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The noble woman she had approached turned to her and Rowan could now see her face. A beautiful, young face. Blue eyes. And those eyes were looking right back at her face. Rowan felt curiosity start to bloom inside of her. None of their guests had looked at her long enough to actually [i]see [/i]her face. They either didn't care to look at the little servant girl or they were too busy looking at what was beneath her face, discreetly of course, they were nobles after all. But Rowan had noticed. She almost felt as though for the first time one of these noble people was actually seeing her as a person.

But the blonde woman's gaze on her face was lingering on one spot only, Rowan noticed. And in the next heartbeat she noticed that it was the cheek that had received a slap by the Madam earlier. She felt ashamed that she had even allowed herself to think someone in this room could look at her and look beneath the servants clothes she was wearing. Metaphorically, of course.

Rowan was quick to set a smile on her lips that was bright enough to hide that she might have been in pain before, but not bright enough to make it seem she was being too forward, too personal with the woman. [i]Keep your distance. Don't attract attention.[/i] So many times she had heard those words.

Rowan could feel her heartbeat quickening. If the lady would bring it to anyone's attention that Rowan had a faint sign of a slap on her cheek, the night would be over for her. She would have to leave the ballroom and spend the rest of the night working behind closed doors where no guest would see her and feel [i]'discomforted by her appearance'[/i].

When the woman spoke to her, Rowan was taken aback yet again. She apologized to her. And not only was it an apology, but she had just admitted that she had indeed been laying her eyes on her face for a little too long to be 'appropriate'. Not to mention that she had called her [i]miss[/i].

"It's my pleasure to serve you", Rowan answered with a smile and a slight bow to acknowledge the authority of the woman. She still had no idea who this woman was, but now she had peeked her interest. "Ma'am, you do not have to apologize." A moment later she decided to give an apology herself. "I am sorry if I caused you malaise." The servant didn't try to start a conversation, it wasn't on her to approach the guests with anything but the offer for refreshments and food. They ask, you answer. You do not talk to them otherwise. Rules, rules, rules. The night was young and Rowan already felt herself having trouble with sticking to the simpler rules.

Without having the intention to, her eyes skipped over to two other guests who had some trouble with a guard, but the situation seemed resolved and they were looking rather relaxed in their conversation. Rowan hoped that there wouldn't be complaints from the two nobles. Complaints usually didn't end well for the people working during this very important time. The woman caught her attention for a second. Rowan could hear the music playing so softly, her eyes drifted off to the dance floor and in her head she could see someone pulling her to the middle of the room and waltz with her and nothing else but the beautiful dance mattered. But that wasn't her reality.

Her eyes went back to the woman in front of her. Although her wandering eyes had only been away from the blonde woman's attention for a few seconds, she knew she shouldn't have let her curiosity on the situation with the guard get the best of her. Not paying your full attention towards a guest, even more so if they were talking to you, was considered extremely impolite and the Madam would be furious over Rowan's disrespectful behavior. Rowan scolded herself in her head. Her curiosity and seek for adventure and need for dancing have all gotten so much worse these past few weeks and it would be becoming a bigger problem if she couldn't learn to control herself. She knew she would be back to scrubbing floors and cleaning fireplaces by the next morning. Away from the music. Away from the dance floor, where she would hopefully be able to watch some of the guests dance so gracefully. It was the second best thing to dancing herself.