My time in Narnia was to be the best one in my life. A few months passed by and my relationship with everyone improved. Caspian and I met every night at the tower and talked. I had started riding Thomas around. The Professor conducted monthly examinations which I passed very well. Trumpkin....well, he was Trumpkin.

One morning, Nina woke me up and she looked more happy than usual, excited even. "Good morning!" 

"Hey." I said, brushing the sleep out of my eyes. "Good morning."

"Get up quickly. I need to clean this entire room." She informed and started moving things around. "I have so much work to do and so little time to do it!"

"What is happening?" I asked as I started to make the bed. I never let Nina do it because she was important to me. I could do my work myself.

"Oh, I'm so excited, Sophie!" She exclaimed as she took my hand in hers and spun us around. "More and more excited for you though. It's your first time!" She pushed my hair behind my ear.

"What is?" I asked, patting my hair down to look decent.

"Oh, I'm going to let someone else tell you."

"Oh, come on!" I groaned.

"It's a very big news, Sophie. I'm not the right person to tell you." She said and handed me a dress to wear for that day. "He should have told me earlier itself. We have so much to plan for!"

"I can help." I tried not to sound hopeful but I was actually. If it was a big event, I wanted to be of help.

"Nice try, dear but I still can't tell you."

"Dang it!" I kicked myself.

"Why don't you get dressed and go down for your lessons? I will call you once breakfast is ready." She suggested and I had no choice but to do exactly that.

Everyone in the castle looked busy. I walked down the staircase and passed people that were cleaning the place. I made my way through the hallway when I saw Mark running about with some plates in his hands. "Mark?" 

"Good morning, Sophie. Can't talk right now, sorry. Lot of work to do!" He said before hurrying off.

"What is going on!" I exclaimed and ran to the library. 

I couldn't figure it out for someone who was obsessed with Mystery and Horror genre. As I opened the door and called out for the Professor, I was met with a shock. The table that was usually in the centre of the room was missing. 

"Ah, Sophie!" He greeted me. He was reading something as usual. He never left his study without a book in his hand and I admired that. It was one of the things that we had in common.

"What is happening here?"

"Oh, nobody told you, did they?" He asked as he got up from a chair and closed his book, putting a bookmark in between the pages before closing.

"Everyone is busy moving up and down the castle and what is that for?" I pointed to the gramophone which was next to him.

"Oh, this? I couldn't get the Narnian troupe to come at such a short notice. They're quite busy with their tour but I did manage to secure a spot for us."

"Short notice for what, Professor?"

"The First Annual Ball approaches near, Sophie."

My eyes opened wide. "A ball?"

"Yes. A dance. It is the first dance that we've organised since Caspian became King. The people from the town are allowed to come. Everyone from other kingdoms are going to be present as well. It's the biggest event ever."

"When is the ball anyway?"

"In two-weeks' time."

"Ah! No wonder everyone is making a fuss out there." I pointed to the door.

"It was my mistake, really. It was a thought that struck me only last night. We used to have the ball every year when Caspian IX was ruling but once Miraz took over...." He shook his head. "Well, the point is that we can start the tradition again."

"And what does that have to do with the table?" I pointed to the empty room where the long table once was. 

He walked towards the gramophone and arranged a record on it. "It's so that you can have some space."

"Space for what?" I laughed, being really confused.

"Dancing, dear. What else?"

I frowned at him. "Dancing?" I pointed to myself. "Me?"

"Yes, dear. It's your first ball and it's the first for-" The door opened at the right moment and I turned around.

"Ah, Caspian!" The Professor exclaimed. "We were just talking about you."

"I'm sorry for being late." Caspian entered the room and closed the door behind him. "I got held up with some work but I tried not to be extremely late."

"You're not that late." The Professor assured as Caspian came and stood beside me.

One thing that I really liked about him was that he always kept his distance with me. He was not too close nor too far. "Good morning." He wished me.

"Good morning." It did become good once Caspian entered the room somehow. "Professor, is it necessary for me to attend this Ball?" I was not the type to socialise. I never attended the dance recitals in school and it wouldn't be right to break that tradition, would it?

"It's your first time, dear. Of course it is necessary for you to attend!"

"You don't want to?" Caspian asked me, his voice suggesting concern.

"It's not that." I mumbled. "I've never been to a dance before." I shrugged.

"Neither have I." Caspian revealed, glad that he wasn't alone in this.

"Which is why both of you are here." The Professor informed. "You're going to learn how to dance."

"What?" Both of us asked at the same time. It was good to know that I wasn't the only clueless person in the room.

"Now." He started the gramophone. "Let's not waste any more time."

Caspian and I moved further away from the player and faced each other. He found out that I was nervous. Heck, the birds outside could hear my heartbeat. "May I?" He asked me as he put his hands forward. 

Saints, I was going to have a tough time. But I nodded. He put one arm around my waist in the gentlest way possible and I held his left hand with my right. I put my other hand on his shoulder.

The song started to play as the Professor taught us to waltz. "Now turn around." We tried it slowly at first and once we got it, we did at the normal pace next time.

"Are you okay?" Caspian asked me.

"It's that visible, huh?"

He smirked. "You're looking at the floor and you don't look like you're breathing."

"I'm just making sure I don't step on you." I revealed, looking up at him.

He was taller than me, obviously. Thank goodness there was some space between us and the door. Otherwise I was pretty sure that I would have to run away from there. I wouldn't have minded Trumpkin's training but dancing was a nightmare, especially with the King of Narnia.

He broke out laughing. "I'm sure you won't step on me."

"You are betting on the wrong horse there, my friend." I joked and he tried to hold back a laughter as the Professor taught us the final steps.

Caspian and I smirked at each other, seeing how much there was to dance. "It doesn't look like you like dancing." I said as we tried the dance one last time before calling it a day.

"I would have invited you to the ball personally but there were some things that I had to see through...."

"It's okay." I shook my head. "I would've tried to run away if it wasn't the Professor who had been the one to tell me." We smiled at each other and continued to dance silently.