Serali looked over and saw the young man that Janus had indicated walking toward her. Feeling her confidence vanish, she moved to the edge of the floor to meet him.

He came up to her and bowed. "Good eve, my lady. I'm Galen and I was hoping that I could have this dance."

Serali curtsied, feeling nervous but a little less awkward at least. "I'm Serali. I'd be honored."

Galen smiled and took her hand. They moved out onto the floor as the strains of the next song began. Serali felt that her knees would be knocking together if she wasn't so busy dancing. After a few moments though, she began to regain her confidence. Enough so that she could look at Galen. He was smiling at her, his eyes exactly on level with hers. Amazing, she thought. I've never been close to anyone who was my height. He has gray eyes, and he's smiling at me. Oh my. . .

When the dance ended, Serali felt like no time had passed at all. Galen bowed over her hand and then walked off into the crowd without a word. Serali moved to follow him, but was immediately accosted by another young man. For the rest of the evening she found herself scanning the crowd, looking for Galen, but she didn't see him again. And she wasn't given an opportunity to go look for him, for the instant one young man made his farewell, another would approach. Several were her height, and quite a few were very charming, but somehow none of them left the same kind of impression that Galen had. At last, Janus came out of the crowd and led her to the side, shooing off the hopefuls.

"What did I tell you, hmm? Every young man here tonight wants to dance with you. They can't all be merely currying favor with me, especially since most of the ones your age have no idea who I am."

"Yes, but my feet hurt. I think if I hear another 'may I have this dance' I'm going to scream."

"Here, sit down" Janus pulled out a chair that was sitting up against one wall. Then he picked up a glass off of the tray of a passing servant. "And take this."

Serali accepted the glass and sniffed at it curiously. "What is it?"

"Knowing how you feel about alcohol, It's merely a concoction of juices that James likes. He's none too fond of strong drink either, so he always serves this stuff, though in deference to his guests he provides a variety of spirits as well. I generally prefer a glass of wine, myself, but this isn't bad."

Serali drank gratefully, draining the glass in just a few swallows. "How much longer is this going to last?"

"The party can go most of the night, actually, but it's acceptable to leave anytime after midnight or so. Speaking of which, it's nearly that hour now. Would you like to leave?"

"Yes, I think I would. I've danced enough for one night."

Janus nodded. Taking her hand, he raised her out of her chair. Together they made their way toward the exit. As Janus passed James, who was talking to the same yellow gowned lady he had been speaking with before, he called out their farewells. Finally reaching the other side of the room, they went back down the banner hung hallway and out into the night. A liveried servant saw them and dashed off around the house. A few minutes later, their coach pulled up from wherever it had been while they were inside.

Janus handed Serali inside and they sat in silence as they drove back to the tower. When they arrived, Janus handed Serali down again and sent the coachman on his way. Then he turned to Serali and smiled.

"So how did you like your first ball?"

"I don't know. Some parts of it were not much fun, actually, but then…" she trailed off as she thought of Galen's clear gray eyes. "Yes, some of them were very enjoyable."

Janus smiled. He was not unaware of what Serali was feeling, indeed, there had been a time when he had felt much the same. He watched with a smile on his face as Serali went into the tower, humming a dance tune.