I washed, mended and folded not just his clothes but all those of the senior household members and at night was so exhausted, I could barely find a bed. I removed myself as far from others as I could and found a warm corner in a stall in the stables. I pilfered one of the heavy caparisons and wrapped myself in it for warmth and to protect my body from the scratching straw. But in truth I was so tired it wouldn’t have mattered if I had slept naked in a field of stubble.
A quick post with an enticement to talk!
As we get the pre-ball notifications and nonsense under way, we invite you to click on the Masked Ball tab at the top of Mesmered’s home page and read away. We also want you to leave all coyness at the door and comment as much as possible prior to, through and after the Ball. The programme (subject to moving faster or slower as the case demands) will be posted for your edification in two days. Our stomachs are fluttering with excitement. I may need smelling salts as Mesmered, but as Lucia Brabante, writer and lover of Ser Niccolo de Fleury, I am fearless. Can’t speak for my co-conspirators!
Scribbler59’s entry in the backstory competition: read on and enjoy the romp!
“But, Marsie, it’s The Must Have Invitation of the Year,” I pouted. “And I toiled to persuade the Direttore of the Museo di Veniche to grant me an invitation … for the two of us, of course,” I added quickly as I squeezed close on the loveseat and caressed a lock of his blonde hair off his furrowed brow.
We have had two entries in the Back-story competition of The Masked Ball. And I would encourage all subscribers to Mesmered and those of you who have responded to join us at The Masked Ball on May 1st, to BE BRAVE, BE FEARLESS and get your entry to me via my email address. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON THOUGH. You will have read Michael Keane’s entry and also Simon James Atkinson Turney’s entry and now we have a third. Barbara is a cartoonist, screenwriter and the author of creativebarbwire.wordpress.com and is one of the guests to the Ball and has entered her back-story which is below. She has also written a Part Two which will be on creativebarbwire in April and I urge all readers to visit and read the next instalment. I have a feeling that Barb is setting up a story here that will continue further than just parts one and two.
When I began the journey to hold a Masked Ball on Mesmered’s blog, I never dreamed that a story would emerge from it, two stories in fact. One is a short-story called The Masked Ball which is entirely different than the blog-story and which Pat from Bo Press Miniature Books is using in one of her brilliant limited edition creations. But here on Mesmered, another story is developing and it’s exciting for me to see what my co-conspirators come up with each day. Till now, we haven’t communicated a story-line with each other, we have just run off with the last line of the previous submission to write our own submission and move the story forward. It’s become an exercise in fleet wordage and spare detail for me and I find I am learning quite a lot about the craft of writing and getting the message across in the shortest possible time. Please sit back now and enjoy Pat Sweet’s continuation of her part in The Masked Ball as Parthenope Neroli:
‘I’m bored, Percy, and restless.’ I took up a stiletto and flicked it in the direction of the especially erected target in the salon. ‘All the ladies do is gossip and giggle and spend hours discussing lengths of lace and flaunting the provenance of their escorts.’ I took up another stiletto after the first had gratifyingly entered the painted face of my target, the next punctuating the chest and damn near hitting X marks the spot. ‘And Gad, what have I to offer? My escort appears to be a figment of my imagination.’ I sighed. ‘Take me falconing Percy, I’ve a wish to get away from the canals.’
I’m one of those readers who has, for all of my life, taken stories at face value. Which I suppose contributes to my failure as a member of bookclubs: because I was never able or desirous of finding meanings within stories, subtle or otherwise.
