Cinder-Canary

The Ball

            The ride to the castle is shorter than I would have thought possible, and Dearden easily keeps the conversation flowing. I smile gratefully at the girl who's just changed my life and only just met me less than an hour ago.

We step out from the carriage and I have the opportunity to fully look at her. Dearden is outfitted in a deep red costume, bearing some similarity to mine. Hers has black ties that make X's going up the center of the bodice and down along the outside of the coat sleeves, the ends of the string hang loosely from the edge of the sleeves and bodice. Her coat is short around her torso, is very bolero-like. She too wears somewhat flowy pants and has skirts that poof out just below the bodice, but her skirt-pieces flow all the way around her sides and back, leaving the from exposed, and are nearly floor-length.

"Oh," she quickly reaches past me and grabs herself a mask. "You're not the only one who's going to wear a mask! I know some others, but I'm not going to let you walk in there without someone else also wearing a mask." She waves it in the air as she speaks before securing it to her head.

Finally, I look to the castle behind her, and just stare. "Wow." I breathe the word, "This place is..." I trail off, not finding a good enough word to describe it. "it's just..."

"Beautiful." She supplies, with a nod, "Well, we don't want to just stand out here all night! Let's get you to the ball!" She exclaims before grabbing my hand and eagerly pulling me along once more.

Inside it is even more beautiful and decorated. Oh, the decorations. They were perfect, it was elegant and ball-like, yet there were still things about the costumes that almost everyone wore that helped tie in the theme.

"C'mon!" Dearden giggles, and I blindly follow her through the crowd, letting her be my guide even as I distractedly take it all in. We find ourselves near the center rim of the wide circle, and I realize it's time for the first dance. Who would the prince choose? The visiting Princess perhaps? It made sense after all, the King and Queen were hoping to find a suitable wife for their son and I assume the visiting kingdom would be doing the same for their daughter.

Dearden is clutching my arm excitedly as we watch the prince, who was also wearing a mask and I make a mental note to ask her later if masks were common to wear to balls. The prince wears green, and has a bow and arrow slung across his shoulders and back. He is looking across the room, eyes passing over the faces of everyone in the circle, but he doesn't seem to be finding whomever he is looking for.

"Who is he looking for?" I whisper in her ear, just as his eyes light up and he begins walking in our direction. My back stiffens as he approaches with a smile. When the prince stops in front of us, I am relieved he is not looking at me, but the girl who had just come up next to me.

The girl next to us is beautiful. She has long golden blonde hair, and her costume is black. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline and there is a skirt that goes behind her and is almost petal-like in design, it reaches her knees. Her pants are a little tighter, but still flowy like ours are and she wears elbow length gloves. A mask obscures part of her face as well.

Taking her hand, he kisses the back of it and murmurs something to her, and she lets out a breath, a slight laugh. "Care to dance Pretty Bird?" I manage to hear what he says this time, even though they are right in front of me I am still surprised by my inability to hear before. "Of course, my Emerald Archer." She responds with a teasing smile before accepting his arm and allowing him to lead her to the center of the circle. They wait for the music, and with the firs beat they are moving elegantly and in sync.

A man, also wearing red like Dearden and has a bow and arrow just like the prince, comes up next to us and offers his arm to her. "How would you feel about a dance, Speedy?" He smiles crookedly in a way that I can tell she finds charming. She spares me a glance and I give her a nod. "I'd love to, Arsenal." She replies in kind with some kind of code-name. I grin as I watch her be whisked off to join the prince and his partner on the floor. I clap along with those around me as they move, finding their place in the fast beat.

"You seem to have been left all alone." A woman's voice startles me and I turn to the source. I am met with a woman who is a little taller than me, with long black hair and striking eyes. She too wears a mask, although hers is different. It is sheer fabric draped across the bridge of her nose, hiding the bottom half of her face from clear view and she had a hood up over her head. Her costume was very armor like and had flowy and draping fabric across the bodice that came out beneath the corset and were draped over her shoulder. Unlike Dearden and Sara, she did not have any skirts added around her waist, but her pant legs were very wide.

"I am Warith Alshaytan." She tilts her head and I scramble to come up with my own code-name. After a few moments of her waiting patiently, I come up with something. "Call me White Canary." I blurt out, and she smiles. "White Canary, it is a pleasure to meet you." Then she does something I'm not expecting. She takes my hand and although she is wearing a veil, she places a kiss to the back. Something flutters in my stomach, and I find I like the feeling. "Care to dance, White Canary?"

NOTE: i'm sure you can all guess who that new mystery woman is. If you don't, then this is probably a good hint. (Warith Alshaytan. Google translate says that is what 'heir to the demon' is in Arabic.)