The whole evening was a blur. The lights and sparkles, the handsome courtiers and their beautiful ladies. Everything was bright and extravagant and larger than life. It was an adventure with no bars held back, lords and ladies drinking and flirting without fear of repercussions for while it might be clear who they are the understanding was that no one would admit it. Everything was a flutter as couples danced and chatted.
Lady Esabell however was only just becoming comfortable in the situation. For the longest time she had shied from the crowds of courtiers, embarrassed by the attention she was gaining. As time passed though she steadily began to talk with courtiers surprised by how careful they began to speak to her, as thought they were shocked by the magnificence of her gown. As time passed though she began to follow the king with her gaze, watching him walk through the crowds with a smile across her lips. He was so striking in his costume, the simplicity of the ivory exaggerating the intensity of his features.
Her mind wandered as she sat at a table at the edge of the dance floor, sipping wine as the ladies and lords around her chatted idly. All sorts of topics wandered though her thoughts as she casually followed the conversation without inputting but occasionally.
Laughing heartily, the taste of good wine in his mouth, Marc mingled with his courtiers, nodding in acknowledgment to those he passed. "Good evening!" He called out to one young man in general, patting him jovially upon the shoulder before moving on. His strides were long, his posture confident... and despite the rather poor disguise, the young man still looked every bit like the king he was. Perhaps it was his fiery hair, slicked back from his face and tied at the nape of his neck? Or perhaps it was the way those around him seemed to show deference towards his person, despite the fact that he was supposed to be nothing more than a masked stranger? Well, whatever it was, Marc took it all in stride and was quite happy in his delusion that no one recognized him for the man he was. Ignorance is bliss... at least during a masquerade.
Turning his head slightly to scan the crowded room, Marc paused as his sapphire gaze fell upon the form of a rather beautiful woman. A woman he recognized, partly because she was wearing the gown he had gifted her only a few nights previous. But mostly because when his eyes slid across hers he felt a connection leap between them, like an electric spark that pulsed along his skin, igniting his blood. It was his Esabell.
"My lady," he called softly towards her over the hum and buzz of noise within the Great Hall. At the current moment no music was playing and Marc took his chance. Weaving in between the other couples, the king made it to the table at which the young lady was sitting within moments. A delighted smile crossed his lips at the sight of her, radiant and beautiful as ever. Bowing slightly, his eyes sparkling behind his black and gold mask, Marc gestured to the chair beside her. "May I? To sit beside one so lovely as yourself would be a great treat indeed, my lady."
Grinning wildly beneath her mask as she notices a certain someone nearing her Esabell pretended to not have noticed the approach, suddenly becoming quite interested in word of a new variety of tulip grown in several of the old seven provinces that was becoming all the rage. Apparently the woman in the silver feathered mask reckoned that someday tulip bulbs would be worth more than jewels but no one else agreed, claiming it was rubbish that a mere bulb could ever become worth that much.
“You never know, some of those Dutch are an odd bunch. I can certainly see even some of our own falling dead for a pretty flower.” She joked as the King finally reached her. Finally admitting she had seen him Esabell turned her gaze to absorb the king in close contact for the first time that night, soaking up everything about him greedily with her eyes as he spoke.
It was all she could do to control her smile, to permit the look in her eyes to only be that of a happily surprised lady of the court. “Most certainly my lord, I would be greatly pleased by you company.” She grinned mischievously. As much as everyone knew it was the king the nature of the event allowed her to pretend he wasn’t, to imagine just for one night that they weren’t impossibly separated by duty.
Swallowing and looking away as though something had caught her eye for a moment the woman scolded herself. Her eyes watered slightly, her lip trembling as she her mind reminded her of her many dreams. Her fantasies that the relationship between she and her beloved would someday amount to something more than mistresshood. All in one moment came weeks of dreams and envisagements. It took only a few rapid blinks to stopper her eyes and return her gaze most pleasantly to the most splendid man before her.
“What brings a good lord such as yourself to my side I might ask though, surely not talk of tulips.” It took a -great bit of effort to put the care-free, playful tone in her voice and gentle longing foremost in her eyes. While she longed so greatly for his Majesty recent events had proven ever more to her how impossible it was for her to be close to him in the way she longed to, how cruel she was to string him along when they both knew nothing could come of their passion without the betrayal of her honor. Still though she wanted nothing more than to take advantage of what moments they did have, moments such as the one she had before her at that very moment, under the protection of a mask.