Chapter XI

The next day went by very quickly. It was clear to me that Rahab's parties were a big thing for these vampires, and probably for the human slaves as well. I spent the entire day being primped and pampered by a group of Rahab's servants. First, they drew a bath for me, with hot water. I spent maybe an hour in the bath, relaxing, and thinking. I wondered if Ice was all right. I wondered how I ended up in this situation. I wondered if Dumah was really interested in me. I wondered how I was going to get home. Or if I was going to get home at all.

When I got out of the bath I was assaulted with various lotions and powders by the maids, who assured me that they were simply mosturizing my skin. The next thing they did was lace me into my corset. This took some time, as they were anything but gentle. Everything they did seemed rushed. After they laced me into my corset (and after I'd begged them to let me take a few minutes to breathe), they began to hand me various petticoats and underthings.

"What's all this?" I asked.

"In case you hadn't noticed, dear," said an older woman with graying hair, "the gown you brought with you has a fairly full skirt. Seeing as how you didn't pack petticoats of your own, we're supplying you with some. Fortunately, some of these are just long enough..."

I blinked. The dress Eph had given me had a narrow skirt that clung to my legs. "Excuse me?"

"You did bring a gown with you, didn't you, Lady?"

I nodded. "But that one had a narrow skirt..."

"We saw no such dress among your personal effects, Lady," the maid interrupted. "We saw many informal dresses, but there is none appropriate for an occasion such as this with them."

My blood froze in my veins. Was there a mixup? I had no idea how Dumah would react to my wearing a dress that was not the one he had given to me. I was about to protest again when the maids shoved me behind a screen and proceeded to pull a dress over my head. This dress laced in the back, and had a very full skirt, and sleeves that ended at my elbow and had a large amount of lace at the end. The dress itself resembled a dress I'd seen in a painting of Marie Antoinette...except this dress was a hideous shade of seafoam teal and the stomacher was a pastel pink.

"I can't wear this!" I said, "This is...this is..."

" Would you prefer to go naked, Lady?" asked the maid who'd given me the dress.

"Well, no, but..."

"Now come back out from the other side of that screen, we still have to apply your cosmetics! And maybe we'll give you a false plait, if we can find one in the right color."

I groaned, and came out. The next twenty minutes was spent applying my makeup, which I was not allowed to see. The ladies couldn't find me a false plait, so they styled my hair as best they could, and, finally, they allowed me to look in a mirror.

I looked like an escapee from a dress rehearsal of a Mozart opera. Except for my short hair.

"I can't go out like this!"

"'Tis not like you have a choice, Lady."

I sighed, crossed my arms, and walked toward the door. I was about to turn the handle when I realized that I had forgotten something. Dumah's pendant. I quickly ran back toward the nightstand I had left it on, grabbed it, and put it on, taking one more look in the mirror before I went out. The pendant didn't match the gown at all, but I felt safer wearing it.

There was a knock on my door just then. I hurried to open it and found Dumah standing there. He was wearing a short, fitted black tunic with violet trim that left very little to the imagination, black leggings, and black pirate boots. His hair was neatly pulled back. He took one look at me and shook his head.

"That isn't the dress you brought, is it?"

"No, but the maids said it was the only formal gown I have with me..." I blushed and looked down.

"You're wearing the pendant, at least," Dumah said, "Good." Then he took my arm and led me outside.

"So, if you're wearing that dress...what happened to the one I gave you?"

"I've no idea." Really, I didn't.

"I suspect mischief," Dumah said, "Although...you don't look that bad..."

He led me down to a ballroom which was already full of vampires. There were even musicians, playing instruments not unlike those a string quartet back home would have had. They were playing a surprisingly lively minuet.

Some of the vampire women were dressed the way I was, although their dresses were in different colors. This made me feel a little less self-conscious. Some of the vampire women were dressed in clingly, revealing gowns. No one took notice of me, not until Dumah took me onto the dance floor.

"Look! That's her!"

"Is that Dumah's human pet? I'd expected someone...shorter..."

"Are we even sure it's female?"

"I'd like to find out..."

"Pay them no mind, Amara," Dumah said, "Just...stay close..."

It was at that moment that Rahab approached us. "Mind if I cut in, Dumah?"

Dumah glared at him.

"Just for a moment, dear brother? Just for the remainder of this tune?"

Dumah sighed. "Very well."

Almost at once, Rahab pulled me away from Dumah and led me into a very enthusiastic waltz.

"So...do you like your dress?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you like your dress?"

I bit my lip, and thought of how to answer. The truth would likely offend him, and the last thing I wanted was to offend my host. But if I lied...

"It's no matter," Rahab said dismissively, "You're wearing it. There's the proof."

"My other dress was missing."

"You don't say. Was it blue?"

"Yes..." I said, now more than a little suspicious.

"Well, the maids must have switched it out with this one. Which is odd, because I told them to put it in your trunk..."

I laughed then. What else was there to do?

Rahab and I didn't speak for the rest of the waltz, and, after it was over, he led me back toward Dumah, thanking me for dancing with him, but we were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Amara, is that you?"

I turned around, and found Ice standing beside me. She was wearing what looked like a very skimpy bellydancer's costume. "Ice?"

"It is you! My God. You look like you escaped from the set of Le Nozze di Figaro or something."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. Then I smiled. "How's life with Raziel?"

"Amazing! Seriously. He's the coolest boyfriend I've ever had!"

Boyfriend? I could only laugh even more. Raziel came toward us, saw me, laughed, and quickly regained his composure.

"Well...that's a change for you, isn't it?" he chuckled. I glared at him, then smiled.

"Now, now...let's get along," Dumah said, appearing behind me. He held two glasses of a dark red substance and handed one to me. "Don't worry. It's wine. Really." He smiled, and took a sip, motioning for me to do the same. I squeezed my eyes shut, put the glass to my lips...and took a sip of the most delicious red wine I have ever tasted. Dumah chuckled.

"I told you."

I finished my wine and handed the glass to a human servant walking by, and I was about to go dance when the music stopped. Rahab was standing on the bandstand. Was he about to make an announcement?

"I have an announcement to make!"

Yup.

"Those of you who have been to my parties before know what's about to go on...those of you who have not, if you'll come to the front, please?"

Ice and I cautiously moved toward the bandstand. There were a few others who did, too. Rahab smiled.

"Quite a few new faces. This is good." He smiled broadly, displaying his white teeth. "You do not know what is about to take place, but rest assured that it is magnificent!" Rahab clapped, and a young pageboy with an armful of masks hurried into the ballroom. "We will now begin the masquerade portion of the evening!"

I looked at Ice. "Changing to a masquerade ball? In the middle of everything?"

"Raziel assures me that this is normal, although Rahab usually doesn't wait until the middle of the evening to begin the masquerade," Ice said.

The pageboy was coming toward us. I took a black, feathered mask from him and held it. It was lovely, almost too lovely to wear. Ice had taken another feathered mask. Hers was red.

I looked around the room. There were several pageboys, all handing masks to the guests. Rahab looked quite pleased. "I don't want to see any new faces!" he boomed, "Or old ones, for that matter! Get those masks on!"

I didn't need any more encouragement. After we all had our masks on, Rahab put on his. His was an exquisite, jewel-encrusted seahorse mask. "Now then. Let the festivities continue!" He clapped again, and the band resumed playing.

"I suppose we should find our vampires," Ice said.

"Good idea."

I walked into the throng of vampires and looked around. One of them had to be Dumah, didn't it?

Someone grabbed my arm and led me into a waltz. He was wearing a terrifying gold mask, one that was, to me, reminiscent of a Japanese demon mask. I thought, at first, that he was Dumah. He was wearing the same tunic as Dumah, except that it was trimmed with red. He was also much more aggressive than Dumah had ever been. He held me so tightly that it hurt. I noticed that he was wearing an earring. Dumah didn't have an earring. I tried to pull away from him, but his response was to hold on tighter.

"Let me go!" I said, struggling against him.

"I have a few questions for you, dear girl..." the vampire purred in a silky smooth voice. "It would be wise for you to stop struggling..."

"Look!" shouted a female voice that could have been any vampire, "That human is dancing with Lord Kain!"

Lord Kain?