Stories of Our Life [Volume 1]

10: Masquerade

Newt stepped out of the carriage after his older brother Theseus. Newt looked skyward to admire the fine architecture and design of the palace they're currently standing in front of now as the soft clicking of the horses' horseshoes disappeared as the carriage left the palace grounds. It was a cold night, six in the evening to be exact. The gentle breeze blew back the coattails of his royal blue suit. What were they doing in front of a palace, exactly? Well, in short, they were invited to attend a ball. A birthday ball, that is, of the eldest princess of the royal family.

Newt knew the royal family, well, his family did. They were close friends and Newt practically grew up with the two princesses of the Goldstein family. That's because the Scamanders were one of the richest and powerful families in the land, but the only one who had close ties with the royal family.

Newt grew up along with his brother, the younger princess, Queenie, and the older one. He was actually close with the oldest: Princess Tina. She had a weird name, as many people say, but Newt thought it was special. They grew pretty close and were always seen together around the castle playing or walking along the gardens.

Everything was perfect until an accident happened.

About 10 years ago, The King and Queen died because of a mysterious illness. That left the princesses orphaned. And that meant, Tina was to be queen. The kingdom was almost in full ruin if it weren't for the Duke and Duchess Graves. Duke Percival Graves and his wife, Duchess Lillian, were the uncle and aunt of the princesses and they had decided to take over as regent until Tina has come of age to be queen. And that meant that Tina will have lessons so she can be prepared to be a queen.

Newt and Theseus could still visit and play with the princesses, but those events suddenly became a rare occasion. They would still spend time together but never often. Then, a week after Queenie's 14th birthday, Tina had shut herself away from Newt, Theseus, and her own sister. Nobody knew the reason why. All Newt knew that Tina had lessons to attend to. The Scamanders never visited the palace again after that.

Tonight, this was Newt's first time back at the palace. It still looked the same as the one in his memories. Tonight, he might actually get to see Tina again. Newt felt himself smile at the thought. To be honest, Newt had started to harbor feelings for the older princess ever since they were ten. He still remembers how cute she was back then and how her short, wavy brown hair would sway in the wind as they chased each other 'round the palace whenever Tina was free of lessons. Her big brown eyes that Newt swore that he could stare into all day. Newt sighed. He missed her.

Newt's thoughts were cut short by a not-so-gentle nudge from Theseus. Newt tore his eyes away from the palace and looked over at him. Theseus already has his black mask on. Oh, right. Newt rummaged through his coat until he found his blue and gold Venetian-style mask and slips it on. He nodded to his brother and they walked up the steps to the palace.

When they arrived, they were immediately escorted to the ballroom. When they entered, they saw that the ball had begun. "Are we late?" Newt asked as they walked down the stairs to join the rest of the guests.

Theseus shrugged. "I think not."

"But shouldn't they introduce the princesses?"

"I think not. I mean, this is a masquerade ball, after all. You must guess who's who."

Newt nodded and looked around. He immediately spotted a woman in a hot pink and white ball gown with flowery designs, mostly roses. She had her blonde hair twisted up into a bun and she was wearing a pink and white mask with a pink rose on the right. Newt knew it was Queenie, she loved pink. When Newt turned to tell his brother, he noticed that Theseus had gone off. Newt sighed. He wasn't much of a party person.