Lux [h.s]

forty

Cora glanced around. The main road of the Fair was as loud and cheerful as it'd been some days before. There were still children laughing and playing around the stalls and attractions and young men and women of the gentry out on secret dates following sweet temptations, but there was a pulsing thrill in the air, hanging over everything like a blanket together with the starry night sky.

Excitement followed Cora like a loyal puppy as she waded through the crowds. A woman on her left with a multicoloured dress shining with gems was accompanied by a well-dressed man in his forties. A few royal guards stood between the stalls on her right, swords at their sides, keeping an eye on their surroundings while exchanging small comments. Some bubbly girls covered in fancy fabric with bows in their hair laughed with each other as they eyed the young men a few feet away from them.

With the darkening of the sky, the Fair had started to look less like a town celebration and more like a ballroom reception. The nobility of Idais wasn't going to miss the opportunity to bond with the king during one of his rare outings.

The last night of the Fair had come so quickly. She knew, deep down, she should've stayed in the woods with Iris, well away from the bustling crowds, not to risk crossing paths with Naomi or Adair again, but this was the closing night of Idais, and she didn't want to miss it. Plus, she'd made a promise. The thought of possibly seeing Soren again made her giddy. Of all the people she'd met since she'd been forced to flee Beilyn, he was the friendliest. She liked how easy talking to him was—there was no magic, no mysteries, none of the things her mind still couldn't quite grasp.

She stepped aside to avoid the group of noblewomen followed by their valets that stormed her way. They passed her in a cloud of vaporous gowns and flower scents, chuckling along behind their lace-threaded fans. She nearly crashed into a royal guard in the process, and she was quick to murmur her apology, eyes casted downwards, before throwing herself into the crowd again—stepping in the path of a velvet-clad man with a dog big enough to be mistaken for a small pony. The tiny horse barked its disapproval, and the man raised an annoyed eyebrow in Cora's direction, and she nearly trampled a young couple in her attempt to get away fast enough.

She found a safe corner and stood on her tiptoes to figure out her exact location. She let out a relieved sigh when she spotted the black fabric panes of the Pavilion in the distance. Harry had given her permission to watch the show, tonight—but only if she stood with the other fays so that it would be easier to shield her from Aster's magic at the end of the show. She could hardly keep her grin off her face at the thought of not only seeing the show again, but also remembering it—not that she would've ever let him know.

After gauging her approximate distance from the Pavilion, Cora jumped into the crowd again. She walked past Thalia's tent, not stopping by to exchange a word or two in fear she'd be too busy with the multitudes of customers that were undoubtedly coming her way. As she walked by a stall, the woman behind it recognised her and gave her a bunch of candied almonds for free. She thanked her and put one in her mouth.

"If this isn't a pleasant surprise."

She turned around fast when someone spoke in her ear over the chaos and music, immediately smiling when she recognised the hazel-eyed man next to her. "Soren?"

He was wearing an embroidered coat of the same colour of night, silver jewels embedded into his waistcoat. Cora was struck by the notion that her newfound friend likely belonged to a rich family—if not nobility—and awkwardness came over her in waves. She wasn't too accustomed with the rules of etiquette—she'd be raised to be kind and respectful, but she'd never been expected to deal with nobility directly. Her only experience on the matter had been beyond underwhelming.

"It looks like you were right," Soren said, not noticing the way Cora had tensed up. His hair shone gold in the torchlight when he turned his head to gaze into the crowds. "We meet again. The Fair does work in mysterious ways."