Sable

"Betrothed?" Sable asked. "As in engaged to be married? How did that happen? What? A goddess and a vampire?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Lucca said.

"Well," Sable ducked her head. "Sorry. I tend to speak my mind. I've been trying to find an off switch, but I don't think one exists."

"That's alright," Lucca was smiling when she looked up again. "We got to know each other very well, over the course of a hundred years or so. She changed me for the better- and I fell in love with her. It's hard to believe that she felt the same for me."

"I'm not her," Sable said. "So don't get us mixed up."

"No, I know that," Lucca said. "Don't worry."

"So what happened to her?" Sable asked.

"She died," Lucca's smile fell. He sighed and rubbed the side of his face. "I was betrayed by my own soldiers. We're a lot more secure now than we used to be. They overpowered the both of us, and Finnian was about to harvest Inara's powers... but she stopped him. She spat fire at his face, and there was a bright light from her chest.

"I can no longer remember her exact words- it's been twenty years," he said. "She used magic to keep her soul living on- and it was born within your body."

Sable stared down at her plate wide-eyed.

"Finnian tried to stop her, but the sacrificial knife went it just as she dispersed her energy into the atmosphere," Lucca continued. "She died before the knife even pierced her. That was the day you were born, but we had no idea how to find you. We had no idea who you were. One of my soldiers caught sight of you a year ago; he said you looked exactly like Inara, so you must have been her reincarnation. And he was right."

Sable stood up from the table. She turned away from him, bringing her arms up and wrapping them around herself.

"I'm done," she whispered.

"You haven't even eaten half of the meal," Lucca said. She looked back at him over her shoulder.

"I want to go back to my room," she said, rubbing her arms. "You can send food back to me later. That lady from the other day- you can have her bring it to me. Please take me back to my room now."

"Alright," Lucca said.

She heard him stand and walk over to her. He held is arm out to her. Sable shook her head, stepping away from him. She led the way out of the room, down the hall, and back to her room. He followed silently behind her the entire time.

"Sir," the two disheveled guards were standing at the door when they arrived. "She- she overpowered us."

"So it would seem," Lucca sighed. He whispered something to them that Sable couldn't catch. "We'll be going in now then."

"No, you'll stay out here," Sable narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't want you coming in here with me."

Lucca remained silent and watched her enter the room. She looked up at him once before shutting the door. She needed to be alone; needed time to process everything he had told her. She felt like there must have been more that he wasn't telling her. She wandered over to the window and peered out.

They were on a floor high up off the ground; the drop looked steep and dangerous. If she wanted to escape out the window, if that was even possible, she would have to be very carefully. She shook her head and stepped away from the window. There was no way she wanted to even attempt it. She was just an ordinary girl; her strength wouldn't hold up for long if she attempted to climb down the castle wall.

There was a desk against one wall of the room with a quill, parchment paper, and an ink well. Sable sat at the desk and picked up the quill. Having never used one before, she wondered if she would be able to use it properly.

She dipped the quill into the ink well and then began to write. Writing out the events of the day always calmed her down, and helped her to cope with situations she had no control over. Did she even have any control? If she had more strength, there was a possibility that she'd be able to overpower Lucca and escape... But she had no idea how many people were in the building. She'd have to get passed all of them too.

"Well, this sucks," she muttered to herself as she wrote. "Stuck in some dumb, cold castle; wearing some stupid dress; waiting for whatever is going to happen next. I want to go home. I want to see Alex again."

She wrote those feelings down. She wrote about the events over the past few days, and wrote about how unreal it felt to be some sort of goddess; the reincarnation of the goddess Inara. The goddess of nature, Lucca had told her. What did that mean exactly?

He had told her that she was very important. He made it the mission of his men to keep her from escaping to the outside world. Why was she so important?

She remembered that he had told her that she was the last existing god or goddess. That was a heavy weight on her shoulders, and she chewed her lip as she wrote. It was a responsibility that she definitely didn't want. It was granted to her against her will. Why did it have to be her? How did the world even know to create someone who looked exactly like Inara inside her mother's womb? Was it just chance?

Sable sighed in frustration. Why did all of these things have to be happening to her? She finished writing and threw the quill down. The writing only served to make her even more frustrated.

She opened one of the bedroom doors a little, peering outside. Lucca was no longer there. The two guards kept their backs to her. She chewed her bottom lip and thought. Food and rest seemed to recharge her powers as quickly as they were drained, so she thought that if she was to do this now she'd need a big meal.

"I want food," she said to them. They both jumped and turned to her.

"Of course, my lady," they both bowed. One of them turned and walked off, she assumed to bring her food.

"Cool," she whispered. She exchanged looks with the remaining guard. He raised his staff, eyes widening; he was one of the ones she had knocked over with her powers. Sable grinned and shut the door, dividing them again. It was amusing to her that someone was afraid of her. He definitely had reason to be.

Sable sat back down at the desk. Her papers stared back up at her, and she lifted and tore them apart. There was no need for them anymore now that they were written. She picked up a blank sheet of parchment paper and attempted to draw.

It wasn't very good at first, but it was somewhat enjoyable. She went through several sheets before she started a portrait of the blond man. Everyone else there had dark hair... Sable wondered where he came from, before he had become a vampire. She paused in thought. Was that how real vampires worked? Were they turned, or were they born that way? She wanted to ask Lucca, but that would delay her escape.

There was a knock on her door. She turned and watched it open, and the lady from before pushed a cart full of food in. Sable's eyes widened.

"Wow," she breathed.

The lady chuckled and said, "I had no idea what you might be hungry for, so I brought a lot of things. There are sandwiches here; soups there; desserts, salads..."

"Thank you- uh," Sable trailed off.

"Emelie," the lady bowed her head and smiled.

"Thank you, Emelie," Sable smiled back at her. "It all looks good."

"I will leave you to it, then," Emelie bowed again. "Please have the guards take the cart back to the kitchen when you're finished."

"Okay," Sable watched her leave. If she had plans on staying there, she might have attempted to make Emelie her friend. But creating a tie like that would just cause problems.

Sable dug into the food, taking a little bit of everything. When she felt sufficiently full, she walked back over to the doors. She concentrated hard on the other side. She wondered if what she was trying would work.

Thuds sounded from the other side of the doors. Sable slowly pulled them open, peering outside. The two guards were on the ground unconscious. A smile formed on Sable's face.

"Cool," she whispered. "Sorry, guys. I have things to do."

The corridors were surprisingly empty as she walked down them. Would it be a straight shot to the entrance of the castle from there, or would she have to figure out a different way?

There was a staircase at the end of the hall. Sable took it, wandering down the long, carpeted path. The staircase opened up to two more floors below, and she wandered down to the last one. The hall was large, and two corridors were on either side. Sable decided to push forward to the large doors across from her.

She cracked a door open and peered inside. Music and voices met her ears, and she could see a sliver of light through heavy curtains over a railing across from her. She looked to the darkness on either side of her before wandering over to the curtains. She peeked through the gap, and gasped at what she saw, her eyes brightening.

There were people at the back playing the beautiful music she heard, and all throughout the room there were people in gowns and suits, and masks dancing. Sable grinned and wandered around to the right, pulling aside the curtain so she could watch more easily. A staircase there led down to the dancing, spiraling carefully so as not to take up too much space in the room. Sable's heart fluttered.

She wanted to go down there.

As if to answer her wishes, a man from behind her asked, "Would you like to dance?"

She looked away from the dancing people to the masked man behind her. His hair was tossled and raven-coloured; at least she could see that. His eyes were a familiar blue... His voice was familiar too...

"Well?" he asked again, shaking her from her thoughts. He held his arm out for her to take.

"Sure," Sable smmiled. She linked her arm with his and he led her down the staircase.

"I've never seen you here before, and you're not wearing a mask," he said. Sable found herself relaxing at the sound of his voice; her stress seemed to disappear. He leaned to her ear and whispered, "Some might think you odd that you came to a masquerade without a mask, but I think it's alluring. Revealing such a pretty face so bravely."

Sable's face grew warm. A stranger was calling her pretty.

"Oh, thank you, I guess," she said quietly back.

"My pleasure," the raven-haired man chuckled.

They earned a few stares as their feet touched the dancefloor. Sable didn't care, and the man guiding her obviously didn't either. He guided her through the crowd somewhere toward the center, and took her hand.

"Have you danced before?" he asked.

"Well, uh, there was a lesson in gym class," Sable offered.

The man shook his head and placed her hand on his shoulder. He placed his hand on her waist and said, "Just follow my lead." He held her free hand in his, and began to lead her around the room.

Several dances passed, of different types, and the man guided her through them all. He made small talk and they laughed, and Sable was actually enjoying herself. Did Lucca hold balls often?

Another couple dancing near them knocked into the raven-haired man. He let out a startle sound, and his mask fell from his face.

"Alex?" Sable's eyes widened. He looked up at her, shock on his face. He turned and ran through the crowd. "Alex, wait!" She followed after him.

"Wait, Alex! What are you doing here?" she tried to push through a sudden large group of people, and stood on her toes to see him slip through a door ahead of her.

She followed through finally, peering into a dark hallway.

"Alex?" she called out. She saw a figure move through the darkness, and took off after it.

She turned a corner and ran right into Lucca. He caught her around the waist, holding his torch far away from their bodies.

"Sable?" he asked.

"Lucca?" she sighed. "I- I thought I saw my friend, Alex, here. Could it have just been my imagination? But he looked so scared when his mask fell off. Like something had been revealed too soon."

Lucca rubbed her back slowly.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, definitely," Lucca sighed and released her. "What are you doing about?"

Sable looked away in shame and stepped back from him. She decided to tell him the truth and muttered, "I was trying to escape again. But I got distracted by the masquerade ball you're holding. It was really fun. Do you hold those often?"

"Usually at least once a week," Lucca replied. "It's not over yet. Do you want to go back in?" Sable looked up at him.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course," Lucca laughed. "I would like for you to join me in many activities around the castle, in fact. When you feel more comfortable being here. I know you really don't want to be here, but everyone who isn't human can see your light shining now. There are those who would hold you against your will and do far worse things to you- than taking you to a ball." He raised an eyebrow at her.

Sable pursed her lips. Lucca held his arm out. She linked hers with his and said, "Well, if you put it that way, let's go."