Redayrans sure took their celebrations seriously. Black cats and cauldrons were painted on the windows of houses. The lanterns that hung outside of the houses shone with either green or blue lights. The women wore big, ugly, paper noses, and long, pointy hats, and the men long cloaks and hunched backs.
"Why the celebration?" Aurelie asked.
"Well, when your King killed the last dragon to take his power, the witches panicked. They thought that their magic was next," he stepped on his toes to look over the heads of a crowd at one of the festival stalls, "they weren't wrong. So they fled to Redayrah because we don't kill witches or steal their powerâ
"Alright, alright, dragons are bad," she interrupted. "Get to the point. That still doesn't explain all the fuss."
Nick chuckled. "There were three big covens in Highfire; Halbrook, High Talon, and the Lydia Anne Coven. While we gathered witches from all three of them, it was mainly the Lydia Anne coven that came over. Their leader gathered all the witches outside our border and came to negotiate a deal with the leaders of Redayrah. It had to be one that made it worthwhile for us to potentially become enemies with Highfire."
"Did they off you their firstborns?" Aurelie scoffed. It would have had to have been a big promise to make an enemy of a newly empowered King.
Nick laughed. "Almost but no. Tamara Dae, the leader at the time, offered the unattainable. She said that they would become invaluable to Redayrah in three months' time, and if they didn't, then they'd all be gathered in the same space and the leadership could hand them over to Highfire and not only keep the alliance but strengthen it through the apprehension of their enemy."
Aurelie walked passed a woman in a green hat and a layered black, transparent skirt. She sipped on a hot drink that steamed bright green and gave her upper lip a slight tint. "But how would that work? Wouldn't the witches just flee again before the three months was over?"
"They made a blood oath. If the leadership gave them up before three months, their bloodlines would be eviscerated, and if the witches fled without waiting for the verdict that same would happen to the council bloodlines of the Lydia Anne coven."
Aurelie widened her eyes. "Right. Witches." She shook her head, trying to understand how anyone could put their entire family on the line like that and not die from anxiety and fear. "What did they do to earn their stay?"
"They assisted in the apprehension of thieves and murderers, caught just about every single bugger with their magic. Basically tripled the production of our vegetation and saved it during dry months by summoning rain. They helped us with infrastructure, introduced us to herbs that we hadn't even heard of and began growing them so that they could heal our sick. They earned their keep, and we celebrate the day they ran from you and came to us."
"What did you give them?"
"Some ground for shops and homes. Peter lives in the witch quarter. Had to tell them all that Donahue hurt his niece by accident since he didn't know you were arriving. They believed it. The man is mad enough." Nick raised an eyebrow. "If they heard a dragon was nearby, they'd probably kill you. There's nowhere else to run."
Aurelie nodded. "Thanks, I guess," she said.
The town center was packed with chairs, and a large stage was at the end, lit up by cauldrons of purple fire. Temporary shops stood around the stage, with queues that looked like they'd last all night. People walked around in feathered masks and pastries that were shaped like fingers, ears, and toes.
"Aurelie," he said after a moment as they neared one of the stalls. "My father hasn't told anyone about you yet, not that I know of."
"Okay," she said slowly and carefully, waiting to hear what he meant by that.
"He's not a man that does things out of kindness."
"I see." Aurelie swallowed hard and looked around, suspicion suddenly catching the best of her. "Are you such a man?"
"No."
"What did you gain?"
Nick looked down to his feet, and rocked back on his heels, avoiding her piercing gaze. "Nothing."
"What do you intend to gain?"
He looked up then. His eyes displayed a hint of insult. "Not a damn thing."
She believed him and chose not to press him further because she didn't quite want to find out why he didn't intend on getting anything. They stood in a line for drinks. The thick, gooey liquid was served in tiny cauldrons. There looked to be several flavors; green, orange, purple and black. Aurelie chose them as a topic to change the mood and the subject she and Nick were on. "What is that?" she asked.
"They're called Potions. It melts in your mouth, and becomes a drink rather than... soup." Nick looked at her bewildered expression and laughed. "Don't worry, it's really tasty. There's Cinnamon Cream, Apple Custard, Blackberry and Chocolate and Cherry Liquorish. If you're lucky, they'll serve Raspberry Ice-Cream, but that's rare and sells out almost instantly."
Aurelie really wished he hadn't said that. The only thing in the world she wanted now was the damn Raspberry Ice-Cream flavor, not only was it rare, but she had no idea where her belongings were and that's where she kept her gold.
"That's alright," she said. "I don't really want anything. You enjoy it."
"Oh, come on!" Nic whined. "My father's paying. We can't let him off that easy. And you're a princess, aren't you supposed to be more demanding by nature? Ask me for one in each flavor... You know what, you don't have to, I'll get it anyway."
Aurelie rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "I want Raspberry Ice-Cream or nothing!" An enchanted broom swept past them, maneuvering a trail of candy wrappers and dirty.
"You're not making this easier." They moved a step forward as someone left the row.
"You said I should act like a princessâ
A group of people pushed into Aurelie. "Sorry," she said and took a step closer to Nick. A man dressed all in black blocked her path. Aurelie stepped to the side but another man had blocked the way there too.
"Why are you sorry?" asked the man.
Aurelie looked up and gasped. He had red eyes, and his skin was black as the darkest velvet. Red lines resembling veins were painted on his face and neck. He reminded her of a Black Widow spider, only she assumed that his bite would be twice as venomous. The others around him had similar lines painted on their faces. Some were thicker than others and every pattern differed.
"I..." Aurelie froze. Someone bumped into her from behind and instead of feeling them pass, they remained there. She turned around and found a whole group surrounding her. Men and women blocked her path and stepped closer. The first one was their leader. The malicious grin gave him away.
"Please, let me pass."
"She wants to pass."
The voices echoed around her, only she did not hear them with her ears. They were inside her head. Her thoughts were overtaken by foreign accents and voices.
"Yes, let her pass," said a woman, then laughed.
The leader took out a frozen ball from his hand. "Not before we give her this."
Aurelie's heart pounded. She looked from one to another, trying to find a gap to move through. Where was Nick? She couldn't hear him or see him. Did he just let a group of strangers trap her without doing anything? "I don't want anything. I just want to pass," she said through clenched teeth.
"She does! She does!"
"Of course, she does!" They cackled inside her mind, but their expressions remained cold and stiff. Aurelie felt them ogling her with their red eyes. A shiver ran down her spine and made it curve in fear.
"Amelia? Do you want the portal?" The ball flew over Aurelie's head and landed in the hands of a thick, scary looking woman.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
They passed the ball from one person to another. "I don't want the ball!" Aurelie cried, and dropped down to her knees. She tried to move their cloaks out of the way to find a space to crawl through, but all the open gaps were sealed with what felt like an invisible wall.
"Don't run. It's no fun when you run."
Aurelie covered her ears with her palms and shut her eyes. "Stop it! Get out of my head!" She felt sick with fear. The circle that they had her surrounded in was getting smaller. The air around her was hot and thick.
"Turn it! Let her see."
"No! It's mine."
"It's not!"
"Stop!" called the leader's voice.
Aurelie opened her eyes and stood up. "What do you want from me?"
"Pass it," he said out loud, breaking out of the trans that the rest of them were in. The ball rolled from hand to hand and fell into his palm. He handed it to Aurelie. "Look."
Aurelie hand dampened as soon as the ball touches her hand. The ice that surrounded it melted and revealed two halves. One was filled with white mountains with a crystal castle stood atop the tallest one, and the other revealed a market. In fact, it was exactly the market that they stood in now. Aurelie leaned closer and saw herself trapped in a circle of wizards in dark hoods.
"What is this?"
A cackle rang through the circle. "We should let her leave!"
"Yes, don't tell her! She so wanted to leave."
"Silence!" the leader shouted, and they all fell still. "Turn the ball, Aurelie."
Aurelie's eyes widened. "How do youâ
"Turn the ball, Aurelie," he repeated, returning to his stone-like expression of before.
As Aurelie started to turn the two halves, the entire circle reached out and put their hands on her. She stopped for a moment and looked up at the leader, continuing to turn when he nodded his head.
The ground beneath her feet melted. In a spiral of white, snow and mountains melted into the market. Bright white clouds mixed into the starry sky. It like a painted wanted to capture both day and night into a picture, but this was real and surrounded her. When she completed the turn, Aurelie stood knee deep in snow.
"You want to kill the King and receive retribution for what he has done to you. The Frozen Queen is at your service."
"I don't understand," Aurelie said. "How does she know?" Cold air chilled her through her clothing. Her teeth were at the edge of chattering. The others stood shaking too.
The leader raised an eyebrow, his head flicking slightly back in surprise. "Young dragon, the queen knows all."
"It's cold."
"Make her turn it back."
Their teeth chattered against each other. Aurelie was inclined to let them suffer for the fear they made her feel earlier with their dramatic introduction. Had all the normality disappeared from the world? Could they not just have given her the damn portal without all the hassle? She turned the ball back, and the world spiraled back into place, in reverse.
Aurelie turned to thank them, but the figures that surrounded her disappeared into the crowd. "When you're ready for her, she'll be ready for you."
Someone poked her shoulder from behind. When she turned, Nick stood with red cauldrons in both hands. "Where have you been? Don't disappear like that! I thought the witches caught you," he scolded.
Aurelie took one of the cauldrons from him. "You didn't see them?"
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it." She slipped the ball into her pocket and followed him to find seats.
The thick, red curtains which covered the stage hung on invisible railings. Once they opened, a girl with blond hair, lightly curled, and reaching her bottom, stood facing the audience. She had been twice as beautiful as anyone Aurelie had ever seen and wore a white dress that resembled pure innocence.
"My name is Seiane, I worked at the Dranoir castle," she said. A light came on behind her and revealed a wall made out of large stones. It was the castle. A painting of a man in royal robes hung over the fireplace. Aurelie had his eyes, the round shape, and color.
A broomstick appeared in Seiane's hand and she started to sweep.
"Cleaned first," she said as the room started to change around her. "Scrubbed their floors and made up their beds. Then they moved me to the kitchen," she said. A table manifested in front of her and the broomstick she held changed into a rolling pit. The crowd cheered at the sudden change. Aurelie found herself sitting closer in her own seat.
As the play progressed Seiane revealed herself to the castle's secret healer. They showed her sneaking into chambers late in the evenings to bring herbs to the sick. She helped where she could and never asked for help.
"One night," she came to stand directly in front of the crowd, and formed tight fists, showing her anger, "the King's young brother fell ill. Healers came and went but the boy grew frailer. The war was looming and they were running out of people to call. I snuck herbs into his drink and watched over him until he was healthy. Nothing got past the King, he saw me sneak into his room every night and he saw that after every visit his brother's color returned just a little more." She came up to the very edge of the room, looked directly at Aurelie with such a cold hatred that Aurelie's face flushed. "And still they betrayed me."
The scene switched suddenly. Seiane no longer stood on the stage. Instead, a man strolled around the room Seiane swept at the beginning of the play.
"We're losing, Your Majesty," a short, fat man said in croaky yet somehow squeaky voice. "They'll be upon the castle in a week, two at most."
The King stopped in front of the fireplace. "Then I must do it."
The place where the wall had been became a moving picture as the King left the castle and approached the cave. Once he reached the cave, a loud screech sounded as the King's shadow bent down beside that of a dragon. The crowd booed as he drained the last Highfirian dragon of its power.
Suddenly they were back at the castle. The wall appeared behind the King again. He faced the crowd, his short advisor coming up behind him.
"Gather the witches, Kelmon."
"Will Seiane do for now, Your Majesty?"
A light came on in the corner of the room and revealed a lifeless Seiane. "I've already taken care of her, Kelmon, but I need more. A lot more."
As if noticing the crowd before him, the King snapped his attention onto the audience. "There! Get them!" He ran forward. People screamed and rose from their chairs just as the curtain drew closed.
Aurelie sat in her chair, feeling a chill run down her spine. "That's not what happened," she said but the excited murmurs of the crowd muffled out her voice.
"Best one yet!" Nick said excitedly. "What did you think?"
"That's not what happened," she said louder and caught the attention of a woman to her right who glared at her in suspicion and moved away.
"What do you mean?"
Aurelie stood as Nick did. "I mean, the King never went after witches, the power of the dragons was enough."
"Aurelie, it's just a play."
"But it's not just a play, is it? These people believe it."
Nick opened his mouth to speak and then laughed. "Everyone twists the truth for their own benefit, Aurelie. Don't be naïve."
Aurelie smiled at him coldly and nodded once before moving with the crowd to leave the seating area.