Huli and Kaida walked the streets of the tribe together. Everywhere they walked there was joy and stalls with various things that were sold. Occasionally they were greeted by the villagers, or given something to taste or to see.
Kaida radiated warmth and made a friendly chat with everyone who approach them. While Huli stood next to her with a straight face. He had a cold air around him, making it difficult to get close to him.
Occasionally he gave a small nod to the villagers. His cold appearance did not stop the villagers from approaching him or give him something to taste or see, after all they were already used to the attitude of their king.
Kyona sat on the porch of a inn and looked at the two. Although they were married, they did not look like a married couple. Huli stood beside her big sister with a cold look as she received a floral wreath with a smile.
If she didn't know they were married, she would think that two strangers were standing next to each other. During the time she was in Huli's tribe, she had never seen him laugh once.
He always had a cold look on his face and when he talked it was without emotions. Even when he was with Kaida he did not show much emotions, only the tone of his voice was a bit different. But to Kyona it was still so cold and distant.
When she wanted to take a sip of her drink, she noticed that her glass was empty. She looked up at Cuan and raised her eyebrow, he sat with a gloomy look across the table from her. She looked at his plate and glass and saw that he had drunk and eaten very little. She kicked his leg under the table
"get yourself together are you going to continue to lick your wounds? You didn't win let it go "
Cuan looked irritated at Kyona
"you kick me just to throw more salt in my wounds? You know how much it meant to me to win "
Kyona rolled her eyes
"no I kicked you because my glass is empty. And did you want to win so badly because you wanted to beat Huli or because you didn't want to lose our bet "
He grabbed the jug from the table with irritation and filled her glass. As he did, he saw that kyona was leaning forward with her face in her hands and grinning at him.
A few strings of her hair moved through the wind and when she blinked he noticed how long her eyelashes were. He put down the jug and started playing with a string of her hair
"My lady, I'd rather not have lost both, but I'm a man of my word. Until the end of the annual fox festival, every wish of yours is my command "
Kyona was overwhelmed by his gesture and immediately sat up. She put the string of hair he was playing with behind her ear and looked away blushing
"Mmm good that you are a man of your word, I would like you to help me during the dragon ceremony. where is my dessert? "
Cuan laughed when he saw how she behaved. So she still had a shy side. He gestured to a waitress and asked her to bring all the tastiest desserts they had. Then he turned back to Kyona and spoke in a more serious tone
"Will the dragons really awaken? When I was little, I once had the pleasure of seeing your mother and father's dragon. They were so powerful and I still remember how hot the fire was that they spewed out"
Kyona looked at him and saw admiration in his eyes
"Sure they will wake up more than half are already awake. I am only concerned about their arrival. When they are awake, every dragon would immediately go looking for their master. Through the connection that master and dragon have they are able to find each other even if their master is at the end of the world. "
Cuan looked at her and saw that she was worried about something
"what is it that worries you? It's good that they can find each other everywhere. My wolf also knows where I am and if I am in danger. "
She sighed
"I am not saying it is not good, but there are many people in the tribe for the annual fox festival right now, the dragons have not been seen for more than five years. Most people have not seen more than five dragons in the same place. At this moment there are more than hundreds of people from the dragon tribe present so also more than hundreds of dragons will arrive later and eight dragons of the royal family. It is customary for every master to be bathed in the fire of his dragon to show that they are still worthy of them. Don't you think it would cause a threat? "
Cuan thought for a moment and then shrugged
"the king's mother should have taken that into account, she wanted to see the dragon dance. And since you have done the preparations, I assume that you have taken it into account. And you know very well that the king's mother only suggested it to embarrass the queen."
he stroked her head and gave her a reassuring smile
Kyona blushed and took his hand off her head
"pff what do you have with my head and yes I have indeed taken that into account. And yes i also know the reason why she suggested it!"
He laughed and put one of the desserts that were on the table on her plate
"your hair is soft, I like that. Our wedding is in about six months, as tradtion I will visit the Dragon Tribe in three months. I would present the dowry and ask your father for your hand "
She almost choked on the bite she had taken and looked annoyed at Cuan
"why do you have to change the subject right now! "
.....
In the evening the village was beautifully lit with lanterns. There were different color covers over the lanterns which made the village look colorful.
Just before dinner, there was a message that Nana had awakened. Since Taka was a healer, he personally went to her to treat her. She would not have any permanent injuries , but she had to rest well in the coming months. He suggested that after the annual fox festival she would return to heal in her own tribe.
An hour after everyone had dinner, it was time for the semi-finals. Some spectators had already gone to the stands to find a good spot to view the matches well.
The tournament field was richly illuminated with white lanterns and Taka already stood in the middle of the tournament field. He waited patiently until all the spectators were seated and then started talking
"Dear gentlemen and ladies, the time has come for the semi-finals. The first game is between the queen and the first general of the fox tribe. The second game is between the strategics of the dragon tribe and the king. I am curious who will reach the final "
Kaida and Ronin walked up to the tournament field from different sides and faced each other. Ronin was wearing a gray combat uniform and had a spear in his hand. Kaida wore a short red combat uniform and again had no weapons.
Ronin smiled and looked at her .
"your queen you may have cheated the rest but you won't do that to me. I am afraid that if I do not use a weapon, I am certainly at a disadvantage "
Kaida gave him a warm smile, but the warmth did not reach her eyes
"it looks like I have to be on my guard from the start"
Taka left the tournament field and stepped to the side.
"3… ..2… ..1…. Start"
Kaida decided to go on the defensive since she didn't know how skilled Ronin was and didn't want to make a hasty move. She soon regretted her decision as Ronin was super fast with his spear.
All Kaida could do was avoid him and try to create distance. However, that was not so easy due to his speed. When she saw an opening, she quickly slid under him and then stood behind him at a distance.
Ronin turned quickly and laughed. She is quick on her feet. See if she can also avoid this. He ran his hand over his spear, and when he did, a layer of ice came over his spear.
The people of the fox tribe can radiate a cold from their bodies. Kaida had seen it herself how Okuri had frozen a whole village of rebels during the war.
When Ronin turned his spear in circles icicles flew towards Kaida. They approached her with such great speed that she was on the defence again. During the avoidance she regretted that she had not chosen a weapon. It would have been much easier to avoid them.
To the public, it looked like Kaida was a cat who had been cornered and was only running away from Ronin's attacks. Again the spectators started talking among themselves.
"I think her luck ran out "
"It is clear to see who is in favor"
"I would not cheer too early this is nothing for our crown princess"
Kaida was tired of being on the defensive all the time and decided to take action. When the next round of icicles approached her, she stopped and raised her hand. When the icicles were about to hit her, it seemed as if she had a shield of heat and the icicles that had not melted fell right in front of her.
With great speed she pulled out her palms and at that moment large amounts of fire sparks flew towards Ronin.
Ronin was surprised by the amount of fire sparks coming at him and turned his spear to create a cold wind. However, it was not enough to extinguish all sparks and he could only dodge them.
He was so busy avoiding the sparks that he didn't realize that Kaida was running at great speed along the lines of the tournament field and the distance between them was getting shorter. Just as he realized, she disappeared from sight and he did not know where she was.
Although she had disappeared from his sight, the fire spars kept coming and he could do nothing but keep dodging them while he looked around where she was. Suddenly a shadow came over him and when he looked up he saw that Kaida was above him.
Kaida gave him a forward kick that he could only block with his spear . Due to the power of the kick, Ronin's spear broke in two and her kick landed on his shoulder. They both jumped back and stood at a distance from each other.
The moment the audience saw it, they jumped up from their seats and cheered on Kaida and Ronin.
Ronin grabbed his shoulder with his hand and looked at Kaida. What a force if I hadn't blocked it I would certainly have broken a few bones.
Kaida looked at Ronin who was holding his shoulder and laughed. He is certainly a worthy opponent even if i had weapons, this would not have been an easy match.
They ran towards each other again. Ronin gave her a sideways kick that Kaida blocked with her arms. Then she jumped up and lashed out with her fists, which he blocked with crossed arms.
Ronin saw an opening and gave her a blow to her side. The force of the blow was enormous and ensured that she gasped for air.
The moment she felt the power of the blow, she became so annoyed that she gave off such a heat that the entire tournament field caught on fire.