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Now that expression, he hadn’t gotten from me. Chuckling, I accused, “Bossy little fae.”
“She’ll like it better that way,” Nicu lobbied. “It’s a flame.”
Meaning, it was more attractive. Scarcely six years old, and already he was noticing the difference between clothes that intimidated and garments that enticed. Thank Seasons he’d inherited my taste, albeit more refined and scaled back like someone else I knew.
For the second time, that bloody fucking brass instrument honked, announcing the hour. Taking my son’s advice, I yanked the cloth from my throat, letting the ruffled neckline work its own magic. A black coat and shirt in contrasting fabrics, with corresponding leather pants and boots. No color but the ribbon bracelet. Nor any embellishments but the painted onyx diamond spearing through one eye.
Simple. Seductive.
Aye. She would do more than like it.
My lips tilted. “The world is waiting for us.” Turning, I extended my hand to Nicu. “Shall we?”
Minutes later, we exited the castle. Fog licked the night sky, raptors cut across the firmament, and the maples glinted with maroon light. The crisp air smelled of merlot, lush spices, and woodsmoke.
With Tumble draped over his shoulders, Nicu hopped ahead and careened into Aire’s leg. The knight grunted in amusement, then flashed me a rare but genuine grin before swinging my son and the familiar onto his shoulders.
Miniature globes of fire marked a trail through the pasture, then the harvest fields, and into the lower town. The newly reconstructed timber and plaster buildings rose higher than before, with leaf vines scaling the facades. Through alleys and thoroughfares, candles blazed in the windows, lantern garlands poured additional illumination onto the streets, and a team of bonfires writhed against the wind.
The largest pyre bloomed in the square, as it had the last time. Only now, revelers bounded and spun around the beacons, dancing freely instead of wielding weapons and tearing one another to shreds. They weren’t the same people they’d been before, no longer congratulating themselves for representing the epitome of charity and benevolence.
Yet beneath the jeweled and glittering masquerade visors, their eyes seemed clearer and their gazes wider. As though a veil had been lifted, the people saw this nation’s flaws as well as its strengths. Whilst the same traits still exemplified Autumn’s culture, this kingdom of honesty had begun viewing itself with more rawness and criticism than before. The classes had become open to broader perspectives, including the nature of humanity and equality, which the princess and I spoke about publicly on a routine basis.
Slowly, we’d been integrating the people, freeing born souls from their confines and giving them wages, wellness care by the court physicians, housing on the castle grounds and lower town, and work in whichever skills they displayed.
Whilst that sometimes discomfited others, many of the denizens had grown used to it. We didn’t live without the occasional outbreak of opposition from singular voices or small groups, but those infrequent conflicts hadn’t led to carnage. Instead, the queen, princess, and I had established laws to prohibit hateful acts and invited the people to engage in a discourse rather than killing sprees.
One step. One day. One spark.
That was our beginning. And what a glorious one.
With the town rebuilt, the court recovered, and the Season restored, tonight we turned chaos into hope. One year later, ’twas time to host the Reaper’s Fest bonfire ball the right way.
No Spring monarchs. No Summer pricks. No Winter princes.
According to the reports, Jeryn hadn’t located Flare yet. But those reports also said he was still hunting for her. So the princess and I remained on guard, vigilant of news.
In the meantime, this fest belonged to Autumn. Blazes crackled, hurling embers into the air. To the beat of drums and fiddles, revelers pirouetted around the pits. Their masks varied from iridescent to woven of foliage, the shapes from slender to wide. Some visors sat upon long stems like scepters, and others fastened to the attendants’ faces.
Not everybody wore one, though. I hadn’t, opting instead for eye makeup.
The revelers not dancing tipped back flagons and hollered with laughter. Perhaps a few forbidden pairings here and there sidled into the shadows, mayhap influenced by the bold presence of former Spring citizens.
From atop Aire’s shoulders, Nicu’s face glowed with amazement. Behind his stag mask, a hundred flames swirled in his pupils.
I relished the sight, my chest constricting. Not only had Jinny’s most recent letter arrived this morning—her tidings to Nicu had boosted his spirits—but several children waved to him. Since the riot, my son and those tykes had developed a kinship. Because they’d spent a night in the public stable, resting whilst our clan helped the town clear its wreckage, the episode had given Nicu an opportunity to charm the striplings.
Furthermore, the revelers no longer regarded him like a harbinger of some noxious plague. For my son, this had been a good day.
Beside the main bonfire, Eliot strummed his lute with the musicians. At one point, his fingers tripped, the notes faltering as one of the resident nobles caught his eye from across the expanse—a man with dark skin, slate gray hair, and a dragon scale mask. The minstrel’s attention lingered on him, a heated flush stealing up his neck. It took a while for either of them to peel their gazes away. Even then, Eliot’s head dipped, his mouth crooking.
Cadence, Posy, and Vale undulated and hooted as the minstrel played. Spotting the ladies despite their metallic floral visors and then getting a nod of permission from me, Nicu scrambled off the knight and launched in their direction with Tumble.
I knitted my eyes at the clique, my pulse ratcheting up. They’d kicked me out of Briar’s suite earlier, shooing me off and hinting about a Royal wax treatment, a common practice in Spring. Not ten seconds after I’d vacated the suite, the sound of a rip and the princess’s angry yelp had flooded the foyer.
I wouldn’t lie. My tongue watered as I imagined the result, all that bare pink flesh at my disposal.
Soon. Very soon.
