Paper Faces On Parade (Group Thread: Samui, MattieJay, Maggie, K-Lee)

((The rules are simple. We each take turns posting on this so that the characters of our choice, no more than three, can get to know each other. The posting order must be kept so that no one will be confused on what is happening. And yes, it is a Masquerede, so proper dress is required.))


How he hated these droll exercises. Every year, Breena thought they had to throw one. It was for the "young prince's birthday" or "because we haven't had one in a while". He found it to be something that was unneeded. The men and women of the court of Breena were so unlike him. They were...happier.

It wasn't that Stuart Bennett was an unhappy man. He had been happy in his youth, when he was visiting the other kingdoms with his father and mother. Now he had to mature, had to be stern. That's why he had chose a mask and manner of dress that was befitting his cold personality. His mask was a blood red, red as the blood that was spilt on the snow during the war in which his father had taken control, with black and gold embellishments. His tunic, complete with black wolf furs which he knew would upset the people of Ulfur, was a dark red and sinched at the waist with a gold belt. His black leggings and boots completed the outfit, making him look regal. So as he rode into the town, the banner men holding his banner behind him, he couldn't help but feel proud.

Behind him, and the banner men, rode Dia Banks. Once a proud warriors daughter she was not the slave of King Bennett. As much as she hated it, she had to think that today would not be so bad. She had been allowed to dress in the traditional clothing of her people and a mask that King Bennett had decided upon. It was a simple black saraong, decorated with gold and red floral designs. The mask, however, the mask was a beautiful thing. It was his black with sliver embellishments and the feather of a peacock flourishing from the side. It covered most of her face, all except the top left starting at the hairline and reaching it's way down to right above the lips. Bennett had thought it would be a good idea if he seemed charitable to his servants. Dia knew the truth and the scars upon her back spoke it. The least little angering of the king resulted in the whip, something she hoped others would see and free her from her prison.

Prince Alex grinned as he craftedly sneeked away from the fussing servants, the whole court was in a freezy over the ball that was only a few hours away. He hated balls, much rather being with his brother and sister then the whole court. But this was one he would have a hard time getting out of seeing as it was for his birthday. He knew it was just another way that the court was trying to give his hand away, but he didn't want to play their games this time. He was dressed in a simple orange tunic and brown leggings and boots, he also wore a matching silver necklace and belt. He looked down at the mask in his hand, it was of a fox. He smiled softly at it before heading down the hallway and entering his brother's room.

Queen Angel nodded gratfully to the young servant that had just finished combing her long black hair and had placed the silver headpiece in her hair, the young queen was dressed in a long green gown and had a simple mask. She wore jewalry with shining green gems and she looked the very the picture of of fairy queen.

Traveling to Breena was a journey all itself, one in which Skarr had strangely found herself, unwilling of course, but deciding to go at Dmitri's encouragement. The road was heavy with fog, blurring the range of sight in front of her, at least until the Breena Kingdom's glow came into view. Choosing to walk the far distance, she had found resting places within the trees on either side of the dirt road. Her dress was safely stashed in the carrying sack she hauled over her left shoulder with ease. In truth, Skarr was surprised she had received an invitation at all. What business do I have in the annual Breena Masquerade? And as she approached the outskirts of the royal city, she hid in the darkness of the trees to quietly change clothes for the beautiful gown that had been her mothers. The only memento she had of her past life.

The gown was exquisite in it's true nature. The corset wrapped around her curvaceous frame, hugging those gentle curves, and held together by jeweled pearls along the back of her spine. The color gleamed a crimson red, shining through the best silk known throughout the land. It was beautiful. Her curly hair was pinned up fashionably, loose curls framing that lovely face of innocence. The masque she had borrowed, not exactly sure where it had come from, but it indeed matched her dress. It was a simple raven's feather black, red threads sown on to form the picture of weltering roses. Her dark topaz eyes were framed, all that was left to see was the kohl that lined her lashes.

Taking in a short breath of fresh air, Skarr tried to relax, and ventured inside the Breena Castle.
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An invitation had been sent earlier that very morning. Another dull Masquerade was to be held at Breena Castle, nothing new for this part of the land. Valentine hated huge gatherings at court, mostly because it required having to shut down the Tavern for the night. He couldn't afford to lose money, but an unanswered invitation was by far worse than insulting the King himself. He didn't want to cause drama, and he might even catch a few familiar faces. Mortisha had been back in town. He recalled how she had made the visit to Raven's Tavern so short, coming and going as she pleased. But at least she had stopped to say hello.

He tugged slightly at the lack overcoat hanging lazily about his shoulders. It was rugged and wrinkled, but then again, he had to dig it out of a chest in the back storeroom. Back in the day, it had been quite handsome in appearance, and still could be considered such. A white undershirt stuck to his chest, the string unraveled at the neckline, exposing just a hint of chest hair, and the masque he had pulled out with it was plain black, covering only the left side of his face. Well, let's see what trouble lingers in store this night... He trudged inside, the hint of a grimace upon his lips.

Busy running the kingdom of Ulfur now the king was gone, Queen Reyna was unable to attend the celebrations at Breena. After a heated discussion with her son though, at the suggestion of her advisor and one of Ulfur's hunters, she had convinced Prince Justin to attend in her place, accompanied by her advisor himself.

Terryn was dressed in a dark blue tunic with a dark vest over the top of it, knee high boots over his dark pants; brown hair loosely braided just for the occasion. Normally he wouldn't dress so neat, but the queen had insisted upon it before presenting him with a mask she'd had made for the hunter. Not wanting to accidentally damage it, the mask was wrapped and stored in a saddle bag of its own as he rode with Prince Justin to Breena. The mask was bronze and black, only made to cover the top half of his face around his eyes, the decoration on the top, right side made to look like fallen leaves to reflect the forest Ulfur’s castle was hidden within.

Prince Justin sighed as he followed behind Terryn on his own horse, not happy about having to leave home. He’d have preferred to have been out in the forest with the wolves, or with his mother…assuming she wasn’t doing the duties of a queen at the time. They were close until it came to royal matters. He glanced down at the simple eye mask he held in one hand, a silver design featuring a crescent moon reaching across its dark background.
He’d have preferred to not wear one at all, his mother having told him he wasn’t allowed to have one shaped after a wolf, not wanting him to be representing their kingdom while wearing something that was a clear reminder to those who knew that the Ulfur Prince would rather run with the wolves in the forest than do his duty as part of the royal family.

Justin had however though slipped on a necklace he knew his mother would have disapproved of underneath his dark green tunic, his outfit the natural colours of the forest, mostly green and a dark brown. The necklace was the tooth of a wolf that had been lost during a fight against another, along with a small figure of the animal that Justin had carved himself; the two were like a sort of good luck charm to him and were usually tied to his belt if they weren’t hung around his neck.

As they approached the castle of Breena, Justin put on his mask, though he saw no point to it, guessing they’d all know who he was anyway so he didn’t see the point of wearing such a thing. He took a breath before forcing himself to smile once he and Terryn had dismounted, both now masked as they were led inside.


Though he wasn’t likely to actually attend the ball himself, Artemis was still dressed nicely, feeling it was appropriate to do so even if he didn’t go considering the occasion. He’d even half tied his hair back so that it didn’t hang in his face like it normally would, though he preferred it that way, liking that it hid the embarrassment or fear he normally felt when he had to be around strangers, or even others living in the kingdom of Breena who weren’t his brother or sister, not liking crowds in general mostly thanks to the panic attacks he was prone to having.

He was curious though to see what all the fuss was about, never having attended any of the balls himself before and wondered why his brother always tried to avoid them. Artemis had a mask he’d made himself, though it wasn’t anything really special and was considering at least going out there for a little bit, even if it was just to watch. Hearing footsteps outside his room though, he quickly hid the mask and sat down on his bed with a book, looking up as the older Prince entered his room.

“Alex…?” He said quietly, tilting his head slightly to one side. “What are you doing here…shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

Riding into the town, Stuart smirked as he got off of the horse and strode into the castle common area. It was beautiful, decorated as only Breena could decorate an engagement. Not that he cared about what was beautiful. To him beauty was something that he should regard closely and never be involved with. What right did a tyrant have with beauty? No, his best bet was to stick with strength and power. Slowly he took a sweeping glance, making sure no one was in the throne, sitting down on the throne and gripping the arm rests. Yes, it was a nice fit. It would be an even nicer fit when he had won the thrones of both Breena from the likes of Queen Angel and Ulfur after wedding Queen Reyna.

"Dia," Stuart snapped his fingers and the young woman kneeled before him, "do not forget why I allowed you to come here tonight. You are to captivate the heart of someone and play them for information on the kingdom they come from. I have allowed you free of your shackles for one night, do not forget that."

"I won't Master," Dia replied, head bowed respectfully.

"Now, go, feast and be marry," smiled Stuart, lifting her head with his hands. "You are as beautiful as you were the day your father gave you up to me."

Dia nodded and stood, her gown flowing and sweeping against the floor. "Yes Master, thank you master."

"Bennett, I see you are enjoying sitting on my throne..." Angel smiled from a hidden entrance to the throne room, "Maybe I may tell you the makers of it so you will leave mine alone." Angel continued to give a knowing smile, Bennett had never been very closed about his desire for more land and she was going to make sure he knew she would have her eye on him. The young Queen of Breena stepped out into the room, her feet barely making a sound as she walked towards her throne. She gave a regal curtsy to her guest before raising gracefully, "Welcome to Breena."

Alex smiled, "I wanted to hide out with you until they made me go..." He sat down next to Artemis, "Unless you wanted to sneak out with me." Alex grinned at him, hopeing he'd say yes. He hated going to the events of the court and he thought with everyone in masks it might be easier on his brother.

As soon as Skarr entered the gates leading up to the common area where it seemed everyone would be gathering, her nerves decided to skyrocket to the Heavens above, to the point where her still-bared feet halted without warning almost causing her to trip head-first to the ground. But, by catching herself, she placed her right palm against her chest swallowing hard as her breath evaded her. Briefly, her mind wandered to Carter and what he would think of her in that moment. He would probably have laughed, called her a klutz, and told her she belonged with the trees and not in some dreary Court attending a ball that had little meaning to herself. Softly, she sighed. She missed her home after the length of travel she had been through, and the wonderful Forest of Ulfur sounded better than ever, and for a moment she considered leaving and just going home, where she belonged. But that is what a coward would do. Run away from things that held fear to them.

An immense amount of people seemed to already have arrived, and it made Skarr wonder if she were just slightly late. But the people seemed to have a cheeriness about them which made her infer that they hadn't been there that long, relief flooding her features. But the new problem was, she didn't know anyone there. Looking around curiously, Skarr picked up the folds of her crimson gown to make it easier to walk around and observe everyone curiously. Nervousness had struck as she realized that her tattoos and scars were made visible by the dress, a thief who had wrestled with the Ulfurian wolves and still lived, which would probably cause the others at the party to avoid her.

Royals littered every corner, but Skarr refused to let her guard down, noticing the way a man that looked familiar, though she couldn't quite place her finger on it, took the throne. And for a moment, Skarr was confused...wasn't Breena ruled by a Queen? Queen Angel at that? And then her question was answered when Queen Angel made her first appearance of the night, and the two started what appeared to be a conversation filled with sarcasm.

Avoiding the strangers at hand, Skarr decided against making her presence known to anyone in particular and instead remained on the far corner of the festivities leaning against a stone wall, watching the others enjoy their night.
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Upon entering the area, Valentine grimaced as the music could be heard over everything else. Mingling was not his best quality, unless it were the customers in his Tavern making decent polite conversation over random news spreading throughout the Kingdom at that point in time. He adored Queen Angel and her rule, but sometimes too much was just too much for his taste, and with the overbearing crowd surfacing at a steady rate, Val already expected he'd be in for a long night. He cursed under his breath, if Delphine so much as touches a bottle of liquor, I am going to throw her out on the streets. He knew it was a lie, but it sounded good anyway.

Of course, the infamous King Stuart Bennett was already seated upon Queen Angel's throne. Arrogant prick. That was only one off of the list of things Val thought of when Stuart Bennett was present. And of course, he had his trusty servants and a slave girl with him. Rumors had crashed Breena of Bennett bringing the beautiful Dia Banks. Valentine actually felt really sorry for the poor girl. Years of use and abuse could ware a person down, yet she still stood proudly and tonight she represented her people well.

Looking around, Val laughed, mostly to himself as Prince Alex and Artemis were no where to be found. Of course, they would skip out. But he didn't blame them. He would if he could. And turning to his right he noticed that Prince Justin, son to Queen Reyna entered. But shock overtook him. Everyone of the Great Kingdoms knew of Justin's love for the Forest of Ulfur, yet here he was primed to look exactly as a member of court should. Shocking. Growing tiresome, Val trudged the outskirts of the crowd, searching for any other familiar faces.