Edmond scanned through the growing crowd, his eyes pausing occasionally on a group of girls or a family or a pair of sisters. They all looked so frivolous, standing around in their massive gowns with their huge, ornate masks. One of these girls would be the next queen and it was up to him to decide which. Surely most of these would he better choices than Gianette, the bratty teenager he would be married to if he didn't make a decision before Sunday.
That was his ultimatum: announce his bride before Sunday, or he would marry Gianette. Edmond shuddered at the thought. Sure, she was pretty. Beautiful, even. But the girl cared only for her appearance. She didn't care if the farmers were struggling to bring in crops. She didn't care that the kingdom was being threatened with war. She didn't care that a plague was taking the lives of children who were too far for the palace physicians to get to in time. She only cared that her face was properly painted and her dresses finely stitched.
No , Edmond would find someone, anyone at one of these balls. He had to.
Gianette had been furious when she'd been told the balls would be masked balls. Edmond smirked at the memory of her reaction. What good would all of her fancy paints be if her face were hidden? Edmond wouldn't want to marry her if he couldn't see her. What if he chose someone who was disfigured?
Well, Edmond thought, a queen with a disfigured face is better than a queen with a disfigured heart.
But as he peeked out from his hiding place Edmond worried that finding the good heart he was looking for would be harder than he has thought. He had hoped that being masked would allow the women to be themselves. Everyone could be on the same footing. But no, they had just out all tier beautifying efforts into making their gowns and their masks all the more flashy.
"And this," he spoke out loud to himself with a sigh, "is what our next queen will be."
"Sire, the king has asked for your attendance. He wishes me to inform you that It's time to greet your guests and open the ball." Alfred was a thin, tall man whom Edmond had always thought was too kind for his position as his father's aid. The king did not deserve Alfred's patience or his generosity. But when Alfred's father had died, the king had offered him the position, even though he was only a few years older than Edmond.
Taking a simple black mask from the seat beside him, Edmond said "Please remind my father that I will not be gormally greeting my guests tonight as that would defeat the purpose of this being a masked ball. Please remind him that he is welcome to open the ball himself but that I will be just another mask in the crowd." He placed the mask on his face with a flourish and a bow. "How do I look?"
Alfred grinned and replied. "Completely ordinary, Sire. Almost too ordinary, if you must know. You won't be able to get a single one of those ladies to dance with you. They'll be much too distracted by me."
"You're a good man, Alfred," Edmond said as he rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "That's exactly what I'm counting on. You take all the ones with golden dresses and I'll be able to find the one with the golden heart. I'll see you downstairs."
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