Camille Ellison had six sisters, but each one died. One after another, each on the full moon of the first six months of that year.
She believed the first was accidental, the second, third, and fourth could be passed as coincidence; But as the death...
The night with the ball had come upon us. After a week of celebrations, and non-stop smiling the maids had begun their work of cleaning the Everett Manor, which would be used for this year's Masquerade Ball.
Seamstresses had been working full time this past week sewing dresses, mending seams, and comparing color shades to skin tones.
Now it was time for men to attach cufflinks, and for the ladies to pull corsets so tight that they can barely breathe.
My corset was the tightest I'd ever gotten it before without someone's help. It was still looser than normal, but I could feel pressure on my ribs and lungs. Pray to the Goddess that it would look good underneath the dress I'd picked out to wear.
"One more deep breath Ruth," Vera said, and then there was a breath and a grunt. These walls were so thin I could hear Vera rolling in her bed at night. "There." Finished Vera. I could imagine her giggling as she helped Ruth slip on her dress.
Sometimes, in the midst of the people closest to you, is when you feel the most alone.
Perhaps Annaleigh and Luc would be at the ball tonight. That's aught to be why they traveled to Astrea during this week. Unless they are terrible at picking times to travel. Astrea is a zoo this time of year, and that's even when there's not an event going on.
Slipping the dress over my head I let the long bouffant skirt fall to the floor, pooling around my feet. The décolletage cut low, a bit lower than I liked, but once I put on the dress I found that it fit quite well.
A row of pearls was stitched in across my waist, contrasting lavishly against the bottle green of my dress.
I'd done my hair so it fell in loose ringlets, filled with several pins to keep it in place. I'd pulled a few pieces forward to frame my face.
At last, I'd applied a nude lip shade and made my features more prominent.
Just as I was slipping on my first shoe, Vera yelled "let's go. We're not going to be late!" I stumbled out the door, my dark green masquerade mask in one hand, and my other shoe in the other.
The carriage ride was filled with the clapping hoves of the horses, and creaking of the wooden wheels as they road over the cobbled streets.
The sunflowers outside had turned to a deep purple for the final event of this week. Seeds had been swept away and wreaths changed.
Summer was coming, and with it came warm winds and puff pastry tarts.
As the carriage rolled to a stop in front of large golden double doors, a footman opened our door and outstretched his hand.
I jumped out first, completely ignoring the help that was offered. My sisters were the opposite, allowing him to help them down, and even Ruth allowed a kiss on the cheek. Ever the coquettes my sisters were.
As I stepped into the room, a maid took my sister's cloaks and hung them up on hooks, but skipped me due to more guests coming in through the big double doors.
Taking the liberty upon myself I hung up my cloak and gloves before spinning around to face the crowd, my dress flaring out at the ends a tad.
Guests were dressed in extravagant gowns, all with slits of skin showing along the legs or stomach. A traditional summer style.
My dress had a slit right above my chest, showing off my cleavage.
Perhaps if I wore something Hattie would have worn, then I would attract her secret lover. That would be crude though, him bouncing from one girl to another.
I would call out to him, although for the life of me I couldn't remember his name.
As my dance card continued to stay empty, I made my way over to the table of champagnes, pastries, and extra masks for the guests that had forgotten theirs.
Before I could reach my hand over to grab a flute, a gloved hand grabbed it for me. Looking up I saw a familiar face that I hadn't seen since the death of my nanny.
"Luc," I grinned, glad for the company.
"Camille." It felt good to hear my name roll off of his lips. I hadn't heard it in quite some time. "You look stunning."
Stunning. An extravagant word to describe an extravagant woman.
"I do hope your dance card isn't completely full yet?"
"It's empty actually," I admitted rather embarrassed. "Shouldn't you be dancing with Annaleigh though?"
I hadn't meant for it to come out so rude, yet after the words left my mouth I inwardly cringed.
"Annaleigh decided this ball didn't suit her interests, although I don't see why I would need her approval to dance with you." He offered me his arm and gave a smirk as if he knew exactly what I was insinuating. "Shall we?"
Pushing up my mask a little higher to make sure my face was completely covered, I grabbed ahold of his arm as he lead me out to the dance floor.
We spun around in circles, dipping, stepping, and trying to keep the air down our lungs as we twisted and turned across the floor.
For the first time in a long time, I felt free, not completely weighted down by my sister's passing. Although my plan tonight was a good one, it still brought stress.
Nobody had offered to dance other than Luc leaving it nearly impossible to find one of Hattie's suitors before her lover, even if I was disguised so I couldn't be killed.
"Care to explain why your dance card was empty?" Luc asked, dipping me so low I was sure my loose curls grazed the floor.
"I suppose I just hadn't been noticed yet." I glanced down at myself, suddenly feeling self-conscious. What if Luc preferred women who showed off their assets. "Compared to the others here, my dress is quite bland."
"It's no good to dance with the men that don't notice you in a crowd. If they don't notice you, then you're not worth their time yeah?"
I nodded.
"Plus," a smirk. "I thought you looked rather beautiful tonight. I'm glad you came because I was too much of a coward to ask you to be my date."
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1041 words. Barely over 1000 but hey, I'll take it. Hopefully, when I edit, I'll get more words. If I manage to finish this before September 30th. It's 12:05 AM on September 21 right now. I have nine more days to finish this thing, and about 44 more chapters to write. So I have about 5 chapters to write per day, plus editing. Fantastic.
Pray for me!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to submit this to the Wattys, but if I wont, I'll still try to publish it normally.
Onto the next chapter - Elle
This piece is completely written by me. If there are any references to any characters, places, or themes, it is purely coincidental. This novel is exclusively on Wattpad so if you notice it anywhere other than here, it has been illegally stolen. Please notify the author right away if this happens.
