Windy Nights (A WMMAP fanfiction)

Part Six: The Festival

                        Athy

  I startled at the sudden voice and spun around to face a grinning Lucas.
"How did you...? Ah, nevermind," I shook my head, smiling to myself. Of course he could appear behind me when I wasn't paying attention. He could do anything. He was the most powerful magician after all.

  I looked him up and down, studying his appearance. Instead of his usual robes, Lucas was wearing all black with a dark green cloak. His hair was pulled into a low ponytail and hung over one shoulder. A few hairs had come loose and were hanging over his face. Absentmindedly, I reached up and pushed the strands behind his ear.

  His eyes widened in mild surprise and he raised an eyebrow.
"Are you seducing me?" Because it's working," Lucas asked with an amused expression.
"What? No! You had some hair..." I trailed off, realizing he was joking. I smacked him on the shoulder and changed the subject.

  "So why are we meeting? Daddy said Felix has to follow us on any future outings."
"Those are only the outings he's aware of," Lucas replied, studying something on his sleeve intensely. "You mean...we're sneaking out?!"
"Why not? We've done it before."
"Sneaking out at night is different," I muttered.

  "We'll only be gone for a couple hours tops. Besides, you've been wanting to go into town for weeks."
"What if someone comes in and notices I'm missing?" I complained.
Lucas sucked in one cheek and looked up in thought. Then he reached out and waved his hand in front of him.

  A perfect clone of myself appeared where his hand was. She looked exactly like me, down to the exact shade of eyes. She was smiling and looking at Lucas lovingly, as if I wasn't standing there at all. Then she reached over and grabbed his arm, nuzzling her head into his shoulder.

  "Why is she doing that?!"
"I'm just trying to make it as accurate as possible," Lucas said with a wink, patting the clone's head. I glared at him and then glared at the clone, who was still clinging to him. He snickered and then waved his hand once more, making the clone let go of his arm and sit on the bed, staring at nothing in particular.

  "Is it okay now?" Lucas held out his arm to me, and I took it after some hesitation. There was a burst of air and we were suddenly in an alley in town. Lucas was wearing his black clothes and cloak, and I was wearing peasant clothing, my hair loose down my back.

  I glanced around at my surroundings and realized we were at some nighttime festival that was being held in town. Booths and tables with vendors had been set up all along the main street, some covered in various foods such as bread, fruit, vegetables and pastries, whereas others were covered in hair accessories, jewelry, toys for children and other miscellaneous handmade items.

  The streets were lit with paper lanterns and torches, and children were running around and playing in abundance. The adults at the festival appeared to be having a good time as well. Some drank alcohol together in groups while others perused the selection of goods on the tables.

  I looked around in awe, all the while holding onto Lucas's arm and walking slowly through the crowds.
"How is it?" Lucas asked.
"I completely forgot it was tonight!" I had been so focused on work and worried about Papa that it had slipped my mind that the meteor shower that happened once every decade was happening tonight.

  The citizens always had a festival to celebrate it. They would sell goods early in the night and then when the shower started everyone would spread out to watch it, some going to the nearby lake and others straying from town in all different directions to watch with their families.

  Something seemed to catch Lucas's eye as he stopped at a table full of jewelry and stared at one thing in particular. He grabbed it before I saw what it was and held it out to the lady selling it, covering it from my view with his palm.

  "I'll take this," he said. Before the woman could name the price of the jewelry he yanked a handful of coins out of his pocket and shoved them into her hands. Her eyes widened in shock but before she could say anything he had grabbed my hand and led me out of the crowd, towards the bridge overlooking the lake nearby.
"Wait, how much did you give her?" I asked, confused. Lucas didn't say anything as he continued to pull me along.

  We crossed a grassy hill and approached the bridge, sitting down and letting our legs hang off the side, hovering over the water. We were silent for a while before Lucas mumbled,
"This is the first one we've seen together, huh." He was talking to himself, but I replied,
"Yeah. Hopefully not the last." I turned my head and smiled at him. He grinned back at me and laced his fingers through mine. "As you wish, Princess."

  In the corner of my eye I saw a flash of light streak across the sky. "Ah! It's started!" I cried, turning my attention to the shower. Every few seconds light would streak across the sky. I was afraid to blink for fear I would miss one. Several minutes had passed by, us watching together in silence.

  "Hundreds of years ago I remember watching this on my own," Lucas whispered. "I had nothing. No one." I lowered my eyes from the stars and stared at his side profile. His face was turned upwards like he was watching the sky but his eyes had a far away expression, as if he were somewhere else.

  "But... the day I met you..." he turned to face me, his eyes slowly coming back to the present. "I realized I wasn't alone. If someone had told me back then what I know now, I would've called them a liar." Lucas cleared his throat. "I know now that I'm not alone, and I wasn't back then. I was just waiting for you to come to this world."

  My vision started going blurry. Hot tears welled in my eyes as I listened to him speak about the past. How lonely it must have been. As the first tear fell, Lucas reached over and gently wiped it with one finger, stroking my face with the back of his hand.
"I didn't mean to make you cry," he chuckled.
"I know," I whispered, lifting my hand to cover his.

  In his palm was a hairpin. My eyes widened as I remembered that Lucas had purchased something from that jewelry maker. My fingers wrapped around it and I studied it closely in the dim light. It was a topaz hair accessory, framed by two tiny pearls.

  It sparkled beautifully. The clip was made of silver and the entire accessory wasn't even as big as half my pinkie finger. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Not just because of the way it sparkled, but because of who had given it to me.
"It's the same shade as your eyes," Lucas said quietly.

  "You really like giving me things that match me, huh?" I laughed out loud. Lucas reached over to take the hairpin from me and clipped it into my hair, brushing some runaway strands behind my ear.
"A beautiful gift for a beautiful woman."

  We stared into each other's eyes, the meteor shower forgotten. Everyone faded into the background. The sky bled into the lake, and it was just us again. His eyelashes fluttered as his eyes started to close. He leaned towards me slowly. I closed my eyes and let my feelings take over.

  Our lips were so close I could feel their shadow when I heard a surprised voice call out to me in the darkness.
"Princess?" I jumped backwards and squinted my eyes to make out the figure in the darkness. In the dim lighting from the far off torches I could just make out their features. A man with white hair and golden eyes... Ijekiel?!