Chapter 1

Prologue: Twenty-eight years earlier...

The fox jumped down from the low stone wall behind the compound, peering around to make sure nobody had seen him. The grounds were kept neat and tidy to impress visitors, with short green grass and only a few shrubs, so he darted quickly across the lawn and hid behind a rain barrel that stood near a door. He paused to sniff the air as the smell of something cooking wafted from the kitchen.

The door suddenly swung open with a crash, bouncing off the side of the barrel. A young girl came out with a wooden bucket and tentatively dipped it in the water. The fox crouched down, avoiding her sight.

“Milly! What have I told you about the door?” The voice came from inside the building.

The girl yelled back, “Sorry, Sister Kana!”

“Hurry up with that water!”

“There are dead bugs in it!”

An older woman joined her. “You’re just washing the mud room, girl. It’s not like you have to drink it. Give me that.” The woman took the bucket and plunged it into the water to fill it, then handed it back to the girl. “Now, go help Celia with the cleaning before the Prince’s party gets here. The older girls are too busy getting ready. Don’t run and get water all over the place!”

The fox followed the two into the building, making it inside before the door swung closed on his bushy red tail. No other people were nearby, so he began exploring, following his nose and ears. He avoided the noisier areas, but paused to sniff at the entrance to the kitchen before regretfully continuing on his way.

As he reached the far wing of the building, he was almost taken by surprise when two older girls came out of a room ten feet in front of him.

“I don’t know why we have to get ready. Everybody knows the Prince is going to pick Moira.”

“Not necessarily,” the second girl replied. “Maybe he doesn’t like blondes.”

The first girl, a blonde, glowered back at her. They entered a room on the other side of the hall and shut the door behind them.

The fox continued down the new corridor until he reached a door at the far end. Nudging it open, he sneaked in. There was another girl inside, facing herself in a mirror. She wore a nightgown, and was counting out the strokes as she brushed her blonde hair.

The fox crept over to a small writing desk that stood against one wall. The chair stood over to one side, and on the seat was a clean white dress in a neatly folded pile. The fox leaned his body against the chair’s legs to push it up against the side of the desk, stopping every so often to make sure the girl hadn’t heard him. When he had it where he wanted it, he leapt up onto the chair and then to the desk, which held a half-finished letter, a quill pen, and a bottle of ink that had been left unstoppered.

He sniffed the bottle, then nudged it with his nose until it reached the edge of the desk and fell off. It landed on the dress with a quiet whuff, the black ink pouring out. The fox jumped down and hid under the bed just as a woman entered the room.

“Moira! What did you do to your presentation dress?”

“What? Sister Bela—” The girl turned to her dress, shrieking when she saw the puddle of ink. “No. No! I can clean it!” She grabbed the dress and scrubbed at the stain with the nightgown she was wearing, knocking the bottle of ink to the floor in the process.

“You’re just making it worse,” the woman said. “Why didn’t you leave it hanging up?”

Moira started crying as she gave up her efforts. “What do I do now?”

“I’ll help you start a new one tonight, but for now, you should stay here. I need to gather the other girls for the Presentation. The Prince’s carriage has arrived.”

“Please, Bela! Please let me go!”

“How? We’re starting the ceremony now. Even if we managed to find a spare presentation dress lying around somewhere, there wouldn’t be time to clean it and alter it to fit you.”