A/N – Wow! I got my first really really bad review for Venitia! I doubt that you're reading, Granamyr, but just so you know, Venitia is human, and since this is fanfiction, (and partly since I am a Ringwraith) I've decided that there is no Eldarion. And names? What's in a name? And I noticed that you weren't an actual author. Hm. Thanks a bunch!
Another wow! Chapter 30…I never thought this story was going to be this long, but hey, c'est la vie.
Chapter 30
The morning of the next day, Venitia played marbles with the children for two hours. At lunch, Legolas had come to collect her, only to be oo-ed and ah-ed at by the children. They tugged his ears and played with his hair until Venitia finally stopped laughing and told them to get off him. She then had to run for her life as Legolas chased after her.
"Don't! I can't be too tired for the ball!" she said, finally surrendering.
"Oh, and you were not too tired last night?" he asked.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Tsk tsk, Venitia, do not be childish," he said sarcastically.
"Me? What about you? You're how old? 20,000?" she said teasingly.
"Whoa, I am not that old yet," he said. She laughed. "How about some lunch?" he said.
She nodded and they headed off.
After lunch, it was about two o'clock, so Venitia went down to Annette to collect her dress. Tonight she was going to be a star.
"Good afternoon, Annette," Venitia said as she walked down the stairs and into the sewing room.
"Hello, child! I have your dress right over here," Annette said, leading Venny to a closet. She opened it, and Venitia's jaw dropped.
"You've had some right luck this masquerade," Annette said. "First that beautiful dress last night, and now this. Not meaning to brag, of course."
Venitia held the stunning dress in her arms. It was satin and black, as black as night, but studded with stones as bright as diamonds. It was sleeveless, and the mask was made to look like a constellation in the sky.
"Annette…it's magnificent," Venitia said.
"And you will look magnificent in it," Annette said. "Now run along, you only have about an hour and a half."
Venitia nodded, quickly hugged Annette, and left to go back to her room. Once there, she jumped into the bathtub.
Once out, she slid into the dress. Even she had to say she looked rather marvelous. Her black hair matched the dress, and the stones glinted and sparkled with her every move. She did a little dance she was so excited about it.
Determined to do her own hair, and determined to do something other than curls, Venitia sat down in front of the mirror and contemplated what to do.
She thought, and thought, and thought some more. Finally, she ended up plaited her hair, and pulling it into a bun at the base of her neck, leaving a few wisps down to frame her face. Searching the drawers of her bureau, she found the hair clips she had worn at her sixteenth birthday party: little stones that were similar to the ones in her dress. She placed them in her hair. A sharp knock at her door made her accidentally stab herself in the neck.
"Your highness?" a servant's voice came from behind the door.
"Yes?" Venitia said, rubbing her neck.
"Your father wished me to remind you the ball starts in ten minutes."
Venitia glanced at her clock; sure enough, it said ten to 4.
"Thank you," Venitia said, and she heard the servant walk away.
After fixing her face up, grabbing some shoes, checking her hair about five more times, the clock said one minute to 4, and Venitia rushed out of the room and down the whirlwind of halls to the ball.
Her family had already gone in, obviously having given up on Venitia's ability to be punctual. She strolled in, and wasn't surprised to see Dorian at the bottom of the stairs. He saw her, and stopped pacing. She walked down the stairs, and couldn't shake off the feeling that he strongly reminded her of that certain someone. She forced herself to forget about it and went down to meet him.
"Good evening, Venitia," he said.
"Good evening."
"Would you like to dance?"
She nodded, and he led her to the dance floor.
For some reason, Venitia had much more energy than the night before, and they waltzed until dinner was served. She saw her parents, who proclaimed she looked lovely, and Almira, who looked much more normal tonight as the sun.
After dinner, Venitia and Dorian walked through the somewhat-crowded gardens. Many couples were either strolling or sitting on benches looking at the stars.
"You seem awful quiet," Venitia said to Dorian, who had been walking along silently.
"Sorry, I was just…thinking," he said.
She shrugged and they continued. She kept glancing sideways at him. It was all there – the sandy hair, the green eyes, the straight jaw, the bright smile. But it couldn't be him…he left! Why would he come back?
But he didn't come back, remember? said a voice in her head. He was with the army when you showed up.
Oh be quiet, Venitia said back to the mocking voice. She was beginning to feel quite schizophrenic.
It's true, you know, the voice continued. Remember what he looked like when he first saw you?
He panicked, Venitia said, remembering. And then he hid his face…
Exactly, the voice said triumphantly.
Venitia's shoulders sunk. She was so confused…she looked at him again. It all came back to her in one enormous wave. She sighed.
"Is something wrong?" he said.
The voice! How is it that she never noticed it before?
She didn't look at him, and said, "No," although she knew her voice gave her away. He sighed, too.
"Venitia, there is something I should tell you."
Oh no.
"Venita, I-"
"Your highness! Your highness!" A servant came running up at just that moment.
Venitia stamped her foot. "What is it?" she said.
"Your sister…Muriel…is missing!" the servant said between huge breaths.
"What?!" Venitia exclaimed.
"She was to leave the ball at precisely 8 o'clock, but her maid can find her nowhere! She is not outside, inside…"
"Where are my parents?"
"Right up the stairs."
"Thank you." Venitia set off at a run, Dorian beside her.
They reached her parents.
"Mother, Father, what is going on?"
Her mother had tears in her eyes, but her father looked more firm and resolute than ever.
"Good. Venitia, Dorian, would you please retrieve some horses and go look in the woods? Legolas has already gone, but he went west, so you two go east."
They nodded and went off. Venitia hiked her dress up, leapt onto Crystal, Dorian took Sky and they left.
Once inside the woods, Venitia cried out, "Muriel!" Dorian followed suit. They continued to call, straining their eyes against the dim light of the moon. They searched everywhere, but finally, after an hour, they stopped.
"It's no use," Venitia said, close to tears.
"Well, if we didn't find her, that means someone else did," Dorian said in a comforting voice.
Sure enough, when they left the woods, they could see Legolas, riding his bright white horse, with Muriel in front of him.
"Muriel!" Venitia jumped off her horse and hugged her. "Where in the world have you been?"
"I just wanted to go by the river," Muriel said.
"Why didn't you tell someone?" Venitia said, trying to sound as rational and calm as possible.
"Because, they wouldn't have let me."
Venitia had to admit that was probably true, so she stood up, and told Muriel to go with Legolas to her father and mother. Legolas picked her up, put her on his back, and sprinted off.
Venitia breathed a huge sigh of relief, and leaned against Crystal. Dorian came down from Sky, who nuzzled his shoulder.
"That horse seems to know you quite well," she said slyly.
"Oh…he must be very friendly," he said quickly.
Venitia sighed. She considered bringing the subject back up that he wanted to tell her something, but decided against it. There was still one more night to the masquerade… the night that everyone had to take off their masks. She could wait until then.
***Ok, that's not the end of this night of the masquerade, but I have this enormous history research paper to write, and I wanted to at least post something, so please don't be mad at me? :) Thanks!
Oh, and P.S.: Venitia is not becoming Gollum. She just hears voices, that's all. ;)
