Empress of the Gods

Atarah

When Atarah went back to the inn looking for William, she perceived a hint of a citrusy and earthy scent the moment she got inside her room. She found on the bed a big white box with a smaller one on top. When she opened the big box, she saw a beautiful ballgown. It was a white dress with a V-neck and transparent tulle bishop sleeves with stars in them, and golden lines in it. There wasn’t a note in there or something that indicated to her who left it, but she assumed it came from Elysia since she told her not to worry about anything. That she would find the perfect dress for her. She insisted that she go to the ball. It was her present for her twenty-four winters. Her friend always sent her something on spring equinox; the day she was born.

She put the ballgown carefully on the bed while she opened the small box and found a mask that perfectly matched her dress. It was a white one with golden details in it that had the shape of leaves around the mask.

Suddenly, the light in a part of her room disappeared. She glanced at the window and saw a male silhouette with a cape and a cloth that covered his mouth and nose like the one Elysia wore. There were shadows surrounding him. Then, the sunlight reflected on the wooden floor again. She ran to the window to see how the assassin had escaped.

“Hey!” she yelled at him and the driadaes that were walking looked at her while the one with the cape only glance at her before he started running again.

How did Elysia get that dress? She wondered.

Then Atarah noticed a piece of paper on the table where William told her he was arranging some things for their departure after the lantern’s festival. She was starting to doubt if he would keep to their truce, but it didn’t make sense if he didn’t do it because his life was still tied to her.

Midnight whisper was calling in favors. She confirmed it when later that day she saw a carriage in front of the entrance of the inn waiting for her. She was going to catch up with the others in the royal gardens of the driadae palace where the ball was taking place. She was surprised how the nightgown fit her like a glove.

They were celebrating the new King and Queen in Ekkirah that won on the last Tsaraath trials in there. They invited all the people in their realm. Driadaes on the streets were excited about the ball and she saw some of them with their masks on. The moment she stepped outside the carriage, she saw a queue of driadaes on the entrance of the garden, waiting to get inside. Flowers hung from the arch of the entrance and some of them float on the fountains.

She felt she was going to throw up at any moment when she got to the stairs and all eyes went to her, but the ones she felt were from a stranger whose mask matched hers. As if the theme was light and dark.

She looked for Robbie and her sister in the crowd until she found them. The stranger slowly approached her, fixing his gaze on her, and as soon as she got to the last step, he put a hand in front of her. Atarah was going to take his hand, feeling completely drawn to him, when Robbie appeared in front of her and put his arm for her to take it. For a moment she hesitated, but then she put her hand on Robbie’s arm. He led her to where Myrah was standing, only she couldn’t help to look back at the stranger.

“You look stunning,” Robbie said to her.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she complimented him. He had a black suit with a white half mask on his face.

Her sister was wearing a strapless cream gown with small flowers in the tulle layer and her mask had flowers the same color as her dress. Next to her was August, who looked handsome in his suit. The good thing about that ball was that no one would ever know she was there.

Atarah didn’t feel like partying. She wanted to be in her room until they left. Plus, she didn’t see William anywhere, and she didn’t know if he was going to appear. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that attended a ball. It didn’t surprise her that he didn’t say a thing about it.

Elysia, on the other hand, couldn’t attend due to Blackfall business. That was another reason why she gave the dress to her so she could enjoy a party for both. She started folding one of her gloves, trying to look for those pair of eyes in the crowd.

When the crowd opened its path for a handsome man with ocean eyes behind a white mask and chestnut curls that in the light looked more like golden. She almost didn’t recognize William. Her heart thundered. His eyes were on her when he slowly approached to her. Most of the times he had his curls tied in a bun, but he’d let them loose and shaved his beard. He was fresh and looked incredibly handsome.

“Would you dance with me?” William said in a gravelly voice.

She felt nervous. “Yes,” she said when she put her hand on top of his.

They started dancing to the pace of the music and from time-to-time change dance partners, but always looking for their gaze until Atarah changed to a dance partner she couldn’t ignore. He was the one with the black mask that had figures that looked like shadows. She put her palm on his that was covered with a black glove while his other hand was on his back as her own was on hers. They slowly moved in synchronized circles. Suddenly, she felt the tingling of her gifts on her fingertips while she locked her gaze with the mask stranger whose green eyes called for her attention. When they were about to change partners again, a citrusy and earthy scent made her look at him again. For an instant, everything stopped.

She felt as if she had seen him before.

Then she felt William’s hand on her back, pulling her towards him.

Atarah couldn’t deny that was something odd, and she felt so curious about that man. She looked for him, but he disappeared into the crowd.

“Everything alright?” asked William.

“Yes.”

William spun her one more time, and she smiled because she loved to dance, and he knew it. She saw how a smile spread across his face. He had a hand on her lower back while his forehead was on top of hers while they danced at a slow pace.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered in her ear, and she bit her lower lip and nodded her head. She could clearly see his dimples without his beard when he beamed.

They got out to the royal gardens and walked in silence, admiring the few lights that marked a path in the garden. She could still listen to the music inside the castle, but the sound of the fountain was louder than the music. She heard a laugh in the distance while they walked until they found a small lake in which driadaes gathered to light the lanterns. Some of them did it with their fire gift. A couple of the lanterns floated on the water while others flew in the night sky.

They received the two lanterns that someone gave them out there.

“Here,” she said when she lit one and gave it to him as she lit the other. “If you could make one wish to the star of the night, what would it be?” she asked him.

“That I could save them,” he replied with sadness in his voice, with a faint smile on his face, looking at the lights. She took the mask off her face so she could see him better.

“I guess I should ask the same,” she replied, thinking about the coven. “They light up the lanterns in the hope that one day a new Empress will rise and unite the driadae realms in one banner,” she explained to him. “They leave their worries in there,” she added, making a small movement with her fingers to make their lanterns lift and fly with her wind. “The wind takes their worries and the fire guide them during the darkest times.”

“You were right,” William whispered to her without taking his eyes off their lanterns.

“With what, everything?” she beamed, and he gave her a faint smile.

“When they took me away from them, I was so young. All I wanted was to return to my family and the moment I lost them, I isolated myself. I only became the man who gave orders to the other hunters and became obsessed with hunting creatures.” He made a pause, looking somewhere else. “I was trying to find the ones who did that to my family, and I never did. So, I took all that rage in other creatures too.”

She put her hand on top of his to let him know she was there for him.

“I don’t know if I can put this behind me.”

“You will if you want to. There’s good in you, Will, I’ve seen it.” She got closer to him, putting a hand on his cheek so he could see her.

“I’m not a saint, Atarah.”

“Good, because I’m not looking to go to heaven.”

William took her hand and led her to a space in the garden where they could dance again. Somehow, she was enjoying that moment by his side. She even wondered if that was what love looked like. For a moment, she wanted to feel normal; like she was only a woman enjoying the masquerade ball.