There were, Regina thought as she gingerly tested how well she could move in her giant panniers, few things more stressful than masquerade ball.
Regina had to both use her negligible social skills to navigate the normal tenseness of a Carcosan ball and do it while being unaware of which of her ‘acquaintances’ might want to kill her.
What’s more, Carcosan masquerade balls were… special.
Carcosa’s neighboring countries had masquerades where people just wore masks. In those magicless countries, it was generally understood that everyone knew who the others at the ball were… and people attending the ball simply pretended that they did not.
This was not how Carcosan masquerades worked.
Perhaps to demonstrate how much better the mages of Carcosa were than the magicless nobles in other countries, masquerade balls in Carcosa involved two minor nobles families sending enchanted masks to every participant. These masks then disguised both participants’ voices and the identifying details of their physical appearance.
Thus, as a Carcosa masquerade, you truly did not know who you were speaking with.
From what Regina had been told, this privacy was mostly used for improper liaisons and for bribing servants to reveal who was wearing which costume so that “accidents” could happen to unpopular nobles while everyone involved could claim ignorance.
As one of those unpopular nobles, Regina was not impressed by this increased risk of murder.
Yet on the other hand…
On the other hand, fish.
As in, the fish of the Poisson Marquessate, who were hosting this masquerade. All the Poissons cared about were fish and fish associated by-products. Since Regina was not a flounder, it was unlikely the Poissons had set up the ball to see her fileted.
Therefore, this event instantly became more appealing than any of the other potential murder offerings she had been invited to attend.
There was also the very, small, tiny fact that –
“Are you sure, my sweet sea urchin,” said Artem, looking utterly stunning in his dove mask, “that you do not wish for a more… jeweled entrance?”
That Regina had no intention of letting people determine who she and Artem were from their usual clothing choices.
After all, in the last few months, everyone instantly recognized Artem and Regina by the dazzling array of jewelry they wore in every appearance. So Regina wanted to take advantage of that fact to become newly anonymous.
“No, my dove,” said Regina soothingly, almost feeling sorry that she had forced poor Artem to remove every piece of jewelry before they left. “Tonight we want to be… discreet and not immediately reveal our presence. This way, we can be intimate without being bothered by the others at the ball.”
Also, Regina could not take one more mocking joke about asking her for favors from the crowd of nobles who had started to flock to her. The one who asked her to heal his father’s gout was particularly graphic and repulsive.
The noble were obviously mocking her by asking her for things she could not do in return for favors she would desperately have liked to have, such as the support of major Carcosan noble families. Thus, even a single evening of not having to deal with their mockery would help reduce the constant headache she could not remove.
“You are right as always, my beloved blossom of darkness,” said Artem, and Regina instantly pretended that he was not generating new and even more terrible terms of endearment.
As he gently touched the edge of her falcon mask – a contrast to his dove one – Regina reflected on how beautiful their clothes were for the night. They were relatively unadorned and nowhere near as garish as their normal wear. Still, the falcon-and-dove theme they had settled on was striking without being outrageous and their matching costumes faintly glowed in their expensive and – Regina suspected – metal-enhanced materials.
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It was not the complete invisibility Regina had hoped for. Yet when she had looked in the mirror previously, with her falcon mask and her delicately glimmering gold-toned dress…
It had been the first time in Regina’s life she had ever thought that she looked… pretty.
It was the most foolish reason of all to agree to wear the outfit, but Regina wanted just one night where she was not an in-bred shut-in or the clown of Carcosan society.
She wanted just one night where she was a normal woman who dressed well and was able to dance with a man who loved and valued her.
However, Regina had kept her giant panniers to keep her skirt large enough to keep murderers at a good distance.
After all, she was not entirely foolish.
She had even convinced Artem to put his engagement ring on a chain around his neck as she put hers on a similar chain around her neck.
Thus, feeling as anonymous and well-prepared as she possibly could be, Regina let Artem help her into the carriage and readied herself for the night ahead.
Unfortunately, as soon as Regina settled next to Artem for a little conversation before their carriage arrived at the Poisson estate’s back entrance…
…She found herself slowly falling asleep on the incredibly comfortable seat cushions, the exhaustion and stress of her life catching up to her all at once. She was only dimly aware of Artem adjusting his posture so that she could better lean against him and then all was black.
Unfortunately, it did not stay black for long.
For other people, a nap in the carriage would be a chance to relax and refresh.
For Regina, it was yet another vision of death.
~♦♥♦~
When she found herself standing in the pale light of a poorly lit entrance, Regina resigned herself to yet another vision of the future… and of her mauled body.
“Was it fish this time?” she muttered to herself. “I thought the Poissons would be less interested in murdering me since I am not a fish, but maybe Artem calling me his sea urchin confused them.”
Yet for all her cynicism, Regina quietly acknowledged that she could never get used to seeing her dead body.
Every time, she had to push down the fear and violation of seeing herself brutally harmed.
Every time, she had to force away the knowledge that someone wanted to destroy her – and even worse, wanting her last minutes to be filled with as much terror as possible.
Yet what could she do but step into the vision of death that waited for her – and try to thwart whatever horror might come?
Bracing herself, Regina walked away from the door, into the space lit by lanterns.
No doubt, she cynically thought, these lanterns were meant to provide opportunities for people to enjoy private moments in the shadows between the light.
This privacy was meant to allow intimacy but for unfortunates like Regina…
Regina shook off the unsettling feeling that the shadows were somehow… following her as she followed the path of the lanterns, unable to see the edge of the room or space.
She only knew, as she knew her own name, that what she was seeking was at the end of the path… and she did not dare step off of it.
Some primal instinct inside herself could tell something was… wrong, and Regina had no desire to see just how realistic her visions could become.
So she walked forward and her breath felt overly loud in her ears as a fountain came into view as suddenly as if it had appeared with her footsteps.
“Did they drown me?” she said softly, somehow unwilling to break the uneasy stillness, even in a dream. “That is entirely boring at this point. Surely my assassins could stand to be more creative.”
With a combination of resignation and revulsion, she moved around the edge of the fountain, looking for the corpse that she knew she would find.
“Of course, I would be in the spot highlighted by the most light,” Regina said in disgust. “My assassins do seem to love putting on a show –”
Then Regina stopped – and screamed.
She screamed and screamed and screamed and the darkness pressed down on her until she felt like she could not breathe and she screamed until she sank to the ground, her voice no longer able to sound and she continued to scream silently.
“No,” Regina cried. “NO!”
The dove mask continued to float gently in the water as pale golden hair was highlighted by the lights on the water.
“No,” said Regina, half-moaning. “They are after me. It is not-”
She stopped, her eyes widening in horror.
“How,” she said, staring at the corpse of the man she had just realized that she cared for, “can I see the future if the man who helps me see it is dead in front of me?”