Page 32 of Apples Dipped in Gold
“Put it on! Put it on!”
My eyes widened, and I glanced around.
“Behind my tree, pretty thing!” she said.
I hurried around the yew and found an opening in the bark that was just big enough for me to fit. A strange excitement went through me as I undressed. I had not had anything new in such a long time, much less something so beautiful.
As I slipped into the new dress, I was surprised by its softness and how perfectly it fit. The skirt was frilled butlight and airy, like gossamer floating in the wind. Lace threaded with silver and garlands of pretty white roses dangled from the waist at different lengths. The bodice was corseted and cut like the top of a heart, embellished with the same lace and roses. The sleeves were nothing more than long ribbons of gauze fabric tied on my shoulders.
“Pretty thing, are you ready?” called the younger dryad.
“I…I cannot lace the back,” I said.
“Come, pretty thing, and I will do it for you.”
I stepped out from the cover of the tree to find the dryad hovering, wings beating fast.
“Turn around, pretty thing,” she said and then pulled the laces of the corset tight. When she was finished, I turned to her, burying my hands in the skirt of my new dress. I did not think I’d be able to stop touching it.
“Oh, you are a vision,” said the dryad. “Old Mother is never wrong! You shall be the belle of the ball!”
I smiled because I could not help it. I was going to a ball!
“Off with you now!” Old Mother said as we rounded her tree. “Off to the ball, pretty thing!”
The dryads descended from the canopy above, their lanterns flickering as they flew. I smiled at Old Mother and then followed the light. It was like running beneath the stars. As the dryads lit the way, they seemed to draw all manner of creatures from the dark—fairies with butterfly wings and brownies in strange hats, dwarves dressed in fine jewels. There were also nymphs, small ones and tall ones, some with wings and some without, some with white hair and some with brown.
One danced up to me, her arm laden with floral crowns, and placed one upon my head before twirlingaway. Another came up to me and took my hand in hers, giggling and smiling as she pulled me along. We skipped to the music, which was closer now than before, a soft but warm and rich sound that was deeper than bells but higher than drums. The melody was hypnotic, and my body was buzzing.
I had never been so happy, and I did not know what spurred it, the feeling of being included and seen or some other kind of magic.
The dryads parted in the air, forming two lines that looped and then tangled in the trees as we spilled into a meadow, already packed with all kinds of creatures and mortals alike. There were even more fairies and nymphs, some so small they flitted through the air like gnats, others taller than me. There were goblins with long teeth and sharp nails and trolls with tails, centaurs with hooved feet and long beards and fauns with short legs and horns. I had never seen so many creatures before, and there were even more I did not recognize, but they were all soon forgotten as I was pulled into a dance by the nymph who had taken my hand.
As we formed a circle, I looked at her, her eyes so bright, they were like glowing stars.
“I have never danced,” I said.
“It is easy. Follow my lead!” she said and pulled me to left and right, skipping as she went. Our circle tightened, and the nymphs beside me raised my arms high, releasing them to clap and spin before we joined hands to do it all over again. By the third turn, I was moving with an ease I’d never felt before and smiling so wide my face hurt. I felt like I could dance forever, even as I grew breathless and hot beneath the dryads’ glimmering lights.
The music continued, transforming into something far faster. The nymphs kept hold of my hands, our circle shrinking as a larger one formed around us. I was unprepared as I was jerked to the right, the fae beside me skipping quickly, and then suddenly, they released my hand to take a step and turn. I followed their lead and joined hands with a man, or I thought he was a man, except that his eyes were yellow and his irises black slits.
I held his gaze for a moment, unnerved by those strange eyes set within such a handsome face, until I found myself in the larger circle and pulled again to the right.
We continued like that, coming together and then apart, and I thought that I had never been happier, but as I moved to take another’s hand, I realized the dancers were being watched, though that might not have bothered me if it wasn’t for one set of eyes.
Lore.
Now that I was aware of him, I didn’t know how I’d gone this long without feeling his gaze upon me. It was heavy and dark and…angry.
He sat stiffly at the end of a long banquet table, which was positioned beneath a hill that looked as if it had been propped up with grand posts, wound with green garlands. One of his hands rested on the table, gloved fingers tapping but not to the music. He was dressed differently, not in his leather and armor but in a silver tunic with sterling clasps. He was crowned with pale white branches, and his long, silky hair fell over his shoulders.
He was stunning but also terrifying, and the sight of him halted my steps, and then suddenly, no one wasdancing, and everyone was staring at me and the Prince of Nightshade.
“My lady?” a voice asked.
It took me a moment to disengage from Lore’s stare, a moment to prepare myself for what it would feel like to have his gaze burning up my body. Finally, I turned my head and met the pale yellow eyes of the man I’d first traded places with during the dance.
“Perhaps you would like to rest?” he asked. “Allow me to escort you.”
