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Chapter 14: Part 3

For the second time today, I rode in the carriages with Soren, Guinevere, and Gerard into the heart of town. This time it was under much different circumstances. The white stone cobbled streets were filled with townspeople with large smiles on their faces. Children towed their parents quickly through crowds in an aim to get to the heart of the festival.

The center of the Winter Solstice festival was a different square than where the rebel address and Nealon's execution had been. Instead I recognized it as one of the large, grassy parks that I had seen when I first arrived on the back of Roach.

The carriage stopped on the edge of the square in an area thick with palace guards and Ithican soldiers. In fact the entire festival was permeated with guards. It looked like Luciana and Heinrich were making quick work of providing extra security and eyes within the city.

Exiting the carriage I was immediately hit with the giggles of children's laughter and the continual buzz of happy chitter chatter. The scent of various foods from vendors invaded my senses as well. It all reminded me of the county fair back home. I had only been a few times, but it was always fun to get some tasty treats and see all the towering rides. There were no rides here, but there was plenty of other activities to keep the citizens entertained.

Our small group was escorted to a large white tent with light blue accents. Inside Luciana and Heinrich were already sat upon their thrones, a small collection of court officials around them. There was food and drink set up on a table along the back wall of the tent and two metallic boxes housing a small flame were placed inside the tent. As I got closer to the boxes I felt a tingling on the skin of my leg that was closest to them. The flame inside was probably magical so that it could burn without sustenance and never went out.

Overall it created a cozy atmosphere within the tent. The front was tied open leaving a large space where those of us inside could not only look out onto the crowd, but also to come and go as we pleased.

"Guinevere, the decorations are amazing this year. I am so proud of you!" Luciana said, taking Guinevere's hand in her own.

"Thank you, your majesty. Did you see the hypericum berries? I had them grouped together by color to create garlands."

"Yes, very creative and very beautiful. The citizens are so happy with the events this year. They also seem particularly excited for the musical group you have coming, the Krig Krallers?"

"It's Krig Kommer," Guinevere corrected. "They are the next big thing, it's very hard to get them to come perform anywhere, they mostly just show up places. Part of their mystique."

"Interesting." Luciana said. "I'm sure it will be a hit amongst our younger population then."

"You'll see, this will be the most successful Winter Solstice festival yet."

Heinrich chuckled. "I'm sure it will be."

"Well, if you excuse me. I'm going to check out my handy work and enjoy the festival."

"Take Svindell and Gladia with you!" Luciana added and two guards peeled out from their ranks to follow on the heels of Guinevere.

I stayed standing on the edge, looking at everything before me. The traditional white stone buildings and ground was covered in the berry garlands Guinevere had been mentioning. They were varying shades of pink and purple. Amongst them were wreaths of dark green evergreen needles studded with something that shimmered.

Light blue banners with the flag of Ithica on one side and the emblem of the city of Himmelsk on the other waved on poles along the streets. Part of the grassy park was covered with a large stage and folks were spread out around the ground with food and drink in the hand.

The side streets of the square were dense with festival goers and the sides were lined with vendors all with their own unique tent. Every side street was an explosion of color on the wintery gray day.

The presence of someone standing next to me pulled my gaze from a particularly tasty looking vendor. Lucania was now stood next to me.

"Shall we?" She smiled and held her arm out to me. I linked my arm through hers. "I remember coming to these with my own mother, they were some of the happiest times of my life." Luciana said fondly. "I thank the gods every day that your back that I can now do the same with you."

I felt a small part of my usual suspicion of her activities melt away from the motherly warmth she was enveloping me in. "What did you do first? With your mother I mean?"

"We usually spent some time walking around talking with the subjects before the shadow shows started."

"A shadow show?"

"The silhouettes of puppets to tell a story, many are of the legends of our gods and other folk tales. They have always been my favorite part of the festivals."

"They sound lovely."

"Quite lovely, we have some time to spare before it is dark enough for the shows to start."

As we walked amongst the crowd almost everybody bowed to acknowledge us before continuing on their way. Some stopped to stare and whisper and I ran my hand up to my ear wondering if my hair was effectively covering my deformity.

"Are you embarrassed of them?" Luciana suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Your ears? Are you embarrassed of them? I see you check to make sure they are hidden often."

"Yes," I sighed. "I feel like they make me stand out more than I already do. I feel like they make me less of an Elf, because I don't look like everyone else."

Luciana tugged my arm causing me to halt in my walking and face her. "Nonsense, you are even more of an Elf because of them. The power and strength it takes to find your way back home, through everything you have been through." She reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear revealing the scar and lack of a point. "It shows your struggles to come back to us, to your home, to your true nature."

"Really?" I asked, the insecurity think on my tongue.

"Yes, really. You are beautiful and unique just the way you are. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But if you truly feel uncomfortable then we can have prosthetics or ear points made for you. I want you to feel strong and confident in your body, no matter what."

I felt my heart warm even more, "Thank you mom, it means a lot."

Her eyes immediately teared up when I called her mom and she pulled me into a tight hug in the middle of the crowded street. When she pulled away she held me at arms length and stared into my eyes, "I love you so much, Amberleigh."

I felt a tingling at her words, and it wasn't from magic. No, this is just what the love of a mother felt like.

"I love you too."

A bell tolling from a clocktower at the side of the square pulled us apart. "The show will be starting soon, let us grab a treat for duration of the event."

She once again offered her arm to me and we walked as one through the crowds. She took me to a small booth with a bright orange, patterned tent covering that was selling a type of flaky pastries on a stick with a dusting of pale purple on top. I took a tentative bite and was surprised that it tasted quite similar to a traditional elephant's ear from the county fair. I chuckled at the realization and swiped the purple sugary powder off of my lips.

Luciana led me to a much larger tent within the grass park square itself. Inside rows of benches were set up. We took a seat at the front and guards flanked our spots and sat behind us as well.

The few people inside stared at us with wide eyes and Luciana offered them a gentle smile that caused them to turn back to one another and whisper fervently.

I was nearly finished with my festival treat when the light orbs inside the tent were dimmed and only a large white screen at the front was glowing.

A voice echoed around the room, "We welcome you all to Alfson's Shadow Shows. We have been producing for over 200 years. Today's show in particular is very near and dear to our hearts and yours. We hope you enjoy."

The screen went almost completely dark at the conclusion of his words and it was silent within the tent. I could faintly hear the bustle of the festival outside the fair walls, but my attention was quickly been sucked into the show before me.

A circle of light appeared on the screen with two puppet figures. Small sticks helped to move their hands and head as they tiptoed across the screen. The outline of a palace was soon illuminated.

The narrator's voice came back explaining how the two rebels were on a mission of destruction and vengeance. They broke into the palace and attacked the queen first, a puppet with a crown. "The queen had screamed and cried in agony", the narrator said. As she lost the ability to every bear child.

Luciana slipped her hand into mine in the dark and held on tight.

The scene switched quickly after to show the two rebels who had snuck in creeping out of the palace with a small baby. They were met outside the palace by a large group of guards and a battle ensued. The only survivors of the battle were the two rebels and the baby.

The shadow show ended with the rebels getting into a boat and floating off down the river. "She was never to be seen again," the narrator said. "That is how our hallowed princess became lost."

As the crowd began to clap I was still frozen in shock. The shadow show was me. That was my story. I was the Lost princess.

How could the rebels do that? Just steal me and hurt my mother? And kill everyone who simply tried to stop them from stealing a baby. Maybe the rebels weren't so innocent after all. Maybe they really did deserve the punishments being inflicted upon them.

Luciana pulled me into another hug, almost checking to make sure that I was real, before she stood up. "Well then, that was surely exciting. But we should get back to the tent soon."

I silently nodded my head. The shadow show too fresh in my mind. We were just making it through the grassy square when we could hear Guinevere's voice introducing the band, Krig Kommer for the crowd. There were a lot of cheers and shouts. It was so loud I missed hearing his voice, but he still grabbed my arm to get my attention.

He bowed to the both of us, "Your majesty Luciana, may I please steal Amberleigh away for some time?"

"Yes, of course Ulric." Luciana walked away with some of the guards, a few lingered around us and Ulric glared at them.

"I could best all of you in a sword fight with my eyes closed, go back to the king and queen and give us privacy." He snapped at them.

The guards looked around at one another, unsure of what to do. Everyone knew that Ulric was right, he could and he would beat them all with his eyes closed.

"I'm okay with Ulric, go ahead and enjoy the festival if you want." I urged.

"Yes, your majesty." They bowed and then walked away with a small skip in their step, clearly happy to enjoy the festival.

As Ulric grabbed my hand to lead my through the crowd and out of the main circle of the festival I began to notice many more red flags. I remembered asking Soren about them weeks ago. They were a sign of resistance to the monarchy's decision.

"Ulric, why are there so many red flags? Aren't they afraid of getting caught or in trouble for it?"

"There are more people that resist the rule than you realize, Amberleigh. The city is full of them whether or not you can see it with red flags or not."

Ulric was silent once again as he led me to a quiet alley void of any vendors and marked only by the occasional Elf or Satyr. My conversation with Leda popped into my head and I felt the blush form on my skin all over again.

"Why are you red?" Ulric bluntly asked and I felt my bush deepen.

"It's just from being cold, it doesn't matter." I lied. "Why are we all the way over here?" I could barely hear the music playing.

"I don't like crowds."

"Okay, well what did you want." He was silent for quite some time, just staring at me. "If you're not going to say anything then I'm just going to leave." I eventually said and stepped to walk around him.

"Wait." He gently grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry, I'm just collecting my words. I wanted to check in again, see how you are doing?"

"Not that different from the last time we talked, although I didn't appreciate you ignoring me this morning."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I am sorry. I do not want your father or mother, or anyone else from court for that matter, to think that there is anything more between us than a student and a teacher."

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes, I don't want them to think that."

"No, goodness Ulric, sometimes you can be really dense. I am asking if what you want between us is to just be a student and a teacher, because I was under the impression that we were at least beginning to become friends."

"At least beginning to become friends?" He arched an eyebrow at me. "what is more than becoming friends?" A small smirk shaped his mouth and I felt the blush on my skin deepened. "Ah, you are red with a flush. Are you embarrassed at the idea of us my princess?"

"N-no, of course not. You're an ass, why would I ever want there to be an us?"

"If I remember correctly you were quite jealous at the prospect of Guinevere and I. That does not coincide with the behavior of someone who doesn't want an us."

Suddenly he was closer, or maybe he had always been closer, but I was feeling momentarily suffocated by Ulric. His scent was filling my lungs and his body heat was radiation onto my body. "That was nothing." I tried to justify, but it was a weak rebuttal and we both knew it. "What about you? I've been told you have been hanging around my bedroom door."

He rolled his eyes. "The palace staff couldn't keep their mouths shut if their lives depended on it." He somehow moved even closer still and suddenly my hip was burning. The man was so smooth he had slid his hand under my thick cloak to press against my dress without me even knowing. "I'll admit, I've spent some time outside your door. Words don't always come easy to me."

"Is that why you never came in?" I asked slightly breathless.

"Would you have wanted me to come in?" He challenged.

"Well not when you're being a jerk." He grunted in annoyance at the insult. "But when you're not, I wouldn't mind." I admitted bashfully and looked down at the ground.

A rough finger pressed against my chin forcing me to look up into crystalline blue eyes. He simply stared at me for quite some time and I was afraid to breath to even risk ruining the moment.

A loud bang sounded in the distance causing a jolt of surprise and fear to rock my body. Ulric protectively wrapped his arms around me and scanned our surroundings for any sign of a threat. The only thing we saw was the beautiful glow of fireworks in the sky and thousands of small glowing orbs popping up across the sky.

It was beautiful. Glittering, colorful patters danced in front of the backdrop of the most vibrant and active aurora I had ever seen in Erivale. The streets and park of the festival were now covered in thousands of palm sized glowing orbs floating like a ceiling of stars above everyone's head. A large circle was open at the center of the square offering an unobstructed and framed view of the beautiful scene.

While distracted Ulric pulled away from me and when I turned to face him again he was standing a few feet away, his hands fisted at his sides. "There is no us." He said sharply.

"Excuse me?" I was confused at his sharp transition, had he not just been close enough to kiss me and flirting?

"There can be no us Amberleigh, I do not feel for you in those ways. I am here to teach you, protect you, and maybe be a friend. But that is all."

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