Chapter Text
Staring at yourself in the mirror, you let out a sigh…grabbing the side of the skirt and holding it up, you swished the fabric around as you moved your hips, feeling the fabric of the hoop skirt underneath moving in a way that would have made you smile...if not for the grave feeling on your heart.
The dress was beautiful, you had to admit…the tailor had been one of the resistance members so the price was heavily discounted, but it still pained your heart to think of how many snails it had cost your mother.
You thought back to when you first saw it…the tailor had arrived carrying a plain white box, but once she opened it you let out a gasp, the delicate lace and details of the dress already clear. Carefully Eda pulled it out, holding it to your body as she smiled. “Hey not bad Kid! Not my cup of tea but you’ll fit in perfectly with those rich snobs.”
Taking it yourself you held it up, seeing the gold sleeves were short and ruffled, they would rest just barely on the top of your shoulder, fanning out like feathers. The white bodice was simple, decorated with two golden vine patterns that went down the sides and continued to the halfway point of the skirt. Tied around the waist was a black ribbon, a long bow in the back of it. The rest of the skirt was white as well.
Looking up, you were met with Eda holding a pair of golden slippers and a black masquerade mask. “We swiped these from Viscount Tibbles' house, they belonged to his niece…they should fit you perfectly, it will be the nice little bow on top of our disguise!”
Looking at the shoes you looked back up to your mom, glancing at the shoes once more. “Momma Eda…how do you know that the…the real niece won’t show up to the ball?”
The room went silent, before Eda gently put the items back on the table, coming up to wrap an arm around your shoulder comfortingly, looking down at you with that same carefree smile she always looked at you with…what usually eased your nerves only inflamed them. “Don’t worry about it Owlet. We’ve got everything covered. You just need to get the prince out of the picture, we’ll take it from there.”
The knocking on the door brought you out of your stupor, looking over to the door from where you stood in front of the mirror. “Come in.”
The door was opened up to reveal Raine, a smile crossing their face as they looked at you. Walking inside they stood next to you. “You look amazing (N/N). I’m worried Eda’s gonna cry when she sees you, her pride and joy going on their first mission!” They laughed softly, but quieted once they realized you weren’t laughing. “Hey, (Y/N).”
As you looked up they put their hands on your shoulders so you were facing them, their face serious yet laced with concern. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to…It’s a lot of responsibility. The team would understand if you have doubts…if you are anything but sure of this, when the time comes and you falter…he might get the advantage over you, and we won’t be able to save you then. I don’t want you getting hurt or even killed trying to be more than you are.”
The fear in your chest only grew. Their words which should have been comforting only brought anxiety…if you failed, where would Raine go? Where would Momma Eda go? If you failed would they all be captured?
Would you be killed?
Letting out a shaky breath you put your hand over theirs, smiling as best you can through the panic welling up in your chest. “Raine, I promise you. I can do this…My whole life I’ve wanted to help you guys with this cause…I’m glad to have such an honorful mission to Eda.” They looked at you suspiciously for a few moments before gently putting a hand on your head, ruffling your hair with a smile.
“It’s a wonder you're such a wiz with words when your mom can barely go two words without using some out of touch slang.” A genuine laugh escaped your lips, a bit breathy from your shallow breathing you tried to hide, but Raine smiled more anyways.
“Alright Raine, don’t mess up the hair too much, Amber spent forever getting this just right! She’ll kill me if I let it get too bad.”
“Alright alright, we need to go finish some last minute adjustments anyways. The carriage is ready to escort you when we get the signal the party is beginning. We don’t want to be too early, it would look suspicious for a grieving niece to arrive so eagerly to a party.” Raine backed up with their hands up before turning and leaving you, giving you one last encouraging smile before leaving.
As soon as you were alone, you couldn’t help the tears that welled up into your eyes. Fighting them back as best you could to save your makeup, you paused hearing a chittering noise. Turning to see your Pailsemen, a fox creature you cleverly named Red waking up, you smiled and walked over to their bed, kneeling down to pet the top of their head.
“Sorry Red, you can’t come with me…if I’m seen with a different Palisman it would blow my cover…I wish you could come.”
They sadly chittered up at you, and you sat there and pet them, their head resting on your lap. Sighing softly you scratched the top of their head, tears still in your eyes. Nothing your friend could do would calm your nerves. “I might not ever see you again…but I’ll make sure you don’t get abandoned if something happens to me Red, I promise Momma Eda will take care of you until you get given to another witch.”
Giving a kiss to the top of your head you stood up, they stood up with you. Walking to the door, you gave Red a glance before smiling softly, your attempt at comfort in vain as they sadly watched you go.
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Looking in the mirror, the young male traced the scar along their face…the thought to cover it with makeup briefly popped up but he smothered the idea before it could ignite farther. People already knew it existed, and Uncle Belos never said anything about it anyways so he supposed it didn’t matter.
His ears twitched as they picked up on the sound of footsteps approaching, and he turned to the door just as a knock came. “Little Prince, are you ready? King Belos is going to start the party soon, and it would be rude for you to not greet your guests.”
“Yes Darius, I’ll be out soon…Just doing a few finishing touches, I promise.”
A hmph came from outside the room but the footsteps going away confirmed he was alone once more. Sighing he ran his hand through his hair, messing up what his stylist had spent hours patting down and making presentable…but everything felt stuffy and crushing and he just wanted the noise to stop.
Flicking the one pesky strand out of his face Hunter stood up, brushing some imaginary dust off of his gold covered suit jacket. Reaching down he opened the gilded box that rested on his desk, revealing his silver crown, decorated with bright red and dark blue gems and gold detailing.
Placing it on top of his head, he let out a breath before standing straight.
“Time to greet my people..”
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The carriage ride to the castle was long and suffocating. Despite the quite spacious interior, a simple item stowed in a secret pocket on the skirt was weighing heavily on your head…it burned like hot steel, feeling like it was directly on your skin despite the fact there were so many layers between the two of you.
Eda gave you one last look over, fixing the mask over your face and smoothing out the cluster of feathers on the right top part. “Alright kid, you look perfect! And now, for the final detail.
Turning to her side, one of the BAT’s members held out a box for her. Opening it up, your breath caught in your throat as a glint of silver reflected the light shining above you…your mother took it out, revealing a dagger. Small enough to fit in the palm in your hand but large enough to..
Shaking your head, you looked ahead as your mother held it out to you, seeing the detailing on the handle was very intricate…and it was decorated with your mothers owl symbol. Looking up at her she smiled and put the handle into your hand.
“Don’t get all mushy about it kid, but I had this custom made for you….if after this you don’t want to do any more missions I’d understand. But I’m so proud of you for doing this (N/N). You’ve really grown up.”
Letting out a shaky breath, you registered that the carriage had stopped, looking to the side just as the coachman opened the door…you didn’t recognize him, but maybe that was just the mask obscuring your vision. You wondered if he was a fellow BAT’s member, or just some poor soul who got caught up in your mission.
Bowing your head to him he helped you out of the carriage, the slippers heels clinking against the ground as you looked up at the giant castle. It was more breathtaking up close. The sun had just begun to set, the glinting rays of light bouncing off the gold finishing's of the building. It was around 7 or so you believed, Darius mentioning the ball would start at 5pm.
There were a few people still hanging around outside, and you stilled your breath as you walked towards the entrance…a single guard stood, holding a scroll of paper. Looking over at you, you paused as he raised his quill. “Name?”
“Faye Grimm Hammer, niece of Viscount Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer III. I am here in…my uncle's place.”
Instantly the guard's demeanor changed and he checked off something on the list, bowing his head in respect as his arm outstretched. “A-Apologies Lady Faye! Go right ahead, and we g-grant you many prayers for this grieving time.”
Nodding your head in response you walked ahead, thankful that could be seen as you just grieving and not distrusting your voice to crack and reveal you were more nervous then upset...the halls were long and tall, and if it weren’t for the small clusters of people leading the wall to the main ballroom, you probably would have gotten lost.
Finding your way to the ballroom, you stood at the top of the stairs and felt your breath catching in your throat. The room was filled with people dancing, a few members of the Bard Coven playing on top of an overlooking balcony. Your eyes caught site of Raine among them, making sure they didn’t need a break or anything quite yet. You looked away before you would be sighted, and paused as you saw him…
King Belos, sitting on his throne. The beetle mask he always wore adorned his face, making it so no one could tell where he was truly looking…it felt for a moment his eyes were trained solely on you, piercing through your disguise, knowing who you were…
Swallowing down your fear you bowed your head slightly, unsure if he was even looking at you, but you didn’t want to be rude if he was. Starting to make your way downstairs, you looked for Eberwolf, or maybe even Darius. You spotted a few of the other Coven Heads, so you wanted to get a feel for where your allies were if something went wrong.
Out of the corner of your eye you caught a flash of purple, and turning to look you were relieved to find Darius talking to someone, the abomination themed mask on his face doing nothing to conceal who he was. It seems you caught his eye as well, and he looked up from who he was talking to wave you over with a smile.
Starting to make your way over, you saw who he was talking to. A younger male, standing a few inches taller than you with a golden intricate black mask that covered the left side of his face, a long strand of ash blonde hair cresting over the mask.
You almost tripped over your feet as you caught sight of the silver object encircling his head, it was clear it was him.
Prince Hunter.
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Hunter let his mind wander as Darius chastised him for not attempting to mingle with his guests, wanting to just forsake everything and retreat to his room to cuddle up with Flapjack and read a book…there was the one he found in the restricted section on wild magic…
Realizing it had gone quiet, well quiet as in Darius had stopped talking, he glanced over to see the taller male was waving someone over. Raising an eyebrow to look where he was waving, Hunter stopped as he felt a heat rising to his cheeks.
Who he could only describe as an Angel began to walk over to them, her hands folded politely in front of her snow white skirt that sparkled with gold decorations. The striking black mask against their skintone which seemed to make their (e/c) iris’s glow.
“Little Prince, this is the Lady I was telling you about, our should I say, tragic guest.”
Looking up at Darius confused he looked back at the girl, taking her outstretched hand in a handshake. “Lady Faye Grimm Hammer, I’m here on behalf of my…recently deceased uncle, Viscount Tibbles.”
He stiffened, making sure not to tighten his hold on her hand. He had heard about poor Tibbles, his body found in his home with his throat slit from ear to ear…rumors had begun to speculate it was the work of the nameless rebel group his Uncle had mentioned a few times. Rumors also said that someone from inside the King’s group was apart of the rebellion, as Tibbles had been found in his secret 2nd house for a vacation.
“I…see. My deepest grievances in this trying time for you and your family.” Leaning down, Hunter pressed a kiss against her bare knuckles, the motion sending electric shocks up his spine.
Lingering for just a beat longer than he should have, he stood up straight. Darius clapped a hand on his shoulder, smiling down at the two of them. “If you will excuse me, your highness, I must go check on Eberwolf, he hates being around crowds this big you know.”
Hunter watched him go, before looking back over to Faye. She was watching him go as well, though he could see the slightest tremble on her lip. Clearing his throat, she looked at him before he began to speak once more. “I am truly sorry you know, I never met Viscount Tibbles myself but I’ve heard much about him.”
“Oh yes…he was very nice. It was such a shock you know, especially the…the way he died.” Faye looked to the side once more, her hands gripping onto the fabric of her skirt.
“Yes, I heard as well…I don’t know if its true, but if he was killed by the resistance, that is just one more number to add to the growing list…Of course enough of this talk, I’m sure it’s the last thing you want to talk about.”
“Yes…I’m a little worried about having to talk to more people, I’m not the best at dealing with all these apologies and…words of sympathy…Part of me wishes I would have stayed at home.” Hunter looked at her, surprised by the boldness of their words…feeling his cheeks flushing red he coughed into his hand, the noise causing her to look at him once more.
“Well, if you’d like…you can stay with me. Frankly I’m not the best at parties either, so maybe we can…keep each other company?”
Faye watched him, her eyes scanning his own…before a smile graced their lips, one that didn’t quite meet their eyes as she nodded slightly. “I would like that, Prince Hunter.”