Chapter 5

It was the palace again. I recognized it at once -- the same cool marble, the same tapestries, the same lamps. I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. I had changed. My face was covered with a feathered mask, and I wore the rich robes of the courtiers, many layers of crimson silk brocade. My hair was piled on my head in an elaborate coiffure, held in place with jeweled pins and topped with a glittering tiara. I wore light sandals, beaded in a complex pattern. A faint, flowery scent clung to me.

I turned and walked down the corridor, sandals clicking on the floor. I came to the doors, which stood open, and entered the throne room. Once again the room was crowded, but this time the people within took no notice of me. Everyone wore masks like mine. The room was filled with the buzz of conversation and the smell of perfume, rising over the smoke from burning lamps. I mixed with the crowd, working my way towards the far end of the room. The large dais was empty.

Everyone seemed to turn at once, in response to a signal I didn't see, and bowed towards the dais. I hastily did the same. The line of guards marched out, followed by Richard, who sat once more in the throne. The courtiers rose, and resumed their talk, but a bit more quietly now.

Richard was looking over the crowd. I saw him frown in puzzlement. Then his eyes found mine and narrowed. He pointed at me.

"You!" he said. "Come here."

Dead silence. My heart seized. I felt vaguely that I had been caught in some wrongdoing, but I had no idea what.

"Me?" I said, my voice sounding no louder than a whisper.

"You," he repeated. "Come here,"

Everyone had stopped talking. They were all looking at me. I felt the pulse pounding in my throat. I stepped forward to the edge of the dais and bowed as I had before.

Richard was clearly not satisfied. "Take off your mask."

Take off my mask? But then, everyone would see, everyone would see... what? I had no idea. I only knew that I was afraid of what they would see. Slowly, my hands rose to my mask. It was tied on with a silken cord. I loosened the knot and let the mask fall.

A murmur rose around me as my face was revealed, but Richard's expression eased. He shook his head.

"Why do you disguise yourself?" he asked me.

"I'm not... disguised..." I said. I wasn't. Was I?

"Of course you are." He waved at me impatiently. "Take that off."

For a moment I wasn't sure what he meant. I had already removed the mask. Everyone was watching. I felt their gazes, like ice against my skin, paralyzing me. For a long instant I was frozen. Then I understood. I took the tiara off, and pulled the pins from my hair, letting them drop to the floor. I shook my head, and my hair cascaded about my shoulders. Richard was still waiting. I kicked off the sandals. The robe fastened with a jeweled brooch; I opened it and let the cloth puddle around my feet, an ocean of crimson silk. A second robe followed. A sleeveless tunic, pulled off over my head and dropped.

I now wore only a shift of transparent pink, my body clearly visible through the filmy fabric. The eyes were still on me, devouring me. One more step. I couldn't move. After a moment, Richard nodded to one of his guards. The man stepped down from the dais, drawing a knife, and I felt an instant of mortal terror, but couldn't break my paralysis. The knife flashed in the yellow light, and the last scrap of silk fluttered down about my ankles. I was totally exposed, with all those eyes on me. A breeze curled around me, raising the light hairs on my arms, making my nipples peak. I sank to my knees on my scattered clothes and bowed my head in shame, my hair hiding my face.