The Last Masquerade

When the still cold of death chose to masquerade in the ballroom, she stood there, unfazed, fearless of the consequences which were to come her way. She stood there, waiting for the freezing, yet, firm hand of Thanatos, which would take her soul away, from her humanly form. The very thought of it made her shiver with unknown anticipation. However, her mind was not fearful. She was rather at peace. 

The mighty and sturdy walls of the castle had suffocated her breath, for a lifetime, and now, that she had an opportunity to finally escape those walls, she was quite at peace. She walked gracefully through the decorated corridors of the castle, as she had been taught to do, ever since she had become an understanding child. She decided to do so, one last time. And then, he approached her and whispered a few words in her ears. She looked towards him, into his eyes, smiled, the satisfaction evident in her eyes and nodded. 

He escorted her towards the piano which had been placed in the midst of the ballroom. She took charge. A melancholic symphony echoed through the walls of the ballroom, a lone drop of tear streaming down her cheek. That tear took away from her, all of the negative emotions her brain had memorized, all of the trauma she underwent, all these years in the castle, all of the abuses hurled her way, all of the times she had been deprived of her freedom, which rather seemed all her life and the time she had been deprived of her only love. A cascading waterfall of tears began falling down her cheeks in his memories, the manner in which he had been brutally murdered by the king, her father. She let go all of those beautiful memories of love, the bitter memories of her birth in royalty, in those tears, in that melancholic symphony. The sudden sound of numerous claps brought her to her senses. She looked around herself, startled, only to find the suspicious eyes of the king and the queen already looking her way. She smiled at them, the smile not reaching her eyes. She had felt hatred towards them, a feeling of revenge sometimes, but today, she felt at peace, all she felt in her mind, was an urgency to find her solace. 

Meanwhile, couples started occupying the ballroom and the dance started, on the melodious tunes of the piano and the harp. He approached her again, she took his hand, and they went. He had already made sure that not a single soul had been looking their way. They went on walking, into the dark of the dungeons, where her love had been murdered. He took her to the exact location, she could still remember the last words, he had uttered, the day, they killed her love. "I am coming for you, to be with you, my dear." She took the pill he gave her, his eyes urging her to reconsider her decision. She took that pill with a determined look in her eyes, and she swallowed it, a smile breaking on her face. She urged him to escape, he hesitantly slipped away from the dungeons, into the clamour of the ballroom. Meanwhile, she lay there, peacefully. Thanatos had already arrived, he held her hand gently and took her with him. They undertook the journey to reach her love. She was satisfied, at last. That was the only masquerade she had ever enjoyed, her last masquerade.