by J E Mueller
Nyria gave an easy smile while Luniria was all excited squeaks.
“Of course,” Nyria said before Luniria could start chatting away. “If you’re ready, we should get going. There’s a lot to see and we can grab a light lunch while we’re in town.”
I stood up as Luniria rushed over to grab my hand. “This is going to be so much fun!”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I had been hoping that Aylum would join us, but it appeared this trip would be just for us women. His sisters chatted enough on the short carriage ride that it was easy to get a feel for how things normally were with them around. For everything I half answered, they were already on another tangent.
Exiting the carriage onto a street filled with shops was comforting. For as different as a place with dragons might be, shopping wasn’t very different. The cobblestone street was lined with shops on both sides with pretty displays in all the windows. From how well the street was done and the amount of frills and lace I could quickly see, I was guessing that this area was wealthier.
“...and you will love the festival wear!” I heard Luniria finish saying.
I nodded and shrugged. “It’ll be fun to see what festival wear is like.”
“Oh, it’s perfect!” Nyria chimed in cheerfully. “It’s so flowing and graceful!”
“But your outfits are already such.” I motioned toward her current attire.
Verna cleared her throat, quickly silencing her daughters. “Come see. It’ll be fun to show you. Descriptions never do pretty dresses any justice.”
I smiled. “Yes, let’s see them.”
Verna led the way into the shop beside us. A young woman beside a counter turned to greet us as the shop bell chimed when her eyes grew wide. “Welcome, Your Majesty.” She bowed deeply. “To what do we owe this honor?”
“We have a little bit of last minute shopping we would like to do.” Verna smiled pleasantly. “Can we get a dressing room or two? I feel we may be here for a time.”
“Of course, Your Majesty!” The woman bowed before rushing to the back of the shop and making sure there was enough light in two of the dressing rooms.
Verna took a cursory glance around before making her way over to a set of dresses on display. “Here are some good ones to start with.”
I followed closely behind, trying to figure out how these were any different. A turquoise one caught my eye and I ran a hand over it, instantly feeling the magic it was infused with. This one was simple with only light beadwork along the center.
“What magic is in them?” I asked softly, admiring the work that went into the dress.
An amused smile tugged at Verna’s lips as her daughters squealed with delight over dresses nearby. “Why don’t you try it on?”
I gave her a curious look but nodded. “Sure, why not? It’ll be just as much fun to figure it out that way.”
I walked back to try on the dress, my stomach full of butterflies. Clothes weren’t normally infused with magic. It took a lot of work and power to do so. Even being on more of the high-end side of society didn’t mean I owned clothes such as that. I wonder if something with dragon magic made them more common.
It took a moment to get sorted, but once I managed to slip the gown on I knew I was done for. It fit like a glove and hugged me where it needed to, flowing wonderfully as it went down. I did a small twirl in the little room and saw how it floated, as if it were caught on a breeze, glittering lightly as it moved.
I hated that it had to be worth a small fortune and was better off putting it back. As nice as it was for my hosts to offer to buy me pretty clothes there was no sense in costing them this much. I changed back, wondering the entire while what I would need to do to learn how to infuse clothes in such a manner. Enchanting wasn’t something I was allowed to test so I didn’t even know if I had the skill for it or not.
As I puzzled over it, I exited the changing room. Verna was waiting patiently, her daughters debating over a specific style of dress not far away.
“What did you think? You look far more puzzled than I expected. Was it not to your liking?” Verna asked.
“Oh.” I smiled and shrugged. “I loved the dress. It’s truly wonderful and fits very well. I haven’t had a chance to try on something enchanted like this before and it got me thinking about enchantments and how I’ve never had an opportunity to try them. I apologize, I was off on my own mental tangent.”
She gave a small laugh. “Aylum mentioned how you are as learning focused as he can be. I didn’t believe him.”
I blushed slightly. “I hope it’s a good thing. I find it fun learning new things.”
“I believe it is,” she smiled. “Let’s find you a few more gowns. You’ll be needing several outfits for your stay.”
“A few simple ones would be more than fine.” I glanced around, trying to see if any actually fit that description.
Verna clicked her tongue. “Not at all. The festival is for celebrating. We’ll find some fun ones for that and simple ones at another shop for during the day.”
“I thank you, but that is too much to ask for,” I declined. “It’ll be a treat enough to see this wonderful place I’ve heard so much of.”
Verna gave a light laugh. “And that you shall soon see, but it won’t get you out of this. We’ll set you right for this adventure.” She turned to her daughters. “Girls, I do believe you have enough, let’s find a few more for Kareia.”
There was no getting out of it now. Nyria instantly was off bringing dresses over based off of what colors she thought would look best on me while Luniria was more interested in what sparkled and flowed best.
Verna wouldn’t let me leave until I picked my top ten, and the next shop was no better. It was weird to have no say in such a thing and yet being allowed to have whatever designs I thought fit me best. It was freeing and… odd. Either way, it was fun seeing a few sights before heading back.
I was famished by the time we returned. Thankfully, I had just enough time to put my new things away in the wardrobe and change into one of the simple dresses before dinner was ready. At least I could pretend to blend in for a turn. Verna reassured me Aylum would come to get me in a few moments so I enjoyed the moment of peace. I was expecting dinner to be equally full of chatter.
A knock came to my door and I was happy to see it was Aylum. He was reading something as I opened it.
“Are you about read-” He looked up from the paper at me. “Oh, that’s a great color on you.”
I blushed. “Thank you. I can't even remember who suggested what anymore.”
“Did you have fun then?” He asked with curious excitement.
“It was fun,” I agreed. “A little tiring though. The gowns with magic were a neat change.”
“Oh, yeah, that is a bit more common here, I suppose.” Aylum shrugged. “Actually now that I think of it, clothes with magic were never used at school were they?”
“No, they are rarely used, except for very special occasions. They are quite expensive,” I explained.
“Oh, I wonder if dragon magic makes enchanting easier? They are just about everywhere here. They are worn most often for festivals and parties, though you’ll see them from time to time during common events.”
“That’s neat.” I smiled. “Shall we, then?”
As Aylum lead the way, I asked him more about enchanting and explaining how I was curious about it. It wasn’t a talent that really fit into white or dark magic so there were users on both sides, though that didn’t mean everyone had a talent for it. Which was much like how scrying went.
When we finally arrived in the dining room everyone was talking very quietly.
At least for a moment. “Kareia!” Luniria called as soon as she noticed me. “We were just talking about the festival! It’s going to be so much fun tomorrow. Any idea on what you want to see first? I think it’s best to immediately go to the main shows since the qualifying rounds begin right away.”
Aylum pulled out a chair for me an
d I sat down. “I’m not too sure yet, but Aylum did promise to show me around so I’m sure it will be fun either way.”
“You’re not going to hog her the entire time are you?” Luniria complained.
Nyria laughed. “She is his guest.” The words hardly distracted her sister as food was slowly passed around the table.
“Only because she didn’t know us first,” Luniria immediately replied, causing me to laugh.
Aylum shook his head. “I firmly plan on enjoying time with my guest. You had the entire afternoon already.”
“And you’ve had the semester,” Lunira replied with ease.
“She does have a fair point.” Nyria laughed. “How can we get to know your guest better if you steal her away the whole time?”
I chuckled and watched Aylum for his response. He was looking far less amused than I was.
“There will be plenty of time outside of the festival for that I’m sure,” Aylum managed to respond neutrally.
Before Luniria could fire back with something Nyria covered her mouth and laughed. “There better be.”
Luniria pouted as she poked at her food.
“There’s plenty of hours in the day. I’m sure there will be time,” I reassured her.
I wasn’t surprised the conversation was mostly dominated by Luniria. It was interesting hearing Mercinder and Verna discuss different going ons with Aylum. The names and titles felt weird to me. While I knew things like their Ocumu was like our Tanza and their Ostratu like our Lari it took several moments to remember what titles were like which, often causing me to lose track of the conversation. At least that was an easy thing to study.
Once dinner was over, Verna dismissed the girls, stating they would see me plenty tomorrow. After all, who else would help me get ready for the festival?
“I know Aylum wishes to show you around, but first I have a question for you, Kareia,” Verna insisted.
“Of course, Your Majesty. What can I do for you?”
“Do you ever feel like you have an abundance of magic and then suddenly it seems to be gone?”
I frowned, the question giving me a strange feeling of deja vu before I remembered Aylum had asked the same at one point. “No, I wouldn’t say that. I either feel like I have all my normal magic or as if it’s suddenly not there at all. The latter doesn’t happen very often and it only lasts for a very short time.”
Aylum chuckled. “And I am guessing you’ve come to the same conclusion I did.”
Verna nodded slowly. “Perhaps.”
I gave Aylum a sidelong glance. “What conclusion did you come to?”
“I’ve found your magic curious for a while, but it’s hard to explain.” Aylum shrugged. “It’s like there’s just something missing from it and once in a while it just stops when that shouldn’t happen. Not to mention you have Nogard, those headaches when you don’t use magic enough, which I think is linked to it. Not sure what exactly will unlock that missing part but it’s a working theory.”
I felt like he was leaving something out but didn’t want to push it. There were plenty of theories on Nogard, none of which had yielded anything useful.
“Shall we take a turn about the garden then? I think you’ll really enjoy some of the night flowers.” Aylum smiled.
His parents waved us off, so I nodded and followed. Maybe I could figure out what else he was thinking about with my magic as we strolled.
Aylum led the way out back and to the gardens before offering his arm and excitedly pointing out things he thought I might like. Most of them I knew from study, but the few I didn’t captured my attention, stalling our walk until I got to hear all Aylum remembered about them.
The night was quickly getting dark, but several magical orbs flickering like fire slowly appeared not too far above our heads, spread throughout the rows of plants and flowers.
“Those are neat. Are those enchantments or spells?” I asked, marveling at the sight. They weren’t terribly bright but did more than enough to light the path and let us see each other clearly.
“Spells. They are only out for a few hours before fading.” Aylum smiled. “It’s a heavily controlled destruction spell. Destruction is hard to use in these ways, but I like to think we dragons have figured out a few extra uses for fire magic. It does tend to be our specialty.”
“It’s wonderful. I bet many would love to use magic like this.” Who didn’t want to use magic they couldn’t tame?
Aylum chuckled. “I’m sure many would, but none of the humans here have been able to learn it, so it appears to only be a dragon thing. Of course, the humans don’t understand why they aren’t able to figure it out. It looks like they should be able to, since some can. Not their fault they don’t know dragons hide among them.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You hide very well. I never would have guessed.” I knew Soleia for years and was none the wiser until Aylum revealed his little secret.
“Close your eyes.” Aylum smirked as he stopped.
“What for?” This was curious. I wondered what plant or thing he could be trying to surprise me with.
“You’ll see.”Aylum smiled widely. “If it helps, it’s the plant I’m most excited to show you.”
I raised an eyebrow but closed my eyes. That had been easy enough to guess. “Fine. Lead on.”
He slowly led me around the corner and down a path several feet before stopping and turning me. “Go on, look.”
I opened my eyes and gasped. The pretty little flowers were all over this side of the path. They looked like bluebells, except instead of the normal stigma that came out of the flower it curled and curved more outwards with a half moon at the very end. The little moons glowed and sparkled lightly in the dark. While the flowers varied from blues, to pinks, to purples, all the moons were the same whitish gold like the moon itself.
“These are gorgeous!” I finally managed to get out as I turned to him to be surprised in a completely new way.
Down on one knee, Aylum held out a small open box with a ring. “Kareia,” A hopeful almost pleading look on his face. “Will you marry me?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised, not after all he had done for me. Yet, I couldn’t help but stare in shock for a solid moment before nodding my consent, the words taking an extra length to form on my tongue. “Yes.”
Aylum couldn’t possibly smile wider as he stood and placed the ring on my finger. The silver band had a fire opal in the center with a light blue stone cut into a moon on one side and a white moon on the other.
“Look.” he motioned toward the flowers. I turned to see the moons had transformed and a star was resting in the center of them now. “These lumabell flowers are beautiful but tricky. They refuse to show their truest form for anything but a sign of pure love.”
I gave a small laugh, loving that these flowers were chosen for several reasons. “They’re amazing. I don’t know how you had time to plan this all.”
Aylum chuckled. “I’ve had this in mind for a while, but wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to pull it off.” He wrapped me in a hug. “I’m just happy I can finally be with you.”
“I am too.” I leaned forward and kissed him as I wrapped my arms around him. Nothing could have made the moment any more perfect than it already was.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Getting up was hard. We had stayed up excessively late talking and didn’t retreat to bed until the garden lights finally went out. I didn’t mind getting up though. There was a lot to be excited for today. I was engaged to the man of my dreams, there was a new festival to experience, and well, engaged! My heart was all a flutter and I found myself constantly looking at the ring while I tried to get ready.
Aylum said he picked the opal because it reminded him the most of love. So many different colors to show all the different facets of love. The blue stone was to symbolize where I grew up, and the white his home. The land of blue stone and the kingdom of clouds. It all brought me so much joy I might as well have been walking on ai
r.
I couldn’t wait to find Soleia and show her. Aylum promised he’d help me find her. First though was trying to contain my excitement to a presentable level before breakfast.
When Aylum finally arrived to escort me to breakfast I thought I was well enough composed. Seeing his face again just brought on more flutters and excitement.
“Does any of your family know?” I asked as we walked.
“My parents do, they were well aware of my plans in advance, but for obvious reasons I have not told either of my sisters. They wouldn’t know how to keep a secret of this degree.”
“They’re sweet girls. It’ll be fun to see their reaction. Though I’m sure it’ll be all they talk about for a while.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. At some point, I had probably heard everything about the two. Mostly from Luniria. While Nyria seemed to have sense to be quiet about some things, her sister was full speed ahead on whatever story popped into mind. Luniria wasn’t afraid to laugh at her own faults and shortcomings, though, so I could see why she would share anything she thought of.
As we just about reached the dining room I pulled him to a stop. “How do you plan on telling them?”
Aylum considered for a moment before a sly smile crossed his face. He whispered the thought into my ear and with a laugh between us, we went to sit down for breakfast.
His parents were already seated and Nyria was shortly behind us. I could tell they wanted to ask but withheld, instead opting to discuss the day's plans.
“We’ll have to leave a little earlier than originally planned,” Verna commented. “It would appear there is a higher turn out expected and traffic might be a bit more dense.”
Mercinder shook his head. “We will be better off to just take to the skies then. It’ll make the trip faster and easier.”
“Our guest may not want to be flown about everywhere, dear.” Verna nodded toward me. “One flight might be all she desires.”
Mercinder glanced my way, “Well, what do you make of flying? Would it be too terrible to go again?”