A Night to remember

[Ran'chir]

Emerald clad and glistening the witch was as light as air along her path, twas almost as if she were gliding just a few feet above the almost golden floor beneath her. The feeling that all eyes were upon her crossed her mind but she knew in her heart this was not likely to be the case. Pausing upon that thought through the crowds she the actual glare of eyes upon her. Whipping her head to the side she alet her sight fall over large amounts of the crowd. It twas to no avail though the admirer she thought had already looked away. She would just have to continue on and maybe get on to more pressing matters. Though she was about as menacing as a new born kitten she did have a job to do while attempting to get about as plastered as was humanly possible. In the whole of the place she did not notice the prince but then again she was not particularly interested in watching over the smug royal brat. To her royalty was all the same no matter which way you sliced it young men with power in their pockets were bound to use it despicably. Scanning the crowd just a bit more she did catch a feel for the veritable grab bag of guest, the crowd did not seem as noble or as regal as she had hoped. Nobles were present but nothing which suited her fancy simply through aesthetics, no one single man within her view presented themselves as an Adonis. With not a single beautifully viable specimen in sight one would have to impress her with a certain guile in their turn of phrase. If that were possible the wizened caller of fringed wind, was not often impressed with small talk and humans were quick to fall from graces with it. Still searching for the head of the household the witch’s neck turn to and fro, she had been before the king a few times before but amongst the crowds she could not locate him. It twas not until she crossed the floor that she laid eyes upon the king. His party attire was as to be expected he looked the part the best he could, but his choice of colors were not all that festive.

The most striking thing about his choice of attire was the black raven mask he choice to adorn, it was a fact the witch did not allow to slip into over sight. He had chosen to parade around as himself essentially, for the bird upon the mask was his namesake. It took her a moment to find him because of his mask but she would not lose track of him again for it was in part her job to make sure nothing stupid occurred to close to him. Well that was her intention for the beginning of night more toward the end she planned to be absolutely sauced, beyond the point of reconciliation. With no remorse she push through the crowd making sure to extend her hands outward to make the most possible room between her and those before her. With each step place right in front of the other it appeared she was walking along a narrow path but upon this path she made sure to give a passing wink to those whom she deemed worth a conversation. Though her selection process was based upon looks she did hope beauty fell with brains or the conversations would be quite short. Her slightly flirtatious winks and small bumping was only interrupted by her running into another blonde. From the looks of the situation she had just bumped into another gentle man but it was neither seemed suite her fancy so she simply took it upon herself to take the morally low road. Placing her light almost snowy colored emerald sharpened finger nails to her mask she lowered it from her face. Her face was not one of amusement her eyes were painfully thin and her eye brows arched up as if she had been discussed from the start. With more passive aggressive turn of phrase she sought to point out she had the right of way due to her being of far more valued importance. “Oh…Excuse you…oh before I forget…here,” placing her glass upon a table perpendicular to the girl. Every word seem to twist as it left her lips the malevolence was tangible and her spite could be felt like a jagged dagger penetrating the flesh. It was rude but it far too much exciting for the witch to pass up. The scorn of other always grace her skin like the scarlet embrace of velvety roses, she thrived in negative consciousnesses and bad choices for they were her realm of dominion.

She spoke but did not notice whom the girl had rammed into previous t o her. It was not until she sat her drink down did she realize whom the person was. Though she had not seen him up close before it was clear the man was the crown prince of the land. Without noticing she had entered the company of the pampered and posh creature. Rolling her eyes the emerald clad diva had to do as she had been instructed to. When in the presence of royalty it was advised that one bow or perform some form of gesture to imply respect. Placing one foot behind the other rather brashly almost as if it were by compulsion she stood with her feet making a sort of “T”. Running her hand along the silky fabric of her dress she caught the forest green material at about high thigh before lifting a bit and bending her knees. A curtsey was always the preferred gesture among ladies of court but something about it did not sit right with Ranni. Likely it was the act of addressing the fact that someone before her held a rank far higher than her own. Lowering her head for a second she scanned the prince’s body for a moment before coming back up. Her curtsey was not deep but it was pronounce enough to display that she did acknowledged his presence before her. Running her hands along the fabric once more she attempted to iron out any small bumps cause by her gesture, the fact the dress ran up was annoying but it would not ruin her introduction.”Royal Knight Ran’chir Lafayette Enkosh at your service my liege” her words held a slightly lack luster quality to them for the every syllable to her taste like a mouthful of putrid, acid hot venom. Mask still in hand she gave the prince one more through once over before she chose to speak again. As she had expected the prince was dressed rather flamboyantly seeing how it was a party and it was in his honor. He was for lack of better terms beautiful but, in a very court adhering way. His deep forest green eye held a far more human tone than her unnaturally bright and almost glowing ones but they did sort of remind her of her own which give him a few points. Even if those points were because she loved herself far more than a little bit. His raven hair was thick and long but seemed to never hunger for the finer things like he himself it was primped, buttress to the best of the servants abilities. Lifting her mask to her face once more the blonde hid the upper part of her rather heavily make-uped visage from view once more.

[( COLONEL )]

             Unlike almost all of the people here, Rayven’s attire was rather bland and dull compared to most here. Guess it kind of matched his personality in this kind of situation as well. He wasn’t one for parties r very much socialization. Nah, he’d only become social when he really needed to be or it just naturally happened. Parties on the other hand; he never really had one. Some of the guards and a lot of the servants in the palace usually put on a skit and gave him some fine wine and some little knick-knacks for his birthday – which was nice than most. Personally, he would rather not have anything – he wasn’t one for material possessions. If he was, it would show in his personality and the laws he regulated about. People would probably think of him as one in the same, like all the other kings… But no, Rayven was different than most kings out there. He was kinder, more rational – thinking of other alternatives rather than just war to solve it all. Some people didn’t like how he ruled… Some loved how he handled things… Either or; there was always going to be problems. Like now… A party for the prince – what a perfect opportunity to dress up and act like everyone else; in order to get to the king. He had to be around, right? Closer here than any other time. This was a perfect opportunity to bring him down.

             Little did Rayven know this, and little did he care. To him, he was safe; the guards were trustworthy and showed no signs of dishonesty or trickery with him. Plus this was his palace so to speak; he was safe in his own home, right? Yeah, that’s what he thought. There were guards placed around the palace, mainly in this room; so all was secure and going according to plan, right? Right. Too bad this party was a little dull for him… Considering it wasn’t of his forte. So what did Rayven do? Grab a glass and walk to the least occupied spot – which just happened to be the wall. There were some people here, but not much; most of the people were on the main floor, front and center.

             At least he was here, right? Even though the prince probably didn’t see him, Rayven was watching him every now and then. He wasn’t that hard to spot with his attire walking about. Even the guards present, it was probably a fatherly nature to just watch over him. After all, the queen picked him for a reason… Whatever that was… Rayven just wanted to make sure his safety. But seriously… It would be hard if more and more people come in and for the fact that this was getting boring for him. Even somewhat isolated from the crowd, he still felt like he was in it – and that only made hi want to return to his quarters and await ore paperwork… Or something. He knew he finished the stack; there weren’t any new ones. As he took a sip of his drink and put hi mask back down, Rayven decided to start some small talk… Yeah, he was that bored; and plus it would make time go by faster. This wasn’t her thing? “Neither is mine, really…” And that was his honest opinion. What a party pooper, right? That’s Rayven for you. Hearing her next phrase, Rayven shrugged, tilting his glass around a bit and watching the liquid slowly spin around, “Hmm… It’s alright,” He said with a pause, looking back at Ina, “You think the prince is having a swell ‘ol time?”

[Rose]

Ina actually, to her surprise, stood out slightly from the crowd. The girl’s dress looking to be slightly higher class than some, yet obviously not royal. Red and silver, the colors that had their own meanings. Silver, being the color of sweet, and elegant beauty. It was portrayed as silk, which was slightly able to be seen through in her dress. Then there was red. Red, the color usually found as lust was actually used as a sign of elegance, and of her personality. Most wouldn’t pick up on any of this, due to the lack of really thinking much at a party as this one was. Usually, people just came, mindlessly talked, danced, and left. Yet, that was what the girl had heard about these things. Ina, she wasn’t the one to judge, usually, so the girl just simply came out of curiosity to actually discover if those facts were of any truth whatsoever.

It was the last thing that Ina would have expected, meeting royalty that night. Although she wasn’t aware, the girl had ended up meeting the King of Kaharini, Rayven, without even being so much as conscious to the fact. Usually royalty dressed up in their fancy apparel, and paraded around the room with a high respect to themselves. Such as the prince in this matter, who stood out from the others. His clothing was rich, and obviously of a high quality. Yet Rayven, his was dull. Almost depressing to such a light heart like Ina. To be perfectly honest, even if he had said his name, the girl wouldn’t know that Rayven was the king. It wasn’t really a topic of conversation with her, royalty that is. Each time she head of the king, he was simply referred to as ‘The King’. And seeing how the girl never really paid attention to politics, seeing how she figured she would never have to talk to anyone so important as such, the girl just simply didn’t know the names of royalty.

The interaction between the two had began once Rayven’s goblet of punch ran dry, and he had placed his mask back over his young features. He had noticed the obvious fact that she was not having the time of her life, seeing how the girl had escaped the thick crowd to lean to the wall rather than begin to converse. She gave him a straight forward answer, telling the man it really just wasn’t her thing to come to these things. Why had she came to this one you may ask? Well, it was simply to see how these things really went down. So many things that she wanted to see for herself, the girl not listening to rumors unless she really actually did trust a person with her life. Yet then again, that wasn’t exactly one thing that worked out for her in the past. Leslie, the one she trusted, had betrayed her, and literally gone insane with his obsessions. Sure, she still felt bad for the man, but never did she want to see him again. It would be to strange… She would get hurt.

“Neither is mine, really…” That brought a smile to the girl’s lips as Ina turned to face Rayven. To her, it was obvious. But she wasn’t going to be rude, god no, Ina was never one to do that on purpose. So showing no apparent signs of her acknowledging the fact, Ina carried on with the conversation. She asked her usual questions, head lightly tilted as she softly spoke. “Hmm… It’s alright,” the man had began while looking back to her after a slight pause. “You think the prince is having a swell ‘ol time?” Biting her bottom lip, and looking out to the prince, Ina shook her head slightly. ”To be honest, I don’t think his plan is working. You know, him wanting to blend in and everything.” A light giggle had softly made it’s way from the girl’s lips, instantly stopped by Ina’s hand, covering her lips.

”I do hope he is having a wonderful time though,” Looking back to the man, Ina lightly shrugged. ”It would be a pity if royalty didn’t have fun at one of their parties, am I not…” Pausing, Ina lightly rubbed the back of her neck with a small laugh. ”Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” Lightly stepping away from the wall, and offering a simple curtsy while revealing her face from the mask, the girl softly, yet smoothly spoke. ”I am Ina Koe. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Instantly after she spoke, the girl leaned to the wall, brushed her bangs back, and looked down to her mask. It took a moment, but she eventually got it in the right position before lifting it back up to the upper half of her face, and placing it back on.

[Lady Adelle]

"Hurry up! We're already late, and you know how I hate being late." Said an irate Lynessa Orsoan to her cousin, Belinda. Her cousin had arrived just hours before the masquerade ball that was to be held at the castle. Of course, Belinda took forever to get ready and by the time they got ready to leave Belinda had changed her gown four times, swapped out her mask twice, and argued with herself about her jewelry for at least forty-five minutes.

Lynessa, who was always one for planning ahead avoided last minute changes by picking out her attire three nights earlier. She had decided on a black and white gown and a pair of elegant silk slippers to match. Since it was a masquerade, she was required to have a mask. She had selected a half mask, mostly white with black accents that were in the same style as her dress. Deciding to keep it simple, Lynessa had plaited her long blond hair, and let it drape over her left shoulder. Lynessa, feeling extra bold tonight had even applied black lipstick to her lips.

Exiting from the carriage Lynessa and her cousin Belinda, who was dressed in a gown and mask of purple, walked up to the gates and were admitted by the guard. With only a nod, the two girls split ways and decided to meet up at the end of the ball.

Lynessa walked around and uttered polite greetings to people she bumped into, it was inevitable with such a huge concentration of people buzzing around. Lynessa tactfully decided to grab a glass of wine that was carried by one of the castle servants. She sipped from it, careful not to smear her makeup. "Well, let's see what fun there is to be had here," She said, her darkly painted lips spreading in a smile.

[Rose]

Days were long, and nights short around that palace. When the sun arose, so did the inhabitants. Well, all but Raul. He was one to awaken early, and ready everything. Getting up so early, sometimes hours before the sun could rise, it exhausted one. Being human, mostly anyway, again was a burden on the man. This was why whenever he got the time, such as that day before the ball, Raul took a long nap, resting his body from the day’s work.

The man’s dilated eyes blinked open as he heard a small knock on his door. It was one of the maids, who simply spoke through the door before rushing off to ready the ball. “Sir Severwitch, the ball will begin in an hour. Please do come.” The man rolled over on his bed, entangling himself in the blankets slightly more before quietly speaking. ”A’right. I’ll be there.” He didn’t want, rather than had to go to this. It was his job to keep the people safe, and this was the way that he was given his time off. Going to some party to ease the stress of being the head of Kaharini’s military force.

Lazily dragging his legs from the bed, and rubbing his eyes, the man came to a stand, stumbling to the bathroom. His normal routine. Wash, pants on, shave, brush teeth, comb hair, get dressed. The apparel he had chosen was rather simple, being a stark white, and jet black combination. It was related to out modern day suits, slightly, with the slimming design. His shoes were matching to the apparel, and the man’s necklace tucked away beneath his shirt.

Raul combed back his hair, slicking the damp locks back as he tucked what was the remainder of the boy’s shaggy black hair behind his ears. A small, natural flip of his hair arose in the back, making the tattooed letters slightly visible. Blinking his eyes every so often to adjust to the light, Raul silently walked to his closet, and pulled out an old mask. It was a simple white mask, only covering half of his face. It had looked as if there was writing indenting the mask’s surface, giving it that slight unique quality.

A light sigh, and the knight exited his room while calmly sliding his left hand into his pocket, and leading himself down the back staircase with the right. Being head of the knights, most of his men, and women, would notice the boy in a heartbeat. It was common knowledge that he wasn’t going to wear something baggy, or to fancy. It was just the man’s personality to wear something so simple. And by the barcode and number reading ‘X3O9’ on the back of the man’s neck, it would be only obvious who he was. Although, not many commoners knew of his flaws, let alone what he really looked like. Only occasionally would the man go out, to wander the town. Usually to busy, or tired to do so.

[Lady Adelle]

As Lynessa scanned the party-goers she, like any other young teenage girl, was always on the look out for potential dance partners. Obviously attracting the attention of a man at a masquerade was a tricky business, for one could never be entirely sure how handsome they were under their fine clothes and their mask. Last season, when Lynessa had attended a similar court function she was sure that she had selected well, but as the night of flirtation and dancing came to a close the boy lifted his mask to give her a kiss behind one of those large tapestries. Nessa being an expert of avoidance took the opportunity as the over-eager boy's eyes fluttered close and he leaned in his lips pouted out like some awful fish to dart away and into her carriage before he knew what hit him.

This time however, Lynessa was going to make a safer bet. She scanned the room for potential candidates. Some of the best ones already had ladies who they were chatting up casually. It was funny how these young boys always seemed to think that they were the ones in control. But it was the feminine power of flirtation that kept women the dominant figures in these sorts of situations.

With that Lynessa spotted yet another potential source of amusement. She surveyed the masculine figure like a horse breeder, determining that he was young based solely on his gait, he walked with a certain liveliness. He was tall too, always a plus. Deciding to take a chance Lynessa started her advance, a careful well planned out one.

The blond haired girl avoided the people who stood in her way, she was quick with her movements but not so much so that it would draw unnecessary and unwanted attention. The princess strode close to the side of the young man and stepped on his toes. It was an incredibly well-acted charade in her opinion (though in reality, Lynessa was not a very good actress at all). "Oh I am so dreadfully sorry," She said dramatically. She flashed a brilliant smile at the young gentlemen as though she was surprised at his handsome features. "And so we begin," She thought as she began the game of cat and mouse.