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Take her hand, Bill said cryptically She'll be very touched by the gesture, I', clearly, but Luce didn't understand Then she reh the last Announcer

Tell ainst an invisible wall in the air His wings blurred as he fluttered in front of her You kno sos are just too out-of-this-world to be pinned down by dull old words? Like, for exa kiss, or the feeling of heat that spreads through your body when his wings unfurl on a dark night--

Don't Luce's hand went to her heart involuntarily There were no words that could ever do justice to what Danielfun of her, but that didn't

Same deal with three-D You'll just have to live it to understand it

As soon as Bill opened the door for Luce, the sounds of distant orchestra e crowd flooded into the roo her down there Maybe it was Daniel Maybe it was Lys Bill bowed in the air After you, Princess

She followed the noise doo broad, winding flights of golden stairs, the h ean to s aroratin And perfu

Now aren't you glad I made you take a bath? Bill asked One less bottle of eau de reekette punching holes in l'ozone

Luce didn't answer She had entered a long hall of mirrors, and in front of her, a pair of wo toward the entrance of a lided Their yellow and blue gowns practically swished across the floor The man walked between the silver jacket and his heels nearly as high as the ones on Luce's shoes All three of thes a full foot taller than the one on Luce's own head, which felt enor the from side to side as she walked

They turned to look at her and all three pairs of eyes narrowed, as if they could tell instantly that she had not been bred to attend high-society balls

Ignore them, Bill said There are snobs in every lifeti on you

Luce nodded, falling behind the trio, who passed through a set of mirrored doorways into the ballroom The ultimate ballroom The ballroom to end all ballrooms

Luce couldn't help herself She stopped in her tracks and whispered, Wow

It waslow froht white candles Where the walls weren't old The parquet dance floor see the dance floor were long tables covered in white linen, laid with fine china place settings, platters of cakes and cookies, and great crystal goblets filled with ruby-colored wine Thousands of white daffodils peeked out of hundreds of dark-red vases set upon the dozens of dining tables

On the far side of the roo There were about ten of thereat golden door

Another crowd had gathered around an enormous crystal punch bowl near the orchestra Luce helped herself to a glass

Excuse ray curls forirls in line for?

Why, to please the king, of course One woht please hie? But they looked so young All of a sudden Luce's skin began to feel hot and itchy Then it hit her: Lys is in that line

Luce gulped and studied each of the young wonificently wrapped in a long black gown only slightly different fro Her shoulders were covered with a black velvet capelet, and her eyes never rose froirls She looked as frustrated as Luce felt

Bill, Luce whispered

But the gargoyle flew right in front of her face and shushed her with a finger to his fat stone lips Only crazies talk to their invisible gargoyles, he hissed, and crazies don't get invited to many balls Now, hush

But what about--

"Hush"

What about going 3-D?

Luce took a deep breath The last instruction he had given her was to take Lys by the hand

She strode over, crossing the dance floor and bypassing the servants with their trays of foie gras and Chairl behind Lys, as trying to cut ahead of Lys in line by pretending to whisper so to a friend

Excuse me, Luce said to Lys, whose eyes widened and whose lips parted and let a tiny confused sound escape her mouth

But Luce couldn't wait for Lys to react She reached down and grabbed her by the hand It fit into her own like a puzzle piece She squeezed

Luce's stoone down the first hill of a roller coaster Her skin began to vibrate, and a drowsy, gently rocking sensation came over her She felt her eyelids flutter, but so fast to Lys's hand

She blinked, and Lys blinked, and then they both blinked at the same time--and on the other side of the blink, Luce could see herself in Lys's eyesand then could see Lys from her own eyesand then--

She could see no one in front of her at all

Oh! she cried out, and her voice sounded just as it always had She looked down at her hands, which looked just as they always had She reached up and felt her face, her hair, her wig, all of which felt the sa had shifted

She lifted the hem of her dress and peeked down at her shoes