A Ball {Part 1}

"Dear Queen Anastasia,

You do not know me, nor do I know you, but we both know what it means to rule. That means putting your people first. I am here to propose we do precisely that. I have thought over it long and hard, and think I might have a few solutions on how we can do exactly that. I hope we have some time to talk it over soon.

Crown Prince Taren"

.....

She had opened, read and reread the letter until it was engraved in memory. Was it a threat, a plea for assistance, a friendly hand reaching out as aid? She knew which one was most likely, and that caused her stomach to drop. It remained that way as she dressed for the ball.

Ladies-in-waiting, maids and assistants swarmed around the Queen in an attempt to get her properly dressed. They began by removing her daily clothes and undoing the work done this morning when she had been dressed for her introductions.

Once they finished removing the morning and afternoon clothing and makeup she had worn, they replaced everything from the ground up. Starting with a simple white shift, they moved onto adding plain white stockings, white silk ribbon garters, and two shoes made that looked like gold. Then it was time for the corset. Anastasia didn't mind corsets and found that it helped with her posture and breathing. the firmness of the corset helped remind her to take deep breaths not just using her lungs, and in an odd way it grounded her.

After having the corset laced, although not to tightly, they then moved onto adding any additional support she wished for the skirts to add volume. Anastasia proceeded to put on four plain petticoat and finished with one of silk taffeta.

Then it was time for the dress itself. It was a one of three new gowns that Anastasia had commissioned for the season. This one was deep blue satin, and billowed around her in its abundance of silk. Pearls were scattered across the hem and edgings of the skirt. Anastasia looked almost like she was a piece of art, slowly but surely put together. Her sleeves were lose around her arms and draped downward. the draping continued across the top of the otherwise fitted bodice.

After her dress had been put on several woman worked on coiling her hair around hot irons to create graceful waves that streamed about her. Once the curling was finished, they took portions of the front of her hair and gathered it to the back, creating an ornate design while leaving a good majority of her hair down and lose about her shoulders and waist.

She then preceded to have a maid apply make up. A little bit of blush, something to deepen the red in her lips, a smidge of color to the eyes, and then black liner as to draw them out. It was simple, but added to her beauty.

After the make up was applied they moved onto accessories. A long gold chain with her families crest was placed around her neck, followed by a stand of pearls and a deep blue ribbon with a large teardrop pearl was tied around her neck. Two teardrop pearl earrings where handed to her and she put them on.

She then put on some of her favorite lavender and peppermint lotion, and a perfume of lavender and gardenia. A pair of white gloves that went to her upper arm was the finished off by her signet ring on her right hand, and a plain gold ring adorned her left ring finger.

With that her dressing was done. However she took a moment alone in her room before exiting. She had been so caught up in the letter from this morning, she forgot to decide who to dance with this evening. It was customary she would open the ball with the next highest ranking male official. In this case it was Grand Duke Denton, her uncle, would open the night with her as the highest ranking officials in attendance. Then she would be required to dance with several of the potential suitors brought before her today. It was her choice in what order she did so. However, it was of utmost important.

Who she danced with, and in what order, showed her interest in the suitors. The type of dance she danced with each also determined the type of interest she showed. It was all social construct and debatable, but also scrutinized within and without. There were five types of messages sent throughout the ball.

The first and most obvious came if you did not dance with the queen. It meant one of two things. The first was you were most probably not considered a contender for her hand. The other was that she wanted to observe you from afar before initiating more serious connection. There was still a chance if you did not dance with the queen on the first night, but it was often seen as a sign to not get your hopes up.

The second tear of interest was that of group dances. Group dances were often complex and required concentration. As such, there was little to no speaking between partners. Group dances were considered a sign of intrigue and interest, but also uncertainty. It was a great way for the queen to see the aloofness of her dancing partner, without having to talk to him. In addition, the queen could ask multiple men to dance with her and an according group of her ladies-in-waiting. This way she could see multiple men at once, while also potentially pairing her ladies'-in-waiting.

The third tear was that of quick one on one dances. It meant that the queen liked you, but did not want to do a lot of talking. It was enough for further introduction, but often required concentration like the group dances did. A man who was given this opportunity often was certain to have another meeting with the queen.

However, it was still outshined by the one on one slow dance. This was often saved for the one or two men who the queen wanted to show acute interest in. Slow dances allowed for more talk, but also more feeling. The music was often prominent in this type of dance and told a story more than kept time. If a gentleman received the honor of a slow dance, he knew she was interested and wanted to savor her moment with you.

The first dance was always saved for the highest ranking official in the room, such as the queen and king, or the second highest ranking official counter part to the ruler. However, the last dance was saved for those who were married or close to marriage. Should a queen not be married, then the last dance of the evening was saved for the individual the queen wanted to pursue the most, was honoring, or the second highest ranking individual.

The more a queen danced with a person, the more intrigue she found in them. It was not uncommon for the queen to first dance a group dance with an individual and then go onto dance a quick dance with them, or some other combination should she so desire. However, to dance together back to back or more than three dances a night often meant something much, much more serious.

It was because of all of this that Anastasia sat and carefully considered who and at which time she would dance with whom. Her country depended on it. Furthermore, they would be watching the entire time to see if they could get a glimpse of their future king.

At least Anastasia hoped they would get to have a future king. The ambiguity of Prince Taren's letter still hung in the air about her. She would have to get over it at least for know. If she did not smile, the kingdom would think her displeased with the selection or worse, them. Oh, to be queen on the night of a ball.