Yuletide

CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13

"Eli, this is wonderful." I gasped in amazement as we arrived to a beautiful scenery. There are magical lights floating around and the what seemed to be a boring plaza is bustling with activity. Everyone is dressed in their traditional garb—traditional music and dancing is taking place as alcohol and food is being passed around. I've been to a lot of celebrations and festivals and I've always observed how fun it is but it's my first time seeing it this close—being a part of it.

"I told you. You are gonna love it." He said with a huge smile. "Now don't stand like an awkward potato. Let's blend in!" He excitedly gushed and pulled us into a crowd that's dancing the faerie dance. A fast paced dance that moves in circles and rotates partners every now and then. You need to use your whole body with the turning and clapping and stomping. It's very fun and energetic. Not even a thirty minutes of us being here and we've already danced with a number of people. Never have I ever been more thankful for taking the mandatory dance classes back in the days

Flutes, drums and stringed instrument sounded really nice in my ears. I've seen Dalian and Krion not so long ago, dancing and laughing while whispering to each other. I've tried rotating and pairing up with Elixir but to no luck—still couldn't. I'm getting jealous with all the men he's smiling and dancing with but I suppose that's a consequence you're going to have to deal with when you are dating a beautiful fae hybrid like Eli.

"My, my, what a lovely chance!" my partner said from the new rotation said making me look down.

"Mother—I mean Dahlia!" I said with a smile, totally embarrassed with what I just uttered.

"Mother? I like the sound of that." She said and I twirled her with the upbeat rise of the flutes. "You are very distracted with my son. You should perhaps pay more attention to me—Elixir won't disappear my dear." She said while giggling.

"I'm afraid a lot of these men would love to sweep your son away from me, mother." I said with a cheeky smile. "She looks as lovely as you are after all."

"You are quite a charmer, young man." Dahlia said while laughing. "But you are right, Elixir is such a beautiful young man now—I'm glad he mostly took after his father. Kaisos is such a beautiful dwarf."

"No matter who he'll look after, mother. I'm sure he'll be a beautiful man. No matter what." I said with a gentle proud smile.

"You truly deserve my son." Dahlia said and we bowed at the end of the music before I twirled her and changed partner to a new upbeat music, now with the sound of violin resounding through the air. This time, I'm paired up with Dalian and I took my time with carefully supporting my cousin's pregnant husband—he is pretty scary after a few twirls where he almost lost his balance.

"You got Krion wrapped around your fingers." I said and threw my head back with a laugh while stepping a turn and clapping.

"Your cousin is a wild horse, pretty sure he'll be thrashing in my fingers soon."

"My cousin likes your attitude, make sure you keep him in line." I smirked and bowed.

"I should warn you about how I'm gonna hurt you so bad if I see my precious little Eli cry but I think her mother's warmth is enough to go after your conscience." He playfully said and punched my arms and I stepped out of the dancing circle with a laugh. That's enough dancing for now, my feel really hurts from all that jumping and foot works—I got good stamina but that was a real workout right there.

A young male fae approached me with a tray of drinks and I helped myself to a mug of ale, leaning at the stone statue while looking at the festivities. I haven't had this much fun since...forever. It's no secret that the royal family doesn't really do stuff like this because of safety reasons, not that we couldn't take care of ourselves.