Lineage of Zeal, Book One: Rosemary

Chapter Five: Fallen

"I'm not wearing that."

"Come, you must wear something. This is a masquerade. It would be improper for you to appear out of disguise."

"I refuse. I'll go as I am. If that's not good enough, I'll find another way aboard the... boat."

"But you must wear something! It would be unbeautiful for a prince to show himself in costume while his fiancée appears with not even a mask."

"So be it."

"There is still time. I can send a runner to market to pick up something more to your liking if I must. Will you not reconsider?"

"It won't be necessary. I'm not changing."

"Can we not compromise, my dear lady? At least a mask, I ask! If you will not change your outfit, a mask will do."

"Fine. If it will get you to quit pestering me, fine."

Rosemary peered over a table neatly arranged with masks and attire brought in by Count Jenvier's servants earlier that afternoon. There were numerous dresses with matching masks from all parts of the kingdom. Most were themed—some resembled exotic birds and wildlife, while others were meant to imitate flora. Rosemary was not particularly impressed by the dress representative of the rose.

At the end of the table, she spotted a dress she realized to be from Nanboshi. A kimono, she recalled the dress's proper name to be. It was simple yet elegant, white with a flower petal pattern that spiraled up the whole of the garment, but the dress itself held little value to her. It was the mask that accompanied it that drew her. The mask was also white, crafted in the likeness of a fox with red and black markings. This she took and tied to the top of her head instead of over her face, as it was not yet time to make her appearance at the masquerade of this evening.

"There, I'm ready," Rosemary said flatly. "Now what?"

"You are not ready," Courtney replied, tapping his foot with impatience. "I still see your face. Need I remind you what is meant by 'masquerade'?"

"And what about you? You're in no costume, just a cloak over what you wore at the one meal I shared with you. And that mask barely covers your face at all. It's a wonder it stays on your face, there's so little of it."

"This," said Courtney, indicating the mask that was indeed so miniscule it did little more than outline his eyes and cover a single cheekbone, "is the most I will permit my beauty to be hidden. I believe I told you in Avignon I had no desire to attend this gathering specifically because it was a masquerade. However, you happened and this is the resulting compromise. Do you desire to question your future husband's self-sacrificing nature further or are you yet satisfied, my dear Lady Rosemary?"

Rosemary put a hand to her mouth and swallowed her laughter. Wearing a mask was a sacrifice? This boy of a prince was more conceited than she had thought and she already thought him to be substantially so. He was the most conceited person she had ever encountered in all her years and, over the course of her life, she had encountered many, many people.

Once she had regained her composure, Rosemary said, "The only question I still have is why I haven't killed an annoyance like you yet."

Courtney did not seem at all taken aback by such a scandalous statement. He smiled at his fiancée as he said, "I will pretend that you say such things in a loving sense of jest and play along. You have yet to kill me because you have need of me."

Rosemary flashed a grin at the prince before turning away from his resplendent masked figure. "If only you knew how right you are."

As if signaling the end of their "loving" conversation, a knock at the door and a voice asking if they were prepared for the night's festivities drew their attention. Courtney responded that they were, and as the door opened he motioned for Rosemary to lower her mask. Which she did, however begrudgingly. At the door was one of the estate's butlers, his face painted to resemble that of a wide-smiling jester. His expression did not look the part.