A man with a purple-crested tunic steps up to our group. “If it pleases your Highness, I’ll keep the young lady company tonight.”

“Thank you, Aldo.” Lincoln turns to me. “If the patrol’s under attack, I’ll be unable to return.” His face turns stony and solemn. “Making the trip to Earth takes some time.”

“I understand.” My body and mind feel numb. “Protect your people, of course.” I watch him leave the room with Gianna, my forehead knit in confusion and not a little measure of shock. How did things change so quickly?

My skin prickles with awareness. Something about this doesn’t feel quite right. I scan the ballroom, finding the Earl and Avery standing nearby. Both look downright happy now. That can’t be good.

Before I can figure out what’s happening, the slow music kicks back up to a furious jig. Grabbing my hand, Aldo spins me around the dance floor. As I twirl and sway, I’m handed off to a succession of men with yellow, blue, purple, and pink crests. Adair, Nita, and Keisha always seem to be nearby. Either those Great Ladies are the worst dancers in Antrum, or they’re purposely stepping on the back of my dress every few seconds. This goes on for a while until I realize something.

It’s very chilly in the ballroom…But just on my backside.

I reach around to test the back of my dress, only to find out that it’s no longer there. I gasp. All the back panels of my gown are gone. Those little multi-colored creeps figured out how to pull out the stitches on my dress. No wonder they were playing around with it until a few hours before the ball. Adair, Nita, and Keisha stop dancing and start laughing their silly little heads off.

Twisting about, I try pulling the two side panels of my gown together to hide my bum, but there simply isn’t enough fabric. The entire dance floor starts laughing. My face turns at least eighteen shades of red.

Cissy appears out of nowhere. Standing behind me to cover my backside, she sets her hands on my shoulders and shoves me toward a bank of windows along the far wall. Once there, she points to an arched panel of glass. “This is a door to the hedgerow maze. Flip up the lock and twist that handle.”

I do as she instructs; we quickly step outside. Grabbing my hand, Cissy leads me to the mansion’s opposite wing. There, in the safety of the shadows, she sets me onto a bench by one of the maze entrances.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think.” Cissy frowns.

My body feels numb. Did that really happen? Who pulls out the backs of dresses, honestly? “Don’t beat yourself up. How could you have known they’d do something like that?”

“It’s not that part, it’s…” Cissy bites her bottom lip.