Vlad led me back to our chambers, using the spiral staircase again, to avoid most of the commotion caused by the overexcited inhabitants of the castle. If only the ball was over already.

He left me in the corridor connecting my chamber to the library, with an excuse that he had to write a letter before getting dressed for the ball. There was a strange mixture of happiness, anticipation, apology, and something else in his eyes as he kissed me. I had never seen that sort of look before.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, walking towards the library. "Katerina is waiting for you." He stopped in the doorway, turned around, and said, smiling, "I'll send for you when everything is ready. See you later, Princess."

Hmm. I didn't like it one little bit. What was all this... mysteriousness about?

I entered my chamber cautiously, only to find everything as usual. As soon as Katerina saw me, she dragged me towards the bath, helped me out of my dress, and told me to relax. Just say that one more time and I'll scream, I thought as she carried my used clothes away, returned with a couple of towels reminding me not to get my hair wet as there was not enough time to dry it, then disappeared again in the direction of the library. When she came back some time later, there was a large wooden box in her hands.

Great. Jewels. I didn't like wearing jewels, and both Vlad and Katerina knew it. They respected it. Mostly. Obviously, tonight I would have to wear some. I closed my eyes and groaned when I remembered, at the last moment, that I couldn't disappear underwater.

I stood up instead, reaching for a towel. There was no reason to postpone the inevitable.

"Katerina, would you bring me a shirt and the white dress? The one with all those buttons at the back?"

The thought of what I was going to wear tonight had been at the back of my mind for a few days, and finally, I decided. The white and grey fur-lined dress with the pearl buttons was simple and elegant, comfortable, and unassuming. It wouldn't attract too much attention.

"No, my lady," she said, taking me by surprise.

"No?"

"No. You would be too hot in that dress."

"So what did you choose for me?" I asked. Of course, she had something else in mind, but I couldn't care less. I just wanted this evening over and done with.

"Would you come here please?" she asked, walking towards the bed.

I sighed but followed her nonetheless, still wrapped only in one of the towels. The first thing I noticed was a huge mirror leaning against the wall that hadn't been there before. Then I saw the dress spread over the bed. All the bed. It was... huge and beautiful. So this is the surprise.

"But I don't need a new dress," I said, sitting down next to the fairytale-like gown carefully, letting my fingers roam over it, wishing I needed one. Because I really liked it.

This gown was different from all the others I had. It was... more. It had a stiffer bodice and tight sleeves, an infinity of petticoats, and a very long train. Instead of the usual velvet, cotton or linen, it was made of bright blue silk and lace... And I might have even considered wearing it if it wasn't so full of pearls.

"Katerina, I don't like jewels!" I complained, pointing at the dress as if being covered in pearls was the poor thing's fault.

"That's why your husband has never given you any since you came back, except for your ring, of course," she said calmly, and I knew that she had been expecting this conversation.

"But there are more pearls on this thing than at the bottom of the ocean," I said, exasperated, inspecting the bright blue lace embroidered with nacre and silvery iridescent beads closely. "It's not a dress. It's a treasure chest!"

Katerina laughed heartily. "Lord Vlad said that you would say something like that. In that case, I was to remind you that it's just a ball gown. Could you humour him for once, my lady?"

"You knew about this all along, didn't you?" I accused her, frowning, but she just continued to smile at my expression. Katerina taking Vlad's side was still such a rare event that it made me swallow the rest of my retort. Traitor.

"Fine. I'll wear it." There was no point in fighting against the two of them. "Any more messages that my husband prefers not to deliver in person?" Coward.

"Yes. You can keep your hair as you want if you wear this."

She took the wooden box that was now placed on the chair next to the bed and handed it over to me.

I took a deep breath and reached for it, removing the lid carefully. I didn't know what I was expecting to find inside, but...

"Katerina! I'm not wearing a crown!" I exclaimed, staring at the elaborate golden circle inset with blue stones, matching the dress perfectly.

The last time I wore something similar was to one of my birthday parties. The synthetic dress was bright blue, too, and the matching tiara was made of golden plastic. I managed to break it in less than ten minutes after I had put it on. And even back then, aged eight or nine, I felt too old to dress up as a princess...

"Katerina... Please! I can't wear this..." I tried again.

"Very well. So I have another message for you. You are to remember that you are doing this for Clara and Ioan and the other two."

How exasperating! Was it possible that Vlad understood me so well? That he always knew what to say to make me do what he wanted, even without being present?

"Help me put it all on," I said, standing up, feeling the last fragments of my resistance slipping away. But before I lost it all... "I'm wearing my hair loose. And take those away," I said firmly when I noticed a silver tray full of small glass jars and bottles suddenly appearing in Katerina's hands. That could only be make-up. As she had never offered me any in all these months, I was not going to let her paint my face now. I was stressed enough already. This wasn't the right moment to try a new make-up, too.

"Very well, my lady," she said, putting it on the chair. "But are you sure you don't want me to do your hair?"

"Absolutely," I said, reaching for the dress.

"No, no. This first," she instructed, passing me a long, sleeveless silk and lace tunic so perfectly made that in my own time it would pass for an evening dress.

I took it from her and slipped it on, turning towards the mirror. It was soft and cool against my skin, clinging and flaring in the right places. As Katerina made me don layer after layer of the finest silk, I started to enjoy myself. I... love it, I thought as I scrutinised the final result in the mirror. I loved the softness, the perfection of the craftsmanship so rare in my own century, the pearls reflecting the flickering light of the few candles Katerina had brought when the chamber grew dark, and the contrast of the bright blue fabric against my copper hair. You're so vain, I scolded myself, turning around carefully in front of the mirror to admire the dress from all sides, fighting against the temptation to twirl, too scared to get tangled in the long train.

"What do I do about that?" I asked Katerina, considering the long, pearl embroidered stretch of fabric trailing behind me, covering the steps of the wooden dais where the bed stood entirely. "Sooner or later, someone's going to step on it and ruin the dress." Me, most likely.

"Here," she said, reaching to the back of the sky-blue sash that held the dress in around my waist, "is a little hook and a piece of ribbon. All you need to do is gather the fabric carefully, like this, then tie it this way and attach it here before you start dancing. See?"

"Yes. Thank you." It looked simple enough.

"Your hair then..."

"Katerina! Just let me brush it, will you?"

"As you wish," she said, disappearing shortly, then coming back with my hairbrush and a cup full of wine. "There. Drink something before they come for you. You look tense."

That was exactly how I started to feel again when she put the crown on my head. Luckily, I didn't have too much time to reconsider my looks as just as I was finally ready, someone knocked on the door.

"Do you remember your steps, my lady?" Katerina asked before she went to open the door.

Suddenly, as she asked, the same way she always had before on an occasion similar to this in the past, it was all clear.

"Drag your feet graciously and tiptoe unless you have to jump or curtsy. Keep your eyes low and smile constantly," I recited the formula she had taught me centuries ago.

She smiled contentedly, then walked towards the door and let my Guards in.

Ioan and Mihail stopped mid stride as they saw me coming towards them.

"Aren't you two supposed to be with your girls now?" I asked, teasing them as usual. We were friends. Just that it didn't look so right now. They were unusually quiet and official.

"Ioan," I sighed. "It's just a silly dress. It's still me, you know?" I said, not really feeling myself. They were making me panic. I needed them to behave normally.

"Of course it is you, my lady. Just looking... different. If you wore your hair wet, you would look like a siren with all those pearls..." he said, grinning.

That was better. This was the Ioan I liked.

"I'll try next time then. Just don't tell Katerina." I smiled at him. "Come on. Lead the way. I can't wait to take this thing off my head." The crown was beginning to feel heavy.

I hugged Katerina, then followed the two Guards out of the room and down the corridor. Two knights walked behind me in a safe distance to avoid stepping on my dress. I could only imagine how funny we must look.

On reaching the second staircase, at the bottom of which Vlad was waiting for me, I was ready to start praying I didn't look as silly as I felt, hoping that I looked at least a tiny bit as... regal as him.

He is perfect, I thought, taking him in as the two Guards parted to the sides to let me walk down the stairs first. Vlad was dressed as a Knight of the Order of the Dragon, but the large red dragon on his cloak wasn't simply embroidered, it was an intricate mosaic of small stones in different shades of red, looking as if it was about to come to life whenever he moved. He wore a crown like me and there was a sword hanging at his side, its hilt inset with more red gem stones glowing in the light of the torches mounted on the walls as he turned towards me.

Our eyes met, and as I descended the sweeping staircase, I could see the surprise and awe in his look, as if he wasn't quite expecting me to wear the dress. Or the crown that I felt slipping slightly off my hair to one side now. He never took his eyes off me as I approached, making my breath catch as my heart skipped a beat or two.

"You are beautiful," Vlad said over the sound of music coming from the Great Hall as I reached him.

I stood by his side, and he kissed my hand, then laced his fingers through mine. "You take my breath away."

"That was my line." I smiled.

Tilting my face up, I closed my eyes, waiting for him to kiss me. He laughed softly, then his arms were around me and his lips on mine, making me feel better.

"This dress makes your hair look like changing leaves against the bright autumn sky," he whispered in my ear when we pulled away for breath.

"I see you like pearls. A lot," I said, changing the subject before I would start blushing.

"I like them on you. Especially the grey ones. They lustre and shine like your eyes." He smiled.

"Are you determined to make me blush?" I murmured, feeling the heat spread over my cheeks as his lips returned to my ear. Somehow, I didn't think that the great Council would appreciate seeing their princess blushing so very humanly.

"You are charming when you do," he said, his lips and breath caressing my neck, making me shiver.

Hmm... Do we really have to go to the ball? I looked back to the stairs longingly, and Vlad laughed when he noticed.

"Are you ready, Princess?" he asked, returning me back to reality.

"Nearly," I said, resigned to my fate, freeing myself from his embrace and gathering the train of my dress the way Katerina had instructed me. I sighed, unable to find the hidden metal hook at the back of the sash at my waist. My fingers were nowhere near as skilled and nimble as Katerina's, I realised.

Vlad watched my efforts for a while, amused, then took the gathered fabric from my hand and, stepping behind me, attached it at the right place in no time. He was back at my side then, kissing me on the forehead and straightening my crown, trying to look serious.

"Why all this show?" I asked, nodding at our clothes, when he offered me his arm, and I let him lead me down the corridor behind Ioan an Mihail towards the Great Hall.

"We might need to help the Council to make the right decision about our young friends. It might be easier for them if they remember who we are." He grinned, making me laugh. He was enjoying it.

We stopped shortly as the two Guards opened the large door, letting the light and music spill out and pool around us in the dim corridor. Vlad's lips brushed against my cheek one more time in the lightest of kisses as he whispered, "You mustn't worry, my love."

I squeezed his arm more tightly, nodding uncertainly, when an unfamiliar voice announced,  "Their Highnesses, Prince Vlad and Princess Samara!" Then everything went momentarily silent.

I kept my eyes low, not sure if this was the correct thing to do, as Vlad led me across the hall, towards our seats.

Once seated, I took a deep breath and gathered enough courage to raise my eyes to match and return some of the inquisitive stares I could feel piercing through me.