Ladies and lords swarmed everywhere across the dance floor, each looking as beautiful and handsome as the last, if not moreso. The picture that was painted of the masquerade was charming indeed, with all of the happy couples nearly tied to each other's hip.

There was one lady, however, who stood alone.

Lady Leana Glentrool looked rather different for this occasion, though. In fact, for the first time ever, she thought that she might even look beautiful. Her hair had been purposely hidden under a hood, as it would identify her too easily to her fellow courtiers, so that no strand was revealed. Still, as Leana knew all too well, her hair had a tendancy to be stubborn. She was sure that a few wisps would fall across her forehead before the evening was over. Her dress was completely new, much to her obvious glowing delight. It was chiefly a lovely pink color that complimented the bright blush across her cheeks quite well, with embroidery done in light purple and golden threads across it. The dress had been purposefully made a little low-cut, lower that Leana often wore her dresses, and her corset beneath it had been tied quite tightly to present her maturing figure the best that it could.

The mask across her face was pink as well, will light purple and golden sparkles scattered across the fabric in wistful swirls and waves. A small pink jewel sat at the very top of the mask to complete the look. The mask hid more of her recognizable features, such as the freckles across her nose and beneath her eyes. It could not, however, hide her ever-present glowing blush.

There was something different about Leana tonight, something that was oozing from her. Confidence. For once, she felt beautiful. For once, she even felt a little outgoing. For once, she felt brave. However, she still stood alone, as she had only just arrived. She found herself hoping, however, that she would soon be noticed and asked to dance.

Felipe had entered in the room, the decadent room, in a swirl of black. He seemed to blend with the rest of the males in the room, and for once, he was excited about the fact, that he had nobody asking him for anything, or trying to manipulate him. He could manipulate all he wanted! Oh, the joy. He felt instantly at ease, the enviroment making his heart race, and his face having a glow about it. His black outfit was embroidered with the brightest of emerald green thread, with intertwining gold, the whole outfit shimmering with the thread. His mask was much the same, except there were tiny green jewels at the corner's of each of his eyes.

His eyes were almost suspiciously blank, as the rest of his face was portraying his happiness and excitement clearly on there. He felt slightly, childish, younger than his twenty eight years. Speaking of years, he was turning twenty-nine upon the third of the next month. He was hoping to have a small get together for all his closest friends - mostly going to be Daniel and the women who he had met. The king and the princess perhaps. Most likely the king, because the Emerald Ambassador, he rather liked the king and was on good terms with him.

As he mingled, and chatted, a flirted to his hearts content, he noticed a woman by herself, wearing pale pink, only a bit of her pale face showing past the mask. Her hair was pulled back in a hood, and she was wearing a tastefully low cut dress. She looked young, and her figure...recognizable? Perhaps he knew her. He found his feet moving in her direction, stopping before her, as the music started up in a slightly faster song.

"My lady, if your dance card is not full, may I request a dance?" his voice was low, and flirty, but laughter tinged his voice, causing a playful edge.

Leana had continued to scan the room, her green eyes alive for once with the pleasure she felt simply watching the other couples and groups of people have fun chatting with each other and dancing. Occasionally she would giggle at a group of individuals making fools of themselves, or a mismatched couple that would strut across the floor. What she wasn't expecting, however, suddenly arrived.

A voice. An oddly familiar voice.

She visibly jumped and spun to face him, the material of her dress swishing around her skinny legs. She looked up at the man with wide eyes, looking over his face and mask to absorb as much of it as possible, before she spoke. She didn't even think about her words, for once. They simply poured from her full lips. "You may, my lord, but it is completely up to me if I will accept it or not." Indeed, she shocked herself by saying that, but a coy smile spread across her lips before she could stop it. She paused for a moment, seeming to consider this, before she lifted one of her slender hands into the air. "All right. You may." While her voice was certainly not as flirty as the man's, it was indeed a bit playful.

As she waited for him to grasp her hand and sweep her off onto the floor, she continued looking over his face and mask. Who could he be? She was sure that there were little bits of hints here and there, but it would take a few moments before she would dare to put them all together and come up with a conclusion. After all, Leana hated to be wrong.

"Thank you for gracing me with this dance my lady. I do not know if I could handle the dissapointment of a rejection." he said, chuckling as he lead her off to the floor. He steered them past the coloured dresses, the large masks. One woman seemed to have a bird's nest on his hat, and Felipe craned his neck to get a better look, finally seeing that her hair had various things stuck in it, an elaborate hairdo.

There was no way that he would have recognized Leana, for the last time he had seen her, she had been trembling in her shoes. Of course, he might have had a vague idea of whom she was if he could see her hair, but as he couldn't, he was left completely in the dark. He had never been someone who was exceptional at guessing, and the masque was almost a living hell for him. He had no idea whom was whom, and he hated being out of the loop.

ooc: crappy quick reply! sorry luff! i'll make up for it.

((You'd better! xD -teasing-))

"I am quite sure you would have found a way, my lord." Leana said softly, smiling up at him. Though her words were indeed rather playful, along with her tone, her smile was the same shy smile that she was forced to wear around members of the opposite sex. While she had steadily been growing more confident over the weeks, she was far from as easygoing as many other ladies of the court. At least I can finally accept my hair color, she thought wryly, her eyes drifting over the others in costume as the lord who had claimed her for this one dance led her past them. When they finally came to a stop, she lifted one hand and placed it firmly on his shoulder with just enough pressure to ensure that it wouldn't be knocked off or anything of the sort. With her petiteness and his taller height, Leana had to tilt her head back a bit more to see his face, but was quite pleased when she did. What was revealed of his face was handsome.

Knowing that she couldn't very well be as silent as a statue, Leana chose to speak. "Have you been enjoying the masquerade, my lord? 'Tis quite the opulent affair, is it not?" The way she was simply glowing showed that she thought of the masquerade much higher than she let on. It was simply glorious, in her opinion. She no longer regretted coming to court just to silence her mother and father's entrieties. For once, she could admit that she was genuinely enjoying herself.

((Short and crappy as well. xD Here's to hoping I'll do better later!))

"Yes, tis a great affair." replied Felipe, laughter shining in his eyes. "I enjoy these affairs, and I fear I act like a little boy in a sweets shop."

He grinned, as he looked upon the face of his partner. She was a small girl, almost half his size. Well, that was an understatement. He stood at the height of six feet and one inch, and he was quite tall. He had to look down to see her eyes, but what caught his eye was a shy smile, completely at odds with her voice. Her voice was flirty and smiling, but her smile was sweet and innocent, one that could - for lack of better word - be called naive.

Felipe had met many a naive girl in his travels - ha. His travels. As if he had traveled anywhere important besides from his home to the court. But he had met those naive women in the villages, and they had almost thrown themselves at lords. In a way, Felipe understood, they wanted a better life, and a lord could give it to them. However, it would be a great scandal, and the lord in question would undoubtably be in great trouble. A common girl?

Felipe wasn't one to look for a wife, just yet of course. He had come out of his last marriage, in shambles, and a bit of a mess. He was back together with himself now, much more comfortable, and ready for his duties to interweave. He wasn't sure of a wife. He had met many ladies, but none had caught his eyes - just yet. Well, actually, many had caught his eye, but he did not think of them as wife material. But then again, you had to get to know a lady to find out. But tonight, enjoy.

"I am curious to your identity." confided Felipe, "I fear I have met you somewhere."

As the two swirled across the dance floor, Leana couldn't help but smile a little brighter at her companion. There was something about him that exuded confidence and charm, though whether it was learned or innate she could not tell. All she knew was that she was quite fascinated by him already. A girlish curiousity was creeping through her veins as to his identity, and his reply to her words made it only grow stronger. She gave a little laugh, nothing extraordinary about it in her opinion, and shook her head. "Nay, sir, surely not." Her voice was slightly dry, giving a hint to her rarely present sense of humor. "I see no reason why you would be such. It is not as if you are presented by hundreds of lovely ladies, each attempting to snag your attention." Her eyes glimmered mischieviously, causing them to sparkle much unlike usual. Yes, she was quite content that she had chosen to dance with this lord. He amused her greatly already. She could only be glad that she had met him while wearing a mask.

How would she respond to such a man if she was not? While she, of course, knew little to nothing about him, he seemed to be one who carried a sense of humor and a sort of lightness about the world. The confidence she felt rolling off of him almost guaranteed that he was handsome. And what was Leana? A little slip of a girl, naive and unscathed when it came to ways of the world. She was shy around everyone, and particularily tongue-tied when it came to handsome members of the opposite gender. She had nothing about herself to offer to a man, she felt. In conclusion, if she had met this man while not wearing a mask, she was certain that she would bore him to tears until he sought a way to escape from her.

How, then, would she fulfill her promise to her parents, that she would come to court and find an influential husband? How, then, would she fulfill her promise to herself that she would find someone to love her and cherish her and care for her for the rest of her years? How, when she had nothing to offer when compared to ladies like Lady Eddington?

She mentally shook her head, the thoughts being enough to make her smile appear fake for a moment and for the sparkle in her eyes to disappear. This was not an occasion to dwell on a sort of thing. This was a time of merrymaking, of dancing, of all sorts of things besides dwelling on one's inevitable future of becoming an old maid. At least for one night, she could dream.

The man's words shook her from her increasingly dreary thoughts, and she genuinely smiled up at him, though her eyes carried that glimpse of curiousity again. "Do you, sir? I would be afraid as well if I had met myself on a previous occasion." Where the teasing words had come from, she was not certain, but she continued to plow forth. "I confess I am curious to your identity as well. There is something oddly familiar about you."

Felipe laughed, a deep pleasant laugh, seeming to come from within his chest. A laugh of genuine amusement, not a laugh of fake happiness. He thought of himself sitting in a chair, judging each woman in front of him on a scale on one to ten. Ha. He was not the type of man who attracted all the women, he was the quiet type, the type that you had to talk to, before he could bond with you. Sadly, not many people decided to chat with him. Most decided to stay and flirt, until someone better came along, which in most cases was a few minutes.

He was sorry that he wasn't the type of man who could instantly command attention. But he wasn't sorry about the man he had become. He was proud of whom he was, and he was unlikely to change for somebody. He would only change if he found a woman that he truly loved, and would change for. So far, he hadn't found one, though he sorely ached for one. Twenty eight and he wasn't married. He was sorry he wasn't young enough to have the attention of all the other women. He wasn't nearly as young as other courtier's, and the maturity clearly showed on his forehead, from the stress wrinkles.

But his duty in court, was not to find a wife. It was to make sure that the Emerald Court was on good terms with the Sapphire Realm. He had been holed up in his room with Daniel, doing paperwork, campaigning, and sending letters. The result was supposed to be an engagement between Isabella and Marc. But so far, it seemed like a lost cause. Marc was a carefree spirit and Isabella...she had heavier things on her mind.

As he was lost in his own thoughts, he almost missed the fake smile. Almost, but not quite, a frown came upon his face, and he bent down to ask her, in her ear, for they had neared the band, and the music was quite loud, "Is there something wrong my lady?" his voice was so concerned, so caring, that he was surprised.

Here he was, showing compassion for a woman he had just met, a virtual stranger. It showed a lot about him, and the fact that he wore his heart on his sleeve. He cared too easily. But he paused, as her face lit up again, with a genuine smile. He smiled down upon her and said, "That's the smile that ever man would love to see."

At the sound of his laugh, Leana's smile grew. Any time that she made someone else laugh, especially a man, she couldn't help but be positively ecstatic. 'Twas what she loved to do, after all, even if she would not confess it so easily to those around her. She even gave a little giggle herself as she looked down at the ground for a moment modestly to collect her thoughts once more. This man, whoever he might be, made her rather happy, she had to admit it. Then again, that was a horrid thing to say, as her mother had always told her that she could not rely on others around her to make her happy. She could only rely on herself. Fair enough. He makes me smile, then. Satisfied with this rearrangement of her words, she gave a small sigh. Thinking of her mother wrenched at her heart, and - she paused, looking back up at him at his whispered words of concern. "Oh, nothing at all, my lord. Why would you think such a thing?" The lie was horridly unconvincing, of course, as Leana had never been able to lie through her teeth like many of the other ladies she had met. However, she was happy that when she smiled brightly up at him that he changed the subject slightly.

His words simply made her blush once again, though, and she shook her head to deny it without even thinking. Luckily, she managed to hold her tongue before she negated his comment, and instead let a moment of silence drift into the air as she tried to think of what there was for her to say in response. Did you simply thank a man? Did you compliment something about them as well? Ah, her mother had never taught her how to react to a compliment. She couldn't recall ever being complimented for anything back home besides her singing voice as it was. 'Twas a true shame, as she knew that her parents loved her. They had simply longed for something more after the disappointment presented by her brother. No, don't think about that right now, she chided herself, finally bringing herself back to reality.

"Thank you, good sir. I suppose 'tis a good thing to have, a nice smile. 'Tis better than having a horrid one resembling that of a hag." She wasn't entirely sure where she was going with this. As they had been for much of the night, the words were simply pouring from her lips without any thought from herself. "After all, no doubt if I smiled with that, I would chase away all eligible lords from the castle. I fear the ladies would throw me out of the top tower window."