Falling For A Follower

Chapter 11

We arrive at the fae castle, I haven't properly spoken to Rhys for the past few days after what happened. It would have been nice to at least have his reassurance at the moment, this whole situation makes me uncomfortable. We step out of our hired black car and make our way to the entrance and to the front desk inside the castle. We hand our tickets to the fae behind the desk, she checks them and waves us inside. Once inside the ballroom, I realised that we looked different to the other guests. The ladies were all holding on to their respective plus one, their skirts brushing up against their guest. The room was filled with colour, every dress and suit was different. Candles were placed strategically around the vast space, casting a dim glow on the polished marble floor. Moonlight cast it's way through the stained glass windows, displaying even more colour on the guests below. Set up neatly in a corner was a small band of fae playing violins and flutes, one played a grand piano that was decorated in fallen rose petals. Rhys nudged my side with his elbow, I look at him to confront him but he just stares back at me as a sign that I need to behave like the other women at the party. I reluctantly hook my arm around his and follow his lead, my long skirts swishing around beneath me, shoes clicking against the floor. I watched as people of most races turned to eye us, their faces hidden behind their own masks, I hesitantly touch the corner of my own to check it was still there before looking at Rhys, his mask matched his outfit like mine matched my own. He wore a black velvet suit with a crisp white collared dress shirt underneath, he wore royal blue leather gloves that were finger less, all the trimmings on the suit were silver so his mask was black with velvet over it with a few thin silver chains hanging from the one side so they brush against his cheek. He truly looked unrecognisable, some of the vampire girls glared as we walked past, mainly at me. With everyone's eyes on us, Rhys stopped and held out his gloved hand. I take it cautiously, not knowing what his plan was. As the next song starts up, he pulls me close and places his remaining hand high on my waist, I follow his lead yet again and place my other hand on his upper arm. He slowly pulls me into the start of a waltz, this is where I really had no idea what was going on, around us, other people took our position and began to dance also. I step awkwardly trying to follow what Rhys was doing with his feet, unknowingly I stepped on one of his feet, I silently curse. A faint chuckle falls from Rhys's lips as he whispers soothingly "you're doing fine" heat rushes to my face "we will initiate phase 2 once a bigger crowd has built up" he continues. I nod in agreement, phase 2 was when we would sneak away in search of clues and evidence about the missing vampire scouts.

The dancing went on and I was starting to get the hang of it, or at least I thought I was. The pitch of the music increased and within a second, Rhys had twirled me around and leaned forward so that I was leaning backwards, his eyes locked on to mine, his face inches away. The music ended, a loud choir of applause followed shocking me back into reality. I stood back upright and nodded my head as a sign of thanks, "my that was an excellent display, I haven't seen anyone perform the black waltz so wonderfully before" a young fae said, she was short with darker blonde hair up in a twist, her floor length gown was a deep emerald green with black shimmering lace over it, she had black lace gloves covering her hands up to her wrists, her mask was also emerald green but it was trimmed with silver, that's when I noticed the silver and emerald tiara nested in her hair. I bow my head immediately "light fae princess, I'm sorry I wasn't expecting to see you so soon" I respond quickly. I hear her laugh quietly, I lift up my head to see that she had a huge smile on her face, she takes hold of one of my hands "please don't be so formal, just call me Courtney" she explains happily, I smile back "well pleasure to meet you Courtney, my name is" I stop, oh shit I can't say my real name because she'll know who I am in an instant "Nikki, my name is Nikki and this is Nathan" I gesture to Rhys. Courtney continues to smile "lovely to meet you Nikki and Nathan, this is my fiance Prince Iestyn of the werewolf clan" she gestures to the man next to her. The man was not much taller than Courtney, he had light coloured sandy hair, he wore a black suit with a burgundy dress shirt and mask, his outfit was lined with gold. He mumbled a nice to meet you back at us and we continued to talk with them for a little while before they were swept away by other guests. I turn to Rhys "good thinking with the whole name situation, they would have definitely recognised you otherwise. Now that they've gone and a crowd has gathered, nobody will notice us slip out. You take the left like we agreed and I will take the right" he explains "and meet up in 15 minuets to search together, I got it" I reply, we both nod in agreement and take our separate ways through the crowd before disappearing from anyone's sight. Time to set phase 2 of our plan in motion and find out what is going on and what secrets hide within these walls.

Song-The vampire masquerade by Peter Gundry