Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales) (9 page)

Another man, dressed the same as the one who announced their arrival and another who Snow didn’t know
,
came up to them. He bowed and cleared his throat. Snow turned her attention from watching her dress in the mirror to the man.

“Excuse me, miss, but Prince
Philip
requests that I bring you to him.”

Snow glanced at
Dim, who grinned and
clapped as if it were quite the honor. She shrugged, telling him she’d see him later as she followed the formal man across the dance floor where a few couple waltzed, or what she guessed was the waltz. She’d never danced it and couldn’t honestly say she recognized it. It could have been
any
thing, she supposed.

On the opposite side of the large, glittering room they came to a set of tall doors. A couple more formal men stood there and opened the doors at t
heir approach.
Philip
wasn’t out with the crowd.
He should have been.
After all, he was the host of this shindig. The man with her indicat
ed she should enter. She did so.
T
he doors closed behind her, the man
remain
ing
on the opposite side of the doors.

Snow glanced around, at first thinking she was alone. Then she saw him. He stood in shadow near the window, only the ambient light from outside outlining him. He looked nervous.

“
Philip
?” Snow crossed the room toward him, wishing the floor weren’t so deeply carpeted to muffle her steps. As she stopped in front of him, he took her hand, not fumbling at all as she would have expected from someone who had no sight, and brought it to his mouth. From anyone else it might have been a cheesy gesture. From
Philip
it seemed just right.

“I’m glad you came,” he said.

Snow laughed. “Is there anyone who didn’t? Besides, I happened to have a free spot in my schedule tonight.”

Philip
grinned. “I wish I could tell you that you look lovely, but . . .”

Snow laughed again. “Well, I can tell you that you look lovely,” she said. And he did. He was resplendent in black, his pants tucked into knee high boots. His jacket looked like what she imagined a prince should wear, with ribbons and shoulder cords, sapphire piping and silver buttons.
Philip
was already gorgeous, add the uniform into the mix and he was dazzling.

He lifted a brow at her compliment. “I’m not sure whether I like being called lovely,” he said.

“Trust me, it’s a good thing. There won’t be a woman out there who will be able to keep her eyes off you.”

He was silent for a long moment, then said, “What about in here?”

Snow blushed, but answered honestly. “Well, I’m still looking.”

Philip
burst out laughing. “Good,” he said. “Now, I need to ask a favor.”

“Okay,” she said, wondering what he could need from her.

“I don’t know whether you’ve heard that I’ve never done this before, at least not here.”

“I heard something like that.”

He shrugged. “It’s a little . . . nerve wracking to think of standing in front of all those people, unable to see, possibly stumbling . . .”

Snow was surprised. He always seemed so confident. She hadn’t seen him stumble yet.

“I was hoping to have a beautiful young lady on my arm, to guide me and make sure I don’t.”

“Oh,” Snow said, disappointed. “Did you need me to go find someone for you?”

Philip
scrunched his brows in confusion and tilted his head. “I would think you were kidding if I didn’t already know how low your self-esteem is, Snow. Katarina
certainly worked her evil persuasion on you
.” He shook his head. “I was talking about you. I want
you
to be my escort.”

“Me? Well, okay, but trust me there are a lot prettier people here than me.”

Philip
smiled. “I’ve seen you, remember? Well, sort of anyway. Besides, I’ve heard the talk about you.”

“People are tal
king about me?” Snow asked, immediately wishing
she could retract the question. She definitely didn’t want to hear what people were saying when she
felt
so good about herself in this gorgeous dress.

“They’re saying that the only thing more beautiful than your appearance is the goodness of your heart,” he said. “But I already knew that from our time together.
There isn’t anything cruel in you, even toward Katarina who treated you so poorly.”

“That’s not true,” Snow argued. “I’m not fond of her at all.”

Philip
laughed. “But you don’t hate her, do you? The woman who sent you to be murdered in the forest.”

Snow thought about it. No, she couldn’t say she hated Katarina. Something horrible must have happened to her at some point to make her such a cruel person.

“Come on,”
Philip
said. “I should join my party.” He held and arm out and Snow slipped her arm through, wishing for just one moment that Channy could see her now, with the most gorgeous guy imaginable, in a gown beyond belief, about to step into a magical room full of sparkling light. Channy would think it was so awesome.

As they neared the doors, they opened from the outside. How did those men know they approached?
She shook her head. W
hy
did
she even question
anything in Fableton anymore?
As they stepped out, the music stopped and every head in the place turned their way. Heat flooded Snow’s cheeks at the unwanted attention. She felt the tenseness in
Philip
’s arm and realized that no matter how nervous she was, he was
probably more so. She
relax
ed
to
make it as easy as possible for him.

Every person in the room dropped into a curtsey, and Snow realized she probably should have done the same every time she saw
Philip
. But then, how could she know? She’d never met royalty in her life. She’d have to remember in the future. As soon as they all stood, applause broke out and
Philip
smiled a breathtaking smile--a
t least
,
Snow found it breathtaking.

“Welcome, everyone,”
Philip
said, his voice carrying across the room as if he wore a microphone. “Thank you for coming. Please, enjoy yourselves. Continue dancing,” he said with a wave and the
music began again. The dance floor quickly filled, as if many of them had just been waiting for permission from
Philip
to begin.

“Can you see the chairs to my right at the head of the room?” he asked, leaning down so others couldn’t hear.

Snow looked the way he indicated. “You mean the thrones?” she whispered.

Philip
chuckled low in his throat and the sound did funny things to Snow’s stomach. “Can you lead me that way without running me into anyone or anything? I can usually easily find my way, but not with all of these people and items filling the room.”

“Well, then let me lead the way.” She directed him toward the thrones, nudging him around others, trying to make it unobvious to anyone watching. Once they stepped up on
the
raised platform,
Philip
’s confidence returned and he then led her over. He stopped at the first chair and took her hand, indicating she should sit.

“No,
Philip
,” she said, panicked. “I can’t sit there. That’s for like . . . your queen or something.”

He smiled. “I don’t have a queen. So it’s only for my guest.
” Snow still hesitated. “I can’t sit unless you do,” he said. “Shall we dance instead?”

“No! Let’s sit,” she said, quickly sliding onto the elaborate chair.

Philip
laughed and moved to sit next to her. Immediately he was besieged by many of the townspeople. Snow watched and listened. It didn’t take long for her to see how much he was loved. It seemed he spent a lot of time alone, but still spent enough time with the people for them to have developed a deep and genuine respect for him.

*****

Food was brought to them.
Snow assumed
Philip
prearranged it
so that he wouldn’t have to worry about stumbling around the long buffet table. Snow was content to sit with him, laughing and talking. She was completely relaxed when she realized no one would ask her dance as long as she was sitting next to
Philip
.

And then he stood, holding a hand out to her. She put her hand in his, rising with him, thinking maybe he was done for the night and wanted her to take him back to the room she’d first met him in. Instead, he led her out to the dance floor, then bowed formally to her. Every muscle within her body tensed.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“It would be the height of discourteousness if I didn’t dance at least one dance.”

“No,
Philip
, I can’t dance.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll lead,” he teased.

“I’m serious,
Philip
, I have no idea how to dance like this. I’ve never done it before.”

He tilted his head curiously as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him. Then he placed one hand on her waist, lifting their joined hands to the side.

“All I need you to do is tell me if we’re getting too close to anyone or anything,” he said. Snow shook her head, pulling back. “
Please
,” he said. She paused. “Will you just trust me, Snow? I promise I won’t stumble or fall on you.”

Snow relaxed, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not worried about you,
Philip
. I’m worried about
me
stumbling and falling on
you
.”

Philip
grinned. “Well then, let’s see which of us can make it the longest with doing so.”

“Okay,” she said. “Just remember you asked for it.”

He laughed as the first strains of music began.
Philip
began moving
. Snow was tense, trying to follow his feet. He gave her waist a little shake. “Relax, Snow, and trust in me.”

Snow blew out a breath, forcing herself to relax and allow her feet to follow where he led naturally. And suddenly, without having the slightest inkling
how she did it, she
waltz
ed
effortlessly across the floor with him. It was as if her feet knew the steps whether her brain did or not. Once she quit worrying about it, she found she was having fun.

“I’m dancing,
Philip
,” she said exultantly.

He laughed. “So am I. How about that?”

“This is amazing,” she said. “If only Channy could see me now.”

“Who’s Channy?” he asked.

“My best friend,” she said.

“Do you miss her?”

“Desperately,” Snow said.

Philip
nodded. “I know how you feel.”

Snow remembered
Philip
telling her about his friend Dmitri who had come here with him originally. “I haven’t met Dmitri yet,” she said.

A shadow passed across
Philip
’s face. “Dmitri isn’t here anymore.”

“I thought no one could leave . . . or get old and die,” she said.

“No one can leave,” he said. “And no one will die . . . not of old age anyway.” He paused. Snow tried to imagine how he died, but didn’t want to ask. “He took his own life,”
Philip
finally said
.

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”

Philip
shook his head sadly. “It just got to be too much to him, the idea of never leaving.”

“Is he . . . is he the only one?” she asked, sure that there must have been others who couldn’t take it either.

“The only one,”
Philip
confirmed. “I think once he died, the grief was so overwhelming to the entire town that no one wanted to cause that again.”

Snow could understand that reasoning. Then something occurred to her. “Was Dmitri his real name?”

“Of course,” he said.

“Why doesn’t anyone else use their real names?”

“I do,” he said.

“Besides you,” she concurred. “And me.”

Philip
shrugged. “No one remembers their real name.”

Snow’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s part of the enchantment, or a
defense mechanism for them, but they honestly don’t remember their names or anything from their lives before. Only myself and Dmitri could remember, which might be why it was harder for him.” He paused, thoughtful. “And now you. You remember your name and your entire life.”