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“His Highness wishes to take you to the Zalas City Street festivals today.” Cirro sniffed, his eyes moving down my body and taking in my linen trousers and shirt. “He requested you wear something nice.”
My knuckles tightened on the door handle despite the smile I gave Cirro, and I nodded my head. He finally removed his foot from the doorway, and I closed the door a little too sharply without saying goodbye. Gracie had sat herself back down on one of my couches and was watching me with an amused smirk on her face.
I rolled my eyes, balling my hands into fists as I crossed the living room towards the still hot mug of tea on my coffee table.
“He is the worst person in this castle,” I grumbled, gulping down a mouthful of tea and listening to Gracie laugh gleefully.
Gracie followed me as I went into my bedroom, towards the double wardrobe full of dresses. The sight of them all still made my stomach twist uncomfortably; the selection of sweet pastel dresses giving way into the dark, jewelled ballgowns and court approved gowns. It was more dresses than I had owned in my entire life.
I slipped a light purple dress from the row, the light fabric floating down to around ankle length and the sleeves loose and slightly puffy. Fabric flowers were scattered across the bodice and sleeves, and there was a small band of pearls along the waistline. From what I had seen out the windows this morning, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was already blazing, so keeping cool was my main priority. Holding the dress up to Gracie to get her opinion, I let out a relieved sigh when she nodded, the idea of having to try on more than one dress already exhausting me.
Once she had helped me dress, Gracie sat me in front of the large mirror in the bathroom and worked her magic on my hair. The red curls were tamed into a large bun near the nape of my neck, and the rest were woven around the small tiara I was expected to wear on outings. I barely recognised myself by the time she had finished with me. From the almost doubled number of freckles on my face to the expertly masked bags of exhaustion under my eyes, she had turned me from a tired, resentful person, to the beautiful Queen the people of Fire were expecting to see.
If only they knew what their lovely Queen was planning, I thought to myself, holding my own gaze in the mirrorbefore flicking my eyes up to Gracie.
Smiling at me in the mirror, Gracie squeezed my shoulders, as if she could read my mind.
~~~
The streets of Zalas City were packed. People pushed onto the pavements like sardines as they waited to get a glimpse of Cyrus and I in our carriage.
Cyrus had been waiting at the front door when I finally made it downstairs, exactly an hour after Cirro had crashed my morning with Gracie. His head was bowed low as he whispered something to Cirro, a look of urgency on his face.
He was dressed in an outfit I had seen him in before, and one that I had dubbed as his ‘casual king’ look — a white shirt, with the top three buttons undone, tucked into dark trousers and boots. He had a small sword sheathed at his side, although it was not for use. The silver blade and golden handle were there simply as a sign of status. He had a crown matching my own atop his black hair, and at the sound of me arriving, he lifted his head. His eyes roamed up my body before locking on mine, a small smile on his lips.
Crossing the lobby, I held his gaze with my chin tipped upwards. Cirro stood beside him, his hair no less sweaty than it had been when I had seen him last, and a sneer on his features. It took everything in me not to snarl at himas I reached them, Cyrus taking my hand and pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
“You look lovely, Sweetheart.” He smiled, his voice low. I blushed, curtsying where I stood.
“Thank you. You look great, too.” I returned his smile with one of my own as he let go of my hand and held out his elbow for me to take.
The heat as we stepped out of the castle had been stifling, and I was suddenly very glad that Gracie had handed me a small, lace fan as I had been leaving my room. I had invited her along, but she laughed, claiming she would rather spend the day cleaning the stables than share a carriage with Cirro.
Settling into the small carriage, I pulled my skirts over my legs as Cyrus sat in the seat across from me. The carriage was by no means large, so our knees were touching in the middle of the space. Cyrus’s eyes caught mine again, and he threw me a quick wink, making my stomach erupt into those cursed butterflies.
The carriage took off, and within an hour we were in the thick of the city.
Different smells and sounds filled the carriage through the open windows, and I found my mouth watering at a particularly strong scent of cinnamon. People from all over the Kingdom seemed to flock into the city center, with every single outfit I saw completely different. It was easy to tell who lived close by and who did not, who hadbeen here since early this morning and who had just arrived. There were more people than I could even register; parents and their children, farmers, teenagers with their groups of friends, merchants, and more Fae than I had ever seen in my life.
The sight of all the Fae mingling in with everyone else made my mouth drop open in awe. They looked so comfortable and at home, conversing with people who did not look at them like they hated them. My eyes snagged on one couple in particular, a Fae male holding a sugar frosted donut above the head of his female companion, who, to my shock, was one-hundred-percent human. She was on the tips of her toes, one hand stretched above her head and one on his chest, her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as she tried to reach for the sugary treat. They were both laughing, the male staring down at her with a look that I could only describe as complete adoration.
Cyrus bumped his knee against mine, and I jumped back from the window slightly, my cheeks flushing at being caught staring. He did not say anything, but he pointed to the window on the other side of the carriage instead. I slid across my seat slightly, focusing my gaze now on the street performers who had cleared a space in front of an open bakery. The crowd stood around them in a circle, shuffling around as more kids pushed their way to the front.
The three performers stood in black cloaks, their hoods pulled up over their heads and their hands tucked into their sleeves. The crowd around them stopped theirmovements, and I felt Cyrus move closer to the window on his side of the carriage.
A cloud of smoke erupted at the feet of the three figures, and I gasped as they disappeared for a few seconds, only to be replaced with a male and two females, wearing outfits of bright red and covered in sequins. The women had their faces painted in the most stunning makeup I had ever seen, and the man had a cheek splitting grin on his face as he stepped forward with open arms. He spoke to the crowd, but what he said I could not hear, and faster than I could blink, the three of them were throwing themselves into the most elaborate display of magic I had ever seen.
Birds were pulled from underneath sheaths of fabric, fireworks popped from behind their backs, and the man made a small child disappear from where they were stood beside their mother, only to be revealed inside the bakery window. It was not until I heard Cyrus chuckle lightly that I even noticed my mouth was hanging open and my eyes were wide.
I cleared my throat, sitting back in my chair and dragging my eyes away from the performance outside and looked across at Cyrus. He lifted an eyebrow, an amused smile gracing his lips as he watched me closely. I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest, and staring back at him.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice sounding more like a petulant teenager than I would have liked.
“You just look a bit bewildered.” He laughed, his handresting on my knee and squeezing tightly. “I forget magic isn’t widely practiced in Earth.”
My eyebrows fell into a furrow as I looked away from him and back to the street performers outside of our carriage, still creating pops of smoke and miniature fireworks with a flick of their wrists. I had never seen anyone aside from Alexandre use magic at home, and even then, he only used it when it was just the two of us, and for nothing more than stirring his tea without touching his spoon or summoning a glass of water for Eyvlin.
Cyrus squeezed my knee again before releasing his grip, turning his palm upright and waiting for me to look at him. When I did, he grinned, and with a wink, he produced a flame in the middle of his upturned palm.
