The next few days all I could think about was the festival. Of course I wanted to see what a festival looks like, but I also wanted to look after Damon. In the end I concluded that flying outside through the window and going to town will be the only way. I had to wait for Mia to finally go to her room and started changing to some black clothes that I considered good enough to make me blend with the dark sky. It would be really weird to see someone flying like crazy in the middle of the night. I just hoped that the dark clothes would do. I went to the window when Chopa started crying.
"Please Chopa, be quiet! Someone will come if you don't stop! I'll be alright!" But he was now clenching onto my dress and wouldn't let go. "Do you want to come along?" I asked him and, as if he understood, he immediately let go and nodded. Ok… that's not usual wolf behaviour, is it? I was thinking whether I should be taking him with me. Well it might be good in the end. I will still have company, even if this little dog won't be much help in a battle. I intended to face Damon's bullies if needed, but I don't want to actually fight with anyone. Especially since, excluding magic, I had no idea how to fight.
I improvised a pouch which I threw over my shoulder. After being sure that I could hold him tightly under my cape, I went out. It was a little chilly and the wind blew in my face, but I liked it. It was refreshing after the long hot summer day. I thought about whether someone might see me so I looked around carefully. Nope, no one was acting like they just saw a spooky witch flying in the night sky. I should have brought a broom to make the picture complete. I smiled at that thought.
I arrived at the town faster than going by carriage and looked around where to land. I went behind the bakery where there didn't seem to be anyone. After being sure my hair was mostly covered, I made my way to the market where the festival should be taking place. I investigated a little before coming. I asked some maids in the kitchen while Mia wasn't around and they gladly chatted about it without suspecting anything.
It was a big difference from the day market I have to say. Although the stands were in the same place, they were surrounded by small golden lights which would flicker now and then. There were places where you could eat grilled food and some new stands made especially for those who had to leave their shop to come and sell their products here. In the middle of the market, a small scene was built for dance. There were people both on the scene and around it who were dancing with big happy smiles on their faces. They had really pretty clothes as well. The girls had long dresses down to their knees with colorful seamy flowers. Some girls had long braids with small flowers in them while others had garlands on their heads. The men were wearing light colorful summer costumes with a little poppy or a daisy of their shirts. I looked depressed at my dark clothes and hoped nobody would take notice.
Chope started sniffing from under my cape. "I know" I whispered "I'll try getting something soon." I still have some money left from the last time I came. It may be enough to buy some good food for both of us. But that later. I had to see where the bakery stand is. I was wondering when the festival began. I could see, further away, some men who seemed to have been drinking a little too much.
After just a few minutes I saw Greta behind a stand, chatting happily while selling her goods. But Damon was not there. I wanted to go and ask her, but I was afraid she would tell Mia next time, and although she won't overreact like my mother, I wasn't ready to face her scary side. I thought of just waiting to see if he would pop up from somewhere and it didn't take long to see him come to the stand and get some big muffins. When he left again, I followed him.
It seemed that he went to a place where tables were arranged so that people could sit down to eat or drink. He then left the muffins to some couples who were chatting and flirting. After collecting the money, he turned to go back when I jumped in front of him.
"Whoa!" He seemed startled and I began laughing. When he saw who it was, he started laughing as well. "You actually made it" he said smiling "I thought you weren't allowed to come."
"Well, as you might see, I sneaked out." I smirked at him. I was really proud of myself sneaking out as a matter of fact.
"Come then, you must taste something from our stand." He started walking happily, but when he saw I didn't follow, he looked at me with questioning eyes.
"I can't let Greta see me. She might tell Mia and I'm done for it." I answered his unspoken question.
"Then wait here for me a little. I will tell her I'll take some free time to look around." He ran and returned almost the same second with some cheese puffs in his hands.
"Let's sit here!" He said while choosing the nearest table and handing me a puff.
A little nose started sniffing again from my cloak and put his head out in anticipation. I gave the first puff to Chopa and took another for myself. Damon's eyes became larger when he saw my puppy and his smile even brighter.
"Damon, this is Chopa. Chopa please greet Damon." Chopa left a little happy bark.
"Nice to meet you Chopa. You have a dog?!" he exclaimed.
"Well, it seems that he is a wolf actually." I smiled a little.
"Whoa! That's cool! Where did you find a wolf?"
"He found me one day and even if he is free to go where he wants every day, he still comes back and never wonders too far away." I petted his little head and his tail started wiggling.
"So," I began like last time "What do people do at festivals?". He quietly took my hand and led me to different stands. First, we played a game where we had to throw small balls into different cups. There were five balls, each different color which should be thrown in the cup with the same color. After two tries I gave up. My best was getting two balls in, but Damon did succeed in his third try and received a small chocolate as a prize. He shared it with me saying that it's sweeter when you can share it with someone. He really was a gentle soul.
We went on and tried archery, but both failed dramatically. The bows were big and neither one had enough strength to actually shoot the arrow, but it was fun laughing at each other's faces when fighting with it. Next was fishing. There was a small round table with round holes in it and in each whole was a wood fish. You had to rotate a handle and the table started to rotate while the small fishes opened their mouths and closed them quickly. If you could fish all of them with a little toy hook, you win a prize. I excelled at that game while Damon, on the other hand, seemed to lack the patience to wait for the fish to open their mouths and would run the hook from one fish to another too fast. After receiving my prize, a small bag with candies, it was my time to share.
We went and sat down on a bank next to the nearby playground, a little further away from the rest, and chatted about the game we played, while enjoying the candies. Damon mentioned a game where you had to take down a pyramid of boxes with a ball. You had three tries and the winner gets a coupon to use it at any stand. I looked to see whether I had money left, but as I feared there were all gone.
"It seems that you have to try that one without me." I said defeated.
"We can share the balls and you can shoot two times. I don't mind having just one try, I played this game many times." He offered.
I smiled a little in response, but was still not comfortable. I mean, it's pitiful for a duke's daughter to not have money and sa ome commoner to pay for her. It seemed as if I was taking advantage of him. As if reading my mind he added quickly. "It won't be a problem as we are friends, right?"
Friends, I thought… I guess we are friends now. This time I really smiled at him and agreed to go play one last time. I first heard Chopa growling before anything else and then...
"Ohoho, are you trying to be a gentleman, gloomy?" The three bullies were back and they were smirking at us. "Although, I understand what you like about your girlfriend here. I mean, look at her clothes, she looks even more pitiful than you." I felt my cheeks burn. Never, ever has anyone commented like that about my clothes. It's not just the fact that I usually wore fine dresses which my mother orders for myself, but even when I was wearing dirty pants, no one would dare to say such things. Not including my mother here, of course.
I wanted to tell Damon to just go back to the festival and ignore these idiots, but when I looked at him, I was shocked to see him staring at them angrily. That stare would freeze me as well. But the boys seemed to enjoy it. I could feel Chopa still angry, moving slightly in his pouch.
"How scary!" One of them joked. "Who would've known that you would get so angry over such a pathetic person". The other two laughed loudly.
"Take that back!" shouted Damon before heading towards them.
"Wait!" I managed to say, still shocked. They began fighting and I tried to intervene, but one of them twisted my arm behind my back.
"Stop it if you don't want your little friend to get hurt!" What was this idiot kid saying? If I were to use magic, he would be in so much trouble. But they were just kids as we were and I didn't want to hurt them, despite their awful behaviour. The next things happened in the blink of an eye.
Damon stood back while Chopa jumped from my pouch, growling threateningly. I could then see some water heading straight to the face of my attacker, while the other two tried to punch Damon again. But they were also blocked by water. A big block of water was rising between the three boys. Well, that wasn't me. I could never produce that much water. I only had a little with me for my ice wall, just in case.
I realised that it was Damon who manipulated the water, but it was chaotic. Even if the amount he produced was impressive, he had difficulties in controlling it. And, although, the bullies couldn't come near to try their punches at us, they were smart enough to pick some stones and throw them through the areas the water didn't cover. Some hit Damon, but no big ones. When one hit me in the arm, Chopa ran under the water and attacked one of them. I could see him being kicked and at the same time some bigger rocks were making their way through the water wall as well. I had to stop this. As I thought before, just water is not strong enough to stop attackers if they are serious. I concentrated and tried to use the water Damon produced. I stretched my arms and swung them like a bird's wings. The water stopped from going in circles around us and instead it became a hard wall to protect us. I brought Chopa back by using wind and made some little needles float directly to the faces of attackers. The needles were now surrounding them.
"That wasn't kind of you." I said in a low, menacing voice. They were really surprised when they heard me, but even more surprised was Damon who stared at me with the biggest eyes I ever saw. "I hope this will show you the difference in power here and you won't be foolish enough to cross our paths in the future, won't you?" They nodded slightly, too afraid to move their heads too close to my needles which were now almost touching them.
"Good." I continue. "I am of course willing to forget this incident, but if I ever see or hear you come near us again… well, I think you can imagine yourself what will happen." I melted the ice wall and gave them the sweetest smile before letting them go. Only when they were out of sight, did I melt the needles.
I first checked on Chopa to see if he was hurt, but although he looked a little disheveled, he was fine. I turned to Damon who was still surprised by the sudden attack. I smiled timidly at him.
"So you can use magic, hm?" I asked. He nodded before starting pouring words onto me.
"I can use magic? What was that, it was amazing! How can you use ice? Weren't there six elements? And ice isn't one of them. How come you didn't say anything?" he asked me in a single breath.
"Maybe the same reason why you haven't told me about your water magic." Although the reason was that it was more common for nobility to use magic, and although there were some commoners who could use it as well, the chances of randomly finding one were pretty low. "When did you know you could use magic?" I asked.
"Well, I always knew I might be able to use magic because both my parents could use it. But it wasn't until last year that I could actually use it. As you can see, I can't control it very well, yet," he said, excusing himself. "But your control is amazing. How did you learn that?" he added.
"I had a teacher the last few months who taught me the basics. If you can use magic, you will soon be invited to go to Spiritus." I said.
"I have already received an invitation, but I'm a little nervous. Did you receive one too?"
"Well, yeah. But what do you mean already? How old are you?" I was curious.
"I turned 14 last winter. We might be colleagues at school. It's nice to know that there will be other commoners besides me." He was really glad now.
14...but I always thought that he was younger, I mean look at his frame. He is shorter than me and thinner also. Am I getting fat? Maybe I should stop eating so much. And about the commoner part...well…I'll tell him next time.
"I never saw you at any party at Spiritus.", I said.
"Well, I didn't go. I guessed that my appearance would be a reason for discussions there as well."
"You know that there are others who have your complexity, although it's rare. Anyway, you have to promise me to come next time. If you don't have clothes, I can fix something. Promise me!" I urged him. I didn't want him to be alone when school starts. I mean, the parties were a reason to meet people and form friendships before the start of school. Both nobles and commoners were attending them.
He finally gave in. "I will, and don't worry about clothes."
I then left him and went home. I spent a lot of time at the festival and realised that it was almost midnight. Not that anyone will know when I get home, but I didn't want black circles under my eyes the next day. Well, was I wrong… Mia sat beside my bed when I entered the room and had a stare that could freeze even an ocean.