Deleted Scenes: Princess Charming

(During Phase One of the Party) 
Dania was glad to have Miya off her chest. Sure, telling her was hard, but at least it wasn't weird between them. That was seriously a testament to Miya's coolness, honestly. Dania was glad that they could keep going on being friends without either of them being weird about it. Well... Maybe allies was a better word than friends. The f word was dangerous, after all. Definitely not as dangerous as the l word, though, which Dania was trying her best to avoid. 
She was a romantic at heart, of course, but luckily for her, that part of her was currently at work on a very important project: trying to figure out why her brother would write to Nona and why she was refusing to say what he wrote. Part of Dania was slightly worried that her brother was exposing a weakness or talking down on her, but Dania trusted Carlen more than anyone else in the world and knew he wouldn't do that. Still, though. Why wasn't Nona telling her? Dania imagined all the sappy things Carlen could have said to her. And Nona hadn't reacted negatively. Had his goofy charm actually worked on her!? That was a little unbelievable. After all, they were talking Nona Amatore here. As in, the most beautiful woman to ever come out of the Games alive, maybe even the most beautiful woman to ever step foot into them. Dania was confused, but so, so intrigued. 
Even though the thought of her brother writing Nona a love letter moved her heart, though, Dania tried to stay focused on the task at hand. Luna was right in that they all had to talk to the rich people and instill their faith in the Career alliance. Dania wasn't totally sure that she had faith in it staying together, but she was going to do her best. Hopefully if things went sour it'd just be between Ester, Attila, and Luna so that Dania and Miya could just escape together. That was the most likely option at this point, or that was how it seemed. 
Dania knew how to carry herself like a lady, of course, and stood tall (well, as tall as she could) and walked gracefully, her ballgown swirling around with her wherever she went. There was a good number of famous people at the party too, and Dania wanted to talk to as many of them as could bet on her. She talked to a bunch of Symphony members when they were on their break, and greeted Pluto, but the 122nd Victor didn't seem intent on doing much dancing. She was just taking a break and getting some punch when she saw her. One of the prettiest girls Dania's ever laid eyes on. And she was coming this way!! Ahem, she was a Capitolite. Dania knew she would have to be charming. To get the money. That was why. Of course. Dania put on her most confident, dazzling smile, which the girl returned immediately. Her lips were a dark purple, skin pale, hair dyed gray and pulled back in some elaborate style that rivaled Dania's in elegance. Dania noticed a pendant around her neck colored pink, purple, and blue, and at that she couldn't help but grin. The other girl was wearing a blue-violet ballgown with a corset top and a huge skirt that bounced slightly as she walked. She was skinny but had a lot of cleavage, almost a perfect hourglass figure. 
"Hi there," Dania said. Everything about this girl's appearance was stunning and perfectly done, not a single thing out of place. 
"Hi!" the other girl said brightly. "Dania, right?" 
"Yeah, that's me." Dania felt slightly awkward when she got a whiff of the other girl's perfume, a flowery, delicate, pleasant smell (God, why were girls just so perfect?! she thought), but kept her cool. "You are...?" 
The other girl seemed caught by surprise, but Dania couldn't remember ever seeing her anywhere... "Maggie!" she said. "Nice to meet you." Maggie put out her hand, showing perfectly manicured nails, and Dania shook it. "You look great by the way!" she added quickly. 
Dania smiled. "Thanks, but the credit doesn't go to me, it goes to my prep team, as always." 
"Ah, I see." 
The symphony started to play a very lively dance in three, and Dania saw the spark in Maggie's lavender eyes before she asked, "Will you dance with me?" 
Dania couldn't help but grin. "Sure." There were no rules against it, of course. Just an innocent little dance. Luckily for Dania, Maggie was all that much taller than her, which made the dancing a lot easier than dancing with someone really tall like Acacia. 
Maggie took the lead, as she was probably a classically-trained dancer as many people from the Capitol were, and Dania followed. The girls swept gracefully across the floor. 
"I like that little pendant," Dania said. She left it open for Maggie to explain what it was if she wanted to. That was, if that was what Dania hoped- ahem, thought, what she thought it was. 
"Oh, thank you!" Maggie said. "My twin brother got it for me, actually. Since I probably won't be allowed to actually do pride later on." 
"Pride?" 
Maggie squeaked. It was an adorable little noise. "Um, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that. I think it was gonna be a surprise." 
Dania just laughed. "No problem. I can keep a secret." 
"Thanks. I don't want to get into more trouble..." 
"Don't worry. I'm a great actress," Dania said, as the girls spun around and their skirts swept around with them. Dania could feel eyes watching and couldn't help but hope they could get the whole room to watch them. Dania bet they looked pretty damn graceful together. Dania continued, overdramatically widening her eyes and saying, "Wow, Pride, I had no idea this was going to happen!" 
Maggie laughed so hard she snorted, and immediately a blush broke through her heavy foundation. 
Dania couldn't help but grin. Her laugh was really infectious. 
The song ended far too soon, and both girls were panting and grinning at each other. That ended pretty quickly when a posh-sounding voice was calling, "Anna Magdalena!" 
"Oh, shit," Maggie said, quickly reaching the necklace pendant and turning it around so all that showed was an engraved silver design. "That's my fiance," she said. 
Dania couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Of course this girl had a fiance. "Oh..." 
"Arranged marriage," she says quickly, "Hate the guy, but have no choice. I'm... I'm really sorry, I should go! Thanks for the dance though! It was really fun!" 
She quickly looked around and scurried off into the crowd, leaving just as quickly as she arrived. 
Dania sighed a bit. That truly sucked. It didn't take long thinking about it for it to click, though. Anna Magdalena. As in... The President's Niece. That would explain why she was surprised I didn't know her... And the whole arranged marriage thing... Dania's heart sank slightly. 
But at the same time, she couldn't help but imagine a future for them anyways. Dania would win the Games and come back home. She'd go find Maggie and save her from her arranged marriage. It'd be true love. Or at least, better than that asshole she hates. It'd be like... A fairytale. Dania could be a knight in shining armor. She took some punch and took a seat with the Two mentors. Acacia was talking to Vesperus about Pride that was coming up. 
"I thought we weren't supposed to know about that," Dania said. 
"Yeah, Pluto told me by mistake," Acacia said. "Wait, how did you know?" 
"I..." Dania wasn't sure what to say so she just smiled. "I didn't." 
Nona raised an eyebrow at her as Acacia went to find Wicke and keep talking to people.
"Saw you with the President's niece," Nona said, giving her a smirk. "You looked like you were having fun." 
Dania was flustered immediately, crossing her arms and puffing out air. "Oh, shut up." 
Nona laughed, but before long Dania felt a shit-eating grin spread across her lips. "So, what'd Carlen's letter say?"  
"Good try. Not telling." 
"Not even if it's my dying wish?" Dania asked. 
Nona's face became more serious. "Not even then. Because you're not dying." 
Dania grinned. "Rule of Three. I'm going to win. That's a promise. 
I'm going to win, she thought. I'm going to win and be a knight in shining armor. Some princesses love other princesses. I'm going to get back to save her from the dragon.