She lived in a castle above the sea, and while Iredale Keep was known as a place of ultimate safety, even Talilah Verayne knew that it was not completely impervious to intruders. That thought, though, was far from her mind as the large stone structure was prepared for guests and decorations hung in every crevice seen by the eye. Her father was a man who knew how to impress, and the amount of wealth that he carried in his pockets allowed him to impress as freely as he wished. This party - a masquerade, in fact - was the result of an act of desperation on his part. The skirmishes on the outskirts of the kingdom of Ostana had begun to impact the morale within the citizens of the territory, and as a result, the idea of a party such as this was born. Everyone within the kingdom had been invited. Everyone...and then some.<br/><br/>Lilah had done her job to show excitement for the event, however secretly, she wondered if this was a way for her father to have her married by her twenty-fifth birthday. As an heir to the throne and her father's successor, Lilah knew she had a duty to continue on her bloodline, regardless of how inconvenient she found it. While the servants fluttered around and performed their designated duties, Lilah stood in front of her wardrobe and hesitated on selecting the most perfect dress for the event. The mask that she was to wear lay on her bed, surrounded by a thick wool comforter that kept her warm most nights. It wasn't until she found<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Fcache.desktopnexus.com%2Fthumbseg%2F1161%2F1161742-bigthumbnail.jpg&amp;hash=254320171fa94dd86835cb31d573c0d3" href="http://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbseg/1161/1161742-bigthumbnail.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">the blue and red dress</a>that she'd made a decision, and as she pulled it out of the very back of her pile of gowns, Lilah wondered if she'd ever had a better occasion to wear it.<br/><br/>She dressed with haste, anxious to see what her father would say about her selection of color. He was a man who enjoyed vibrancy with color to a certain extent, but it had been Lilah's mother that had pulled him away from the neutral grays that Ostana seemed to be filled with. Part of her worried that he would not approve. Another part of her wondered if he'd tell her it was too childish of a dress  to wear to a party such as this. Eventually, she made her way down the winding staircase of the keep, and entered a long hallway that was seemingly empty.<br/><br/>Dinner had already been served and music littered the air the closer that Lilah approached the massive hall in the center of the keep. She heard voices of various pitches echoing around her, and at first, as she peeked into the hall, she'd wanted to join them. But, after staring longingly for a moment, Lilah looked down at her dress and picked at the concealing mask of her face before she retreated back toward her room. This was her father's party. It was not a place for someone as inexperienced and naive as she.<br/><br/>Luck would have it that Lilah would stumble upon some additional guests as she walked down the hallway and passed the library. She didn't think twice about it until she was mostly down the hallway. Once at the end, she turned on her toes and narrowed her eyes, pinpointing one who seemed like particular trouble. Her mask was a good cover up - no one had known what the Princess would wear to the masquerade, and so the fearlessness that she'd wished upon herself constantly spurred her forward as she frowned.<br/><br/><b>"'Scuse me, but are you lost?"</b>Lilah inquired, clutching her skirts with her slender fingers.<b>"The gathering is back toward the main hall. You're headed in the wrong direction."</b>Lilah watched the guests for but a moment, waiting to see how they would respond and if in fact, they were honestly lost.<b>"You'll head down this corridor and turn toward the loud noises. I cannot imagine it will be that difficult to find."<br/>
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