On reaching the landing with lead to the balcony, she cast a glance over the dancers. She saw the clear pleasure on her friend’s face as she and her elder brother turned around and round. She turned her back to where they swirled and stepped out onto the balcony for the second time that night.
"Stephen?" she called, though she couldn't see anyone out there.
“Are you alright, your highness?”
She jumped at the voice, forgetting that Hiro was posted out there, his dark uniform allowing him to blend so well with the shadow of the wall. “I apologize,” he said, giving a quick bow, though his head was raised again before his body could catch up. “I didn't mean to startle you.” 
he caught her breath and then gestured around, saying by explanation, “I thought Stephen would be here.”
The guard looked puzzled. “I’m sorry, your highness, but didn't he just leave in your company?” 
“Never mind,” she said quickly as she felt her cheeks flush.
She turned so that she could look at what Stephen had been seeing. Unlike her eldest brother, who often went hunting, she never left the palace unless in the company of someone, which was normally for some formal occasion. She didn't know if Stephen ever left the castle grounds. He'd never mentioned it.
"I lost him," she said, not giving more detail."I thought he might have come back here."
"I'm afraid not, your highness."
If he was even at the party now, she thought a bitterly. He could have slipped away to his room. Their parents wouldn't notice in a crowd like this, but they would if she or Edward were missing long.

Edward gave her a broad smile as she spoke about other women.
"Enjoy the moment," he said to her, not looking at anything but her as he said this. "Don't think about after, or before."
He gave a laugh as he led her with ease, clearly pleased at how she danced.
"This party will be nothing to your birthday, I am sure," he added. "I'm sure mother will want to throw you a grander affair than anything yet seen in the kingdom. How old are you now? I'm sorry, but it's hard to forget you're not 5 anymore."
This was said in a tease.
"I'm sure she'll speak to you soon about what you want, so be sure to have some ideas," he said. "If you don't, she might just plan the whole thing without thinking."