“There.” Claudia stepped back from where she stood in front of Liv, causing the small girl to wobble dangerously for a moment and then yelp and spread her arms out for balance. They’d been practicing dancing in the spacious open area of her suite. Ordinarily Liv would be good enough at dancing to get by with most partners, but…

The tiny princess looked at her reflection in her mirror, peering uncertainly at the gold-toned strappy heels she wore. Somewhere around four-ish inches high, perhaps… it was about three and a half inches higher than she had ever worn to a dance, but over the last few months she’d often put them on at home and wobbled around, so she could at least /walk/ in them neatly. Dancing was still… a bit awkward. But she’d deal with that when the issue came. Likely, while trying to dance with Edwin, the heights would likely cause more than enough awkwardness and mask whatever clumsiness came from the shoes.

Liv was shaken out of her reverie a few minutes later  by the quiet words of, “Liviana, it’s time to go.” Aelia said. She took another look at her lady, at the heavy – but undeniably lovely – makeup that Mai Mei had put on her, the ornately chaotic hair, the midnight blue and gold dress that was far too daring and hugged what little curvature the tiny princess had… Claudia had actually put some extra padding in the fitted part of the dress to make it sit right. Whatever the artificial embellishments, Liv looked… good. Almost like she belonged at this gathering.

The small princess gave her attendants a shaky smile as they appraised her, appraising them in turn. In the few minutes she’d zoned out, wondering about how the evening was going to play out, her maids had gotten themselves ready. Given that they were nobles in their own rights, they had just as much right to attend as any of the other generals, lords, ladies, and such who were doubtless in attendance.

Both had donned flowy tunics in the traditional Lusitanian style and braided their hair and piled it on top of their head – every inch the perfect Lusitanian nobles. Claudia wore a soft reddish brown tunic with a rose gold wrap embroidered in metallic thread, and copper-toned sandals, and a copper wire-wrapped hair clip. And Aelia…. Liv winced. The girl wore a soft but still faintly metallic tunic in a shade of gold, with a black sheer wrap and bright metallic gold embroideries. Her golden-brown curls were partly covered by the wrap, which was pinned in place by bright gold clips in the ever-present shape of laurel leaves.

She looked like a princess. Liv felt a surge of envy.

Claudia stepped close to her, then, to roughly lift her chin up and press a hand on her back to get her to straighten it. “Confidence, Liviana, and quit shaking. It is most un-royal of you.” 

The two maids stood at Liv’s sides, flanking her as she walked out of her room and down the stairs. She hesitated for a moment before the ballroom’s doors, then straightened her spine and walked quickly forwards, into the glittering whirlwind of color. Almost immediately she was swallowed up by the crowd, separated from both of her maids and weaving aimlessly through the crowd. She noticed the cameras, of course – of course the ball would be televised – though she figured they were ignoring her, for the moment at least. 

Now she just had the usual problem of social gatherings… finding someone she knew. Heels or no, being up to people’s shoulders, instead of their elbows, didn’t exactly make the matter of finding specific individuals any better.
[hr][hr]

Anton strode into the ballroom confidently, his polished dress shoes clicking on the floor. He was the very picture of modern sophistication, a sleek, slim black tailcoat and pressed dress pants, starched white silk shirt and waistcoat, and a white silk bowtie.

He scanned the crowd, his eyes grazing over two rather small girls wearing conspicuously dated fashion. If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, that was Aelia Hadrianus and Claudia Balbinus of Lusitania… which meant that Liviana would be here somewhere.

Ah, yes. There. She was hovering near a wall, likely trying to blend in… she looked rather, well. Different than one would expect of her, though from the distance he couldn’t see much of the makeup or be able to tell that she was much taller than before. Obviously he noticed the scandalously-revealing dress, a fact which he filed away for later.

No matter, he was not going to intervene with her for now. Instead his gaze traveled over to the table of refreshments, to the unlikely trio of Niklas Konig, Mai Mei, and Fareeha Amari. Niklas and Mai were a matched pair, he knew, but… Fareeha? As far as he knew, she was unclaimed.

With a vague thought in mind he moved deliberately towards them, gracefully weaving through the crowd to arrive in front of them.

Ignoring the tension in the air – and the chocolate ball balanced in Fareeha Amari’s palm, the freckled youth stepped up to the group, offering a small bow. “Salutations. I am Prince Andronikos Telesphorides of the Athenian Federation, but please address me as Anton. I hope you do not mind my interjection into this, ah… social triangle, but I fear I have encountered no one else tonight who looks as though they might be willing to engage in intellectual discussion.”