Ariadne's POV

"I think you're going to have to host a dinner for all of our father's allies," Bell suggested after I told them about the secret outing that Harriet refused to open up about.

"Well I think she's going to host a ball and have to dance with princes and lords from all over the realm," Galene said dancing around the room with an imaginary prince.

"No, silly. She's already been to four of our balls. Unless... What if you were invited to someone else's ball? That's possible," Diana said excitedly.

"Well I think those are all possibilities," I said.

Some maids then brought in an early dinner since we only had sugar bread for lunch. On the trays that were brought in, there were piles of chicken, bread, and cheese, which were soon gone once my sisters started eating their fill. Then Charities noticed I hadn't gotten anything and tried to give me her food.

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

"You must be hungry," she insisted. "Did you even eat lunch?"

"Well no, but it wasn't a huge lunch anyway-"

"Eat," she said trying to shove some bread in my hands, but I pulled them away.

"Really, I'm fine," I said and she reluctantly sighed and gave up.

I looked at the food, it did look good, but that made my appetite go away even more as I thought about the people who starved every day, and here we were eating to our hearts' content. No wonder Simeon was suspicious of me at first, to him I must just be a prideful rich princess.

As I watched my sisters talk, fight over the last chicken, and giggle, I wondered how I could help other families have these experiences as well. The ones that bring you together and make you stronger, not the ones that tear you apart.

"Can we dance now?" Juno asked impatiently, twirling around the room.

"Once your sisters finish their dinner," I replied. 

Juno went up to Bell and grabbed her neck, "Hurrrrry."

** ** **

"Wow," Harmonia said behind me and I jumped, then turned to see all my sisters in their nightgowns looking at the beautiful forest. I had forgotten to tell them to dress in regular clothes and now it might take too long for them to change back. I decided not to make a big deal about it. I wasn't planning on seeing Estevan tonight anyway. Just find the pavilion, dance, and leave.

"You all have to be quiet," I said then looked at each of them in the eyes to make sure they understood me.

Nine heads bobbed up and down, but I didn't expect Khione and Leto to understand what was happening anyway. We tip-toed across the glass walkway, different than the path I had taken before, leading to what looked like a river. As we neared it, I realized it was a river of sorts; a black river, just like the lake I was on the night before. It even had the same beautiful glowing fish jumping in and out of its depths.

I smiled as I saw Khione and Leto giggling and clapping in their older sister's arms.

"What is this place?" Fortuna asked.

"It's amazing," El and Iris said at the same time, then laughed.

"I don't know," I told my curious sister. Fortuna always wanted her questions answered.

"Look," Harmonia said pointing. "It's a bridge."

"Should we go across it?" I asked my sisters, not wanting to touch the liquid below me a second time.

They nodded and we all crept over to the bridge as quietly as we could. It was a rather large bridge, wide enough to fit two carriages. It also had a roof over top; I had only seen one like it once before in Swansford but they only had one because it rained a lot there. But why would there be one here? I wondered. We were below ground.

I motioned for my sisters to follow me quietly, and we all crawled across the bridge in a line. When I was at the middle-most part of the bridge I saw the road before us, which lead to a pavilion with people on it. I stopped in my tracks, why were there people?

I sat still, watching them until I realized that they hadn't seen us, and we quietly continued across the bridge while I tried to think of a solution.

Once we reached the other side, I heard the music and turned to my sisters to see if they heard it too; they did. I looked around but could not see Estevan. I hoped he wasn't here. I let my sisters behind some glass bushes, to get closer without being seen. We crept through the shrubbery and I was again amazed at the unique plants. The bushes were glass, silver, and gold, and they were only slightly less radiant than the trees. And the grass, or what I assumed was supposed to represent grass, was very soft and even; almost too perfect, but I shook the feeling aside.

Then Bell elbowed me and I turned to see what she wanted. She motioned towards the ever-nearing pavilion; it looked so much more beautiful from this distance. It was the most astounding thing so far in the mystical land.

It too was made of glass, but it gave off a hue of every color I had ever seen. It was huge and circular, as if for a big party, and had a beautiful floral design flowing over its surface. And when the boys on the pavilion moved, it seemed to bring out their best qualities and they all looked flawless as they danced on the astonishing architecture.

"That was brilliant!" The tallest of the boys told them once they had stopped dancing. It was Estevan and I quickly looked behind me to see if we could leave the same way we had come.

"Can you teach us another one?" The youngest boy asked excitedly.

"I will in a minute," he answered smiling. "Let's take a quick break though."

My sisters watched in earnest as the boys went to the little table and grabbed some refreshments. Then I heard a stomach growl next to me. I looked over and saw Iris clutch her midsection and whisper an apology. I smiled at her to let her know it was alright, then looked at the boys through the bush to see if they had heard, but they were too busy chatting amongst themselves.

"Why are we hiding? We can't dance if we hide," Juno whispered to me.

"We don't want to get into trouble," I whispered back. Even though he looked significantly more friendly here, I still did not feel good about approaching him. At least I was here. He couldn't punish me because I was keeping it.

"They look nice," Juno stated.

"Looks can be deceiving," I whispered.

Juno huffed and folded her arms. "I want to dance-"

"No," I whispered firmly. "You are staying right here. And that's final."

"But Iris is."

I looked at Juno in disbelief until she pointed at a lump crawling around the pavilion towards the table. Oh no. Iris and her food! 

Haha I love Iris, I know people who would definitely sneak anywhere just to get free food ;) 

What do you think will happen?? Will they be found out??