Unmasked
No one knows him.
Dressed in the ragtag garb of a pirate, young King Gaiten is finally free. To mingle among commoners, drink of their wine, share their meal and friendship. For one night, he might forget about the cold walls of the castle, the empty expanse of his bed. Here at the masque, he’s no more important than a merchant or orphan or knight. Here, he is not a prince. He doesn’t even have a name, hidden beneath these rags.
He is free.
Around him, sconced torches blaze into the night, pushing the night into dark alleys that snake between makeshift booths and the crumbling stone buildings lining the town square. Children dressed as faeries and imps dodge the legs of their parents and neighbors—Gaiten’s subjects, whom he often saw from the towers of his castle and windows
