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"I know that I have been overly cautious in the past, but I would like to reiterate that this is a terrible idea."
"Nonsense!" Says the Queen, as she flits about overseeing preparations. "We always have a masquerade ball in the autumn, it's tradition!"
"Will you at least let me guard you?"
"My knight, it's a masquerade ball. If you're beside me the whole time, won't everyone know who I am?"
"Yes, but-"
"And won't I be safer, if I'm hidden?"
"I suppose, but-"
"Hang on-" Interjects the Fool. "You actually can't tell who's who behind those silly masks?"
The Queen tilts her head to the side.
"Weeeeeell, mostly." She says. "It depends on the mask. Mine is pretty good!"
The Queen demonstrates, and her mask is... okay.
It covers her entire face, sure, but there are other ways to identify someone. It's ornate, too ornate to be worn by at least half the attendees. Her hair isn't hidden, her voice is unmuffled- Not to mention all the things no mask could hide: Her height, her build; the Queen is small, not extremely so, but enough to narrow things down. These are all things that the Fool would use to pick out a mark at a masquerade, and so she must assume any would-be assassin will be at least as competent.
"Well, it does look rather fetching." She says. "But I wouldn't count on your anonymity."
The Knight snorts.
"And you're an expert on recognizing people by looking at them, aye?"
"This again? You know as well as I that she gives memorable kisses, I'm not shamed by my memory."
"You should be, methinks. As it is, you're liable to forget me entire."
"How awful that would be! Prithee, aid my recollection!" Says the Fool, sticking her tongue out.
The masquerade is wonderful, as it is every year. The Queen mingles, and dances, and makes merry. For one night a year, she isn't viewed by the rest of the nobility as some combination of pity case and obstacle to their own ambitions.
Her knight is around, somewhere. She wears the standard closed helmet of all the other royal guards on this night, and acts in a less personal capacity. She doubtless watches her even now, while she cannot be by her side.
The Fool is more noticeable. She wears no mask, for a jester's paint is mask enough. She is quite drunk, her movements lacking their usual grace and her mood raucous and joyful. She gambols through the crowd, stumbling and crashing into partygoers all the way.
"Quite some party, isn't it?" Says a masked figure beside her.
"Quite a party." The Queen agrees. "Though I dare say I'm not as jolly as Her Majesty's fool."
"I'm thankful for that, the wretched sot damn near bowled me over."
She giggles. "She seems the sort, yes."
"Yes, well, I won't waste your time with idle chatter." Says the masked figure. "Goodbye, Highness."
They walk past her, bumping shoulders as they do. She feels them jab something into her stomach, then smoothly drop it and continue moving.
She blinks and looks down.
The remnants of a banana, mashed flat against her skin, lay on the ground.
"Uh..?" She says, taking a moment to parse what's just happened.
"...What." Whispers the figure, having felt something was off and looked back at their very much unharmed target. They scramble for a weapon, grabbing a knife off a nearby table before the Knight crashes into them, pinning them to the ground.
The Queen just stands there, frozen with shock. "Oh." She says. "Oh my. Oh no, oh no no no no."
She feels a guiding hand at her back, and the Fool shepherds her into a seat as the crowd retreats and gawks.
"Keep calm, Your Majesty. You're safe." She says.
"Oh, oh my poor knight, she's going to be so upset." Says the Queen, shaking her head, and the Fool chuckles.
"You're really something else, you know that?" She says, sitting down beside her and pulling a snack out of her coat. She takes a bite, and then holds it out to the Queen.
"Banana?" She asks, and the Queen squints at her.
