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Vinir looked up at her as if he was drunk on happiness too, without a care in the world. "Yes, I suppose we should," he said with a laugh and slowly began to collect his belongings.
They reclothed as fast as they could—well, Aelwen did, and Vinir was considerably slower, considering it was his life on the line—and they found their horses grazing on a grassy forest patch not too far away from where they killed the drake hours ago.
Aelwen glanced at the still corpse, the mound of black scales looking intimidating even in death. "We'll have to send others to collect the body too."
"That's right, for the feast. Ah, tomorrow is going to be fantastic."
As they rode back to the palace together, the large sprawling behemoth on the hillside that poked through the gaps in the trees, Aelwen was sure that Vinir was right.
Tomorrow was going to be wonderful.
***
Music blared throughout the night, violins and drums and a dozen different singers rotating through various performances. Meanwhile, the outside of the palace's maincourtyard was completely transformed, with festival banners and trophies from the successful hunts over the past two days.
Brightly colored lights covered every courtyard wall, hanging everywhere to keep the courtyard glowing well into the night.
Various performers and entertainers swirled through the crowd. There was even a group of them parading around with the hide, scales, and the drake that Vinir and Aelwen had defeated just the other night, running around and roaring at other people and spooking children.
Vinir tugged on Aelwen's hand, guiding her toward an open space where everyone was dancing. "Come on," he said, sounding more eager than she'd heard him before. "Let's dance."
"Oh, I'm not much of a dancer," Aelwen laughed, but she let him drag her along anyway.
"Mmm, darling, with legs like yours, you were made for dancing with me."
Aelwen craned her neck as they passed the feast laid out on a long table decorated with fresh produce of fruits and vegetables, as well as seasonal wild game, freshly cooked on an open fire.
"We'll eat after. Come on."
"All right, all right, I'm coming!"
They floated onto the cobbled courtyard, where couples swayed and leaped together to the lively music. Vinir placed his hands on her hips and guided her movements with effortless grace, spinning and dipping until the two of them were a blur, completely in sync.
Aelwen had never felt so alive before.
"I told you, you could dance." He grinned, bringing their faces so close she felt his breath on her lips. "All you had to do was let me take the lead."
The colors of the lanterns blurred into a tapestry of starlight, and the music became background noise to their unique harmony.
The night rushed away with them as they danced, each lost in the timelessness of the moment.
When the music eventually wound down, Vinir dragged her to a quiet corner of the courtyard filled with fragrant roses and thick ivy vines. He leaned in close to her ear, his breath tickling her neck as he spoke tenderly.
"You look stunning tonight."
Aelwen felt herself blushing, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She looked up into his eyes and smiled shyly. "Thank you," she murmured back. "I'm glad we came out to celebrate. It's a beautiful festival."
"You make it even more beautiful."
Vinir reached out and touched her cheek softly, the tips of his fingers like butterfly wings on her skin. Then slowly leaned forward until their lips met. Aelwen looked up into his eyes and felt a warmth fill her chest, overwhelming in its intensity. When he finally leaned in and brushed her lips with his own, Aelwen thought she could feel the stars stretching across their kiss. A warmth spread through her body, and for that single moment, everything felt perfect.
They embraced each other tightly, almost forgetting where they were as they simply enjoyed each other's presence. Eventually, they reluctantly pulled away from each other afterwhat seemed like hours. Aelwen let out a content sigh as she leaned against his chest.
It was just yesterday when she thought that she would have to fight for months or more to find any sort of affection from Vinir. They went from barely speaking to finally seeing eye-to-eye to finding a balance where they could be together as husband and wife. Aelwen knew a lot of it had to do with how she was immune to the curse and that if everything he'd said to her was true, then he could simply be craving companionship after so long of being unable to touch anyone.
But if she and Vinir were like this, if things stayed this way ... she could see herself being happy with him.
Aelwen grabbed at his hands, tugging him eagerly back toward the festival. "Come on, let's get back to the festival. You promised me a feast, didn't you?"
