The Masquerade

The Invitation

The morning sun shone through the windows of the manor making the gold decor shimmer. A young lady ran through the hall of windows across the dark wooden floor to the dining hall. Her long lavender dress flowing as she ran and long brown hair perfectly curled with a lavender ribbon holding some strands back.

She got to the table and sat down for breakfast. "Lady Aria, there is a letter that arrived for you," a servant announced. She took the letter and thanked the man. The letter read:

"Dear Mademoiselle,
It has been years since we last met, my dear. It would be an honor if you would attend a ball that I am holding here in Paris next month. This is to celebrate the success of my current play. This ball shall be a masquerade. I hope there are no inconveniences.

Your dear cousin,
Marius Alarie "

Aria put down the letter and sighed. "What's wrong Miss," her maid, Audrey, asked. "Marius is having a masquerade ball in Paris." Aria looked at Audrey who was smiling and continued " I haven't seen him let alone been with a crowd of people since my parents' death." Audrey held Aria's hand,"dear, this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with people and be out." Aria gave her a crooked smile and continued eating in silence. When she finished, Philip, the servant, took her plates. "Tell Jean the food was excellent," she said before walking to the study across the manor to read a book she left there. All she could think about was the ball. Her thoughts were flooded and cluttered. "What would I even wear? What do I say to people? What if I just stand in the corner and avoid all contact with people? I shall stay home for the sake of my well-being." She went back and forth between her thoughts for hours it felt like. She went to  the window and looked at her reflection with raindrops sliding down on the other side of the glass. She looked at the landscape, now soaked with water and waving in the wind.

In the fog, she could barely see the lake that's near the manor. She sighed and went back to her room. Aria found an elegant white and gold ball gown on her bed and stood over it to get a better look. "I knew that you would use not having anything to wear as an excuse, so I picked it out while you were in your father's study," a cheery voice said and Aria turned around. She saw Audrey standing at the doorway with a knowing smirk. Aria rolled her eyes and sighed," you know me too well." Aria held up the dress and looked in the mirror, with Audrey watching her movements. She came up behind her and played with Aria'a hair, " you look just like your mother with that dress." Aria stared at their reflection and smiled weakly. Audrey put the dress on a chair next to the door and held Aria's hands, leading her to sit on the bed.

"Dear, you know that you can do this. It's just for one night, besides it would be rude not to go. Your cousin has been working on this play since he was practically a child and for it to finally be on stage, it's his dream come true." Aria let out a sigh at Audrey's words and nodded," I know, I have to go. You're right about reconnecting with people." Audrey gave her a hug and a kiss on the head, "Well, I better get back to work. This manor doesn't get clean and in shape on it's own you know." With that, Audrey got up and walked out of the room.

Aria fell back on her bed and took a deep breath. "I don't even have a mask," she muttered to herself. She jolted off her bed to run after Audrey. When she opened the door Audrey was standing there with her hand up about to knock and a box in her other hand. She stepped into the room with the wooden box," I almost forgot. This is your mother's mask from when you're mother and father had their own masquerade ball when you were a tiny child." Audrey smiled at the memory and set the box on the bed, while Aria thanked her. "If you need anything I'll be doing laundry," she said, walking out of the room.

Aria opened the wooden box and found a gold mask with intricate details and a white ribbon to tie it. Aria smiled and sat at her vanity to put on the mask. Perfect she thought to herself. She took it off and put it back in the box. She wandered back downstairs to the library to busy herself. She stepped in and went straight to the fireplace to start a fire. She spent the rest of the day there and once night hit she returned to her room for the night.