Erivale: The Lost Princess

Chapter 14: Part 3

For the second time today, I rode in the carriages with Soren, Guinevere, and Gerard into the heart of town. This time it was under much different circumstances. The white stone cobbled streets were filled with townspeople with large smiles on their faces. Children towed their parents quickly through crowds in an aim to get to the heart of the festival.

The center of the Winter Solstice festival was a different square than where the rebel address and Nealon's execution had been. Instead I recognized it as one of the large, grassy parks that I had seen when I first arrived on the back of Roach.

The carriage stopped on the edge of the square in an area thick with palace guards and Ithican soldiers. In fact the entire festival was permeated with guards. It looked like Luciana and Heinrich were making quick work of providing extra security and eyes within the city.

Exiting the carriage I was immediately hit with the giggles of children's laughter and the continual buzz of happy chitter chatter. The scent of various foods from vendors invaded my senses as well. It all reminded me of the county fair back home. I had only been a few times, but it was always fun to get some tasty treats and see all the towering rides. There were no rides here, but there was plenty of other activities to keep the citizens entertained.

Our small group was escorted to a large white tent with light blue accents. Inside Luciana and Heinrich were already sat upon their thrones, a small collection of court officials around them. There was food and drink set up on a table along the back wall of the tent and two metallic boxes housing a small flame were placed inside the tent. As I got closer to the boxes I felt a tingling on the skin of my leg that was closest to them. The flame inside was probably magical so that it could burn without sustenance and never went out.

Overall it created a cozy atmosphere within the tent. The front was tied open leaving a large space where those of us inside could not only look out onto the crowd, but also to come and go as we pleased.

"Guinevere, the decorations are amazing this year. I am so proud of you!" Luciana said, taking Guinevere's hand in her own.

"Thank you, your majesty. Did you see the hypericum berries? I had them grouped together by color to create garlands."

"Yes, very creative and very beautiful. The citizens are so happy with the events this year. They also seem particularly excited for the musical group you have coming, the Krig Krallers?"

"It's Krig Kommer," Guinevere corrected. "They are the next big thing, it's very hard to get them to come perform anywhere, they mostly just show up places. Part of their mystique."

"Interesting." Luciana said. "I'm sure it will be a hit amongst our younger population then."

"You'll see, this will be the most successful Winter Solstice festival yet."

Heinrich chuckled. "I'm sure it will be."

"Well, if you excuse me. I'm going to check out my handy work and enjoy the festival."

"Take Svindell and Gladia with you!" Luciana added and two guards peeled out from their ranks to follow on the heels of Guinevere.

I stayed standing on the edge, looking at everything before me. The traditional white stone buildings and ground was covered in the berry garlands Guinevere had been mentioning. They were varying shades of pink and purple. Amongst them were wreaths of dark green evergreen needles studded with something that shimmered.

Light blue banners with the flag of Ithica on one side and the emblem of the city of Himmelsk on the other waved on poles along the streets. Part of the grassy park was covered with a large stage and folks were spread out around the ground with food and drink in the hand.