Only the bravest students move to dance; most of the others stand around awkwardly, murmuring to each other in their own cliques. Hartmann and Freddie are tense, and even Gonzalez looks wary; she stands at the edge of things with Delacroix and Max, looking alarmed as Prince Rosario approaches.
A cluster of people has gathered noisily at the punch table, centered around a tall, tanned, red-haired Archambault student whose gray uniform is surely too close-fitting to be allowed.
"That's the Honorable Florin Kraemer," you hear a Gallatin student mutter. "Meant to be a shameless flirt." He throws an arm around a boy's shoulders and whispers something in his ear.
Meanwhile, Lady Renaldt's son Auguste is reclining gracefully on a puffy couch in one corner, surrounded by friends.
You sidle up to Gonzalez just as Rosario is introducing himself to her. Gonzalez curtsies, and Rosario turns to you as you approach with a warm, open smile.
"I was saying to Zuri, here, how nice it is to meet so many new people," he says. "I haven't often been out of Zaledo, so being in such a different place is wonderfully refreshing."
Gonzalez swallows and gives you a panicked look. "Why, yes, your Highness," she says. "I…Yes, very refreshing."
She wasn't exaggerating when she said she had no idea what to say to a royal.
You step into the void provided by Gonzalez, and talk. About Gallatin, about Archambault; the teachers and the mountains. Rosario looks delighted, and asks you about your home, while Gonzalez recovers her composure and chips in with comments about Zaledo.
They're sharing a complicated joke about Zaledoan mangoes when a group of Archambault students flit past, sweeping Rosario up in their wake with demands to go to the drinks table.
"Lovely to meet you," Rosario calls over his shoulder.
The dance floor begins to fill, but after a couple of jaunty foxtrots, a gong rings out.
Dinner is Served