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✫title: the artistxx✫wealth: ninexx✫kingdom: nearonxx✫tags: OPENAnnalise's fingers tapped excitedly against the tops of her thighs as the Purcell's carriage rolled down a lit-up pathway that would take her to the Onryx. She was excited. Although Annie considered herself to be more of an introvert than anything else, she loved a good party. She practically grew up in one, for her parents seemed to throw one almost every weekend. They were notorious for their extravagant parties, but Annie eventually grew tired of them. The scenery was the same, and although her parents often changed up the theme, it became repetitive. However, that being said, her love for dress-up and beauty never faded. She loved getting new dresses and being fussed over, and tonight offered all of that. She had asked her sweet servant Vanessa to take extra care of her appearance that night, and she did a beautiful job. Her hair was braided into a pretty up-do, a few perfect curls brushing against her sides and her neck. She had woven in a jewel clip, too, one the same colour and style as the jewel that dripped down from the end of her masquerade mask. The silver of her mask matched the silver lining on the bottom of her peacock blue dress. Everything was perfect, and Annalise could not be more thrilled to explore what the night was about to reveal.
She was most excited to meet up with some of her old friends. Quite a handful of them happened to live in Arkley, and although that had raised some suspicion from her parents at first, they soon grew comfortable with the idea. Annalise knew her selected friends were not nearly as war-driven as their government was. Aretha, in fact, was also an artist. She was a pianist, a lover of the arts, much like Annalise was, but with the visual arts, rather than music. Theo was a gentle soul with a big heart; he was the complete opposite of the reputation Arkley carried with them. Annie knew she had been hesitant upon first meeting the both of them, but she didn't see either as anything more than the people they showed themselves as. She was contented to know her parents had approved of these friendships.
She wanted to meet more people tonight. That was what the party was all about, was it not? Annalise had begun to suspect the idea of a masquerade dance was to make it more difficult to scope out who was who and where they were from, and she believed it was for a good reason. After all, guiltily, Annalise knew she would be one of the ones to judge a book by its cover. She knew it was wrong, but she found herself doing it quite often anyway. Tonight would hopefully be different.
She gave her thanks to the driver as he helped her out, her bright green eyes fixated on the massive mansion before her. It was so tall that it seemed to pose a threat to the clouds that hung around in the sky. There were none that night, offering a spectacular view of the shimmery, sparkling stars. It was rather romantic. Annalise wished to paint it. But she could not do such a thing quite yet. She had a ball to attend, and she was going to make sure it was one to remain in her book of memories. With that in mind, she fixed the lacy white shawl that hung near her elbows, then took off down the short driveway.
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♚title: the ghost xx♚wealth: fourxx♚kingdom: arkleyxx♚tags: OPENLauren's keen dark eyes stared intensely out the small window of his charcoal coloured carriage as the steel grey stallions pulled him down the crisp gravel road that would lead them to the Onryx. Lips pressed tightly together, the mysterious man made no sound as he turned to brush his fingertips across the top of his mask. It was not often where the two kingdoms, Arkley and Nearon, came together to put on something nice for their citizens. More often than not, their government was arguing about something, and it often took quite some time to solve whatever issue had sprouted. They hadn't been in agreement for long, and Lauren suspected they wouldn't be in the position they were currently in for much longer. He supposed they all had to take what they could get.
Balls were not his thing. Lauren hated dressing up, he hated the attention and the fussing, and dances like the one he was currently driving to led to vulnerable situations he did not want to put himself in. He had made a promise, a vow, and he always feared scenes like a ball would push his guards down enough to come dangerously close to stepping in the opposite direction of his spoken words. He had almost rejected the invitation, but Rhonda convinced him otherwise. If anything, Lauren Shaw was only attending the party at the Onryx because of the older lady. She had done so much to Lauren, it was only fair he returned the favour. He wasn't too sure attending a silly ball was the way to go about, but he did as she requested. And he was seriously regretting it.
His midnight-black mask was on his face before the carriage had even come to a complete halt. Lauren worked solo in his house, and didn't often make public appearances, especially not in attention-grabbing places like the Onryx. His goal was to avoid people as much as possible; perhaps he'd take a walk through the building and explore what else it had to offer, if he managed to get away with it. He supposed he could figure that out once he scoped out the layout of the house.
Nodding his thanks to the driver, Lauren stepped out of the carriage, giving his long coat a firm tug. His tall boots crunched the stones beneath him as he walked, his strides slow and controlled. The faster he could get this over with, the better.
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♢title: the anthuriumxx♢wealth: threexx♢kingdom: nearonxx♢tags: OPENSitting within the walls of a carriage was beyond something Elliott had ever believed he would be able to experience. It was astonishing, absolutely mind-blowing. He had heard much talk of the government's planned masquerade ball, but never in a million years did he ever suspect that he would be one to receive an invite. Perhaps it had been an honest mistake, with a slight mess-up in letters when writing out his name. It was entirely possible there was an Elliott something-rather out in the world with higher status and more wealth that was meant to receive the letter. But it had been him who had been given it. Elliott had always admired the idea of a fancy ball, though he'd never believed he was properly cut out for one. After all, he was a young man living on a farm, teaching dozens of unwealthy children how to read and spell out the alphabet. That was it. Yes, in his small village in Arkley, his name was well-known by his peers, but it was nothing compared to some of the higher names. He didn't have much money for the fancy clothing required for a ball, anyway. His parents promised to make it work, though.
And they did. Elliott was about to attend the ball at the Onryx in his father's old suit. It was a tad bit big, and well-warn, but all with love. It wasn't dirty, and the small hole in the hip of the beige pants had been sewn up by his sister Ethel in no time. Elliott felt a bit uncomfortable wearing it, since he was not used to wearing such fancied-up clothing, but the others in his carriage hadn't said a word, so he took he was on the right track. There were three other men in the carriage, and they were all squished together like the way the stray cat family in his father's barn did when it was cold outside. Elliott kept his posture rigid and small, a strong attempt to keep as much distance from the other as possible, but their shoulders still occasionally brushed as the carriage rattled down the road. He supposed it could have been much worse.
His eyes grew wide and child-like in total awe as the Onryx came into view. Elliott lived on the other side of Nearon and had only ever heard of such a place. It was God-like. The mansion was most likely three or four stories high, and he knew each floor had a different purpose. How many rooms were in the house, on each floor? It was absolutely stunning, and it took him an extra second to remember to close his parted lips. Straightening up in embarrassment, Elliott quickly slipped on his golden-brown mask, securing it a bit too tightly with shaky hands. He wasn't too sure he was ready for this, although he supposed he no longer had much of a choice.
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