The evening was winding down and the attendees started disappearing to all corners of the castle or leaving for wherever they were staying that night.
Henry tried to remain next to the princess when she had finished dancing with her father but there were many who wanted to dance with her.
Commander Lothian and the other knights decided to leave the banquet so that they could get back to the knights' area at a reasonable time and get some sleep. However, Henry decided to stay because he couldn't bear the idea of the princess being hawked over by other men because he decided to leave early.
While the princess was on the dance floor, Henry sat by himself and sipped wine but he knew he was at his limit or he was going to make a fool out of himself.
As the music went on, eventually he felt a hand be placed gently on his shoulder and he turned towards it in surprise.
