A dark obsession lingers between two lovers, all in the form of a bloody kiss that'd happened so many years ago.
Long ago, there was a witch who brought the aristocracy to its knees. Blood sacrifices, massacres, and slavery flourished under her reign. However, a fearless hero rallied the nobles and defeated the witch, bringing about an era of peace. Even to this day, he is loved by all.
Rose is a young woman attending a party to celebrate the anniversary of when the aristocracy was liberated from the witch's control. Nikolai is the hero that everyone adores. But even so, a dark obsession lingers between the two of them, all in the form of a bloody kiss that'd happened so many years ago.
Professional Reviews
Beautifully put together
I was given this short story in return for an honest review.
Review: I must say, this short story did put a smile on my face. I think the writing was brilliant, and only because I'm a sucker for creative flair when it comes to descriptions. The narrative was truly amazing. It's VERY poetic, and that ties in with the narrative and the scene descriptions. Personally, I found i truly beautiful and it really drew me out of my seat and placed me in the room with Rose and Nikolai. Fantasy readers will be drawn to it like flies. Also, the flow was perfect. A great job by the author. I hope he puts that skill into some heavy use and write more stories..
compelling but not for everyone
Surprising, and like the best poetry elusive.
I wasn’t a bit sure about it at first. A stirring story maybe. But, er, is it a ‘story’, a narrative moving through time? And who is it about and how many characters? I first counted four, but, ah! was it really two? oh no again, maybe essentially just one person’s mind, experience, emotion? Not much time frame either or movement (a little) so could it be a narrative? a moment in time then, or rather across time, obliterating it? a mood, a poem? Best think Browning or Coleridge not Hunger Games or Game of Thrones.
I read it that way, not as at all the usual kind of narrative or love story.
The writing is beautiful. Take the opening – vivid indeed if read in a conventional way: a ballroom of golden chandeliers, silk drapes, the sound of flutes and violins, ethereal lights, a description very nicely written though perhaps nothing especially outstanding about it. Look a bit deeper and read on – is it not a picture of hidden decadence? And the liberated society, site of democracy and freedom, hurray they’re celebrating it and so should we – but, but, here is the shock, a society that has introduced slavery, a society of aristocrats unwilling to get their hands dirty, happy, taking it for granted, to live on the pain of others. And the curse of non-forgiveness. Is this then how it finishes, this triumphant free’d society?
And what of the central characters, Nikolai, the celebrated liberating hero, the one who’d saved them from the wickedness of the banished witch, and Rose, sweet name sweet girl, beautiful? Ah yes, but his hollow eyes are hard, reflecting back the aristocrats’ empty expressions. And have not dictators from Augustus right on to those with us now, ever been those promising to free us from our chains? It’s a dystopian picture – the fashion in fiction that I do not myself warm to - but not, we see, a matter for uncritical celebration.
And she? Obsessed with him, with what he had done, tied in a faustian knot, her dilemma, her fate. And was she perhaps also …
But no spoilers, you must read it. It won’t take you long. A puzzle, yes, at first, but I suspect that, as for me, it will remain with you. What is this life of ours? Perhaps I read too much into it, but I end feeling that in its way it is, finally, a blow, a hope at least, for better, more open, times.
Ray Simomons
Masquerade by Robin Goodfellow is a fun and interesting read. Witches are a fascinating topic for me anyway and the author did not disappoint. The version I read is short but I found it deep and absorbing. It displays a sure and adept facility in use of language to convey a mood or to get an idea across. I like that. The characters instantly come to life and you get an immediate feel of their personalities. The dialogue is subtle and com complex. The characters don’t waste words and neither does the author. Robin Goodfellow wields the pen like a surgeon does a scalpel. The result is a desire to keep reading in anticipation of where this storyteller is taking you. I give it a five just on the unique and expert use of the language alone. Robin Goodfellow is a writer to watch and I anticipate seeing more of Rose and Nikolai. I feel that Masquerade is but a prelude to greater things.
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