Erika (ON HOLD)

Chapter One

I was caught in a big crowd on my way to the towns square. Even though our village was the smallest of all the villages in our kingdom, we still had enough people to make a crowd.

The world is separated into five kingdoms, and those Kingdoms are Separated into ten villages. Our kingdom is the largest of the five, which means we have the most power. If a new law was made in our kingdom, the others followed after us and made it a law in their kingdoms. They feared that we would take over their land if they didn't.

Our Kingdom was the one that made the law about beauty.

The law was made a little over a hundred years ago. The queen, Malinda, found out her husband was having affairs with five different mistresses. When she saw these women, she thought that they were more beautiful than her, and she became jealous.

One night, she decided to have a masquerade ball for her husbands birthday. She invited her husband's mistresses, and supplied them with masks. When the clock turned twelve, and it was time for everyone to take off their masks, the five girls could not take theirs off. She had glued the masks to their faces. She then made it a law that only royalty had the right to be beautiful, and if you were too beautiful and not royal, you had to wear a mask.

Of course they don't actually glue the masks on like Malinda did, but they force you to wear one. You are only ever allowed to take it off before you go to bed. You also are not allowed to look at yourself in a mirror while your mask is off.

I never followed that rule. I have a mirror hidden in my room, and look in it from time to time without my mask on. Looking at my face reminds me that I am still human, and that is something the government can never change about me.

I was standing in the middle of the people crowded around the towns square. I looked up at the stage (in every village there is a stage in the towns square where special announcements are made) and saw the royal family.

Usually, only the king would come to announce something, but today, the whole family was there. That means the announcement must be important.

The King stood on the left side of the stage. His name was Marcus, named after his father who passed away ten years ago. Standing in the middle was his wife, Queen Annalise. And standing on the right side of the stage was their only son, Prince Christian.

If Prince Christian weren't royalty, he would defiantly be forced to wear a mask. He had blonde hair that fell across his forehead just right. He had dimples that showed whenever he would smile, and his eyes were as blue as an ocean.

"Ladies and gentlemen. If I could have your attention please!" yelled the royal announcer. Yes, that was an actual job someone could have. I don't know why the royal family can't speak for themselves.

"As some of you may know, Prince Christian's twenty second birthday is this weekend. As the law states, the prince must be married before his twenty third year. We have been unable to find a suitable wife for Christian, so we ask that all females attend the Prince's birthday ball, so we can find a suitable wife for him." the announcer said.

I heard murmurs start throughout the audience. All of the girls began to get excited, and were already talking about how they were going to marry Christian. I just rolled my eyes.

"However, there are a few regulations that you must meet in order to attend. The first is that you must be no younger than twenty, and no older than twenty one." I heard a lot of girls start to murmur their disappointment since they didn't meet the age requirement. I heard girls from my class grow more excited since they met the age requirement.

"Second, you must meet the standards of beauty based on the law. You may not attend if you do not meet the governments definition of being 'too beautiful'. You may only attend if you are required to wear a mask on a daily basis. Anyone who does not wear a mask, may not attend." he said. I heard disappointed murmurs all around me.

Then, I saw everyone turn and look at me. My heart began to pound. I was the only one in our village who had to wear a mask, therefore, I was the only one who met that requirement. And, since today was my twentieth birthday, I also met the age requirement.

I looked up at the stage, and saw that the royal family looking at me. My heart began to pound even faster, and I quickly looked away.

"Well then, that concludes today's announcement. We hope to see all of those eligible at the ball." he said.

He looked straight at me when he said it, considering I was the only one who would attend the ball from our village.

I looked around, and every girl was starring at me. Most of them were glaring, looking mad.

This is one of the few times those girls wished they were beautiful.