Archived:The Modern Janissaries/The Ball

She wore a black dress with deep V-neck. The skirt blended into an intricate design, which stood out with a mesh, see-through fabric, that went over her chest and over her arms, finishing at her wrists. There was a slit running down one leg that showed off her black heels. She waited in the foyer, finishing up her make up in the mirror.

"If I say no, will you try stop that infernal buzzing noise?" She asked idly.

Her eyes slid over to Erraline and she studied her out of the corner of her eye, slowly analyzing her choice of clothes and anything that might give them away. "Much," she said, replying to Eliza. Her eyes dropped to the necklace and bit back a sigh as she realised the change of jewellery. Tonight was going to be fun. She turned her attention back to the mirror and asked "is there a camera on us, or is it just the mics?"

Perfect. "Don't bother," she said, drawing back and sliding the lip stick into her bag and looked at Erraline, wondering if she should start a conversation. "So..." she said and blinked, when was she ever tongue tied? "Do you like dances? I imagine you've been to a lot."

She frowned, crossing her arms, and cocking her hip to the side as she gazed at the door leading to the ball, "lets hope not many events unfold here," she mused before looking back at her, "that necklace, the other one, it's sentimental, isn't it?"

"I've never understood sentimentality," she said, frowning, "so much easier to just have no connections to anything. Makes it easier to pick up and leave. Being sentimental...is a bit of a barrier. Makes you vulnerable. I tried to be attached to something, a bunny rabbit, but it died and I didn't really care. If I had a necklace my parents gave me, I would probably loose it." She was rambling, but she was also nervous and it was nervous tick. Ramble.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug, "I've never met them. Well, I've met my mother but she ditched me when I was two, so..." she trailed off with a shrug, "that doesn't count."

"Would you rather us ignore each other?" She asked before looking at her with wide eyes, surprised that she'd attack the topic so bluntly, "I didn't think you were in love with him. It'd be much more obvious if you were. But if that's the case, then thanks...I guess?"

"I didn't ask for you to do it, so you get no thanks," she said with a shrug.

"He already has," she said refraining from rolling her eyes, "and you don't annoy me. You make me wary. Quite different."

She smiled faintly, "where are they?" She breathed out, "you'd think we'd be the stragglers, all they have to wear are suits."

Julian walked into the foyer, attempting to fix his tie but he was having no luck. "Are one of you gonna help me with this." He said suddenly, looking at the two and completely oblivous that the girls had just been talking about him. "Well?"

She rolled her eyes at him before walking over to help him. Her fingers were gentle as she untied it, "you'd think you'd know how tie one, or do you have a servant to do it for you?" She said, teasing him.

"Just tie it so we can head inside." He grumbled before looking over to Erraline, giving her a small smile before turning to the ceiling and waiting for Elle to finish.

She glanced up at him and pursed her lips, biting back a reaction and pushed it tightly up against his neck. "We can't, we're waiting for Miquel."

She stepped back from Julian, crossing her arms in front of her, her heart thundering in her chest. This was it. This was really happening. "Of course," she murmured before looking at the other two, "ready?"

She nodded at Miquel then walked towards the door where it slid open before she could reach the handles and looked over to one of the boys, "we need to partner up," she declared, "one boy, one girl."

She glanced at Julian and shrugged, "why don't you two?"

Julian didn't really care who he went with, both women would make the night slightly less boring. With a small smirk, he looked over at Elle and offered her his arm. "Shall we?" He asked, waiting for her answer.

She gazed at him before a smile erupted, lighting up her entire face, and slid her arm into his.

She turned to glare at Miquel, "considering the situation, I don't think she'd care you did the waltz with someone."

"Messing around with someone usually makes one humorous, not look naive and innocent."

"Come on, we're going to attract attention if we don't go in soon," she told Julian, reaching over to cover his hand with her other arm.

Without another word, the lunar prince led himself and Elle into the party.

Just like Erraline, Julian felt comfortable with his surrondings. As a young child, parties like these is what his life revolved around. For a second, when walking through the doors, he smiled and thought of when he and his mother would plan events like these. It wasn't until his mind caught up with the rest of his life that his smile faded and he simply looked around the room.

She was looking aroung them, only half listening to what the others were saying. She wondered if they were here yet, or if they were just coming when she needed them. She sighed and shifted her position, unknowingly moving closer to Julian. "We should dance," she suggested, "we'd get a better position to look around us."

Without asking or even saying a word, Julian pulled Elle onto the dance floor and began to dance with her. With being raise in a royal family, Dancing was one of the many things Julian had to learn as a child so - he wasn't stumbling around while dancing with Elle. In fact he did it almost effortlessly while watching the crowd for ant signs of Katherine.

She followed the movements with ease, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked, "you're very quiet."

The sound of Elle's voice snapped Julian out of his own thoughts. When he looked down at her he only smiled softly and nodded his head. "The party just reminds me of home... the bad and the good memories." He replied before looking away from her and letting his eye roam around the room.

"I use to always dream about going to something like this," she mused, looking the other way, "I use to force unwilling victims to dance with me." She paused before adding on, "I was five."

A smile tugged at the corner of Julian's mouth as he heard Elle. "If we had met sooner, you would have been to one of these almost every day." He responded while looking down at her, admiring her dress and her beauty - subtly of course.

"Are you allowed to bring non-royals to your events?" She asked, curious. She could never stop herself from asking for more information.

He shrugged softly before twirling her around, pulling her close to him once she made a full turn. "I'v never been one to follow the rules.." He smirked while continuing to dance with her, his eyes seeing Erraline and Miquel near to men but he didn't care enough to ask why.

She held her breath as she turned and was pulled closer to him. Her hand, once on his shoulder, slipped around his neck as she accustomed herself to the proximity, to make themselves more comfortable. "I think I've gathered that," she breathed out.

It wasn't until he spotted Katherine that Julian raised an eyebrow. "Looks like those two guys have a friend." Julian voiced in a hushed tone before turning them around to let Elle see who he was talking about.

Her eyes snapped over to the trio, her eyes analysing them at every inch. "That's got to be her," she whispered, "who else would make the crowd bend like that?" She hesitated, seeing the other two, "seems they beat us to the punch."

She blinked, tearing her eyes away from the other two and looked at Julian, "I think I need to go to the bathroom, are you okay waiting by the drinks? I should go with Erraline. Means we won't be seperated." With that, she dragged him off the dance floor. Pausing beside Erraline, she coughed, "hey, could you...could you come to the bathroom with me?" She asked, and as she finished her sentance the other two, Kieran and the red head, had disappeared.

She glanced to Miquel, looking slightly apologetic, "do you mind?"

She smiled tightly, before grabbing Erraline's wrist, tugging her towards the door leading out into a hallway.

She shook her head, pressing her finger to her lips, gesturing to the ear piece, tugging her past the bathroom door and deeper into the hallways.

She began to run, her feet echoing against the hallway, dragging the other girl with her. Finally, in a dark hall, near an exit, she stopped. Letting her go, she turned to face her. "I am so, so sorry," she breathed out.

She breathed, reaching up with one hand to take off her earpiece, with the other, reaching up to Erraline's. Leaning back, she threw them onto the ground, smashing them under her heel. "For this," she breathed before looking past her to nod at someone. A second later, a cloth was clammed onto Erraline's mouth, attempting to knock her out, with a strong arm wrapping around her body to keep her still.

The cloth was soaked in chloroform and Elle turned to the person behind her, expressionless, "if you hurt her, or put one finger where it shouldn't be, I will slit your throat," she threatened before glancing to Erraline, looking down at her with a cold, cut off expression. Glancing back to him she nodded and glided out of room, pushing open the door and into the outside.