The Stories of an Immortal

Victoria's Ball

I'd never really enjoyed balls, with all those people looking exactly the same, everyone trying to talk to you. But sometimes, I could never resist. Especially one at the Princess Victoria's house.

So, I may have been displeased at first to find out it was fancy dress, but once I remembered that dressmaker whose great-great-grandmother owed me a favour, it suddenly felt much more appealing. I regret to find that for this occasion I cannot for the life of me remember what it actually was that I wore, though I have an inkling that it was quite poofy and a rather disturbing green colour.

Ah, but the sounds echoing out of the ballroom where ones I can never forget. Beautiful violins soared above the jolly laughter that spilled out of the doors. And I shall never ignore the thrill of being announced on the top of a grand staircase as if I was royalty, even if it was nothing special and everyone was announced that way. I often wonder if it would feel even more exhilarating if they actually announced my name correctly.

Not many people had noticed Victoria because the ball being a fancy dress meant that the upper part of her face was covered by a mask. But it did not take me long to spot her in a dazzling golden dress. She was dancing with a handsome young fellow who had a slightly arrogant look about him, yet the princess was gazing at him with loving eyes filled with utter delight.

While I was busy observing my surroundings, I neglected to notice the suspicious stares that seemed to be gravitating towards me. Well, I did notice, but not until too late.

Actually, the stares weren't directed at me, but at the person next to me, who, although donned perfectly ordinary clothes for the situation, had a bizarrely large mask on which entirely hid their face. A delayed realisation, which could have almost cost me my life, meant that I hadn't figured out I was a target and I had an assassin right next to me.

A sharp, sudden pain in the side of my neck informed me I had just been injected, either with a sedative or a poison. It was getting increasingly difficult to remember how to get out of circumstances like this, especially as my head was spinning at what felt like a roundabout going 100mph.

I think I tried to run, or at least leave the ballroom, but the only next certain thing I remember was falling to the ground because I landed, quite heavily, on the back of my head. I was still conscious though! Until 5 seconds later, when my vision started swimming so much and the pain in my head grew unbearable so I had to give in to the darkness.

I bet that what happened next was really exciting, and probably included an epic fight with people running and screaming in a panic out of the ballroom. However, I was unconscious for the next three days so I have absolutely no recollection of it. Nevertheless, I do know that during my long and fascinating life I might have made many enemies, I have also made quite a few friends.

Ultimately, I ended up in a hospital a couple of miles away from the palace. No-one knew how I got there or what had happened to me and when I tried to ask people who were at the ball, they all seemed to have mixed ideas about what exactly occurred that night.

I suppose that sometimes in life unexplained things happen and when they do, it's often a better idea to just except them and move on. I've found that a lot of the time ignorance really is bliss, especially when the knowledge you could have uncovered may have been dangerous enough to destroy the universe.