The annual Winter Solstice Masquerade. I've always wanted to go. To hide my identity behind a mask and pretend to be someone else for a night. To wear a gown I was utterly unworthy of, one so beautiful it challenged the stars in the sky. To steal a dance from a dashing man and wonder if he was a prince, a commoner, or someone like me. When I was just a little girl I dreamed of attending the ball, and now that I was, I wondered how different my life would be if that was the real reason I was here. If I simply came to the ball to be swept away on the dance floor. However, tonight I wouldn't be dancing with a prince. Because tonight, I'd buy my freedom--with his blood.