Tilda was running errands in the market, which seemed to be busier than normal. She had a basket full of fruit and a small scrap of paper with the words: plums, pears, oranges, apples, melon. She was adding apples to her basket when she turned to the shop owner and asked, "Do you have any melons?"
"Oh sure," The shop owner said, "We've got them on a special deal for the festival."
"The festival?" Tilda wondered.
༻✧༺
Fast forward and Tilda sat in the library with Cosaria explaining the intel she received from the shopkeeper earlier that day.
Tilda said, "It's the annual spring festival to celebrate the changing seasons. There will be dancing, and food, and games, and shopping, and all kinds of celebrations."
Cosaria said, "I've never been to a festival before. Is it safe?"
"Of course it's safe," Tilda said. Just because it was a festival for commoners didn't mean it was dangerous.
Cosaria asked, "Do you think the Duke would let me go?"
Tilda remembered how the Baxartes never allowed Cosaria to go to any celebrational function, whether it be for nobility or for commoners. Cosaria needed to know that things were different now. She said, "You're the Duchess, you don't have to ask permission for every little thing you do."
"I don't?"
Tilda said, "No."
"Oh. Do you think...?" Cosaria paused.
Tilda asked, "What?"
"Maybe he'd like to come with us."
Tilda shrugged, "Maybe."
Cosaria fiddled with her fingers as she said, "Maybe he wouldn't. I don't want to bother him."
"You can ask and if he doesn't want to go, he'll say no."
Cosaria said, "Oh I don't know."
Tilda said, "You're overthinking it, just go ask him."
"Can't you do it?" Cosaria said in her most pleading, helpless, entreatable voice. She puffed out her lip and battered her big eyes. It was her most effective puppy dog pleading to that day.
Unfortunately for her, Tilda was immune.
Tilda said, "Is that a command, or are you just being weak?"
Cosaria swayed feebly, saying, "But I'm scared. I wish he would ask me."
Tilda rolled her eyes then said, "Do you want to ask him or not?"
"Yes. Maybe," Cosaria said as a fickle decision maker, "Maybe I can write him an invite?"
Tilda perked up, "That's a great idea!" It was a miracle. Cosaria was learning problem solving skills.
"I can, I can do that?" Cosaria questioned.
Tilda said, "You're the Duchess. You can do anything."
༻✧༺
Fast forward and Felux handed Delrik the finished invite.
As Delrik opened the letter he said, "What is this?"
He began reading with Felux peeking over his shoulder:
Upon the most humble of proposals, the Duke's inestimable presence is petitioned from the evening hours of seven to nine on the day of the Spring Festival as requested by the Duchess. Should a reply be in convenience of the Duke's potentialities, then please issue the verdict before the stipulated date. In departing salutations, signs the devoted Lady Cosaria.
Delrik asked, "What language is this?"
Felux said, "The Lady's asking if you'll come with her to the Spring Festival."
Delrik asked, "How did you decipher that?"
Felux said, "Tilda told me."
That letter was incomprehensible, and, as Tilda knew that, she had previously warned Felux in the hall, saying, "It's for the Duke. It took 2 hours to write and a boat load of language reference manuals. She was determined to get the right words. The gist is that she wants to invite the Duke to the Spring Festival."
Felux was glad for the warning, realizing it had been very necessary.
Delrik nodded looking at the letter, he said, "I see. The Spring Festival, I haven't been since... no. Tell her I cannot attend this year."
Felux said, "She'll be devastated."
"Doubtful."
༻✧༺
Cosaria was lying face down in her pillows, sobbing. She had tried to appear strong when she first learned of the fate of her invitation but her walls had finally broken down.
Tilda sat nearby rubbing Cosaria's back, looking bored.
Cosaria cried, "HE REJECTED MEEEEEEEEE!"
Tilda dared not say anything, because she knew that whatever she said would inevitably lead to Cosaria crying worse. Instead, she waited for the storm to pass and hoped it wouldn't take long.
༻✧༺
The day of the Festival arrived and Tilda was eager to help Cosaria forget about her unfortunate rejection. Luckily, it wasn't hard among the hustle and bustle of the festival's activities. Decorations strewn everywhere among the market with paper flowers and small flags spotting the street. Cosaria's joy overflowed through her bright big eyes and big excited smile. The girls had two guards with them for protection, Bobis and Kentsworth. Both men were extremely tall and very stocky, easily capable of the current task.
Cosaria and Tilda were enjoying the animals being exhibited. There were a few sheep, and an especially cute baby goat that clung to its mother's side. A small cow and a few horses were on display as well. Cosaria pointed and said, "Look, look Tilda, they have bunny rabbits!"
Cosaria pet one of the bunnies as Tilda fed it with a carrot. Tilda had asked Kentsworth if he would like to feed the bunny but he had refused.
The owner of the bunnies came over and commented, "Hello Duchess, if you don't mind my saying, those rabbits seem quite taken with you."
Cosaria asked, "Do you think so?"
"Sure," the rabbit keeper said, "It's a shame the Duke couldn't be here to see it."
Cosaria's joyful presence immediately fell as the curtain of her rejection blanketed her yet again.
Tilda grabbed Cosaria and pointed to the food section as she said, "Are those meat sticks? Come on!" Distraction was a very effective medicine.
The two women continued to enjoy the festival. There were all types of games, some where you threw bags of corn into little tin cans, some where you pulled out stacked blocks from a small tower. There were three-legged races and sack races for kids. The shops had special sweet treats and the stores all had unique limited Spring Festival items and Spring Festival sales.
Towards the evening Tilda and Cosaria passed by a small open space among the buildings. A stage had been set up and a sign read, "Fire Dancers." The show was set to begin soon.
Cosaria and Tilda stood in the front row, excited to see the performance. As they waited patiently Tilda began glancing around until her eyes stopped on Bobis's face.
He looked a bit older than most of the knights in the Arquix guard and she had to wonder if they were new. She couldn't remember ever seeing them on the training ground at the castle. Not only that but they had been weirdly quiet the whole time. Tilda had tried to make jokes, ask them questions, or include them into her antics but they had coldly rebuffed any of her efforts.
As Bobis noticed Tilda's staring, he said, "What?"
Tilda noted that Bobis's face had a few small scars and looked weathered. What really caught her interest was a small hole near Bobis's lip. It looked like...
"Do you normally wear a lip ring?" Tilda asked.
Bobis covered his mouth and said, "It's a scar."
"Hmmm..." Tilda said, turning back to the stage. Something was off. There was nothing wrong with the man having a lip ring. Sure, it wasn't common, but if that was the man's style she wasn't going to fault him for it. The problem was something else. It was the way he was trying to hide it.
Tilda didn't have more time to ponder on this as the show began almost immediately. Fire dancers came out and began dancing. A fast paced flute kept time with a rhythmic pounding drum as the dancers swirled sticks of fire, throwing them in the air and catching them. The dancers twirled and flipped, bent and leapt, wooing and aweing the crowd as they went.
Cosaria watched with eyes aglow by the fire's glitter, clapping along and gasping with each movement of the performance. Tilda was glad to see her happy. As one of the moves brought a fire stick dangerously close to Tilda's face, Tilda took a step back and ran into Kentsworth. She hadn't realized he was standing so close.
"Sorry," Tilda said as she looked back and noticed a dark expression on the looming man. He said nothing.
A pit formed in Tilda's stomach. Something was off.
The song ended and Tilda joined in with the crowd as they clapped.
A lead announcer took the stage. He was a magician, dressed head to toe in mysterious black cloaks. Definitely not sanctioned by the church.
He said, "For this next trick, we need five volunteers." Hands raised in the crowd and the man pointed to a few of them. "You, you, and you, and this Lady" he pointed to Cosaria who looked shocked, "yes you." He pointed to others, "You too. And yes, you as well."
Tilda counted the total of volunteers as they made their way backstage, Cosaria included.
She thought, That's six but okay.
Just before Cosaria moved behind the curtain she waved to Tilda, looking as happy as a spring day. Tilda waved back, smiling as the pit in her stomach hardened.
Tilda suddenly felt aware of the two knights, Bobis and Kentsworth, standing guard beside her. They seemed to take a step closer to her. Suddenly, she didn't feel so protected in their care. She tried to catch their expressions from her peripheral vision but as far as she could tell, their heads were trained forward.
The chosen few emerged on stage wearing silly fire hats. There were only five.
Where's Lady Cosaria!? Tilda panicked.
In the most inconspicuous way possible, Tilda checked the guards again from her peripherals. This time they were staring at her from the corner of their eyes. They were watching Tilda.
This is not good, Tilda thought, trying to come up with an escape plan.
In her most bored voice as possible she said, "I need to go to the bathroom."
As Tilda began to move, Kentsworth grabbed her.
Tilda channeled her inner hysterical woman and screamed as loud as she could, "AHHHHHHHH! Let go, you creepy perv!!!"
Kentsworth jerked back in surprise and embarrassment by the public outburst. It was just enough of a diversion that Tilda took it and ran off. The crowd parted for her, but they intentionally got in the way of Kentsworth and Bobis, delaying their progress. Tilda knew however, that it wouldn't be long until Kentsworth and Bobis would be back on her trail, running after her.
She turned the corner and saw a busy gambling table surrounded by a large group of sweating men. Grabbing one of the men's cloaks she threw it around herself and snuggled next to one of the gamblers.
Tilda asked, "Mind if I sit in for a second?"
The men at the table were all quite shocked by the unexpected interruption to their game. Tilda waited quietly as Bobis and Kentworth stampeded their way through the square and down another alleyway.
One of the gamblers, an older peasant with a kind smile and feathery white hair asked, "Are you okay miss?"
Tilda said, "Just running from a crazy former lover."
One gambler, who was losing terribly, said, "I can drink to that."
"Here, here," Said the other gamblers and they all took a swig as Tilda gave back the cloak and ran down towards the firedancer's stage.
With her back to the wall and eyes scanning the surroundings, Tilda snuck, unnoticed, into the backstage area. She hid behind some barrels as the fire dancers escorted volunteers off the stage.
Where is Lady Cosaria? She thought.
As the volunteers joined the main crowd, Tilda saw one dancer look both ways before disappearing behind a sheet of fabric designed to blend into the wall.
There.
The backstage area was mostly empty, with all the actors and understaffed stage helpers focused on the performance. Keeping her back to the wall, Tilda made her way to the fake curtain and peeked through. The coast was clear so Tilda went through and found her next hiding vantage point behind some crates and large sacks.
That's when Cosaria entered, tied up and gagged, being carried by two men with the same bulky build as Bobis and Kentsworth, however, they were obviously different people. The men brought Cosaria over to a small shabby box-like cart and threw her inside.
Bobis and Kentsworth were the next to enter the scene, going straight to a small wiry man.
Bobis spoke first, "The maid got away."
The wiry man said, "Ah, let her go. We'll be long gone before anyone can do anything and no one will be able to track us with the route we travel. Now let's pack up and go."
The wiry man, and the four large stalky men, Bobis and Kentsworth included, pushed the card and began to exit towards a back alley.
Tilda realized she made a mistake. She should have told the gamblers that the Duchess was in danger when she had the chance. She had been so panicked from being chased that she wasn't thinking practically. She could still go back and ask for help, but if she did that, she might lose Cosaria.
What do I do? Tilda wondered as the cart turned a corner out of sight.
Tilda decided to follow her intuition, something she had been neglecting to do all day. Her intuition said to follow Cosaria. If she found where they were taking her, then maybe Tilda would be able to get help after that, but the priority was to not lose track of Cosaria.
As the cart weaved its way through back alley's and empty streets, Tilda followed. She had to admit, either she was really good at being stealthy, or those lumbering idiots were really bad at detecting people. By the way the men noisily lumbered along, Tilda suspected it to be the latter.
It didn't take long for the wiry man, the small cart, and his four cronies to make it to the road. The wiry man, who Tilda had nicknamed, Wizen, held up his hand for the entourage to halt.
Wizen took out a bottle from a pocket on his jacket. He said, "And here's where the real magic happens. Alright, lift then, what do I pay you for?"
Using sticks, the four muscled men turned the cart into a palanquin as the wheels folded under the box. Then the men began traveling off the path and into the forest.
Wizen barked, "Don't do anything that would leave behind tracks. We mustn't be followed."
Wizen was confident that his plan was flawless as he shook a bottle of dark liquid. He and his men had done this hundreds of times. It was his greatest disappearing act yet.
Wizen sprayed the bottle of mist behind him and his company.
He said, "This will make sure no dog can sniff out our scent."
As he traveled, he periodically sprayed the mist in little spurts.
Tilda let them go ahead a bit before she braced herself to follow. For a moment she paused and held her wrist close to her chest.
She whispered, "I'm sorry Felux."
Then she snapped her bracelet and collected the beads into her pockets.
Tilda placed the first bead in the center of the road. The next she put off to the side of the road in the direction the palanquin had traveled.
"Please, find us."
As she entered the woods, Tilda dropped the beads one-by-one as she went.