Masquerade {Edited}

Masquerade -1-

Chapter One

A little girls dream

Children are said to have a wild imagination.

They dream of things that they wish were true. They work and practice half their lives to reach it, barely able to grasp it in their hand as they fall down to reality. They blame society and the way that they were raised. Yet, every child does it; unaware of the harsh truth that lie ahead of them.

When I was younger I would pretend to be poor, alone and cold. I hated my rich lifestyle; the way I had been raised. My parents, they never cared about me; they only cared about what others thought of them. My life was a fake fairytale; perfect to anyone else but fake for me. My parents pretended to love each other, they pretended to love me. Like any other love story, mine was different. Games were played, lies were told and even worse, secrets were revealed.

Pretending to be a part of a happy family was difficult. All the balls we went to and all the people we had to put a show on for. The fake smiles, fake laughs and pretending like we wanted to be there.

It was nearing my eighteenth birthday; the day I was supposed to pick my betrothed. I was to live in another lie, with someone new, pretending to be happy for the rest of my life. I would switch places with someone who lived outside of the castle in a heartbeat; I just wanted to know what it was like to be free, with no rules.

I didn't want to be told how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, how to talk or even look at others. I was raised to lie, lie about my personality and lie about my beliefs. I was raised on a false belief that I would one day become the best queen our Castle has seen.

I was looking outside my window at the pasture with the horses in it; they were running around freely with not a care in the world. The sun was almost setting and it was getting closer to lunch with the Marshals. I wore a nice purplish ball gown dress and my hair was curled, cascading down my back. The cool air was flooding inside my room as I walked away and sat on my bed looking at the ceiling. What I wouldn't give to be out of here, exploring on my own. There was a soft knock on the door as it opened slowly.

"Jane?" I heard Marie ask, opening the door and allowing herself to come in. My room was dim, only lit by some candles which made the red walls look more beautiful with my golden tinted bed.

"The Marshals have arrived, your mother sent me to get you." Marie was sent to do everything for the family. She was my only friend, she practically raised me; I would never admit that to my parents. She once told me stories of true love and happily ever after, she could have been my mom, she was old enough for it.

I looked up to her and asked her for advice time to time. While my parents fed me lies of how I should act, she was always bringing me back to the real world. I was never lost when she was around.

I nodded my head and gave her a small smile before standing up. I walked towards the door, paying no attention as to how I was walking.

"Kyle sure looks like a young good looking man." She whispered as I passed her. The smile faded from my face as I realized this was one of those dinners. Another one of my suitors coming to show me what he has to offer. I shook my head again in understanding, growing impatient as the secrets between my parents began to unfold.

"Be nice Jane." She mouthed as she exited the room. I tried to keep calm; I was sick of my parents planning these things without me. I walked over to my mirror in the corner of my room and looked at myself one last time. All I noticed was a fake smile staring back. I've had years of practicing it and now it looked almost real to me. I sighed and walked out of my room and down the hall to the staircase.