Page 2 of Kingdom of Dance

The princess’s eyes fell on the pile of overshoes dumped unceremoniously by the door leading from her younger sisters’ room to the corridor. They’d all stripped off the shoes when they came back from the beach only a couple of hours ago, and the servants hadn’t yet had the chance to tidy up after them. Zinnia’s would still be there. Moving as silently as she could, she crossed the room and began sifting through the mound.

“Zinnia?” She thought the sleepy voice came from Dahlia, but it was hard to be sure in the darkness.

“Yes, it’s just me,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

The indecipherable mumble that came back to her suggested that the speaker had never fully woken in the first place. Zinnia waited for a moment, but there were no more sounds. Pulling her overshoes on quickly, she stood. One glance at the door decided her. She knew guards always stood watch outside it. She’d never be able to talk her way out of an escort if she went that way. Not to mention her mother would find out she’d been sneaking around in the night.

Turning instead to the window, Zinnia crept across the room. She didn’t know how long Dannsair would stick around, and if there was news of Basil to be had, she didn’t want to miss it. With less grace than she would have liked, she clambered through the still-open window and lowered herself onto the rocks below. The cliff dropped away a few feet from where she stood, but that didn’t worry her. She wasn’t heading south, toward the ocean. She hugged the side of the building as she moved along the rocky ground, traveling east.

The princesses’ suites were in the eastern part of the castle, and it wasn’t long before Zinnia reached the building’s edge. She didn’t emerge into the courtyard at the front of the castle, still skirting around the outside. At this point the wall was intimidatingly high, but she knew the area well, and her steps didn’t falter as she sidled past the corner, sparing a glance for the huge wooden gates, which were currently closed.

She’d already crossed half the short distance to the start of the familiar path that led from the castle’s low cliff to the ocean below. That was where she usually encountered Dannsair and Rekavidur. But some undefined instinct made her look up, toward the cliff which continued to rise higher as it traveled east.

Zinnia’s steps faltered, and she stopped, squinting upward. She wouldn’t have even noticed the dragon if she hadn’t been looking so carefully, and if the moon hadn’t been so bright. It was nothing more than a darker shape against the darkness of the night sky. But there was definitely a silhouette, much too large to be anything else.

Zinnia hesitated, a shiver passing over her at the breeze blowing in from the ocean. She should have grabbed a cloak, but she hadn’t expected to go so far.

“Zinnia?”

The whispered greeting made her turn sharply, and she let out an exasperated breath at the sight of Violet, hair still wet, emerging around the edge of the castle’s walled courtyard.

“What are you doing here, Violet?” Zinnia hissed.

Violet gave her a speaking look. “I think that’s my question.”

Zinnia sighed. “I saw Dannsair fly over, and I thought she might have news about Basil. But how did you know I was gone?”

Violet’s eyes widened at the mention of the dragon. “Dannsair is back so soon? Is that good news, or bad?” Seeing that Zinnia was still waiting, she rolled her eyes. “And as for how I knew, it was a little hard to miss when you sidestepped past my window, looking incredibly shifty.”

Zinnia sighed again, her eyes traveling once more up to the form on the cliffs above.

“So are we going down to the shore, then?” Violet prompted.

Zinnia frowned. “I thought so, but it looks like she’s up there. Do you see her?”

Violet squinted in the direction indicated. “Oh, yeah, I see her. I would never have spotted her if you hadn’t pointed her out.”

A giggle from the darkness caused both sisters to turn abruptly, looking into the blackness alongside the castle wall.

“Who was that?” Zinnia asked ominously. “Come on, don’t mess around.”

Two nine-year-olds emerged into the moonlight, one looking ashamed, the other still giggling.

“Magnolia, Jasmine,” Zinnia said, exasperated. “What are you doing here?”

“Dahlia said you climbed out a window,” Jasmine said, as if it was explanation enough.

Violet’s eyes had flicked to the figure stepping up behind the twins. “Briar, couldn’t you stop them?”

Briar shrugged. “I don’t know how you thought I’d do that,” she said matter-of-factly, “given there are two of them and one of me. They’re only two years younger than I am, so their strength combined is obviously going to be more than mine.”

Zinnia and Violet exchanged an irritated look at their sister’s literal response. People often said Briar was smart, but Zinnia didn’t think there was much use in having all the facts if you had none of the common sense.

“Well, if you made it along the rocks safely once, I suppose you can do it again,” said Zinnia ruthlessly. “Take them back.”

“No one’s taking us anywhere,” Jasmine protested. “We came because we wanted to, and we’re not going back if there’s something fun happening.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Zinnia. “Of course you’re going back.” She glanced up the cliff. The figure was still there, but for how much longer? “Briar,” she said authoritatively, “you stay here with the twins. Violet and I will go speak with Dannsair, and be back in a minute.”

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