Thank you for your patience. School has been insane! Much appreciated reviews, once more.
Claimer: I own all these characters, all mine. Stories people, masks and carpet mice, all mine.
Her immediate instincts told her to break away from her dancing partners arms, and to run far away. She was held fast however, by the wolf-mans arms, which were far stronger then she might have imagined.
"I...I have no inkling to what you are talking about." Aisling replied stiffly, her heart hammering so loudly, she was sure it was audible to everyone. The dancers continued to spin on the floor, their dresses suspended inches from the ground, never settling for second.
"You know very well what I mean. I do not care one whit for some silly spoiled girl who has the stupidity to join a Fae's gala without an invitation. I do however, want to cheat her of her spoils, and so my spoiled girl, leave." His face inched closer to hers until he could have laid his forehead against hers. He was not going to do so however, and his grip on her arms became painful.
"If you do not leave now, I will see to it that she finds you. Who knows, perhaps she will turn you into a boar for the fun of it. In the past, I have seen a stupid youth become a horsefly just for not bowing low enough. Whatever you wish human girl." Aisling had had enough. Her arms hurt, she was scared, and he was invading her personal space.
Therefore she employed her charm and wit to assist in her escape from his clutches. Giving him a sweet smile, she brought her heel down very hard onto his foot, kicked his shin with her other, and pushed him away. A few glances came her way, but they turned aside in silent laughter at the glare of the wolf-masked-man. Aisling returned his glare with her own.
"I will have you know that I am the seventh daughter of the king of Daire. I am not some stupid girl with whom which you can handle roughly and expect to be meek."
Disdain was evident on his face, and was reflected within her own. Then, bowing ironically, the man stepped away from her. "My apologies your highness I would tell you my own name, but it has slipped my mind. Take instead, Faolan." The sarcastic tone his voice inhabited raised the princess's hackles, but she merely made her own voice match his as they resumed dancing to stop drawing attention from the many masked patrons.
"Wolf, how suiting. I believe you know enough about me to guess my name, but I will not give it either. Instead, you may take Fallon."
Faolan gave her a smile that she was sure a wolf would give to his prey. "It is better that you do not use your name here, Fallon, for it would just be another thread for her to ensnare you with. Speaking of, I believe you best start running, for her spell is running out of power, and she can not have that."
Anger flashed across the masked mans eyes, which frightened Aisling more then any outburst might have. Any further worries that might have ensured from her dancing partner were cut short by worries which ensured from an external source. One by one the couples stopped dancing on around the clearing, and strange thing happened. Emotions, totally unheralded, sprung. Cries of hate and rage, sobs of sorrow and self-pity echoed amongst the trees and in succession, as each person fell to the ground. Drawing away from the magicked people quickly, she turned to look at the man who she called Faolan.
A grim line across his jaw was all that she saw, and he shaking fists clenched at his sides. "Go now Fallon, and if you ever come back to this place, I will kill you myself." Aisling stumbled further back, her hand clutching at open air in surprise. Swearing, the man grabbed her arm and dragged her across the clearing. She only choked in indignation, but she was too stunned to fight back completely. "Wh-what are you doing? Have you lost it completely?" Aisling cried, her nails digging into the man's hands. Growling, Faolan continued dragging her, sounding as feral as his mask denoted. "I am saving your arrogant, damned life, no go!" Faolan threw Aisling into the bush, her mask becoming -dislodged as she fought the tall grass for purchase of ground. Faolan's eyes cleared a moment, as he beheld the girl breathing harshly, partly from fear, part from anger. Then, a cry tore through the night and his frantic behaviour started anew. "Leave now! Leave and be gone with you, Fallon!" Then, he ran from the bushes, and after looking around, hid his face in his arms like those beside him.
Aisling, too frightened by his obscene behaviour, did not flee, nor did she return to the now upset group.
It was a stark contrast to the earlier merriment, and every face held a horrible and dark secret, which she dared not decipher. It felt like an eternity of her crouching in the grass, her once beautiful dress ruined by the green stains of plants and dirt. She forgot her resentment in a second, as two bright flames lit in the air in the center of the clearing. Aisling felt her skin rise in goose bumps. 'a pair of steeds, made from sun, galloped behind the Fae silently. Mounting up, they rode into yesterdays, and dreams, to finally arrive in the realm of the Faeries.'
Her instincts screaming at her to cower, and her curiosity demanding she stay, Aisling struggled a moment, before she decided to trust the secondary emotion. She started to reconsider as the flames that covered a pair of horses black as night, paled in comparison to the being that descended from the chariot they had been drawing. Aisling felt a stab of jealousy at the beings obvious grace, and the fine features that traced perfection across its visage. The being itself became a woman as the lights about her eased, to resume illuminating the clearing.
"It is time for the unmasking, get up from the dirt. That is no place for my gala to be!" The woman's voice was jovial, but it lacked something that made Aisling shudder. It was not that she did not sound gay, but that it was as if all her emotions were an act, to coincide with her beautiful face, and the expression on it.
"That is better, my pets." The woman said, as they all stood slowly, their masks gone, and their face smudged with tears and dirt. Only one kept his mask, Faolan. Feeling strangely apprehensive for him, she watched as the queen; for she could be nothing but a queen, come forward.
"Only one retains his mask? Modesty, ah- no, you were never modest. Not even before. You remember that now, do you not?" A cruel smile twisted the queen's face, though it still looked more beautiful then any that might have graced a mere mortal's face.
In all of Aisling's knowledge of the Fae, gaining the attention of any seemed to be the worst, and she could not help but cower.
From what Aisling could see of Faolan, he had risen, standing a few inches taller then the regal and cruel queen.
"While I see your mask is still intact, duplicitous as always." Faolan murmured, with a tone that suggested compliancy. The queen's smile faltered a moment only, before she regained it with ease.
"Come now, it's just the remembering that is making you edgy. Isn't it? Fear not, you will not have to remember for another month."
The mask fell to the ground, and for a moment, Aisling had the side view of high cheek bones, and a strong nose, before the man hunched over, the others around him following suit. The prominent nose stretched, the flesh changing to fur. Faolan was becoming his namesake, while the other party-goers were becoming the animals their masks respectively impersonated. Still, Faolan retained his ability of speech.
"Cerridwen holds more beauty then you, hag." He growled, before becoming fully feral. Laughing, the woman waved him back into ranks with the other animals. "You will not say that in an hour's time, that much you remember and always will. Go now my lover, and see if you can seek out your way home. You have till sunrise." With that, Faolan howled, and his sleek, black form took off into the night, followed by all the other animals, once humans. The only two people left in the forest, was Aisling, and the mysterious woman. Musing aloud, the woman picked up the discarded masks, holding them in her hand, dropping them again in a second. She sighed wearily a moment, and Aisling wondered if the queen only moved to look beautiful. "He smelled like another woman this evening. I'll have to ask the swan if she was dancing with him." Then, remounting her chariot of flames, she grinned fiercely. "I love this part of the hunt."
Aisling waited until the first sliver of light showed her what she had known for the past two hours. The glade was empty, and she was a mess. Starting from her place, she ran in the direction she had come, leaving the forest behind her. The trees stalled her, with their grasping branches, but she fought past them, to the old drawbridge, and the castle walls. The entire world seemed asleep in the realm that Aisling had recently rejoined, and it was no harder to gain admittance then it was to escape. The stable hands and guards were sleeping off the effects of spirits, and much food, while servants bustled past sleepily, only thinking of falling into their own bed, and sleeping. The girl echoed the sentiment in her very bones, and slipping into her room. She only knew that she had hung her soiled gown up once more, placed the mask on a shelf, and flung her shoes from her person with hatred. Pulling the blankets around her, Aisling only distantly checked for her book which she had spirited away with such care. It was gone, but the dread did not register, as it should have. Instead, she groaned, and tried not to think of anything. Sleep would be the best thing for her sanity, which she herself dearly lacked. The nightingale did not sing then, in the small hours of the encroaching morning, but the howl of a wolf haunted Aisling in the far realms of sleep that she had crept into.
((Author's note: Faolan means wolf, Fallon means 'of a ruling family'. As well, I am Canadian, and believe in the 'u's missed out in American spelling. I'm not an awful speller, just adamant in my practices.))