Everyone seemed full of fresh energy. The courtiers were eager to plan their outfits. Two young girls recently arrived from a barony were nearly ecstatic with glee.

“Oh!” said Lady Sabine. She had deep bronze skin and wore her sleek black hair pulled back into a wimple. “We are so terribly excited to be here at court.”

“And we did so hope you would give a ball!” said her twin, Lady Sybil. “So it is wondrous that we came just in time for the festival. And there will be dancing, so it is very like a ball, really.”

“I suppose it is,” Aurora said hesitantly. Everything she’d heard of balls made them sound full of fancy people in enormous gowns. Not like her festival, where everyone would be welcome.

And of course, she was worried about the treaty. She’d listened to everything both the humans and the faeries had said to her and rewritten it herself. She wasn’t sure it would make anyone happy, but she hoped it was fair enough that everyone would at least be equally unhappy.

“I hope you will forgive me for saying so, but King Stefan and Queen Leila were quite dour rulers,” said Lady Sabine. “There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but you are so young that we hoped—”

Sybil jumped in, half like she was talking over her sister and half like they were speaking with one voice and few pauses. “We imagined meeting you so many times. We thought you might be lonely, growing up as you did. And we thought that perhaps you would like to do fun things.”

Aurora wanted to say that she hadn’t been lonely—not with her aunties and Diaval and her godmother—but that wasn’t entirely true. She hadn’t had a playmate her own age. She hadn’t had anyone to engage in games with and confide her secrets to, at least not until—

She pushed that thought away. “I hope we will have fun,” she said as Lady Fiora walked up, clearly overhearing the conversation.

“Since you’re planning on dancing,” Lady Fiora said, “have you thought who you will have lead you out to open the festivities? Someone must bring you out onto the floor.”

Aurora hadn’t considered that.

Lady Sybil giggled. “Yes, everyone will want your hand, and everyone will be watching to see who you choose. That’s so terribly exciting.”

“You should dance with Prince Phillip,” said Lady Sabine. “He’s very handsome, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yes,” said her sister. “And a prince, so his rank is second only to yours. Perhaps Ulstead would even be offended if you didn’t give him the first dance. After all, no one else can claim quite so much consequence.”