Chapter 18 The Ball Of Masks

• The Blackwood Winter Masquerade was a spectacle whispered about all year and judged mercilessly in the tabloids the morning after. It was held in the Grand Imperial Hall a dome of glass and gold that glittered like a jewel suspended above Blackwood City. Tonight, a thousand masked lights shimmered against crystal chandeliers, and the guests;politicians, celebrities, heirs, and royalties moved like silk in motion.
• Elena stood at the top of the marble staircase, heart steady but hands cold. Her gown was pale moon-gold with soft off-shoulder sleeves and a fitted bodice, delicate embroidery tracing her skin like frost. A mask of white lace brushed with silver hid the upper half of her face.
• But elegance did not equal belonging.