13/31 (Kinda On Hold)

II: Beneath the Mask

Just as I begin to lift the hood of my heavy black cloak, back from my head, a hand upon my wrist stops me. I look up to see Twiggy's hand clasped around my thin wrist, and in his other hand was a black piece of fabric, cut to cover half the face, with cuts to reveal shapes of flesh, in an overall mimic of lace.

"It's a masquerade ball, and I'm rather sure that Lord Motionless would prefer all his guests follow the dress code", he says, while tying the mask behind my head, without disturbing the position of my hood.

He pulls his hands out from the hood, and then puts on his own, then Twiggy lifts our hands up, and begins to lead our descent down the grand staircase. I glided my hand down across the railing of the staircase, feeling the cold, smooth marble beneath my fingertips.

"Lord Motionless can choke on his own cum for all I care, but I do love this mask, so I'll wear it. But it's not because of the dress code", I remarked snidely.

"You always did have a problem with being told what to do, as well as authority, just like your-"

"Don't even say it, or I swear to Mephistopheles and all that is unholy I will push you down these stairs right now", I interrupt, not desiring to hear yet another comment of how much I'm like my father.

"Still so much like him", he says with an airy chuckle, shaking his head.

I feel my feet touch down on every step as my train drags behind me, slipping down the stairs, against the clicking of my heels. My eyes widened as I took in every inch of elaborate architecture of the Palace, pulling back my hood so I could better see everything.

The exquisite marble floors are a rich sandy shade, with veins of charcoal, white, and even a lightened grey rushing through them, all dusted in a faint gold. Dresses dusted across the floors as women of all sorts floated across the room, most in the customary red, though all in varying shades.

With a rudimentary glance one could quite easily determine that I was the only one clothed in black, other than the men who were in shades of grey, black, red, and blue, but all with white shirts peeking out from beneath suit sleeves and open jackets.

The expanse of the ceiling was comprised of a large dome of glass, allowing for a full view of the glorious night sky, along the Mother Moon in her full bloom. The dilated Supermoon only accentuated the beauty of the Bloodmoon on this night, the normally milky white of the moon bathed in varying shades of a deep crimson, surrounded by an eerie darkness only lightened by the occasional star.

Another smaller moon, also in it's Bloodmoon form, hung in the background of it's larger counterpart, but still illuminating with it's own beauty. Both of which I could admire, as alone they both held their own beauty and power, but together made a fuller and brighter sky, within the darkness.

Lights from the cascading swirls of delicate Chandeliers that hung down from the ceiling filled the massive room with an inescapable light. Even as creatures of the dark, we are bathed in a light tonight, not only from the exorbitant amount of lights Lord Motionless has, but more importantly, from the Moon, the Mother of the Night, our Mistress of the Dark.

We finish our descent down the first staircase, and stop at the landing that connected the grand staircase to the much wider, main staircase, and he releases my hand. A servant donned in white, the color of one who has given up their own existence to serve another, takes my hooded cloak off my shoulders, exposing my appearance.

The chilly air of the room immediately hits my bare skin, and I feel a rush of goosebumps across my skin. I turn to see Twiggy nodding his head at other important members of councils from across various Circles, and even slipping out a few greetings, but not very many I recognize.