The Angelic Devil

THE MASQUERADE

Crowded places always suffocated me  and I hated how this dress got everyone's attention.

It took almost fifteen hours to reach the dukedom of the seveth duke of the Kingdom  which was farthest from the city .My back was sore by the time we reached there . Diem helped me and waverly out of the carriage and together we walked towards the huge manor .

We were greeted by a butler who took our coats and welcomed us. We stepped Into a  huge dim lit ballroom adored with beautiful chandeliers and colourfully dressed people all in mask that hid their upper face.waiters rushed among the crowds making sure no one is unattended, and an orchestra played a sweet melody.

A waiter approached and offered us glasses of liquor which I kindly declined .For me it was a mission that would buy my sister her freedom and I was ready to pay any price.

Rumours had been spreading like wild fire about the second duke backing the rebels and king had believed those rumours and wanted me to root out every possibility of Duke Keegan Devinsky going rougue on him , the king thought the ball was the right oppurtunity to infilterate the dukedom and hence here we were.

The hall got stuffier and I decided to move towards a corner and spotted one less occupied .I stood there arms crossed leaning against a pillar,my eyes roamed the hall until they rested upon the masked duke.

He was a tall man with his lips curved in a pleasant smile as he addressed his guests .His son stood by his side who wore a brown mask that resembled a tree bark. He was the star of the event , in whose honour the ball was being held ,pretty handsome for a  nineteen year old with his dark hair styled for the night . Suddenly our eyes met and  He smiled at me. He excused himself and started walking towards me , for some reason that made me nervous and started shifting from foot to foot. I smelled his colong when he reached me. I did not have any choice but to turn around with a smile.

" A plesant evening champion" he said It did not surprised me how he knew it was me, I was the only silver haired person so far and it made me a sore thumb everywhere I went.

" Evening ma'lord" I replied hoping that my smile will look genuine.

" What ? won't my evening be pleasant" he asked

" It depends" . I said. He raised his brows at that .

" Depends ..... on  'you '? He asked in an challenging tone.

"No.It depends on yourself".

"Iam sorry I could not quiet understand"

"when I watched you over there I knew you were not enjoying this act of display , judging by that fake smile plastered on your face."

He was quiet for a second and unexpectedly started laughing .I was startled at first since I had not heard anyone laugh like that , the only man I really talk to  doesn't seem to have any emotion and the king doesn't laugh but sneers at me.

I have to admit that I somewhat liked his deep baritone ,a sinciere laugh I bet was his first one tonight.

"How could you tell I thought I was doing a good job pretending" He said ending his laughter in a smile.

"Iam just good at reading people" I replied.

" You know you are quiet different from what I had heard about you"

"I can imagine , rumours have a strange way of exaggeration"

"I am sorry. I am glad that you did not turned out to be like the rumours"

" You mean you are glad that I did not have horns" I said

He laughed again and a smile started to creep it's way to my lips which I tried to forced down but miserably failed.

" The smile suits you. You don't always have to keep frowning ."

That made me frown.

"Hey I told you"

As I was going to defend myself a loud shrilly voice interrupted us.

" My lord it's time for our dance" A women with a too slim waist wearing a huge golden gown swept through the crowd and attached herself to the duke's son.Up close her face was covered in too much make up and I feared her ribs might crack from the corset. She was obviously trying to impress him but judging from his expression upon seeing her it was clear that her attempts had been in vain.

She looked at me shooting daggers like I was her rival in love.

" It was a pleasure meeting you my lord" I said with slight bow excusing myself.

" The pleasure is mine.... and the name  is Quinne , see you again" He walked away with the woman and now I was left to continue spying on the duke.

He was at the same spot talking but there was a slight crack in his composure , he was sweatting and continuously clenching and unclenching his fist ,his eyes weren't focused on the person talking to him but drifted elsewhere .His tension was not noticeable by others, he was good at hiding his emotions but not good enough to hide them from me.

The person talking to him moved on and the duke started to move toward the farthest hall ,that was my cue to move ,to reach there I had to pass by the dacers. I made my way towards the duke in hurried steps .I saw Quinne dancing with the women .The music switched to a faster tune approaching the end , all the women arched their back with their hands on the shoulder of their partners and was pulled back straight indicating the end of the music , I felt a hand on my wrist and pulled me  , I lost my footing and would have fallen on my face if whoever had pulled wouldn't have grabbed my waist and brought me back on my feet.

The music started anew with a mysterious undertone like the deep emerald green eyes that stared into mine.

"Care for a dance " he asked and swept me into the pool of people.

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