castle. Lily stepped aside for a moment, to look around. The ground had mostly been cleared of snow. In front of her stood a rather peculiar castle. The building was not very large. Its walls were made of a sand-coloured stone that showed beneath the clots of old snow that clung to it. Left and right on the corners were made of round towers with many windows.
"Aren't you cold?" Billy's voice startled Lily.
"Oh, of course I am!" She was glad the snow had been cleared, so she could walk to the welcoming open castle-door by herself.
-=-=-
Most part of the day went by in a jumble of walking around, looking for suitcases with belongings and finding the way back to her room for Lily. The castle had too many corridors that all looked alike.
Lunch had been a very simple and informal affair, but the evening drew close and the ladies of the choir were invited to join the count and his other guests at an elaborate dinner, with the request to perform at least one of the songs they had rehearsed.
Lily had tried to locate Mrs. Henley, to decide on the song, but the old lady had made herself untraceable, so she proceeded to the dining hall in the company of Selma, and Isabella Jenkins. Somewhat to her surprise and equally to her relief, Billy was not there, clearly he had things to do elsewhere.
The dining hall was impressive. Shields showing different coats of armour hung from every wall. Large open fires in braziers supplied warmth and light, and a sea of candles on each of the large tables added to the atmosphere. Many servants, all dressed in red and white, escorted the guests to their assigned seats.
Lily tried to look around without being too obvious about it. Being curious did not fit a lady, but not being curious would be sheer impossible in these surroundings. The choir was introduced to the other guests, most of whom had well-sounding names, and were of noble descent. Lily frowned as she noticed that Billy still wasn't there, even if he was not her responsibility. Selma did not seem to worry about it, though.
Then their host, the count, arrived. Lily had a good look at the man. He was tall and thin. He was not just slender, she thought, he was skinny. His pale skin was accented by the lights from the flames, and by the black suit he wore. There was a woman by his side, blond and looking amazingly healthy in comparison, and beautiful. The man was count Skender Selezeanu. The woman with him was his sister, Dumitra, so Lily learnt. Of course, introductions went quickly as there were more, and more important guests for the count to meet.
The guest of honour was a duke. The man was amazing in many ways. He was tall, had a very tanned face which was overshadowed by thick, bushy eyebrows. Duke Leopold Wanzinger had long black hair that he wore in a pony tail. When he greeted Lily, his deep voice made her shiver down to her knees. She rubbed her fingers after he had let go of her hand, not because he had hurt her but because of the bubbling energy that seemed to emerge from his skin.
Just as the signal sounded that the guests were expected to find their seats at the table, Billy came into the dining hall. Lily noticed he looked agitated. His hair was out of order and his tie was a mess. As no one else seemed to notice that, she walked to him and quickly fixed his appearance as well as she could, without attracting too much attention. Billy stammered a few words of gratitude, as he was stunned by Lily's action.
"We can't have you looking like that," was her only comment as they walked to the table they were meant to sit at.
The dinner was amazing. Not only was the food exquisite, but also the way in which it was presented was breathtaking. Lily had never seen such colourful food, and so many shapes and patterns made of simple vegetables and potatoes. Usually she would eat moderately, but this time she enjoyed the food so much that she could not resist a few helpings of the extraordinary dishes.
By the time dinner was done and Mrs. Henley rose to announce the first short performance of the choir, Lily worried that she would not be able to stand, but those worries were in vain. She was also relieved that Mrs. Henley had chosen one of the simpler and more melodious songs for that evening.
Lily was painfully aware of a few slip-ups from some of the ladies as they sang, but the guests who were still at the table were engrossed in conversation, so it was unlikely that they had caught these mistakes. After the song, everyone applauded, though, so they had been listening after all. Lily noticed that Billy applauded quite vigorously, entirely out of place for that simple song. She just wanted to disappear right there and then, lock herself in her room and be alone. But that was not what the count had in mind.
A servant had come in with a bouquet of red roses, and the count personally handed a rose to each of the ladies, expressing his gratitude for their appearance. After that everyone was free to go where they pleased, so Lily took the opportunity to slip out of the large hall and find her room. Once there, she locked the door with the heavy iron bolt lock that was mounted on it. The metal had not been used often, Lily had to draw on her Masked Woman powers to move it into place. The scream of the dry metal made her shiver as it tore through her.
As she got ready for bed, Lily listened attentively to the sounds in the old castle. It was amazing, she thought, how much she could hear, even in this old building, with its massive, solid rock walls. As she blew out the candle and then slipped into bed, Lily was ever so grateful that she could also ignore all that noise she could hear. Otherwise she'd go raving mad.
The bed was cold. Lilly shivered as she pulled her knees up to her chin to get warm, and she squeezed her eyes shut to make the rest of the world go away and invite the blackness of sleep.
-=-=-
The scratching made Lily wake up with a jolt. Sitting in her bed, she reached for the mask that was next to her. It had the light-enhancing glass mounted, but in the pitch black room it did not do her any good, as she had drawn the heavy curtains. Again she heard the scratching sound. It came from the door, as if someone tried to get in. Slowly Lily folded back the covers, goosebumps invading her skin as the cold air in the room hit her. She left the bed and moved to where she remembered the door, very quietly. The ice cold stone floor bit into her feet as she stepped from the few carpets that lay in the room. She listened, her hearing sliding into the extreme.
Lily heard muffled breathing, a bit of scraping and another scratch at the door. A soft thud followed, as if someone tried to force the door open. It would take more than the shoulder of even a very strong person to break through this ancient wood though. Also the big bolt would be a hard hurdle to break.
Curiosity of who this was awoke the Masked Woman within Lily. In the dark, relying in her other senses, she quickly moved to the case that held the gear of her alter ego. It did not take her long to put it on. In the dark she had to search for the mask, which had slipped from the night stand onto the ground, and then, fully alert, Lily returned to the door.
Whoever had been trying to enter, had left. The person breathing and scraping was no longer there, as the lack of breathing told her, so Lily took hold of the sturdy bolt and unlocked the door. The scream of old iron was not as loud as when she had closed it, but still loud enough to make her hold her breath and wait, listening for noises from the other side of the door. There were none.
The Masked Woman flipped the switch on her ray-gun, felt the reassuring vibration in the handle, and left the room. Candles shimmered their feeble light along the rough stone wall, bathing the corridor in an eerie atmosphere. The soft whine of the gun seemed incredibly loud to Lily. Usually there was enough noise around, but the corridor was silent, dead silent. She tried to decide which way to go, left or right, so she strained her ears to catch any sound.
When she heard it, it was more a feeling than something audible. The Masked Woman turned left and as quickly as she could walked through the corridor, passing several more doors, like the one to her bedroom. Where the corridor ended, she waited and listened again. Left or right... Right this time. Lily paced along the wall, which again was illuminated by only candles. Several of them had burnt down already and extinguished themselves.
In a dark passage the Masked Woman almost ran into someone - someone bent over and trying to push a metal blade between the door and the wall. The figure, all in black, tumbled to the ground. Lily was surprised to see how fluidly the person rolled over and got to his feet again. The only sound Lily heard was a soft hiss, then the black shape leapt forward and bent over to ram a shoulder into her stomach. As the Masked Woman, Lily was quick. Very quick. The shoulder of her assailant only found air and tumbled again, rolling over his shoulder and veering to his feet almost as elegant as a ballet dancer.
"You're good," the black shape whispered. It was a woman's voice!
"What do you want?" Lily asked, as she brought out her ray-gun. She knew that her whip would be useless here, she had brought that out of habit.
The only reaction she got from the woman in black was a short laugh. Then the dark shape dashed away, waving an arm over the candles. The airflow she made was too much for most flames; the escaping woman left Lily literally standing in the dark. There was no use, she knew, in trying to find the person in black now.
It did not take the Masked Woman long to find the way back to her room, despite the darkness. She closed and bolted the door, found matches to light the candle,