"I could've spent forever with your hand in my pockets. Picture of your face in an invisible locket." - Dancing With Our Hands Tied, Taylor Swift

I had a bad feeling, but the day of the ball arrived. I had anxiously waited for this day to come. This would be my day, the day I would ask Arora for a dance, as I would with many more of the royal youths. I was allowed to dance with girls that evening, because it was an honor to be selected to dance with the birthday girl. It normally didn't mean anything, but it would mean something to me. But I wasn't sure if I dared to ask Arora.

I stayed in my room all day long. Still, I wore clothes in my room. Arora had made me feel bare and naked, but somehow in a good way. I had worn a basic dress for most of the day, but now I would have to change into my ballgown for the evening.

My parents had chosen my dress for the evening. It was a mature, but beautiful design. It was completely black with lots of lace, many skirts and a high collar. It was beautiful, I couldn't deny it, but it was not something I would choose myself. I was completely aware that most of the clothes I owned were very sexy.

I let my handmaidens clothe me, put my hair up and do my makeup. I had opted for a masked ball, but my parents would only settle with a normal ball. So no masks around.

When I arrived at the ballroom, most of the attendants were already inside. I met up with my parents and Damian at the big doors leading to the room. I looked up at Damian. He looked quite handsome in this light. His brown eyes were shining, his black suit adding to his features. With those high cheekbones, boyish look in his eyes and messy blonde hair, he could get all the beautiful girls on their knees. But he just wasn't for me.

Damain was the best guy I could imagine, he was handsome, kind, forgiving and rich, but I could only fall in love with girls. I did not give a shit for boys, I didn't need them in my life.

"You look beautiful tonight," Damian whispered in my ear.

"Thank you," I whispered back. "My parents chose my dress tonight."

Damian chuckled softly. "I could guess. The Ebony I know would never let an opportunity to wear revealing clothing slip."

A slime broke through on my face. "You know me too well."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should."

At that exact moment my father coughed softly. The doors were about to open. I linked my arm into Damians and we took our place in front of the doors. With my free hand, I quickly rearranged the crown on my head.

My parents slid into place behind us and the doors opened. I heard a guard announcing us and everyone in the ballroom looked at us while we walked into the room.

My eyes scanned the room and everyone inside, desperately looking for Arora, but the princess was nowhere to be seen. I did find her little sister, Princess Feyla, in a sparkling gold dress beside her parents. But Arora wasn't in sight.

Damian and I stopped in the middle of the room, surrounded by all the attendees of the ball. While my parents got on their thrones on the raised podium, Damian and I got ready to open the ball with the first dance.

I looked into Damians eyes while the band started playing the music. The music was different from the music they played at the bar where I had most of my parties. This was more formal, music for older people. But I quite liked dancing on it, and I knew Damian did too.

So he took the lead and brought me to all the corners of the ballroom. He was a skilled dancer, more skilled than me. I had other talents, things I learned Damian. His future wife would thank me.

When Damian and I were halfway through our dance, my parents gave the signal that the others could join the dance. The dancefloor became busy and our dancemoves smaller.

After the song ended, I left Damian on the dancefloor as I walked to the buffet table. I later spotted him asking Princess Feyla for a dance, her golden dress recognisable in the crowd. I wondered if Arora would also be wearing a dress that color. I thought it would look stunning on her.

But the princess still wasn't there yet and I didn't have the courage to ask her parents or sister if she would even come. Maybe I ruined it, maybe she's afraid I would seduce her again. Maybe she left for her home city to never come back.

So I downed a glass of wine and searched the party for a dance partner. I found a girl in a soft pink dress at the side of the dancefloor. She hadn't been asked to dance yet and I quite liked her appearance.

"Would you like to have this dance?" I asked her.

The girl looked up a little bit shocked and her cheeks turned the same pink color of her dress. "Yes, I would like to have this dance," she said while she took my hand.

"Ebony, Princess of the City of Night," I introduced myself.

"Kaya, Princess of the City of Flowers," the princess said. "It's an honor to meet you, Princess."

"The same for me," I assured her.

The next song started and we took the dancefloor. Princess Kaya wasn't that good of a dancer, she was a little bit clumsy, but she seemed to enjoy the ball. I looked at her face during the dance, while her eyes avoided mine. Her face was round and her eyes a beautiful shade of gray. It was a pretty thing and I hoped she would find a nice wife, because I heard the only princess of the City of Flowers liked women.

After the dance ended, I found another victim. I walked up to the Queen of the Haunted City. Her city was long reigned without a king, at most the prince she was in love with. So it was appropriate to ask her for a dance.

"Would you like to have this dance with me?" I asked the Queen. She was a lot older and more superior to me, her city big and always growing, always gaining more territory.

The Queen smiled at me, her blue eyes shining in the dim light of the ballroom. "I would like to have this dance with you, Princess Ebony," she said. No introductions were needed.

I returned the smile and grabbed the Queen's hands when a new song started. She wore a black dress of a quite simple looking fabric, but I would guess that it was more expensive than anything I owned. The dress was floor-length and decorated with streaks of a sparkling gold fabric. And she wore a red lipstick, I had never seen the Queen without it.

After my dance with the Queen of the Haunted City was over, it felt like the whole room went silent. Confused, I searched the room for my parents, but they were still on their thrones, looking at the doors. I followed their gaze to the entrance of the ballroom, where the doors had opened one again and a girl emerged.

For a few seconds, I did not recognize her. Her black dress, sparkling like stars in the night sky, was not something I had seen her wear. The fabric was cut out in a way that it left most skin naked, except from the tulle that still covered her whole body. That dress left nothing to the imagination, and I hated and loved that at the same time.

I did not notice that everyone around me had left the dancefloor until it was too late. I watched Arora walk towards me, the golden girl no more. Now a princess of a sky full of stars, her lips as red as those from the Haunted Queen, her eyes lined with black and sparkled even in her golden-colored hair.

She looked beautiful.

I came to my senses fast enough to walk a few steps towards her. "Would you like to have this dance?" I asked her, desperately hoping that she would say yes.

"Yes," Arora answered. "Yes, I want to have this dance with you."

I nodded and gave a signal to the band and they started playing the next song while I grabbed Arora's hands. And so we started dancing like it was the first time. I felt the urge to touch her, to feel her bare skin on mine. But I couldn't do that, in this crowded ballroom. It felt like dancing with my hands tied.

Arora sighed, clearly wanting to say something she didn't really know how to tell. Then, she opened her mouth. "It really feels like an avalanche, falling for you," she admitted, soft enough for only me to hear.

I smiled at her, that felt like a good sign. "So baby, let's dance through this avalanche," I said. "Just say that we got it. I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted."

She took over the lead from me and a wicked smile adorned her face. "I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us. Because it's gravity, keeping you with me," she said while she spinned me around.

"You love me?" I asked her, stunned from her words. There was no alcohol influencing those words. This was a sober, real love declaration.

Arora only smiled at me while she took us on a trip around the ballroom.

"Because before this, I loved you in secret. I fell at first sight, yes I love without reason. We're only twenty years old, how were you to know what kind of feelings I had for you?"

"I see now, you held me close. But how was I to know?" she asked.

"I will tell you," I told her. "My love had been frozen, but you painted me golden. Darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis. But if people started talking," I paused. "I know no one in the world who could take it."

"You were falling for me long before this week. You said nothing in the world could stop it," she said, wanting confirmation.

"I had a bad feeling," I answered. We were on thin ice, dancing with our hands tied. Yes, we knew we had our hands tied.

Arora grabbed me tighter, her hands moving to my waist. I stared and the bare parts of her skin showing and I had a bad feeling. But we were still dancing, dancing with our hands tied.

She moved her face closer to mine, close enough so I could spot the exact shade of blue her eyes were. We were so close, but the music kept playing.

"I'd kiss you as the lights went out," she whispered. "We would be swaying as the room burned down. I'd hold you as the water rushes in, if only I could dance with you again."

So she kissed me as the music faded away. Pressed her lips onto mine as everyone stopped dancing. I closed my eyes as many eyes turned on us. I'd be kissing Arora as the lights went out, we were swaying when it felt like the room burned down. I held her tight when the sound started to rush in again.

I held this moment, one of love and passion. One moment of everything I wanted. I grabbed it and placed it inside a vault in my head. If only I could dance with her again after this.

Because we were dancing with our hands tied, until the ties broke loose. And now everyone knew.