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erialuna · 5 years ago

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Chapter one: The Masquerade

I am bit shy to share this, but here we go! I wrote the first chapter of a Arcana fic (that I may or may not continue depends on if I feel like writing or not, tbh) that narrates how my apprentice (Eria) meets the Count of Vesuvia in the masquerade.

Warning: slight violence and angst

Enjoy!

The day had arrived: The yearly masquerade. Everyone was so excited, fixing their incredible attires, ready to put their masks on and head to the palace. It was probably my favourite day of the year, the day in which I finally got to wear the outfit I had been working on for months! This year it was inspired by the moon: it was a pearly white and silver two-piece consisting on a flowy layer skirt and a dark grey corset, with laces tied on the front, and over it, my black velvet hooded cloak.

I did my hair up in a bun, trying to gather my messy curls and put on my mask, matching the colours of the dress. As I looked in the mirror, I realized I almost forgot my red lipstick, I wouldn’t usually wear it, but today, was the day.

As I was walking downstairs, I heard my partner laughing, probably at a joke he had just told, to which Asra sighed and said, chuckling, “you’ll never change”. As soon as they heard my steps coming down the stairs, they both turned, willing to see what outfit I had crafted for this year’s masquerade. “Beautiful as always” Julian said, as he stepped forward offering his hand. Asra just smiled at me, calmly: “you two should get going, I’ll join you later, got to take care of some things before I leave”. “Are you sure?” I asked. He nodded with a smile on his face, and Julian, heading to the door, opened it while bowing to me, and said quite dramatically “then what are we waiting for? Milady”. I laughed while rushing outside, not being able to hide my excitement, “we’ll see you later Asra!”, Julian came after me, and Asra waved to us from the doorstep: “Take care, you two!”.

On our way to the party Julian noticed I was not just excited but also quite nervous, I had been his apprentice at the clinic for over a year now, and he mentioned, a couple of weeks back, that soon I’d join him at his work at the palace as well, but before that, he wanted me to meet the Count and the Countess, for which he would wait until the masquerade. Therefor we spent the walk to the palace talking about the meeting: what they could ask me, what I should say, my future as his apprentice, …. “We’ll have some wine beforehand, don’t even worry about it” he said, “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously, Julian” I replayed, “Hey, look, it’s my reputation what’s at risk here, if my apprentice is not what they expect, they’ll blame it on me, so don’t you worry, girl!”, he said while placing his arm around my shoulders, to which I couldn’t help but laugh: “You talk about your reputation as if you cared about it, but I guess you’re right, it’s just that I’ve never met any count or countess before, you know”. He stood still, holding me by my shoulders and with a smile full of warmth he said, looking me in the eye: “It will be fine, trust me”. That actually made me feel so much better, I smiled back at him and we kept going, getting closer to the music, the colours and the lights coming from the palace.

We wandered around every room; tried a bit of as many of the delicious dishes there were as we could, trying to decide which was each one’s favourite; we bet on which was going to be the most common outfit this year; watched the fire-juggle show,… it was so much fun, but still I was feeling that tension, almost fear, inside of me: “It will be fine…” I repeated to myself.

We were at the entrance of the main hall, that had turned into the ballroom for the masquerade; I was delighted at the incredible amount of couples dancing, with their dresses flowing around, each one going their way, never crashing into one another. It was such a spectacle.

On the other side of the room, there was a magnificent staircase, bifurcated to the sides and leading to the wings of the palace. Up in the left side, there was somebody standing in a white outfit, wearing a mask with horns that extended upwards. They were elegantly leaning on the balustrade, holding a glass of wine. It seemed weird but although they were so far away across the room, I could swear they were looking at me.

I abstractedly stared in their direction, trying to figure out who they were, feeling a shiver go down my spine.

Julian took the glass of wine from my hand and set it aside, “let’s dance!” he said; that brought me back to reality: “what?? No” I said, laughing and stepping back. “Oh yes, we are going to dance” he replied while giving me a daring look and taking my hand. I glanced back at the staircase; they were gone. “Okay, but then we go to see the fireworks, I don’t wanna miss them!”, a victory smile appeared on his face and as we walked towards the dancing crowd he said, in a sweet tone “don’t worry, we won’t miss the fireworks”, and just as he finished the sentence, the song the band was playing came to an end, and couples got ready for the next dance, just like Julian and I did.

It was a waltz, I had learnt to dance to it from the same man I was now dancing with, so I smiled, relieved that I could get through this one easily. We moved across the room, following the music, immersed in the flow. “See? It wasn’t that bad” he whispered teasingly, I stepped on him on purpose “oh, sorry doctor”, we both laughed and suddenly he made me turn and we switched partners. “HEY!” I was so shocked I could hardly react to my new partner, but thankfully, I just followed the flow and went with it. “Julian, I swear I’m going to kill you for this” I thought, already relaxing a bit over the partner switch, when suddenly, it happened again. This time I ended up with someone somehow familiar, my hands laid on his bare chest as I felt the delightful smell coming from his skin, it seemed as if time had stopped for a moment, then he took my left hand on his and went on with the dance, making me follow. He was staring down at me with a smile on his face, that widened when I met his eyes. At first, I was mesmerized, then shocked, as I looked up and saw the horns on his mask, he was who I saw standing at the stairs earlier.

By the time I was gathering up my thoughts to react, the song was over and he let go of me, except for my hand, which he brought to his lips and kissed, while looking at me daringly, as if he was keeping a secret that I was dying to know; and just like that, he freed my hand and turned around, getting lost in the crowd.

I was stunned, it wasn’t until Julian called my name that I could react; I ran to him, speechless but glad to see him again. “How did that switch go?” he asked me, teasing me, but I had even forgotten about how mad I was at him just a couple minutes ago. “Eria?” He asked, concerned, trying to get a reaction out of me, “mmm… let’s go get some fresh air, the fireworks should be starting soon anyway”, “Sure, that sounds great” I finally said, slightly grinning at him while we walked towards the entrance of the hall.

We got another glass of wine for each other and went to the palace gardens; people were gathering there to see the firework spectacle. “Oh, there they are” Julian whispered to me; he put a hand on my back and a shiver went down my spine as we approached a group of people amongst whom was the man who I had just danced with. “Count, Countess, I am glad to introduce you to Eria, my apprentice who will soon join me on my visits to the palace” he said while smiling brightly at them. At that moment I said to myself, shocked: “Wait, did Julian just say… Count??”, the mysterious man was staring at me, with half a smile on his face.

I suddenly felt a pinch on my back that made me jump a little and finally react: “I-It’s a pleasure to meet you”, the Countess approached to me “what a beautiful outfit you are wearing Eria”, “Thank you milady, I have been working on it all year long” I said softly as I blushed, “oh, you did a great job then” she answered, impressed, “She puts her heart and soul on the things she does, I am grateful to have her as my apprentice” Julian said, what made me look at him, trying to hide my surprise as he had never said anything like that to me before. “We are willing to have you join us at the palace” said the Count, who still had his eyes fixed on me, “that will be my honour, milord” I said, hardly daring to meet his eyes. “Well, now, if you excuse us, we will go find a spot to see the fireworks” said Julian.

We wandered around the garden, Julian was talking about how well the meeting went, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that being under the eyes of that man had brought upon me. I was starting to feel overwhelmed at the amount of people around us, the wine I had drank, the pressure, the… fear?, I didn’t even know what it was that I was feeling, but I needed a minute of silence.

I told Julian and he said he would wait for me right where was, so I started walking, looking around, trying to spot a place where there was no one else but me, a place to breathe for a moment, gather up my thoughts and make up my mind.

As I finally seemed to find what I was looking for, I realized I was headed through a path that was darker than the rest of the garden, it went along one of the sides of the hedge maze, that stood between me and the crowd waiting to see the fireworks.

A few meters away from me, I noticed something shinning in the dark, coming in my direction, but it was yet too far away for me to tell what it could be, so I took a couple steps forward, carefully. It was getting closer and I could finally see what it was, the eyes of a big white dog coming towards me; I reached out my hand for it to sniff it and noticed there was another dog coming a few steps after the first one. “Hey, it’s okay, I won’t hurt you”, I whispered softly, but the first dog began to bark at me, angrily. I stepped back, in fear, trying to figure out a way out of there that wouldn’t trigger the dogs, that were getting closer to me; I looked around: to my left, woods; far on my back, the palace, and to my right, the maze. I had to make a decision, and it had to be quick. I thought about the maze, I was pretty sure I had seen an entrance to it nearby, on my way through this path, so I walked backwards, facing the dogs. Suddenly, they began to run towards me, so I turned around and ran as well, as fast as I could, trying to reach the entrance to the maze, which, luckily, wasn’t too far away; and so I made my way in, and rushed through its narrow paths, not even thinking about which way I was going, I just ran around until I couldn’t hear the dogs after me anymore.

I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, then I started walking, trying to find my way out of there. It had been several minutes and several dead ends, until I reached a clear, it seemed to be the centre of the hedge maze: there was a big circular pond in the middle, its water looked completely black, as if no light could reflect on it, and there was some sort of statue in the middle of the pond but I couldn’t really see it due to the darkness in the place, there were no lights in there, “I don’t think people were supposed to come into the maze tonight”, I thought to myself.

“Lost?” I heard a voice say, softly, in the dark. I looked around, trying not to panic, but said nothing. “You should reply when someone asks you a question”, I could feel the voice getting closer to me, so I turned to the darkness, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Suddenly I heard an explosion and the sky set on fire, allowing me to see the figure standing in front of me, just a few steps apart. “Is that the Count…?” I thought, as that overwhelming feeling embraced me again, this time, in the shape of fear.

It all turned to darkness again and he whispered, threatening and very close to me: “You are going to miss the fireworks”; I could have sworn I could feel the smile on his face as he was saying that. When the sky brightened up again, I saw him standing close to me, just like when we were dancing before. It didn’t feel safe, I knew I had to do something, I had to escape; so I spotted the nearest path and rushed to it, trying to find the way out of the maze, taking as a reference the direction where the fireworks were coming from, but that didn’t make it easier. I felt steps coming for me, getting closer every time I ran into a dead end. After a few turns, I finally saw the exit and ran for it as if my life depended on it, but just before I made it out of the maze, I turned around for a brief moment, and, to my surprise, there was no one after me.

As I got out, I stopped to catch my breath, feeling relieved, and looked in the direction of the palace. There he was, standing, smiling at me as if this was a game to him: “I won’t hurt you, Eria”, he said. Without thinking twice, I rushed towards the woods, and after a minute I leaned my back on a tree, trying not to make a sound so that I could tell whether he was still after me or not. But I heard nothing.

I started running again, in what seemed to be the direction towards the palace, but I couldn’t tell anymore, I was disoriented, but I would eventually get somewhere, right? In the blink of an eye, I tripped and fell.

I heard something behind me and turned around, still laying on the ground. Fear had paralyzed me; I could only feel the beating of my heart and the warmth of a tear coming from my eye.

“Please…” I whispered and a few long moments of silence followed. Finally, I saw something moving, a few steps ahead of me. As it approached me, I could distinguish the Count’s face, this time without his mask on, looking affected at me: “I said I wouldn’t hurt you”; he offered his hand to help me, which I hesitantly took to get back on my feet. As I stood, I noticed my whole body was still trembling, and he was so close to me that I could feel, yet again, that delightful smell coming from his skin and that intoxicating sensation that was not just fear, but something else.

My mouth opened to say something, but my heart was still beating too fast and I couldn’t think straight.

The Count raised his hands slowly and removed my mask, looking at my face as he wiped away my tears with the softest touch, “Beautiful…” I heard him whisper as a subtle smile showed on his face. I gathered up my courage and looked at him in the eye, trying to hold my tears. “Are you hurt?” he said softly, but distant, as if the whole situation had nothing to do with him. I felt rage taking over my body, oppressing my chest from the thought of him enjoying this twisted hunt that I had been a part of. I gritted my teeth, carried away by the anger inside of me, and slapped him with all the strength I had left. He stumbled on his feet and took his hand to the side of the face where he’d just been hit. Taking a moment to realize what just happened, he turned back to me, his eyes looking way darker than before, fixed on mine; I could see violence in them, a violence that delighted him.

A wide smile showed on his face as he said, enjoying every single word: “You shouldn’t have done that”, fear took over me again as I realized how dangerous that man was. I took a slow step back, my eyes open wide, controlling every move of his.

He stood still, watching me, grinning at me as if he knew how this was going to end. I stepped back once more, as carefully as I could, and before my foot was back on the ground, he rushed to me and grabbed me by my upper arms, pushing me against a tree behind my back. I whined as I hit the harsh surface and struggled to get away from his grip, but anything was in vain. His grasp tightened around my arms, which made me freeze, facing away from him so that I could avoid those sharp eyes.

“Look at me…”, I finally heard him say in a soft, yet daring, voice. I tried to think, but his words hit me like ice-cold water, my mind was blank. I then noticed the warmth of his breath on my neck, and how it made me feel somewhat eager to look at him.

I slowly turned my face to him, still terrified, but for some reason, relying on him as our eyes met and he lightly loosened his grip on my arms. Now that I was facing him, I could see how close he was, our bodies were hardly apart, yet he managed not to touch me at all except for his hands grabbing my arms.

He moved his head closer to mine, our lips almost touching: “Apologise”, he whispered to my mouth, with a cruel smile on his. I shivered, feeling delightfully trapped by him, but saying nothing. His smile widened at my reaction and he whispered again, slower, and even closer to my lips: “Apologise”. I swallowed and opened my mouth, “I’m s-sorry…” I managed to whisper softly. He let out a soft cruel chuckle and let go of my arms, knowing that I wouldn’t even try to move away from him, as I was hypnotized by the feeling of him. He landed his right hand right below my ear, and held me firmly as he whispered, pleased: “Good”, and finally kissed me, laying his other hand on my waist as I moaned softly, not daring to move, feeling my body heating up and melting under his touch. That strange sensation he had been causing on me all night was more intense than ever; I started to notice my head spinning and I let my body weight rest on the tree behind me as I realized I could hardly stand on my feet anymore. Slowly, everything seemed to fade away into the distance, his warmth, his smell, his touch, …

When I opened my eyes again, I was in his arms, being carried elsewhere. I tried to move, but it felt as if my energy had been drained out of me. I tried to figure out what was happening to me: maybe it was because I was exhausted from everything that had happened that night, maybe it had been the wine, or maybe it actually had something to do with being so close to him.

I tried to say something, but only a soft whimper came out of my mouth. He looked down at me, and I caught, deep in his eyes, a hint of concern. He held me tighter against his body, keeping me warm as he walked through the dark woods. Just before my eyes shut again, I stared at the red stain that my lips had left on his, and feeling oddly calm, I let myself fall into a deep slumber.

I heard a voice far away screaming my name, running towards me. “I found her in the woods, I think she’s drunk a bit too much”.

Julian called my name a couple times and as I opened my eyes I saw the stars over me; I was laying on the grass, at the palace garden and the Count was nowhere to be found, it was just me, Julian and a redhaired girl next to me: “Is she okay…?” she whispered, “Shh Pasha, go find Asra!”.

Julian was checking my pulse and he had put his coat over me. When he noticed I was awake he caressed my cheek and joked, trying to make the situation lighter: “a moment of silence, huh? Asra’s gonna kill me!”, I smiled at him and reached out my hand to touch his face as a tear flowed from my eye; he had no idea how happy I was to see him, or maybe he did… he must had been worried sick about me.

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