?"

 "Do you think he can hear us?" Elize asked softly, glancing at the curtain.

 "Well, just in case, gather around, everyone," said Sharon. The girls all gathered around by Elize and Alissa's beds. "Well, I'm not sure about him. We only exchanged a small bit of conversation."

 "Well, I didn't like him," Elize snapped. "If I had to marry him-"

 "But you don't have to," Kobra pointed out. "Not if he stays where he's going. And does it really matter what he's like as long as he can dance?"

 Sharon smiled at her. "I think Kobra has a good way of thinking, at least in our situation. Come on, everyone, let's get ready."

 The princesses all hurried around the room, pulling on some of their most fancy gowns and new pairs of shoes for dancing. When they were all ready, Sharon asked, "Who would like to go fetch our new partner?"

 "Not me," Elize protested.

 "Oh, I'll get him," Anette said with a sigh. She went and pulled back the curtain, and Kobra could see their suitor was still wide awake (and probably listening to their conversation).

 "Come with us, sir," Anette said, pulling him up and out of the corner. "I have him."

 In the middle of the room, the girls puled up a large piece of the stone floor, revealing a spiral staircase which went down into the dark.

 "Come on, everyone, in a row," Sharon said, taking the lead.

 As everyone hurried down, Kobra hung back and went down at the end. As she went down, she thought she felt someone step on her dress. Startled, she looked around, but there was no one there. She ran down the rest of the steps to catch up with her sisters.

~~~~~~

 With his newfound invisibility, Tommy was able to get into the princesses' room just before they were locked for the night. He had taken off his shoes before leaving, so he would make less notice, and hid under one of the beds while listening to everything happening.

 When the princesses were leaving, he hurried down after Princess Kobra, and waiting on the stairs as she closed the doorway. He accidentally stepped on her dress, but she seemed to dismiss it when she saw no one else there.

 Tommy followed them through a dark passage, then a door, and then through a forest, but not like any forest he had ever seen before. He looked closely at the leaves on the trees of the first part of the forest they went through; the leaves looked like they were silver.

 After that, they came to a lake, and each princess was ferried across in her own boat. Tommy climbed onto Princess Kobra's boat just before they set off. The boat seemed to be going slower than it usually did, but no one except Tommy knew why.

 And then there was the dancing. Tommy was shocked at the number of dancing partners they had. He thought Roy had said ten, but they were certainly more than ten here.

 From his hiding place, Tommy watched as one of the princesses handed their new suitor a cup. After he drank from it, something about him seemed to change, and Tommy knew he wouldn't be returning with them.

 What this place was, Tommy had no idea. There was plenty of food and drink, and he soon became hungry, but he didn't take anything out of fear of becoming like one of these mindless men.

 He sat in his hiding place alone for what seemed like (and probably was) hours until the princesses returned home. He followed them back, but as he did, he plucked a small branch from one of the trees.

 He knew exactly what he was going to do with it.