Masked Love

As I slip further into sleep, the dream takes over once again. “Nikki!” The familiar little voice is mesmerizing. I am so drawn to it, and I don’t know why. I cry out in desperation.

“Who are you?” I need to know him. Something inside my body is screaming that knowing him is important. As I try to run to him, the familiar bonds begin to hold me back. But something different happens. The small boy turns and walks towards me.

When he reaches me he leans down and says, “You can’t know me right now. But I have a feeling we’ll be together soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“You will know soon.” After he runs away, the bonds get stronger and painful.

“Nicola!” My mother once again makes the bonds even stronger and I grow frightened. As I struggle I wonder if I should have woken up by now. The dream is a lot longer than usual.

“Mother help me!” I have no one to go to. The dream world starts to close in on me and I start to scream…

“Nicola! Wake up!” When I finally wake, I find myself covered in sweat. I can see my hands trembling from the fear I had just experienced. Adèlie is shaking me and I can tell she was scared as well. Her voice shakes as she whispers in the still dark room. “You were screaming and thrashing. I didn’t know what to do. Your mother is too far to get. I was going to get her but it’s so dark so I ran over here.” She speaks so quickly my groggy mind cannot comprehend half of her nervous rant.

“Thank you for waking me. I felt like I was never going to wake up.” I explain to her the dream and her eyes grow wide.

“Do you think it means anything? Something like this seems important.”

“I don’t know. I can barely think right now. I need to focus on not shaking.” My hands still quiver as I think of the pain. I didn’t mention that part to Addie, even though it would explain the screaming. She rubs my back as I wipe the tears off my face.

“I’ll stay here for the rest of the night. I don’t think there’s much left, but you need all the sleep you can get.” She gets under my blanket, kisses me on the forehead and goes to sleep. I desperately want to sleep, but the fear of the dream keeps me awake. All I can do is rest my eyes. But I can still see his face. His blue eyes. His curly black hair. And I can hear his voice. So gently and soft, it lulls me back to sleep.

It doesn’t feel like I slept for long because before I knew it the sun was creeping through the windows and making shapes on the floor.

“Addie, wake up. It’s dawn.” As she sits up her wavy blond hair is all tangled from the strange night and mine looks the same. She goes back to her room so we can change out of our nightclothes. I go to my small wardrobe and try to look for something presentable for the arrival of Prince Luca. I pick out a pale blue gown with long flowing sleeves. Because I am a lady in waiting, I don’t need to dress for cleaning. My clothes are a bit nicer than the other servants.

After I wash my face and neck, I pull my long brown hair into a braided bun and look at myself in the mirror. I assume I look nice. Korine took pride in degrading my appearance. I am always underdressed or my hair was common looking. My mother and Addie tell me I look lovely or beautiful but they aren’t royalty. I don’t know what to believe most of the time.

A knock on the door wakes me out of my thoughts. It’s mother. “Good morning mum. How does this look?”

“You look beautiful as usual dear.” She seems worried about something. “Dearest you should sit down.” I look at her curiously and sit on the bed beside her.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“The Prince is coming today, Nicola. You need to be prepared.” I already knew that, and I was prepared. I have been getting ready for this for weeks.

“I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean.”

“The Prince is from Italy. Actually he…” She’s cut off by another knock.

“Nicola why aren’t you ready? We need to set up the flowers in the great hall and have time to get to the Princess’s chamber.” Adèlie is practically doing her hair and running past my room to get to the hall.

“Can we talk tonight mother? I have so much to do.”

“This is important Nicola.”

“This entire day is important, mother. If I don’t get this perfect, I could risk serious punishment.” My mother knows I’m right and nods in agreement.

“Go on dear. We can talk tonight.” With that I run to catch up to Addie. She isn’t too far off but I’m still out of breath when I get to her.

“What was that all about?” We had reached the great hall and are setting up the beautiful bouquets of Polynesias and Irises around the great hall.

“Mother didn’t think I was ready for the Prince’s arrival. It was strange.”

“That is weird. Haven’t we all been preparing? I don’t think we’ve been doing anything but preparing all year.” She places some small Polynesias into the vines climbing the stone pillars. The hall looks beautiful. If there isn’t an engagement the entire look would go to waste.

“I should wake Korine, it’s close to noon and I still have to get her fed and dressed.” After hugging Addie, I fetch Korine’s breakfast in the kitchen and head for her room. I then place her breakfast, hot porridge and lemonade, and leave quietly to get her dress. The one she wants is not new, but a gold gown. It is perfect for an afternoon meeting and I grow jealous as I look at it. All of a sudden I realize how late I’m running and hurry back to Korine.

I already know she’s awake before I open the door. “Where have you been?”

“I was setting up the great hall and lost track of time. I apologize, Mademoiselle.”

“That’s alright. I need to relax. I’m just so nervous about today and the next few weeks, I keep overreacting to things.” This is certainly true. I can see her spoon shake a bit as she eats and I think of the dream. “Where is the gown Nik?”

“It’s hanging from the bed post.” I grab the gown and help her into it. I take her lovely gold curls and twist them to make a fancy up-do on her head. After the tiara is put on she stands and admires herself in the mirror.

“Very nice. I love it. Nicola, smooth that hem on the left.” I kneel down beside her and fix the hem while contemplating the day. It seems to be going fine so far. But one can never tell in the morning, and my stomach is still nervous. I can’t make sense of it.

“Nicola, are you ok?” It’s Korine. She seems nervous herself and I know my fidgeting is not making her feel any better.

“I’m fine. I just want today to go well for you.”

“Well, it’s going perfectly so far. Let’s go to the great hall now.” She grabs my hand and we head out the door. The great hall is just about completed when Korine’s face goes pale.

“My lady, is everything to your liking? Are you feeling alright?”

“I can hear the carriages coming. What if I do something wrong? What if he changes his mind about the engagement? If there is even an engagement.”

“He is not expected to be here for another couple hours. Do not be frightened. He loves you.” So the rumors are true. This is the engagement meeting. I am genuinely happy for Korine. But the prospect of a new life in Italy terrifies me. I might half to leave everything I love. My mother, Addie, Noé, what will I do without them?

As Korine is calming down, I rub her back gently and lead her into the throne room. There, her mother and father await her.

“Oh Korine you look lovely.” Queen Elaine grasps Korine in a loving embrace and sends her to her father. As they speak I move over towards Marthe, the queen’s lady in waiting. She is a strict looking woman, but has always been very kind to me and my mother.

“You did a nice job today, Nicola. But I’m worried about you. I heard you last night. Is everything alright?”

“Everything is ok, Madame. I just had a bad dream. Does mother know?”

“No, she slept in the fabric room last night.” Marthe is my mother’s best friend, and Adèlie’s mother. I can see the sympathy in her face as she talks about my mother. I also realize how harsh on my mother earlier. She only wanted to talk.

“Do you think there is time to talk to my mother before the Prince gets here?”

“No. He should be here any minute. The Princess needs you.” As if on cue, carriages can be heard pulling in to the front of the palace. Servants everywhere begin to race around, trying to put the final touches on the decorations. Marthe fixes the loose hairs in my bun and we prepare to see the mysterious prince.

The large stone doors open, and the boy from my dreams walks into the room.

“Presenting Prince Luca of Italy.”