The Ball, part one

The time of the Flower Banquet Masquerade Ball arrived. It was now a masquerade as per Lady Guinevere's request as she had dreamed of attending one since childhood but somehow never got the chance to experience it; now she was the organiser of it, and a proud one she was.

The grand ballroom was filled with decorations, workers were running back and forth to prepare the very last details. Soon it would be ready and perfect.

Colinus stood at the top of the staircase. He looked over it and scoffed, he wasn’t much for parties in general but there was another event he truly dreaded with all his heart. It was the traditional First dance; the host of the Ball was to initiate the dancing by choosing a partner (usually a lover or love interest; it was also often used as a way of confessing your love) to dance with and then the guests were invited to join them on the dancefloor.

What he was dreading in particular was that he was of marriage age, he’d passed it actually. And he knew very well that his choice tonight would bring on waves of whispers from the on-lookers. After all, there were plenty of people who were out to marry the prince.

Liam was throwing up in the bathroom. He felt horrible, his stomach wanted to turn inside-out while his head throbbed. Something about the food was making him nauseous, he thought. He really wanted to just stay in bed, to simply sleep it away, but this was the biggest event of the year so he had to go.

The suit on his bed was black with golden embroidery on the end of the sleeves and on the edges of the collar. It definitely looked expensive.

Some things in this world were still incomprehensible to him, some he learned to adjust too, but he was getting the hang of it. At least he hoped so; Gwen had been taking time to teach him and answer any of his questions despite her busy schedule. This was something Liam was worried about because whenever he saw Colinus, the man seemed to frown, and thus he tried avoiding him the best he could.

Liam dragged himself out of the bathroom and dropped onto the bed, he laid next to the clothes. His hand reached up to finger the pants material. It was extremely soft.

“I don’t wanna go-” he groaned when a knock was suddenly heard.

A servant's voice called from outside the door, “Master Liam? I was sent to offer my services, if you need any help with the accessories or clothes, please call for me,”

“I’m done soon, thank you,” Liam responded.

He took a deep breath and got dressed, the evening was about to begin.

The hall was filled with people. It was open for everyone, but everyone didn’t mean everyone; you could spot the “less-expensive dressed folks” but they were nonetheless dressed in formal attire. There were no casual clothes in sight.

A slight cold sweat began breaking out on Liam’s skin upon entering. He scratched his neck and scouted the area. There were fancy dressed women and handsome men scattering about, they were gathering in groups. One hand holding a glass of wine while the other gestured back and forth during their conversations, occasionally it was used to grab a snack from one of the wandering trays.

Liam adjusted his mask. It was black with a golden pattern to match the suit and a green feather sticking up from the right. When he reached the last step of the stairs a familiar blue dress made its way to him. Gwen wore the dress and earrings, her hair was put up into a bun, she wore a blue mask and matching gloves reaching to her elbows.

“Liam! Fancy running into you here,” she smiled, “What do you think?”

She was awfully proud and it was easy to see. Liam smiled back, “Perfect, what else was there to expect?”

Gwen gave him a punch on the shoulder as appreciation. Clang, Clang, Clang; there was an announcement. On the top of the stairs stood a servant, he held one hand behind his back and one on his chest. “I may now present to you, Prince Colinus of Luria, who is commencing the First dance.”

The room hall went quiet, all gazes were tilted up.

“Come here,” Gwen whispered, as she pulled Liam to the side so they wouldn’t stand in the way. She continued to hold onto his arm.

Colinus emerged to stand on the first step. He licked his lips and began walking down. His suit was white, it wore the same embroidery as Liam’s, but he was also wearing a cape reaching the ground, it was dragging along the stairs.

Once he reached the bottom and walked into the middle of the room, he properly looked around, but his expression was as if his eyes were searching for someone special. Plenty of women were swooning over when his gaze passed them.

Then the prince stopped, and all eyes were turned in a new direction. He walked forward, and then he stopped in front of a person. Colinus offered his hand, waiting for it to be accepted. Liam looked down on the hand. What?

“Um, I can’t dance…” he whispered.

“Don’t worry, I’ll lead, you just have to follow the flow,” Colinus answered reassuringly.

Gulp. Liam wiped away a drop of sweat as he inevitably grabbed the prince’s hand. It felt like someone was staring at him, but that could of course be everyone in the room.

As he was led into the middle, his gaze was fixated on the floor. Liam felt a new kind of pressure. Colinus grabbed his other hand to place on his shoulder. Liam could feel a hand placed on his hip. The orchestra in the corner of the room had gone quiet. One man was holding a baton with his right hand, the other he held high in the air as he watched the floor intensely.

This man was the conductor, maestro if you will, and he moved his hands the second the prince took a first swing with his partner. The music hit the room with a loud tone and everyone watched the couple dance.

Confused and pressured, Liam stepped several times on Colinus’ feet. He couldn’t help it, no one ever taught him how to walz. The tempo was too fast, the rhythm was difficult to grasp and he didn’t know the steps. He began feeling dizzy.

Colinus did his best at leading but his feet wanted to give up not long after beginning, however, he held his smile as he looked at Liam. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

Liam looked up, he could barely hear what the other had said, “What?”

“I’ve barely seen you at all lately, and whenever I do spot you it would seem as if you’re running away… Have I upset you?”

As he was about to answer, Liam stumbled and was caught by Colinus. Am I supposed to speak and dance at the same time?! He thought. After all, he was avoiding the prince to not get caught up in his jealousy. He should be thanking him.

“I didn’t avoid you…” he forced out.

“I don’t believe you-” said Colinus.

Then the first dance was over; several new couples entered the spotlight.

Liam tried to walk away but was grabbed by the arm. Colinus stared into his eyes, “Where are you going? Answer me.”

“I’m-” he tried to answer but was interrupted when a black dressed hand pulled him to the side.

“I’ll have this next dance.”

Liam looked up behind him. There stood a tall man with a crimson mask; the pattern was beautiful, it was made up of white and black crystals. But the man felt oddly familiar, he thought. Colinus’ face turned red.

“What nerves you have!” he uttered as he tried to drag Liam back to his side. The constant feeling of going back and forth made another wave of dizziness overcome him. The stranger glared at Colinus. And then Liam was whisked away into dance once more.

“You’re sick. I thought I’d told you already.” the man said, “Why would you run away?”

Liam’s eyes widened. It was Karth!

He was surprised he didn’t recognise him earlier, he looked the same but his clothes were more fitting for the event and his mask wasn’t plain black anymore, but he nonetheless looked the same. Why was he here? Was it because he was sick?

“What’s wrong with me?” he asked.

Karth led them into a twirl, “Your magical resistance. I’m assuming you’ve been consuming food and drinks without any concern with how much they hurt you,”

“Food poisoning?” So that was why he’d felt so horrible after eating.

“Not quite the same, but close,” said Karth with a smile.

Liam frowned, “You think it’s funny?”

“No. I’m just delighted to be in you company once more,”

“You talk a lot more now…” Liam said incredulously, it was odd. Then he blushed, for a memory was brought back as he remembered just how Karth had helped him the last time he’d drunk wine by accident and fallen ill. “Are you using the same… cure?”

Karth laughed, he pulled Liam closer, “It’s not a cure, but to answer your question, yes,” he said.

They leaned closer to each other. Karth put his hand under Liam’s child to inevitably bring their lips together. From the other side of the room, a certain prince had been on the verge of exploding for quite some time now but the very last straw was pulled when he saw his childhood friend get kissed by a stranger.

Gwen was witnessing it all from next to Colinus. She was watching Liam and when she turned to look at Colinus, she grew worried about what he was about to do. Before she could stop him, the prince was already marching angrily towards the couple in the middle.