Golden Crown: The Fey Lands Saga book 2

Harvest Festival: Court of Light

    We gathered in the forest surrounding the castle to celebrate the Harvest fest. Farmers brought in apples, corn, grain, fruits and nuts. Merchants sold cattle, horses, cloth, spices, and medicines; anything one would ever need for the long winter. Fairs sprung up with dancers, acrobats, jugglers, magicians of minor magics, trick riders, fancy riding contests, and there were of course the food and drink booths with butchers, cooks, and merchants of dried food stuffs and fresh from other parts of the Fey lands.
    All of this began on the first day of Autumn with the last cattle and horse fairs ending around Dark night near butchering moon.
    There were of course pageants with singers, minstrels, bards with music magic, instrument sellers, actors, storytellers, poets, philosophers and priests as well as those who manned the royal barges and those of the courtiers.
    Craftsmen and their guilds would arrive to sell things and to get commissions for the following  Winter. Apprenticeships were often begun in the Autumn so that by Spring the apprentice could set up shop at the fairs and festivals and promote their master's works. there were thatchers, weavers, dyers, metalsmisths, blacksmiths, woodworkers, furriers, tanners, armour-smiths, masons, gold and silversmiths, leatherworkers, potters, apothecaries, perfumers, chandlers, and scribes. the minor guilds also came to sell. there were shepherds ostlers, ranchers, herbalists, and quarrymen. Miners, woodcutters, wool merchants, cloth merchants, wine and spirits merchants and brewers.
    All of these people converged on the lands around the castle to set up their fairs. The river Harelieth meandering through the land perfect for the barges to light up the night during the last days of the festival. Three days before dark day was the closing festival before the Fey plunged their homes into darkness and told stories of spirits and children of the Gods. All day temple services took place on Dark night itself.
    Dark night was the night when the wild God would hunt for the souls of Fey who had not been faithful to the gods. It was also the night when the lady of discipline walked the land wailing her grief for those who weren't faithful. Legends told of how if she wailed near your house you would be seen as an unfaithful Fey by her and bad luck befell you and your family for the coming year. During Dark Nigh you ate humble foods in remembrance of the Fey who lost their way and were found by the gods and rescued from their realm.
    But for now the Autumn Festival was beginning and I was going to celebrate. When I'd returned from my long sojourn among the suffering Fey there had naturally been reports that were sent each Sennight sometimes every day depending on how fast I could work in a village. As courtiers will gossip once the reports are read in council the tide toward me which had already was strong thanks to my breaking of the curse and saving our king and Queen strengthened. There were few doubters, and even fewer once those reports came through. if there were doubters they were keeping to themselves for the moment.
    Not only was I popular among the Fey but I was popular with all the kindreds that dwelt in the court of light. Wood, moon, sun, sea, air, wild, star, flame, and shadowElves flocked to the courts to give their respect. Brook, rill, stream, marsh, river, and ocean nymphs entered the river Harelieth to bathe and play amongst each other, the ocean nymphs not staying long but going back to their seas, though if one Ocean nymph returned to his or her place there another took their place. Earth air, fire, water, metal, and gem elementals created homes nearby or sent representatives from their courts. Unicorns, Alicorns, Pegasi,  and Centaurs flocked to the forests around the castle all of them wishing to bring respect to the Princess. Dryads from every tree came to the castle for a time before returning to their trees. Brownies, Sprites, and pixies came to spend time working or playing, or doing anything to beautify the lands.
With the priests from the myriad temples assembled the first day was taken up with the rites and rituals to thank the Gods for the abundance of the harvest. that night some of the fire mages set off colourful fireworks over the river as people danced and minstrels played. the tall fair hair Lutarian ghosted up to us as we lifted from the royals box to dance and eat among the others. His low bow and warm smile told me that he and Lian had made up and were fast friends again. "Lu!" Said Lian, "i wondered where your lazy bun got off too." "Helping with the coordination of this feast wise and wondrous majesty." He said with a teasing smile and hearty backslap. "Ha well then its good to see you here where you are supposed to be." "Aye that." "I humbly ask if I might have the first dance with your beloved Phaydra." "Its not fair really." Said Lutarian, "You keep her most of the time and when she's not with you she's off saving the Fey lands from plague and poverty." "Its a worthwhile thing to do." I said, "But of course it is." "You will be a good Queen if that is what you think."
Lian nodded and I took the arm of Lutarian and we wandered through to the stage set up just for dancing. the musicians cleared throats and began a Volta. As we danced Lutarian looked me over in my dark red gown embroidered in cloth of gold and lace. "So Highness how has it been, rally?" "Hard." I said, "Everywhere I turned I couldn't help but see all those people who'd starve, or come near close to it while we in the castle city feasted through the winter." Concern flickered over his face, "Would you, could you do the same in the court of darkness?"
"If I did I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself." "But." I said with a sigh, "I know you just got home a fortnight ago." "But they could use you there." "Its not under my authority to go." "Only with the council's blessing was I able to go and be gone for eight moons."
"Think about it though." Said Lutarian, "Think about it I will." "But I'd have to midwinter somewhere." "It was cold as ice out there for the first three moons as it is." "It will only be warm for another moon before the real cold sets in." "Besides." I said, "I thought you were working for our court." "I am indeed." "But I've friends over there and, well the High Queen thinks that if you do what you did here the rest of the court might warm to you."
"Gods." I said as the music ended and he bowed, "Just think about it." Said Lutarian before he left and Lian came over, "He told you?" He asked, "You knew?" I asked back feeling so tired of all this that I sighed, anger mounting just a bit, "He told me last moon before you came back that the council down there is in desperate need." "What about their own nobles?" I asked, "Many of them are up at the court of darkness itself celebrating the fact the t Raylonna is with child." "Goddess." I said running my hands down my gown, "I just got back." I said softly, "But if I'm needed that greatly." "Still its so unfair." "I've only been back for a fortnight."
"If you don't want to go we'll tell them that you can't." "Of course I'll go." I said feeling tired all over again. Lian hugged me hard and said, "I will insist that you go nowhere or do anything for a while." "You said that before." I growled, but only half meant to. "Can I at least enjoy a few days of the festival before I have to go out again?" "Of course you can love." "I've drawn up maps, and if you are lucky you can midwinter over in Gothellspurn, a nice large city and the home of Raylonna." "She can probably host you up at her castle or one of the inns there, from there you can make your way to the court of darkness for their midwinter feast before you travel onward."
"Koshine, Ozarel?" I quested, "We know." Said Koshine, "i would like to see my mate for longer than a fortnight." "You can stay if you like, I'd understand." "No I'll go, but I'd like to hatch my first set of chicks before I turn three hundred." "I go where you do chosen." Said Ozarel, "There will be plenty of time for me to rest and relax." "We can visi Válenardryss if you like on the way home?" I asked, "That would be lovely." She said, "I do have friends there and even though I'm no longer part of the kingdom there is no law that chosen can't return from time to time." "Though it will be different from what you are used to if we stay longer than a day" "i will tell the servants to repack your things and we'll leave as soon as you are ready." "I only wish." I said to Lian, "that I could count this toward my passage." "Passage is different for all of us though dearest one." "Speaking of that." "Since I've aged a bit no thanks to the curse I've been getting Irving's to go." "Which means I will probably  go within the next year or two."
"Well love what will happen then?" I asked, "you'll be in my stead as Queen Regent." "I am already King Regent for my father." "You can take the court of a few years while I go on passage." "After all, they need to get to know you as much as they do me." "Its hard to imagine I know." Said Lian brushing a strand of hair back from my forehead, "But one day you will be Queen with the full rites and powers." "Making you Queen Regent will allow them to get to know you, and you to know them, and to establish your court." "You do have Penthela and Karthena." "But you need more ladies and with mother's ladies all helping her the younger set have no one to go to." "I think they are waiting until we wed before they go to the bonding tree." "They need their reward." "They'd not think of it for a few hundred million years yet and we'd be able to be Prince and Princess for a while." "But with the remnants of the curse still lingering, well they need their rest free from pain." "So you and I will probably have to be King and Queen in another few years." "Mother said she wanted you to be at least a thousand, but I don't think, and neither do her healers that we can wait that long." "I wouldn't be surprised if they made an announcement giving all the rites over to us, and after your passage we'd be crowned of course, but we'd be king and Queen without the coronation because I refuse to be coronated without you.