What is Hidden (22 page)

The masquerades also had great feasts, and the first night focused on fish. The palace scouted out the best chefs from every village, and a grand assortment of contests were held for the best use of the various fishes.

And, of course, there were the guests. Traders that used our ports were always extended an invitation, and they always accepted. Some traveled here at this time of year with the express purpose of obtaining an invitation to our masquerades.

Last, and my favorite part, were the masks. Tonight’s theme was water, and mask makers from all over designed masks for their patrons to wear, hoping to bring in more customers and to show off their skill. One year, I loitered outside the palace gates, with many other village children, just to watch the carriages arrive and catch a glimpse of the guests’ masks. If we were lucky, a woman would peek out the window, so we could admire her. I’d never liked the superficial noblewomen, but I didn’t care who wore what, as long as I could see the mask.

This was what I had to look forward to tonight. And this time, I’d be actually in the palace, instead of relegated to the outside perimeter or the small parties in the districts. I didn’t even care that I would be all but invisible; in fact, that was more desirable to me. I could
probably gawk and stare all I wanted. These people thrived on attention. I would just have to be careful not to spill anything on anyone.

That was my worst fear. If I ruined a guest’s dress or costume, I would not only be released from my position, but also likely I’d be put in the stocks and have my mask stripped for public embarrassment, which would of course reveal my Mark. I couldn’t even imagine what would happen after that.

So I would take extra care this night. I planned on keeping my jug only three quarters full at best, so there would be no risk of the drink splashing out while I was unaware.

When I entered the kitchens to complete my duties for preparing for the night, it was a whirlwind of activity, as always, but there was also an extra air of excitement and anxiety. It was also a bit unusual to see everyone dressed in their Masquerade uniforms—deep blues and silver instead of the usual black, to match the theme. I hardly recognized some of the girls; the blue brought out some of the spark in them. There was actually some individuality tonight. It was remarkably refreshing.

Before the guests arrived, my job was to simply keep the kitchens clean. Well, it sounded simple enough, but that was extremely misleading.

“What on earth happened in here?” I asked, mouth wide open as I stared at the chaos.

“Where have you
been
?” the normally gentle Carese asked as she dashed over to grab my arm.

“I thought I was clean-up duty. And that things would have to be pretty much over before there was anything to
do.” I was in absolute shock. How could so few people produce such a mess?

“Definitely not. None of these guest cooks know where anything is, so they just throw everything in the general direction of the sinks. And if one bowl is too small, they just grab another. I don’t know why they can’t tell it’s too small before using it, but there you go.” She shoved an apron in my hands before dragging me over to the disastrous washing area. When I just stared, she sighed and took the apron out of my hands, throwing it over my head and tying it around my waist for me.

“I’ll see if I can round up some more help. Otherwise you’re going to be here all night. And if you don’t get some of that junk off before you have to be on the floor, it’ll set, and
never
come off.”

She was gone in an instant, and I dumbly ran the hot water, filling up the sink and adding soapy bubbles robotically. I began to scrub frantically, knowing how tired I was going to be afterward, and how badly I’d wanted to spend as much time with Aiden as I could. We’d arranged for him to come to me as soon as he could, so I could drill him on what an exciting life he had. He agreed because I’d pulled the puppy dog face and begged him to let me live vicariously through him, just for these three nights.

Carese managed to scrounge up two page boys that weren’t needed for another half hour, and managed to persuade them into the kitchens. They worked silently alongside me, but the pile to be conquered didn’t shrink. If anything, it continued to grow—as we pulled three dishes out, someone piled ten more on the stack that towered over my head.

I was already starting to feel weary when it was time for the page boys to go and for me to freshen myself up to look presentable to the guests. I only had a minute to pick at my hair and smooth the errant curls back into submission, and then I was out on the floor.

No guests had entered yet and wouldn’t until every servant was in place. Most guests tended to be fashionably late anyway, so the timing usually worked itself out. I took my position at the top of the grand staircase that led to the upper ballroom, where I had an excellent vantage point of the lower ballroom and would see everyone as they passed me into the more elite sections of the party. It was also where I’d told Aiden to look for me, since I probably wouldn’t be able to spot him in the throng. Not to mention the fact that he’d be all dressed up, and I’d never seen him in anything more fancy than a nice pair of breeches.

Once every server was at attention, the orchestra was settled, and everything was in its proper place, trumpets sounded, announcing the start of the Masquerade. The grand doors were pulled open by two pages, and the Speaker I’d seen before entered first.

She was beautiful, still in purple like before, though this time it was more of an indigo, with the shimmering blues occasionally overpowering the violets. Her skirts ballooned out from her tight bodice, and sheer sky blue material wrapped its way down her body. Her mask also matched the color scheme. It was studded with white pearls and featured gossamer silver threads hanging from each side to frame her strong face. The silver threads were also used to weave intricate patterns into the mask, across
her face. It was truly beautiful, but it was only the beginning of what I would see tonight.

She stepped to the side, making way for the king and queen, and announcing them to the room. It seemed a bit silly to me, since there were only servants now, but then they couldn’t exactly enter without being announced, even if rank meant less during a masquerade. Social standing could still be seen in the finery of the costumes, and royalty was still royalty, but at least at a masquerade, where society’s colors were free to anyone, the division between classes was more lax, and I could look at everything without fear of getting in trouble.

The queen looked simply stunning, and the king was equally impressive. As tradition dictated, they were dressed in white from head to toe, with accents of blues and silvers. I couldn’t even begin to describe the elaborate designs or the rich materials of their clothing, but their masks were simply to die for.

I wasn’t surprised to discover the queen’s mask was lined in nothing but diamonds and sapphires. Blue jay and peacock feathers sprung up from the left side, with one towering white feather that I didn’t know the origin of. Silver threads woven into the mask were also threaded through her hair, creating a crisscross pattern that held her hair up in an elegant bun.

The king’s mask was more masculine: predominately white in color and only splashed with blue in a striking feather arrangement. His stunning appearance was founded on the extremely intricate carvings and embossings designed into the mask. Impossible knots were his trimming of choice, and the material used to make his
mask looked unforgiving. I wished I’d had a chance to watch the person who’d been able to create
that.

The royal couple took their seats on the opposite side of the staircase from where the Speaker stood, so they could stand and greet their guests.

Then began the parade. Beautiful creation after beautiful creation walked through those doors, and I was glad the party had just begun and my services weren’t needed as much as they would be later in the evening, after I’d gotten a good look at most of the guests.

However, I hadn’t found Aiden anywhere. And I also hadn’t seen anyone that really stood out as someone who could possibly be the Chameleon.

I was keeping an eye out for both. And I didn’t really know what to do once I spotted either. With Aiden, that was probably for the better. I didn’t know what his father looked like or what kind of mask he wore, so I wouldn’t know who to keep my distance from and whom I could relax around.

The Chameleon, though—I was sure it was a good thing I didn’t know who he was. It would tear me up to see him and not be able to do anything. I suppose I could pretend he was attacking me and call the guards on him.

That actually wasn’t too bad an idea. It’d be worth the attention drawn to me and the commotion it’d cause, if it got the Chameleon caught.

However, I was back at the problem of not being able to recognize him. I could only hope he’d do something foolish to draw attention to himself. Drop his guard somehow, or reveal what he was planning on doing and why he’d stolen those masks.

I had a general description of the stolen masks, but no doubt he’d altered them to make that description worthless. If he still had all the materials he’d stolen from me, and I had no doubt that he did, even someone with zero skills in mask making or trimming could use what I’d already done to change the stolen masks.

An hour or so after the majority of the guests had arrived, the king stood and motioned for everyone’s attention. The trumpets sounded a short call, and the Speaker stepped forward, to speak the king’s announcement.

“On behalf of their royal majesties,” she said in her loud, clear voice, “we welcome you to our festivities tonight.”

There was a gentle hum of polite clapping and excited murmurings.

“As you may have noticed, their majesties the prince and princess are not accompanying their parents tonight. Her Majesty, the princess, is away and could not return in time for the masquerades, we are sorry to announce. However, His Majesty, the prince, is in attendance tonight.”

This announcement sprouted a burst of furious fast whispers and everyone in the crowd turned to the door, awaiting his arrival.

“I must clarify,” the Speaker said with a smile. “He is
already
in attendance. He is already among you, embracing the spirit of the masquerade. He will be in disguise for all three nights, and at the end of the final ball, he will announce his choice for his bride.

“For those of you who are visitors to our land, this is tradition. Once our prince has reached the proper marrying age, he selects his bride from the people of his own country. This is how our current queen was found, and it is
how it always has been done and always will be done. We keep this practice to unite our royalty with our gentry and to keep the bloodlines pure within our country.

“For this purpose, the prince has been concealed all his life, save for his family and a few close servants. No one outside of his family is allowed to see him for fear that at this ball, he would be recognized and harmed, physically or otherwise.

“And so tonight, and for the next three nights, we invite you to mingle, dance, and enjoy yourselves. Should any of you lucky women have the fortune to catch our prince’s heart, you may find yourself a princess by the end of the week.

“Now, please, enjoy yourselves.” She bowed first to the king and queen and then to the guests before exiting a side door, probably to let the prince know that it was all right for him to begin his hunt.

I watched the excitement of the crowd. Girls gathered in little clusters, comparing notes of who could or couldn’t possibly spot the prince, and who the possible future brides were.

The men weren’t above similar gossip. Fathers tried to use one another in hopes of finding the prince for their own daughters. A daughter married off to royalty would take care of the rest of the family for life and would be an invaluable asset. Should the father decide to continue in trade, his connections would prove very fruitful and make him even richer than the allowance his daughter would grant him.

The young men, however, tried to woo their women away from their gossip circles in pursuit of a dance. Some
girls had already given up on the hopes of catching the prince, or simply weren’t interested, and happily surrendered to the dance floor.

“Just watch them all,” a low voice murmured at my ear, causing me to jump in surprise. I turned my head sharply and recognized Aiden.

It was no wonder I’d been unable to spot him before. If I wasn’t so close to him now, close enough to see his eyes and feel his familiar touch on my arm as he steadied me, I probably still would not recognize him.

“You all right there?” he checked with a gentle smirk, and I nodded mutely, staring. It was impossible to look away, and he laughed at me. “I know. I told you it was something else, didn’t I?”

Something else didn’t even cover it. Something incredible was more like it. I felt like I’d never really looked at him before now, seeing him in this finery.

His mask was a pale silver, painted with small, interlocking blue circles and spirals that faded into the dark blue lining of braided material. The braiding carried over to his tunic, strapped across his chest like a military jacket. I reached out a hand to touch the material on his sleeve, and it was so soft; I don’t think I’d ever felt anything like it. It had to be extremely expensive.

“Is that really you?” I breathed, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Yes, it’s me,” he said, sighing. “Would you believe I had them scale it down a bit?”

“Wow.”

“Is it really that ridiculous?” he asked.

I bit my lip. “I’m trying to come up with some smart
comment, but I just can’t be that mean to you tonight. You look amazing,” I said honestly, squeezing his arm.

That put a large grin on his face. “Thanks.” He seemed relieved at my approval. “I wish I could see you all dressed up.”

I pulled my hand from his arm, remembering my current station. “I wish that too,” I said sadly. “Where are all those favors to call in or strings to pull of yours?”