“Welcome, Lady Maude,” a brown haired young woman wearing a fuchsia dress said. “I was so excited when Duke Rosenberg contacted you about coming to my tea party.” She smiled warmly. “I’m Cristyne Zellers.” She had an earnest look on her face that made Maude’s heart speed up. I wonder if we will become friends, Maude thought.

“Lady Zellers,” Maude said, nodding her head.

“Please call me Cristyne,” she replied, clasping one of Maude’s gloved hands.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to come.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Cristyne said. “I have to greet more guests, but I hope we will have some time to chat together today.”

“Of course,” Maude replied with a smile. Maude strode through the doors to the doors to the ballroom, Jakob trailing behind her. Instead of being decorated for dancing, tables lined the floor, each with place cards, a tiered tray worth of treats, and a teacup on a saucer.

Wow, Maude thought. This is incredible, the level of detail that went into this.

Purple asters lined nearly every surface in the room. Deep purple satin covered the tables, and a lavender colored tulle bow domed each chair’s backside.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Jakob, Maude’s “guard” said to her. “Lady Cristyne is Duke Rosenberg’s maternal cousin, and his mother’s family is well-known in our kingdom to be some of the most detailed party planners.”

“It looks straight out of a fairytale,” Maude agreed. She paused and realized that Jakob was the perfect person to ask questions to. While Duke Rosenberg may have had Jakob come with her to ensure she remained captured, he could also be used to guide her and prevent her from fumbling socially.

“Jakob,” she said. “What is the normal protocol for guests after greeting the host?”

He smiled warmly at her. “Typically ladies will socialize with their friends and find their seats so that they know where to sit when the host is ready to begin.”

“Okay,” Maude said, breathing out heavily. She began her descent down the stairs into the ballroom, smiling at all the ladies who dared look at her.

I’m here for the experience, she reminded herself. And if I’m lucky I may get to make a friend or two so I’ll at least be less lonely in Duke Rosenberg’s manor.

Several ladies looked at her with disgust. Maude felt her heart skip a beat. It was a look she knew so well, there was no way she could possibly mistake it.

She also saw a handful of ladies examine her with what looked like curiosity. Butterflies flitted around in her stomach.

Was this really a good idea? She wondered. I don’t even like tea. Will I find any part of this enjoyable? Will I really be able to participate in noble society in an enemy country?

Maude reached the bottom of the staircase. I supposed I won’t know until I try it, she thought.

She started looking around at each of the tables looking around for where her name had been placed. She continued to smile at everyone whose eyes she met. No one seemed to be brave enough to talk to her. Or are they sizing me up instead?

She finally found her name tag, and it was in one of the seats next to the hostess.

“Ah,” Jakob said. “Just so you’re aware, typically the seats next to the hostess are reserved for close friends or honored guests.”

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Maude’s heart skipped a beat. An honored guest? Her? Never in a million lifetimes did she ever think that she’d ever be considered an honored guest. And in an enemy kingdom for that matter!

“Ah,” Maude said. “Thank you for that information, Jakob. That’s good to know.”

Her heart felt like it was pounding. She felt giddy and as if she’d spent her morning skipping through a garden of flowers.

Has my luck changed around? She couldn’t help but wonder. Why has all this good stuff been happening to me lately?

It almost seemed too good to be true. It seemed as though her fate had completely changed the moment she’d crossed paths with Duke Rosenberg.

More and more ladies came into the hall, and talking and laughter filled the room. Most of the young women did not seem all that eager to sit down in their seats, leaving Maude as a very apparent outsider. She squeezed her hands together tightly. I hope this doesn’t last too long, she thought. She noticed a few ladies glancing in her reaction. Her mouth started to go dry when she noticed Cristyne slowly, gracefully making her way down the ballroom staircase. Other guests noticed as well, and they began making their own ways to their seats. Maude sighed in relief. Thank goodness that didn’t last as long as I’d feared it would, she thought.

Cristyne stood at the bottom of the staircase, and rang a small bell in her hand, in hopes of grabbing the party’s attention. It worked, and the ladies who hadn’t noticed her descent began finishing up their conversations and heading to their seats. Maude noticed that the ladies did not go and sit in their spots, but that they went and stood behind the chairs of their spots. Maude followed suit, standing up out of her chair and standing behind it. Did I already make a mistake? She wondered. She noticed that Jakob stood off to the side near the edge of the ballroom. He was close enough that he’d easily be able to stop her if she tried to escape, but far enough to make her feel as though she at least wouldn’t get eavesdropped on by her chaperone.

“Everyone,” Cristyne said with a warm smile on her face. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come to my tea party today.” There was a little bit of clapping from the audience. Maude joined in, chewing on her lip a little bit.

“We have three tea varieties for you today,” Cristyne continued on.

Three? Maude thought, feeling her eyes widen briefly. I’m not sure I’m even going to be able to make it through one tea. Maude had to practice her tea party manners with water because she’d still struggled with choking down any kind of tea her teacher had offered her.

“The first one,” Cristyne was saying “Is a warm floral Jasmine tea. You all know that this is one of my all-time favorites, so I hope you enjoy it.” Murmurs spread through the crowd, and it mostly sounded like excitement. I’m not sure if that’s one I’ve tried before, Maude thought.

“The second tea will be a lavender Earl Grey. It will continue the floral theme before our final tea, which will be a blueberry hibiscus tea.”

Excited murmurs ran through the room again. “A hibiscus tea!” one of the ladies at Maude’s table was saying. “How extravagant. I’ve always wanted to try one.”

Maude’s eyebrows raised. If a noblewoman of the Aulbert had yet to try a hibiscus tea, it was unlikely she ever had.

It will probably be bitter, she thought. I have yet to try a tea that isn’t.

“At each table,” Cristyne was saying. “I have provided milk, sugar, and honey, all of which will pair well with the three teas that I have prepared for you today, so please feel free to indulge and try it out.”

Maude turned her head to the side, thinking back to the times whenever she’d had tea in the past. Did I ever add anything to the teas? She tried to remember. She didn’t think she had. Will it change the flavor significantly? She wondered. I would do nearly anything to make the flavor more bearable.

“Lastly,” Cristyne said at the front of the room. “Today we have with us an honored guest, Lady Maude Holloway, the empire’s sword saint,” Cristyne gestured towards Maude, and the room grew loud quickly. Cristyne cleared her throat, and the attention returned to her. “Thankfully, Lady Maude has been assisting Duke Rosenberg with the strategy for the war to help us bring our loved ones home sooner. He requested our warm welcome of Lady Maude, as she will be staying in Aulbert for the foreseeable future.”

The attention shifted back to Maude, and she saw all sorts of emotions on people’s faces. She felt herself flush red. She hadn’t realized that she would be announced in this manner. Some of them were clapping for her, and she wasn’t even sure what they were really clapping for. Helping Duke Rosenberg with the war strategy? I’ve done no such thing. What did Duke Rosenberg tell Lady Cristyne to allow me to come to this tea party? I am merely a prisoner, and only staying here because I have nowhere else to go.

It was certainly nothing for these Aulbertians to be clapping about.

“Now, without further adieu,” Cristyne said. “Let the tea party begin!”