Masquerading (Closed)

Venice, 17th century.

Raphael Idoni listened to the sound of horse hooves on stone as the carriage he was in trundled noisily through the streets of Venice.

Even wealth can't avoid one being jostled about during travel, he mused with a wry grin to himself.

He glanced down at his seat and studied his mask that sat there, looking back up at him. The mask, had it been alive, would have seen a handsome face looking down at it: dark eyes, loose black hair, lightly browned skin.

Raphael did enjoy masquerade balls. As a wealthy merchant, he was a guest at most of the prominent events in the republic, and this one was no different. There were bound to be all manner of important people there: other merchants, members of the aristocracy, diplomats from throughout Europe and beyond. Hopefully some of those diplomats had brought their daughters...

He wondered what sort of event awaited him. Some were stuffy and dull, but others often resulted in all manner of lewd activities between two people - and often more. Those evenings were always his favourites.

"Whoa!" cried the driver and the carriage drew to a gentle stop.

Affixing his mask, he stepped out of the carriage and stood to his full 6ft2in height. He adjusted his red suit slightly around his waist, double checking that his rapier hung from his hip as he did so, then proceeded up the stairs in front of him to the entrance of the marble pillared building that was the evening's venue.

After briefly lifting his mask to the doorman to confirm his identity and that he was indeed invited, Raphael stepped through the large oak doorway as the doors were opened for him.

He immediately found himself on an internal balcony, overlooking the large dance floor below. The warmth of the expansive room washed over him, as did the sounds of chatter from other guests and the music of a string quartet by the far wall. A wide internal stairway acted as a pathway for people moving up or down as they pleased. Internal marble pillars lined one side of the lower room, while a series of doors stood opposite them, leading to small, private exterior balconies which no doubt overlooked one of the city's many canals.

Raphael caught the attention of a passing waiter and took an offered glass of champagne, sipping it quietly as he scanned the room, noting the other masked individuals, hopeful that he might recognise someone or that a pretty lady might make the evening infinitely more interesting.

Elenora felt lost in the sea of people that were moving around her. She hadn't even wanted to come to the ball that evening, but her father wouldn't take no for an answer. That was why she had found herself laced tightly into her red gown, a red and black mask barely hiding her identity from those around her. Her long black hair had been pulled back into a sleek and becoming pile of curls, pinned her head with jet pins.

The only reason why she was there was to make sure that her sister stayed out of trouble. Her older sister, Catriona, was the belle of the ball. She flirted openly with the men gathered, no shame as she showed her body in a bright yellow gown. Her mask was ornate, feathers fluttering in the air as she laughed for the hundredth time at a joke told by one of her suitors.

She was bored. This wasn't the world that she wanted to be a part of. Sure, it was her duty being the daughter of a wealthy merchant, but she wished she could anywhere else that evening. The noise of the crowd gave her a headache, the champagne tasted dull on her tongue, and the press of bodies made it almost difficult to breathe.

Catriona was hard to miss. From his higher vantage point, Raphael could see the yellow-clad beauty toying with a small group of suited men that stood around her, each one trying to impress her more than the last.

She was hard to forget, too. Raphael had encountered her previously and, while he certainly found her to be physically attractive, she seemed to think of men as mere toys.

Frankly, Raphael couldn't be bothered playing.

Taking a long sip from his champagne, the young merchant allowed his gaze to scan further, and it wasn't long before he saw another dress that stood out. Like Raphael, she wore red. She, like the small swarm of men nearby, watched Catriona, but otherwise seemed to be alone.

And, hidden features behind the mask set to one side, she looked intoxicating.

Raphael made his way slowly down the internal staircase and through the throng of bodies, then across the ballroom floor until he neared the black-haired beauty.

"Mi scusi," he spoke, just loud enough to be heard. "It seems you and I were the only ones who came according to the invitation - I thought it was to be a red theme."

He smiled politely, eyes observing the attractive woman before him as he tried to ascertain who she might be.

Elenora was about to beg Catriona to retreat from the throng of men to the refreshments when a mysterious man in red appeared at her side, begging her pardon. She glanced at him, her dark eyes taking in the fine suit that he wore as he smile politely. When he mentioned red, she glanced down at her own gown as if she had forgotten what she had put on that evening.

"I know nothing of fashion, signore. This gown has simply been borrowed from someone more fashionable than myself." She commented back, glancing at her sister briefly before she turned her eyes back towards him.

He looked oddly familiar. There were few people among the crowd that her family associated with that were so tall. A distant memory came to the forefront of her mind, that of Catriona working to flirt with the man that was standing in front of her. He was one of her former suitors, perhaps someone who had been burned by her sister in the past.

"I'm sure Catriona would be more than happy for your attentions though." She commented as if to dismiss him, her dark gaze searching for a way gracefully out of the situation without hurting anyone in the process.

Raphael nodded slowly, following Bella Red's gaze towards the popular woman in yellow.

"Ah, so you know Catriona Simoneti," he said, as it suddenly dawned on him as to why a woman would be watching such a social circus. "I'm sure she would - however I came down from the balcony to speak to the lady in red."

Raphael took another sip of champagne, his warm gaze returning to Elenora and gently resting upon her, admiring the fine mask and fabrics that covered her.

"If I may be so bold, Bella," he added, "I came downstairs because you looked as though you were all alone, despite being surrounded by people."

It was an honest observation. She looked bored and distant, but rather than putting Raphael off, her willingness to buck the social trend had piqued his interest.

"Me?" Elenora said, a bit surprised that this man could resist the charms of her sister and wanted to talk to her.

Most men wouldn't have given her a second glance when she was standing next to Catriona. Few men even knew that Catriona had a sister. Three years younger, Elenora was sheltered by her father, kept away from the world except when it was convenient for him to present his beautiful daughters to the eligible men of Venice.

"Of course I know Catriona. She is my sister." She finally told the man, not liking the way that he looked at her as if he understood her completely. "Which is why I am here. If I do not watch my sister, I am sure that she would run off with any number of these men. Then my father would be upset with not only her, but at me as well."

Raphael nodded again, his warm smile remaining.

"Yes, you, Bella," he chuckled good-naturedly. "You are the only lady in red."

The young merchant followed the woman's gaze back to Catriona as she revealed how they knew each other.

"Your sister?" he echoed, genuinely surprised. "So you must be..."

Raphael paused briefly. He had met Catriona's sister once before, but she had seemed much younger. She had truly blossomed since. Her name was on the tip of his tongue...

Eloisa? Elisabetta? Elianna?

"...Elenora."

So the younger sister was having to babysit her older sibling.

"Perhaps we can keep an eye on her together. At least then you won't have to witness this chaos alone."

"I find myself at a disadvantage, signore. You seem to know who I am, but I have no idea who you are." She murmured as he said her name. "It isn't polite to keep secrets such as your name from someone that you already know."

She was sure how she felt about his offer to watch her sister along with her. It seemed that he was only attracted to her because of her looks. He had spied her across the ballroom and decided that he was going to initiate the conversation based on that. She was bored of men that saw her as nothing but a pretty face. She had seen where that led. Her sister had already had countless lovers, even though her parents wanted to believe that she was pure and clean. She didn't want to conquer Venice on her back with her legs in the air.

"Forgive me," Raphael spoke softly. "Anonymity too frequently seems to be an unsaid expectation at masquerade parties."

He bowed his head slightly, then lifted his mask to reveal his face.

"Raphael Idoni at your service, milady," he smiled gently, offering his hand in greeting.

The young merchant knew nothing of Elenora's assumption that he had approached her on the basis of physical attraction. It was true that she was beautiful, but it was her loneliness that had drawn him in.

The younger Simoneti sibling certainly seemed less approachable than her sister at first, but as far as Raphael was concerned, that also made her infinitely more interesting.

Raphael. She had met him only once before when she was much younger. It had been brief and he had seemed much more interested in Catriona than anything else. Was he one of the many men that Catriona had invited to her bead? Was this situation one that she truly wanted to be a part of?

"Signore." Elenora tipped her chin towards him, showing him the respect that his position required. "It has been a long time since we last met. In Napoli, if I remember correctly."

It had been a vacation one hot summer to the Italian coast. Away from Venice. Away from the troubles that her father had been having with her mother and her infidelities. Her mother had been pregnant that summer, whether or not the child was her father's had never been seen. Her mother had passed away at the coast that hot summer, giving birth to a baby brother that never took a breath.

Raphael nodded slightly when Elenora recalled their last meeting. He rather wished she'd had no memory of it at all. It had started off rather joyously but had ended in the most tragic of circumstances.

"A lot has happened since then," he acknowledged. "I trust you are well?"

He had intended to ask about her father, too - the older man had taken his wife's passing harder than anyone else - but a flirtatious giggle interrupted his train of thought.

Raphael turned to see Catriona toying with her devoted male audience. The gentleman in red frowned. Perhaps some things hadn't changed at all.

Elenora parted her lips to respond, stopped by the sound of Catriona laughing like a jackal at something that one of her suitors had said. She could hardly believe that her sister was really her sister. They were two completely different people into completely different things. Elenora enjoyed quiet, peace, written words and numbers. Her father kept her at his side much of the time as if to keep her from the troubles that had plagued her mother and her sister.

"As well as can be expected." She said in a dry tone, her frustration at the situation showing through even though she wore a mask.

Catriona's laughter was tiresome, repetitive, and fake. No doubt she was enjoying herself, but it was clearly a front and it pierced through background conversation with ease.

Raphael now saw it for what it was. He had been played once before and had vowed not to fall for it again.

The young merchant could see the frustration in Elenora's mannerisms. He was glad to hear her claiming to be well in a general sense, but that clearly didn't extend to the masquerade ball.

"Would you like me to pull Catriona away from her salivating audience?" he asked in a tone more polite than his words. "Or I could stand in your place. I'm sure you don't like having to babysit your older sister."

"I should just leave her to make her own mistakes." Elenora said with a hint of malice in her voice as her dark eyes betrayed the little hint of hatred that she carried for her sister. "But then there would be scandal and there has already been enough of that brought upon my household."

She glanced towards Raphael, knowing that he would take Catriona out of the situation if she only asked. Then she would have to listen to Catriona complain all evening about how she was ruining her fun. It was best to let her father's favorite child simply continue as she was.

"There is no need to do that, signore. I am capable of handling this situation by myself." She finally answered softly.

Elenora showed an independence that equally intrigued Raphael and told him that he wasn't needed. But he stayed all the same. Perhaps she might eventually want him sharing her presence, even if she knew she didn't need it.

He was cautious not to overstay his welcome, although he had to concede that he may have already done that simply by approaching her. If that was the case, he didn't feel that he had anything to lose by continuing their conversation.

"I do not doubt your capabilities for a moment," he replied frankly and honestly. "I wonder, then, if I can stand next to you as a fellow bemused spectator?"

Raphael turned so that he stood next to Elenora, his body facing her older sister.

"I do enjoy the theatre," he added with a very light chuckle. "Especially comedies."

Elenora was startled that Raphael wanted to stay and watched Catriona with her. No one had every really paid much attention to her when she stood next to the preening peacock that was her older sister. She was the ugly duckling, the one that no one gave another passing glace towards.

"She is very well versed in the art of the dramatic, signore." She found herself commenting, the briefest of smiles tilting her lips as she shared a moment with the man that she barely knew. "Both here and at home, I am afraid. There is never a moment's rest."

For half a moment, Raphael could have sworn Elenora was making a joke. It had been slight and subtle, but the younger Simoneti sister appeared to be relaxing just a bit.

"Perhaps it is more of a tragedy than a comedy," he smirked, offering a brief glance towards Elenora, but seeing only her fine mask.

He looked back towards Catriona as more laughter emanated from her lips. Raphael now saw her as some kind of wild beast, stalking her prey, luring her male audience in closer until she could strike. There was no doubt in his mind that she would take one of these men somewhere private if she got the chance. Or perhaps two. The rumours were rife.

"And so what does an audience member do when the parade continues?" he asked the beauty beside him. "It seems you have reluctantly found yourself with a life membership to the show."

"She will finally decide on the one that she wants and she will lord it over the rest as if she were a queen." Elenora stated, telling him just how things would progress. "She will dance with him, making him feel as if he were the most special person in the entire world. When she tires of that, she will try to seduce him and will pout when she realizes that she is harnessed with myself or my father's guard. The man will run because he is afraid and she will scream and cry at the injustice of it all."

She had seen it so many times, both from her sister and her mother before that. It was nothing new, even if she rarely came to the parties that were being thrown. She had never wanted to be her sister's keeper, but it was her father's insistence that had her there at that moment.

"Perhaps I should live for the moments when his personal guard arrives. Then I will be free of this shackle and allowed to return to where I wish to be."

Raphael listened as Elenora detailed how the night would go. It all sounded horribly familiar. A few years earlier, he had been the "lucky" man, lured in by Catriona's flaunting approaches, like a fly caught in a spider's web.

That had led to the visit to Napoli and the holiday that was cut short for the worst possible reason. The grief had been real, but everything else about Catriona had been fake.

Raphael could understand why Elenora would think of babysitting her older sister as a shackle.

"If you don't mind me asking," he spoke quietly, just loud enough to hear over the music and the surrounding conversations, "Where is it you wish to be, Elenora?"

"Anywhere but here." She murmured softly, glancing at Raphael as he posed that serious question to her. "Where I can simply be the forgotten daughter again. Where no one will ask me to do things that I don't want to do."

It was a romantic little dream and one that wouldn't happy any time soon if her father had his way. She would be paraded around Venice, presented to the eligible men of the city and married off very soon. He could never do that with Catriona. She played the game too nicely and sweetly for him to give her up any time soon.

Raphael nodded silently as Elenora spoke of her desire to be somewhere - anywhere - else.

It was an understandable wish, the young merchant decided. Elenora had always lived in the long shadow cast by her overly flamboyant older sister. Raphael wagered that some of Catriona's would-be suitors didn't even know the younger Simoneti sister existed.

In Raphael's view, the position Elenora found herself in was both understandable and undeserved. If she didn't want to play the socialite game, she shouldn't need to.

After tonight, however, he doubted she would be the forgotten daughter. Not in his mind, anyway.

"I wonder," he patiently replied, "If you would let me join you once your father's man has saved Catriona from herself? A walk in the evening air sounds refreshing, and without the pretence of a masquerade."

Elenora glanced towards Raphael, a little bit of shock registering in her dark gaze. This man wanted to take a walk...with her. No one had ever wanted to do such a thing before, especially when she was standing next to Catriona.

"I believe you have your gaze on the wrong sister, signore." She murmured softly, glancing from him back to her sister. "If you are looking for someone to hang on your arm and your every word, you should be speaking to her."

Still, the idea that he wanted to speak to her...well, it was secretly thrilling.

Raphael hadn't intended to chuckle lightly, but his conversation partner had responded so defensively that he didn't initially know how to react. The young merchant wasn't sure if she was responding according to independence or insecurity, but he didn't plan to give up easily either way.

"You have me mistaken, Bella," he spoke politely. "If I wanted a ticket to the theatre, I'd have joined the queue."

Raphael looked once again at the Catriona show as it continued, unaware of its self-mockery.

"And I hadn't pictured you hanging on my every word," he added as he turned back to Elenora. "I quite like the idea of hanging on yours."

"You are a charmer, signore. Perhaps I am not safe alone with you." Elenora said with a slight smile tipping the corner of her lips.

She glanced towards her sister for a long moment as if trying to decide what she really wanted. She certainly didn't want to stand there anymore, she thought to herself as her eyes turned to one of her father's guards, motioning with her head that she was going to take her leave.

Without another word to Raphael, she turned to exit the ballroom to the balcony that was deserted at that moment. It was nice to take a breath of fresh air, the sounds of the music and voices fading into the background.

Elenora Simoneti was a mystery. Initially cold and disbelieving that Raphael should wish to speak with her, she was now suggesting she shouldn't be alone with him - and then providing him with the very opportunity to make that happen.

Every conundrum and perceived contradiction only served to pique Raphael's interest more, and he watched as the beauty swayed her way to a lonesome balcony, a gentle blur of red trailing in her wake.

When Raphael turned back to where she had been standing, he saw an imposing figure: a large, well-built man without a mask but instead wearing a firm, stoic expression, watching Catriona's enduring theatrics.

The young merchant then took Elenora's lead and followed her to the balcony, discarding his half empty glass of champagne along the way and arriving a minute or so after her.

"At the potential risk of your safety," he spoke calmly, "May I join you?"