The Universe swayed and murmured softly in the space of time, it's gravity pulling planets back and forth like a mother cradling it's child. Earth itself swayed gently in this rhythm listening to a lullaby the stars and other planets cantilated joyfully. The Sun in-tune with these movements danced like a blaze of light across the black abyss and kissed the Earth's horizon sweetly goodnight, sending a time bomb of colours across the sky in farewell. Oranges, yellows, reds, pinks all promenaded across the sky and met it's partners blue and black as time passed on.
Soon these dark colours fused into a simple abysmal ebony freckled with white and thus it dominated the skies kindly. The Moon stretched, awakening from it's midmorning travel from across the world. It slowly perched itself upon richous thrown at the peek of the night and shown it's resplendent light upon the stirring world below.
It was certainly a beautiful night to hold such a festival. The major city of Tortaill'e, better known as Ferel, gleamed with the essence of the nights meaning. Royalty and commoners alike rushed about like rats in a maze to find things to wear or to finish the night's delicacies that would be served up for the pompous people of the upper class. Women flounced their hair, pinning it up underneath shinning hair nets, and smoothed out an annoying wrinkle that seemed to appear on their skirts as they moved.
Men checked their handsome faces in the mirrors, circling around once and then, happily content with their appearances, went to wait for the ladies to finish their primping. And all grabbed their different coloured and fine tuned masks to ensure their indentity. They fussed and played with them as they approached properly in horse drawn wagons decorated in velvet and tassels and admired the gleaming white giant before them.
The castle was called "Reine de la Nuit", Queen of the Night, named after a rare flower called the Bakawali. Like the flower itself the castle seemed to bloom within the gaze of the shinning moon above, it's alabaster walls beaming brightly like the pedals of a rare flower. During the day, it seemed dull and merely a sight to glance at without second thought, but during the night time hours when the Moon's beams beat down hurriedly, all came alive. Yellow brick roofs gleamed like gold against the bold white outer walls, singing up to the heaven's in a return call of majesty. Stained glass windows burned with candle light and depicted even more golden radiance, glowing like perfect beckons through the night to warm the atmosphere about it.
The inside was just as bewitching. It's ivory walls flushed with the light of smartly placed torches blushing in their corners. The greeting/celebration hall was extremely large and warm, a gold trimmed fire place burning ten feet high at the end of it's length, a silver gate pushed around the hearth to keep venturing drunkards away in caution. The room filled with laughter and banter of all kinds as the night inched on and more of the guests began to arrive at their own snail pace.
Perfumes, roast, sweat, pollen; it all swelled in the air like a thick fog carrying above the crowds of people and competed with one another. Many delicate framed young women and young men showing perfect etiquette danced with one another, spoke with one another, dined with one another, all the while hidden behind cloth frozen faces. Smiling jokers and mysterious foxes, egotistical peacocks and frowning dramatical faces mingled together in light merriment.
Some of the guests lingered around the middle of the room, leaving a large circle between them and the spectacle at which they all stared. A large, overwhelming beautiful throne sat in the middle of the marble floor, unoccupied and decorated in full elegance. They wooden frame itself had been stained black and was set against the golden cloth the cushioned the very chair. Five white opals, sparkling in the flickering torch light and wavering shadows, were inlaid on the arms of the chair where the hand of a person might lay; they were on both, left and right.
The people stared at the marvel that had been lonely since the beginning of the evening and it did seem that it would stay that way for some time. All wondered who it was for, some whispering the name of the king, and kept a broad distance from it as not to offend.
A large clock hidden within the castle rung loudly, marking the time softly. The guests ignored the noise echoing throughout the halls and continued on with their evening for surely, it had only just begun.
Like previously mentioned clock work the unknown, young woman showed up at the precise moment she had anticipated, walking through the doors and into the room just as the oak clock sounded off. Her sharp optics watched everything, everyone, almost in slight caution, from beneath the glass mask that had been delicately tied, invisible, behind her ears. And certainly, it was an interesting mask. White, pure alabaster burning against her aphotic caramel skin.
It was tainted with dark carmines and brilliant golds, the bold colours worming over the mask's cheeks. Yellow stripes curved above the eyes like eyebrows, curved sharply down to point at the bridge of the woman's nose, pointed up at the opposite end of the line, and dramatically curved at the center. It was only half a mask though, the sides of it moving along the very edges of her face, but her nose, mouth and jaw itself were kept exposed.
She stood in the doorway like a crystalline figurine; not moving for several moments, only breathing, watching. Surely, there was nothing about this woman that was not extravagant. Her eyes were a deep honey that burnt gorgeously against her deeply tanned skin, shinning a yellow so wonderful that even gems might envy; for surely this shade had no name. They were soft around the edges, patient and cunning.
Though, the dilated pupil in the midst of the passionately coloured optics added a sharp tone, one that was calculating and bone piercing true. Her optics guarded her well, personally, but held a power the ran deep and stubborn. Her dress shifted with her breath like fine silk; for in fact it was completely made of the material. It wrapped around her body elegantly, it's dark crimson burning against her features like a gushing flame.
The corset hugged her curved form, flared down from her hips in an array of red cloth and cascading to the floor in mimic of a blood spouted waterfall. Gold again made an appearance, just like it had so many times that night, amongst the silk. It snaked through the fabric, creating ruin like swirls against the crimson of her corset; creeping aspiciously from the upper-wear and just barely touched the brim of the skirts before fading and disappearing for good.
Vermilion-flaxen hair, like flaming wings of a sumptuous desert sunrise, sauntered down her back in full waves against her waist as she moved away from the door finally and moved about the room with a glass of crimson wine between her lithe fingers.
She stayed in no conversation for more than five or ten minutes, making sure to pay attention to each economic, racial, and royal class that played through the room. Whispers followed her footsteps as she trailed away from baffled guests. She gave no name and was seemingly a stranger to the many she conversed with; a transient, scarlet snake amongst the court.
Something playful beneath the extravagance oozed the scent of foreign secrets from her pores, underlining the fragrance of salted sand and dried roses; the sensual aura following her about. All the while she kept a soft, trickster like grin upon her corpulent, crimson-russet lips. |
Submission Name: Reine de la Nuit
