When Masks Fall Off

Chapter 6.50: Coming to an End

The next few days were a blur. Nadja had almost succeeded at convincing the Duke that she was the real Nadja when Francis was arrested under charges of being the Black Rose—charges to which he pleaded guilty for some reason that Nadja couldn't fathom—and Nadja was arrested as well, until Rosemary ordered her release, apparently purely for the sake of mocking Nadja. Nadja proceeded to overcome her obstacles to meeting her mother—primarily her uncle and grandfather—and meanwhile, unbeknownst to Nadja, Keith and Francis defeated their own demons together by means of an argument ("I'm the one who's supposed to be locked up in here; you get out of here!" "No! Both Nadja and Maryann are in love with you—you've got to be out there for their sakes." "...I'll tackle the simpler of the two first, and ask you, why Nadja?" "Because she explicitly told me so when we agreed that we love each other, but only as sister and brother." "...Right, then. Now, on to the other one...what the hell gave you the idea that Maryann was in love with me?" "You didn't see her on the way here, insulting you just to get Nadja to stop liking you." "Are you sure? Maryann's usually more tactful than that. I'll bet your imagination just ran away with you."), also aided by Nadja's singing voice ("For now, we'll fight together for Nadja's sake, since we do seem to agree that we both love her.").

Keith proved Francis's innocence by enacting a very public Black Rose heist, and in doing so, ending the Black Rose for good with a heartening speech for the poor, moneyless individuals that relied on him like he was a god. Francis claimed that he had misspoken: that he had meant to state that he had disguised himself as the Black Rose to steal the brooch back from Herman at the House of Corlade, and was not, in fact, the Black Rose. The fact, as the police saw it, remained that Francis Harcourt had trespassed on and stolen property of the House of Corlade, but this, too, was cleared up relatively quickly when Oscar Corlade made it known that, the brooch having been Nadja's to begin with, he did not hold the trespassing against the Harcourt heir, and requested his release.

Nadja did not see the Harcourt twins until her second night at her mother's home. After bidding her mother good night, she entered her room only to find the balcony door open, and the curtains billowing in the wind.

"Is someone there?" she called, approaching the window.

Beyond the billowing curtain, she saw a shadow. Dark Blonde hair, blue eyes, black clothing...and a certain sparkle in those deep blue eyes. "Keith," Nadja breathed, walking out onto the balcony. Something warm was filling her chest and stomach. "Keith."

"Nadja," called a famliar voice. Nadja looked to the tree that stood beside the balcony.

"Francis," Nadja gasped, a grin spreading across her face. Francis jumped gracefully from the tree to the balcony.

"We wanted to tell you what we'll be doing from now on, Nadja," Francis explained. "We've always wanted people to be able to live equally, and so I dedicated myself to noblesse oblige, and Keith wore the mask of the Black Rose."

"The Black Rose is gone, Nadja," Keith told her. "Forever." Nadja looked at him in surprise; he was smiling in such a way that Nadja thought he knew that he'd never regret his decision. It was like a weight off her chest, knowing that she wouldn't have to worry for his life every other night anymore. "We think that from now on, we'll have to find a new way to fight for peoples' equality. The two of us plan on finding that way—together."

Nadja smiled widely. "You two can do anything if you work together."

"Nadja," Keith addressed her. "I didn't want you to become a noble. But I think you'll be fine after all—you'll be able to do what you want, even as a member of the Preminger family, through sheer determination." It was nice to hear, but...something in Nadja was disappointed that he'd changed his mind for her. Part of her wished that he'd offer to whisk her away again, like her Star-Eyed Knight that he had been when they first met. "Not like my mother."

Something hurt in Nadja with that last part. "Keith..." Keith looked at her. "I wanted to tell you something: I don't think your mother was miserable at all. I think the mother that you saw when you were little was really, truly sad. But she wasn't sad all the time, right? I have times when I think I should just give up, and times when I feel so sad I'm ready to cry, too. But I always feel better after a while; and then I dance, and I feel even happier. When I was traveling, I learned lots of things from lots of people: I learned that there are lots of faces to fate, and a lot of shapes of happiness, too. So I think your mother was happy, Keith. She raised the two of you wonderfully, didn't she? Try and remember her, Keith: remember your mother's smile!"

Francis was smiling; then Keith began to laugh. Nadja stared, and Francis looked at him in surprise. Francis hadn't seen Keith laugh like that, or even smile that much, since their mother had died.

"Sorry," Keith apologized. "You're always dedicated, aren't you Nadja? Thank you, Nadja."

"Me too, Nadja: thank you." Francis was smiling.

"Then me too," Nadja smiled. "Thank you, both of you."

And they laughed. The remainder of the twins' visit was no less nonsensical: they reminisced of the days when Nadja had been under the impressions that there was only one of them, and Francis and Nadja recounted for Keith how they had formed their friendship, and Nadja and Keith recounted for Francis how they had formed their argumentative relationship ("He dragged me into an alley." "Is that all you were mad at? I'm surprised. I've done that more than once." "Well, the name calling didn't work in your favor either." "Tell me, are we talking about the 'skinny little girl' bit, the 'my dear' bit, or the 'my little rosebud' bit?" "Keith, it's a wonder you two manage to get along at all, the way you tease her.").

All too soon, Keith and Francis climbed back down the tree and departed. Nadja waved to them, closed and locked the balcony doors, closed the drapes, changed into her night clothes, and retired to bed. All the while, she felt something empty and conspicuously hollow in the pit of her stomach. Keith and Francis had treated her no differently tonight. Did that mean that Keith had realized that he, too, loved her only as a sister? Or that he didn't love her at all? He had scarcely replied to her thoughts on his mother, and all his teasing had been in terms of the past: he hadn't picked on her nearly as much as he usually did.

Nadja recalled the way she had yelled at him, kicked him where she knew there were still-healing wounds, and was overall quite a bit more insensitive than she should have been.

She pulled the covers up over her head as tears began to overflow from her eyes and she couldn't do a thing to stop them. She missed the sound of the balcony door unlatching itself and opening again, but she did notice the footsteps that approached her bed. Throwing the covers from her head, she shot up...and stared at Keith, who was standing over her. Keith, for his part, looked down at Nadja in surprise.

And then she was in Keith's arms, which was quite awkward considering the fact that he was standing and she was sitting, and their hight difference was no small matter even when they were both standing. Yet it was comforting—his mere presence had some sort of calming effect on her now, just as much as it had had the effect of making her quite nervous earlier on the balcony with Francis. No doubt the awkward position was not very comfortable for Keith, for he seated himself on her bed and pulled her into his lap. He didn't ask her what was wrong—judging by the fact that he had come back, she guessed that he had felt the same discomfort and loneliness that she had at his departure without bothering to address their relationship. The tears that leaked from her eyes this time were tears of relief, and he sat there quietly, just holding her until she had calmed.

"Can I ask you something?" Keith asked suddenly, and Nadja felt his arm around her waist tighten nervously. Nadja looked up. "Francis and I had another argument recently—don't worry, we sorted it out—and he mentioned that you and he had..."

"Agreed that we do love each other, but more like a brother and sister than anything?" Nadja smiled. Keith only tensed more, and Nadja knew what he wanted to know. "I love you—romantically, though, and I'm not too sure if you meant yours romantically or not anymore, because so much's happened and I'm kind of confused since Francis was horribly confused, and so was Maryann and she thought that Francis and I loved each other romantically, but Maryann and Francis actually love each other that way, only Francis thought that Maryann was in love with you romantically, and if that can get that messed up, then I realized that I might have misunderstood-"

Nadja was vaguely surprised when he didn't cut her off with a kiss this time. Instead, he pulled her to his chest, whispered "I love you too" in her ear, and placed a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth just in case she still doubted his meaning. Nadja relaxed against him, murmuring, "Oh, good."

Then she realized how she was dressed, and her face turned red. She attempted to scamble from his grip with an embarrassed yelp, but Keith pulled Nadja back to his chest with a chuckle. "If I can wait for you to make up your mind for over half a year, then you can handle me holding you for a little longer."

"I'm in my night clothes," Nadja protested weakly.

"Indeed," Keith replied in a tone that clearly stated that he really could care less.

"And haven't we had the discussion about sneaking into a lady's bedroom?"

"Would you have preferred me to throw pebbles at your window and recite poetry?" asked Keith dryly, "Because if you would, then you chose the wrong twin."

Nadja almost laughed. "No, I just wish you could find some other way to talk to me when I'm sleeping."

Keith snorted. "I'm going to marry you someday.

Nadja stared, not quite processing how casually he stated something that was of such enormity to her. "Once we're married, any other way of waking you will just be a hassle. So why not start getting used to being woken up by me in person now?"

Nadja blushed. "For one thing, I doubt married couples wake each other by standing there towering over each other. For another, we're not married now, nor are we engaged, nor are we likely to be in the near future."

"Says who?" Keith's eyes were dancing in that way that made it clear that he was teasing. Nadja tore out of the circle of his arms anyway, spinning to face him.

"I'm thirteen."

Keith laughed. "I'm teasing, Nadja."

She relaxed some at that. "Sorry."

Keith pulled the girl back into his arms. "I'm going to leave for a while—you probably won't see me for about half a year." And Nadja had left his embrace again, and was whirling around to face him.

"Leave!?" she demanded, sounding panicked. "What do you mean, leave? How can you-"

"Shh, shh," Keith soothed her. "It's not that bad. I just have to go into hiding for a while—I'll be returning to Harcourt Manor, but I've got to wait a while. I can't reappear at the same time that the Black Rose disappears: someone could make that connection, and just because the Black Rose won't steal anymore doesn't mean that people won't want to capture him for things he's stolen in the past."

"And you won't even be able to visit me?"

"Nadja..." Keith ran a hand through her hair, as if begging her to come back. Nadja did not budge. "I can't. Even a gardener or maid seeing me sneaking into your room could be a fatal mistake."

"I won't be here," Nadja replied, looking him straight in the eye.

"Pardon?" Keith stared.

"I haven't told anyone, but the way Grandfather was acting, locking me in a room and everything...I have the feeling he's going to use the party tomorrow to force me to take over the Preminger family after him."

Keith's eyes darkened. "And you're just going to take that lying down? Chances are he'll send you to one of those horribly strict boarding schools. My father sent me to one, you know—I can't imagine a place I could ever hate more than that school."

Nadja smiled. "Of course not. I'm going to return to Troupe Dandelion."

Keith stared. Then he smiled slowly. "And you'll just visit your mother whenever you feel like it."

"Exactly," Nadja smiled back. Then she sobered. "Will you still not be able to visit me?"

Keith sighed. "No, Nadja. When I say I'm going to go into hiding, I mean it. I don't want to be seen by anyone."

Nadja sighed back. "Oh."

"I'll stay the night if you want." Nadja stared at Keith as if he had grown a bright red nose and antlers. Keith laughed. "I don't mean anything indecent. I'll just sit by you while you sleep."

"I think you crossed into the realms of 'indecent' when you broke into my room," Nadja stated wryly, but climbed into the bed and clambered under the covers anyway. When Keith didn't move from his position and just sat there looking down at her tenderly, Nadja hesitantly suggested, "You know, I'm sure you lying down on top of the covers wouldn't make it indecent."

Keith laughed. "And here I thought you'd decided that things were already indecent enough as they were." Nadja scowled.

"I 'm just suggesting a way that you can get some sleep too."

Keith smiled down at her. "Thank you." As he lay down beside Nadja, she reached out on top of the covers to take his hand.

"Don't try and leave before I wake up," she told him, eyes glinting dangerously: a strange contrast with her cheeks puffed up and lips pouting in annoyance.

Keith faltered. "Nadja, if I'm found in here-"

"No servants are going to come in here."

"But-"

"Last time you went off without a word, you came back bloody and pretending to be fine. Did you know I was locked up with Rosso and Bianco in the very same cell you were locked up in? And that they described to me in vivid detail exactly what happened to you when you tried to get back my brooch?"

"Nadja-"

"Please don't make me worry like that for half a year?" Nadja pleaded, squeezing his hand, and Keith was defeated. He turned his hand in hers to return her grip.

"I promise I'll still be here when you wake up," Keith smiled. "Now sleep." And she did.

It was probably very fortunate for both of them that Keith chose to sit up against the headboard when he awoke the next morning, because shortly after he did, a woman entered the room saying, "Nadja, it's time to wake..." She trailed off then, staring blankly at the black-clad young man sitting beside the sleeping girl.

"Countess Waltmular," the young man said politely, bowing his head. "Forgive me for not standing to greet you, but your daughter has my hand in a vice grip."

Indeed, at some point during the night, Nadja had added her other hand to the first, and she was gripping Keith's hand tightly enough that he would have had to wake her to leave even if he had decided not to wait for her to wake.

"And you are?" inquired the countess politely, smiling rather kindly considering the fact that she had just found a strange man in her daughter's bed.

"Keith Harcourt," Keith replied after only a brief moment of hesitation.

"Ah yes," the countess smiled. "My future son-in-law, I presume. Nadja told me about you."

"Oh," replied Keith, at a loss for anything else to say. He was saved, however, by Nadja stirring and sitting up just then.

"Good morning, mom," she remarked sleepily as she sat up, releasing her second hand from Keith's. But once she had sat up, she blinked and looked down at the hand that still held Keith's in a death grip. She looked up at Keith then, who was watching her patiently, just waiting for the imminent explosion. She looked back down at their entwined fingers one more time before all hell broke loose.

Nadja snatched her hand from his and leapt out of bed like a snake had just bitten her, face red as a tomato. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you to wake up," Keith replied calmly.

"You were on my bed!"

"Indeed. I still am, I believe."

"Why?"

"Because you didn't want to have to worry for another six months."

"Why-" Then she seemed to wake up fully, and drooped somewhat. "Oh. You're leaving."

Keith sighed and stood. "It was nice to meet you, Countess Waltmular," he said as politely as if the situation was not incredibly awkward, bowing and placing a kiss on the back of her hand like any proper gentleman.

"Likewise," Colette smiled just as casually as if this man had not just been sleeping in the same bed as her daughter. Keith smiled charmingly once more at her, then turned his attention to the drooping, groggy girl who was now sitting on her bed.

"I'll miss you," said Nadja with a slightly forced smile, wrapping her arms around Keith when he pulled her up and into his arms.

"Don't," he said gently. "I won't ever be far. And I won't do anything too dangerous—I promise."

Then he was gone through the balcony.

"He's certainly charming," Colette smiled.

"And impulsive, and annoying, and with a tendency toward danger..." Nadja grumbled, but did so with a giddy smile on her face: he had apparently taken the kaleidoscope from her bag at some point last night, because as he had embraced her, he had pressed it into her hand. A reminder, Nadja knew, of what he stood for and that he would always be there when she really, truly needed him.

"Now, about that party this evening..." Colette could not stop smiling any more than her daughter could.

It was at said party, as it happened, that Nadja understood what Keith had meant by, "I won't ever be far" when an individual on a terace overlooking the ballroom had thrown a vase at a bodyguard attempting to grab her and force her to stay to become the Preminger heir.

I really never should have worried, Nadja thought wryly.

And so it was with an elated heart that she leapt out the doors of the House of Preminger with a light goodbye to her mother to become the dancing girl that she loved to be.