May then pulled me next to her by the arm happily. "We did it!" I pulled my arm out of her grip and Cecile went on to get the attention of the crowd behind her. "In honor of our heroes, we shall throw a celebration tonight!" The giants cheered and clapped, and I didn't know how to react. 'These positive reactions directed at me lately have been so odd. This is weird. Hero? If anyone else calls me that I'm killing them.'
The celebration that the giants promised went on past nightfall. They brought out a banquet for the entire village with us as the guests of honor. Music filled the streets and everyone danced and drank for hours. The town was lit by lanterns that hung as street lights at dusk, and a bonfire was lit in the center of the town square in front of the banquet table.
May danced in the air with the giants, having the time of her life as I sat on the table eating the giant food and drinking beer. It had been a while since I last drank and I didn't necessarily like doing it because I always liked being alert, however, I made an exception today since I had nothing else to do. I wasn't drunk yet but I could start to feel a buzz as I drank out of one of the human-sized mugs that Cecile had brought out for us.
After a moment I noticed May fly onto the table next to me after finishing a dance. "Woo! That was so much fun! Come and dance with me, Dedrin!" My face remained still as I looked at her. "No." May placed a hand on her hip as she gestured to the party behind her. "Come on! Even Saniel's enjoying himself." I looked over to see Saniel sitting on the shoulders of a giant as they danced. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my beer. "I already told you, fun is a waste of time."
May then smiled brightly, catching my gaze again. "Well, then it's a good thing we have time to waste! Come on, it's like we got the day off since this trial was easier than the other ones, and Theodius won't be putting me under a spell until tomorrow! Now come and dance with me! Pretty please?" She put her hands together in front of her as she pouted at me. I groaned and stood up slowly. "Fine."
I then walked over to her, took her hand to twirl her quickly, and dipped her in my arms. She gasped but I didn't pay her shock any mind as I pulled her back to her feet and danced to the upbeat music. It took a moment for May to get over her surprise and speak to me as she matched my movements. "You can dance?!" I twirled her again and spun her out suddenly as I kept a grip on her hand. "I never said I couldn't. I'm a prince after all. Do you know how many balls and dancing lessons I was forced to go to as a child?"
I pulled her back and she laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you were because this is fantastic!" I smiled a little and we continued to dance until the end of the song. After the fast tempo of the instruments calmed down, the band started playing a slow song. The giants then separated into partners and danced slowly to the soft playing. May stood there and held her arm nervously as she avoided eye contact with me. I sighed and handed my hand out to her.
She gasped and smiled excitedly as she placed her hand in mine. I then pulled her closer and placed my hands on her waist as she raised her arms around my neck. It occurred to me that it had been years since I last danced so closely with a woman, and the fact that I was dancing with May made my cheeks redden. I looked down at her as we swayed in place and saw that she had rested her head on my chest while smiling softly with her eyes closed.
I didn't know what was happening to me. It was like all of a sudden this brat wasn't as annoying anymore and instead, she was sweet and delicate. I used to not give a glance at how she appeared, but now I couldn't stop looking at her soft and gentle face as the warmth of her body bled into mine. 'That's enough beer for me.' I thought.
Later, the songs being played became upbeat again and we danced every step imaginable. After we danced until we dropped, May pulled me into playing games with the Giants. We played as a team in games with huge cards, darts, charades, and other games that they thought of along the way. I couldn't help but laugh when May did something comical during one of the games, as well as whenever we won.
Once the night had grown late, the celebration calmed down and most of the lights in the town had dimmed. The giants had cleaned up and gone back to their homes to rest for the remaining hours of the night, and Saniel had fallen deep asleep in the pile of bones of a large roasted turkey that was just as big as he was and devoured all by himself.
May and I stayed out to sleep under the stars as well, and we were lying on a big bag of flour next to the bonfire on a separate table. The light of the bonfire had dimmed as well as the other lanterns with only a few flames rising from it, yet it still shined far enough to reflect off of our faces. We were exhausted from everything we did tonight, and I let my body relax into the curve of the soft bag as my eyes became heavy.
May was sitting next to me, using a napkin as a blanket and it took a second of silence before I felt something on my shoulder. I turned my head to see that she had rested her head on me as she drifted off to sleep. I was about to push her off when I noticed how peaceful her face looked in the light of the fire. I paused and decided to not disturb her for reasons unbeknownst to me. 'Was that centaur right? Do I... Like her?'
I didn't know how to answer that question but I refused to believe that I liked her. 'The alcohol is altering my perspective of her. I won't feel like this tomorrow.' Before I could decide whether or not to push her away from me I let the weight in my eyes take over and drifted off to sleep.
In the morning I woke up in the same place I fell asleep, but May was already awake and stretching out her wings. She was standing a few feet away with her back to me as she flapped her wings and stretched her arms. I looked at her for a moment and noticed just how big and beautiful her wings were. I stopped myself before I could notice anything else. 'What?! But, I'm sober!!' I thought in a silent panic.