Masquerade - Chapter 1

By Jhanvi (Gabbie)

Today is a day like any other day. Today I can’t go to the library and I can’t walk through the market and admire all the beautiful things the ‘filthy peasants’ have crafted with their hands. Oh, how I admire their hands!

Since today is a day like any other day, I am blessed with the opportunity to sit on my butt for hours! See, apparently I was born into a privileged family and that demands certain ‘responsibilities’. Unfortunately, my father and I differ on the definition of this word. He believes I am meant to do nothing with my childhood and cement a treaty for him later in life. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind using muscles located somewhere other than the butt upon which I now reside.

To guarantee that I fulfill my ‘responsibilities’, my father has taken to placing a bodyguard outside my door to persuade me to remain in my chambers when I am not gossiping with the other dainty ladies-in-residence. I have always been able to wheedle and wiggle my way to freedom in the past, but father suddenly got smart. Now there’s a new, stuck-up, muscle-bound idiot outside my door. I had fancied at first that, with those charming, red-brown curls, I might enjoy wheedling a bit more than before, but he’s an insufferably rude brick wall. I swear he’s so full of himself he should’ve exploded by now! Halleluiah! And what a sight it would be!

Somebody knocked on the door and I slammed my journal shut. It had better not be Jerod, I thought.

“Katherine!” my mother’s voice called. “Your father and I have the most wonderful news!” Then my door opened. ‘If they ever have ‘wonderful news’ while I’m changing, I’ll kill them and let my brother take over the estate early.’ I sighed. ‘I wish he were here.’ See, at the time, he was off studying at the Academy in Lorea. I was so jealous.

“There’s been some interest expressed in you at court of late. The king is looking to marry off his son! Aren’t you excited!?” My mother looked so thrilled that I felt evil for not being excited. She’s still a giggly little girl, despite her age and fading blond hair.

I smiled. “That’s…wonderful. What is his name again?” I asked, trying to feign interest.

“Nathaniel! Isn’t that charming?”

“Charming.” I tried to be enthusiastic. I mean, it’s just a name. ‘Mother, just leave,’ I prayed. Lucky me, she pranced from the room, telling me in a sing-song voice what she thought was necessary to prepare for his visit in a week. Wait...a week?!

Jerod leaned in and shut the door behind her - after studying my face for an instant with a creepy intensity. Brushing it off, I whirled to face the second of the intruders.

“Father, you can’t do this to me!”

“Now, hon – ”

“You just want me to be happy? I’ve never met the prince! Heck, you don’t let me go to any balls outside your manor! You don’t let me outside the building, if you can help it!!” I realized I was screaming so loud at this point that Jerod, who I’m sure was eavesdropping, could hear me without trying. I also knew I was crying. Why? Don’t ask me. I haven’t the faintest.

He sat down on my bed with a sigh and started in a soft voice. “Honey, you know I just worry about you and want to keep you safe! He’s a fine, upstanding gentleman and a scholar, just like your brother Gehlin. Why don’t you write your brother another letter and ask him about the prince? I’m sure he’ll have wonderful things to say.” His eyes showed how sincere he felt about this, but I couldn’t accept it yet. Still, I began to feel really horrible about coming down on him so badly in my journal only moments before. “Just give it a chance when Nathaniel arrives.” There was something odd about the look in his face. “Won’t you just try? I’m sure you’ll like him. I’ll just leave you to think, for now.” He opened the door, then paused and came back to my desk (I’d never gotten out of my chair). He kissed my forehead gently and said, “You know I love you, hon.”

And then he was gone. “I know, Daddy. I love you, too.” I rose and shut my door. As I did, I thought I saw some sort of human emotion in Jerod, but I must have been mistaken. ‘Maybe he’s constipated.’ I passed out on my bed and slept all afternoon. Unladylike, I know. Sue me.

Monday mornings always seem to give me a refreshing new wind to take on the week with. I woke with the sun and opened all my windows to it. The chill early morning wind woke me up and I grinned. Maybe this would be okay. I still had a week left, anyway. ‘Maybe if I try to leave now, Jerod won’t be out there yet. It is early.’ This thought made my smile wider and I dug out a simple dress. It was still nicer than what most would be wearing where I was (hopefully) headed, but it was the best I could do. I’d always preferred simpler dresses. They hung on me finer than the puff balls I wore to dances.

Now, ready, I swung open my door and there he was. My heart pounded with anger and fear; the fear that I’d remain locked in my room for my last week of freedom. He said, “Congratulations. The prince is a fine man.” Good morning to you, too.

“I wouldn’t know,” I half mumbled.

“Neither would I.” I looked at him, shocked beyond belief. He saw my face and laughed – laughed! Jerod laughed! “It’s my job to support your father. I’m bound to agree with him.”

I don’t know why, but, at this point, I was so close to tears I wanted to scream at myself for being weak. He stopped laughing and studied my face. “Be back before lunch and I won’t tell a soul.” I couldn’t believe this! He was suddenly being nice! While my right mind screamed in protest, I threw my arms around his neck, kissed his cheek and ran down the hall towards freedom. I saw his face as I turned the corner and he was standing like a statue with the strangest expression on his face. Surprise and – what?

Well, he’d given me the morning and I intended to use it until it burst! The sun was glorious, even this early in the day, as I walked down to the marketplace. The very first stand I could see was a woman selling jewelry. There was no silver, or precious metals and jewels of any sort – not even a little bronze, but every one of them was a beautiful treasure. Each was crafted with patience and skill by this middle-aged woman. She smiled as I approached and it wasn’t an invitation to buy her wares, it was a greeting, full of love for life. I feared I would never understand how people living with so little could be so caring and content day after day. I smiled back and asked her name.

“Rosetta,” she said. Her well-used hands rested on either side of the jewelry. I admired them - and the items - with envy.

“How I would love to create such things,” I sighed quietly. She heard me and smiled again, sympathetically this time. “May I purchase this one?” I asked, picking up a piece of string with a tiny clay figure on the end. I didn’t know what it was, but I had already fallen in love with it.

“That’s a hjeki doll. It protects the wearer from painful nightmares. Threepense, please?”

I dropped twenty onto her table, saying, “for you honest smile.” I paused. “Do you think this would help with waking nightmares?”

“Perhaps,” she smiled again. Her eyes sparkled mysteriously. “I’ve never heard of it used for such, but if you prayed to Heiko, I’m sure he would be willing to help you.”

I thanked her and walked on, fingering the beautiful doll. Heiko was the native god in this region, lost when the king’s great-great-great grandfather conquered it so long ago. The commonfolk still prayed to him. ‘They’re so happy,” I thought. ‘Perhaps Heiko can help me. The king’s god doesn’t seem to know I exist.’ I walked through the market without looking around me and didn’t notice I was being tailed until I was too far into a dirtier part of the town to run. I felt shivers climbing my spin as panic slowly found its way into me. Without thinking clearly, I slipped the hjeki around my neck and looked for some route of escape. I’d never been here before and didn’t know where any of the turns led, so I picked one at random and was sorely disappointed with a short alleyway and a not-so-short wall.