The Magic of Aurelian
Chapter 7: Animal Masquerade

Eleanor

The rest of the week went by quickly with no more awkward moments between me and Kiran. It was now time for me to head back home for the weekend. I headed back to my room to collect my things, but Aria and Sylvie were in the room when I arrived.

"I hope you're not delusional enough to try to attend the ball this weekend. It's already bad enough that you throw yourself at Kiran every chance you get."

"My anger rose at her use of Kiran's name. She had never addressed him so informally in front of me, and I knew Kiran wouldn't have given her permission to do so."

"He's only nice to you here at school. I'm certain he wouldn't even look twice at you if you went to the ball."

"It's a good thing I'm not going then. You won't have to feel threatened by my presence."

Her mouth gaped open in shocked anger, but I was too annoyed to care.

"As if I could ever feel threatened by you. Kiran danced all night with me, and he'll do so again at this upcoming ball. Too bad you won't be there to see him fawning all over me." She had gotten closer to me, and by the time she finished talking, she was practically in my face.

Before either of us could say more, Sylvie broke us up. "We should head out now Aria, we'll need to get to Fairmist with enough time for your beauty sleep."

"Thank you, Sylvie. How kind of you to think of me. Let's head out now."

I rolled my eyes at their fake interaction with each other and waited for them to leave before I packed up my things.

I was nervous about seeing Kiran again as Lady Ella because I wasn't sure what to make of everything. He treated me with obvious interest at the ball, and then he also treated me...Eleonor me...with interest at the park.

He just doesn't know that I was the woman he was with both times. I was quickly falling for him but didn't feel I had the right to do so as Eleonor.

As Aria keeps pointing out, I'm just a commoner…and Kiran needs a Queen.

I arrived at my cottage late last night, and Solara was already asleep, so I waited for this morning to speak with her.

"Good morning! Are you ready for the ball?" Solara's cheerful voice rang out through our kitchen.

I was at the table drinking coffee. "Why are you so excited?"

"Mama's been working on the dress spell all week, and she thinks she might have found a way to make it last longer."

"Then I wouldn't have to rush off?"

"Exactly!" She sat down at the table with me, "I've also been working on a few change potions, mostly for eyes. Both of us have such a distinctive eye color that I was thinking a change might be good for tonight."

"Sure let me just get caught up on some schoolwork, and we'll head over to your parents' house."

The day went by quickly, and before I knew it, we were heading to my Aunt Jacinta's home. She hugged us both as we walked in, and I could see she had different fabrics everywhere.

"I might have gone a little overboard with the dress this time. I couldn't decide what animal you should be, but I found the most beautiful white mask, and I couldn't not use it. Now, come stand over here while I work my magic."

She quickly got to work and fabrics swirled around us like last time. It was a fusion of glitter, fabric, and light. My heart raced in excitement to see what Aunt Jacinta had conjured up for me.

She was faster this time, and I could tell the practice was paying off. When I turned to look in the mirror, I was once again left stunned by the image before me. Aunt Jacinta had created a white lace ball gown with fur on the shoulders and had fashioned a headband of little fur ears to match. I was a fox, an Arctic fox to be exact. The white contrasted beautifully with my light hair.

"Unfortunately, I haven't quite mastered more time with the dress, so it's still midnight for tonight." I nodded in understanding and Solara stepped in to complete the look with a bright red lipstick before tying on my mask.

"Just one last thing, and you'll be perfect. Drink this." She handed me a tiny vial with a sweet-tasting liquid. I didn't feel anything but Solara gasped in excitement. When I turned back to the mirror, I noticed my eyes were now a soft honey color.

"It's perfect, now no one will know you by your eye color. Let me change, and we can head out."

I laughed when Solara came back out 15 minutes later dressed as a polar bear. Her dress was similar in color to mine but was silky and, whereas I had a headband, Solara had styled her hair to resemble the ears of a bear.

"I thought it would be fun to match. Now we're both arctic animals." She gave a little twirl before handing me a matching shawl. We waited for Aunt Jacinta who came down dressed as a colorful butterfly, and then the three of us headed to the castle.

Kiran

I stood at the front of the room, hoping to see Lady Ella as soon as she arrived, but I had yet to see anyone who so much as resembled her. There were plenty of blondes but none with her deep green eyes.

"Prince Kiran," I looked up to see a dark-haired woman dressed as a mouse of all things. I didn't need to be told who she was as I had already guessed Aria would show up as a mouse. I bit my lip to contain my laughter. I was glad for the cover of the mask. As far as mouse costumes went, she made it look elegant, but it was the fact that she was trying so hard to get my attention when I made it clear I wasn't interested in her that made me laugh.

"I love your costume, are you a griffin?" She reached her hand out to touch my chest, but I stepped back not letting her put her hands on me. I hated being touched without permission, but it happened more often than I would like.

"Yes, I am." My mother had once again chosen my costume. This time she chose a griffin because, according to her, they were regal. The eagle and lion, the two rulers of the animal kingdom as she put it. She made sure to mix in some red into my mask and pants so that the look would be more noticeable than the soft brown tones of a griffin.

"Will you be saving me another dance?" Aria batted her eyelashes at me.

"I'm sorry but if you'll excuse me." I didn't answer her question and instead walked off because I finally saw Lady Ella walk into the room. It was easy to recognize her graceful movements, even though she wore the mask. She looked even more beautiful this week than she had looked last week, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.

The music started as soon as I reached her, and I held out my hand for her to take. "May I have this dance?" She said nothing but placed her hand in mine, letting me lead her onto the dance floor.

"You look beautiful," I held her close, and for a moment, I thought of Eleonor in her white dress and how it felt when I danced with her in the park. Eleonor's gorgeous green eyes flashed in front of my eyes, and confusion washed over me as I recalled how I had almost kissed Eleonor that night. I cherish her friendship, and I know she's magnificent, but so is Lady Ella.

I brushed aside my thoughts and decided to focus my attention on Lady Ella as she was who I was with at the moment. It would be unfair to be thinking of another woman while with her.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" She looked at me through her long lashes.

"Yes, I was just a bit confused. I recall you having green eyes not brown."

"Oh," She giggled, and the sound felt like music to my ears. "The eye color is all part of the costume. Foxes don't have green eyes."

"But tulips do?"

She continued with her melodious laugh, and I felt at ease with her in my arms.

"My cousin just thought it would be fun to have our eyes match our dresses, so she whipped up some potions for us.

"So tell me, Lady Ella, what is your real eye color?" I leaned down and whispered the last part, hoping she'd take to my flirting.

"I can't say, it would ruin the mystery."

I chuckled as we continued our slow dance. When the song ended, I pulled her along with me. "Come out to the garden with me. I don't want to dance with any of the other girls here, so you'd be doing me a favor."

She said nothing but smiled and gave me a nod. This time, we walked through the private garden and then set off to the larger garden with a pond.

"Have you been traveling back and forth from your home, or are you staying in Fairmist for the duration of the masquerade?"

"I've been traveling, it's only a couple of hours to Glimmerlore, so it's easier to come and go."

"That makes sense, I have been traveling back and forth from Aurelian."

"I've never been to Aurelian, do you like it there?"

"I do, it's one of the rare places where I can relax and just be myself."

"And that's not possible, here in Fairmist?"

"No, my princely duties, come first while I'm here, so everything else gets pushed aside."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"It may not be, but it's the way things work for a royal." sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Findɴovel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Do you like what you do?"

"You mean being a Prince?" Her question made me laugh as it wasn't something that could easily be answered. "Who I am is tied to what I do. I like who I am, so I suppose I like what I do. It can be overwhelming a lot of the time though. It is difficult always being in the public eye and having to put on a facade of perfection for people.

She nodded, seeming to understand. Other than Eleonor, I hadn't opened up to anyone else about these things, so a part of me was unsure how Lady Ella would react.

Eleonor

My entire focus was on Kiran as he talked. I already knew most of what he was telling me because he'd already shared it with me as Eleonor. It felt nice to know that even in this form, he trusted me enough to share his thoughts with me. It made me feel worse for lying though. I knew I had to tell him the truth, prolonging this would not bring about a good outcome.

"What are you thinking?"

"Oh…I'm sorry, I just got lost in my head for a moment. It's so peaceful out here that it's easy to get lost in the quiet."

"I agree, that's why I like coming out here, especially at night."

We came upon a bridge, and he paused to pull me close to him. My breath caught in my throat at our proximity. He had taken his mask off again, and I was drowning in his brown eyes as he smiled down at me.

All I could think of was our last time together and how I had pulled away from his kiss. I had really wanted to kiss him that day, but it felt wrong. He's a Prince, and here I am masquerading as a noble. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice that he'd gotten closer, and before I could pull back, his lips were on mine.

I no longer cared about anything but his kiss after that. He could have been lying about being a prince, and I wouldn't have cared. He held me close and cupped my face in his large hand as he continued to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and continued our kiss, fearing what would happen once we broke apart. But as those thoughts of fear rushed through me, I heard the bells chime that it was midnight.

I rapidly pulled away from Kiran. I was shocked to see that my lipstick was left all over his lips as evidence of our kiss.

"It's midnight, I have to go now." I ran off before he could say anything. I left just in time as my dress returned to the simple design Aunt Jacinta had borrowed the material from. All that was left of my beautiful look was my mask which now looked out of place on my face.

I flew back home and quickly changed into pajamas and crawled into my warm bed. I lay there and stared at the ceiling. I wasn't sure what I was doing with myself, but it felt wrong to deceive Kiran like this. I had to tell him the truth before the next ball.

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