Holiday Tales

At the First Sign of Spring

Spring had come to Katolis and with it the Spring Festival. In the past, the Spring Festival was to celebrate the end of winter and the coming of the warm weather. However, in the past eight years, things had changed. The Spring Festival had evolved into a celebration of peace between the Human Kingdoms and the lands of Xadia.

~*~

Princess Sari just loved the Spring Festival (had ever since she was three). But this year was different. In the past (or at least ever since she married Sari's father), her mother had planed the festival. But this year, Sari's Aunt Apolla had taken over. (Sari's Uncle Ezran had married the young sunfire princess the previous autumn.)

After the death of their mother, Apolla's older brother had taken the throne of the sunfire elves and Apolla had gone to live in Katolis with their Aunt Jania. She and Ezran had met on her first day at the palace and became fast friends. It hadn't surprised anyone when Ezran had approached the council with his plans to marry the elven princess. And he wasn't the only one. The young prince of Neolanda was betrothed to a sunfire elf while Queen Ayna had married a skywing elf, the young queen Del Bar had married an earthblood elf, and the young king of Evenir had married a startouched elf.

The people had accepted their new queen with open arms and had rejoiced when, barley a week ago, news had come from the palace that an heir was on the way. And the king and queen weren't the only ones expecting a child. Rayla was pregnant with her and Callum's second baby while Callum and Ezran's Aunt Amaya and Apolla's Aunt Jania (who had married not long after Rayla and Callum had announced Rayla's first pregnancy over five years ago) were both expecting a child (Queen Anaya having sent them a spell that would enable them to have children together (the same one her high mage had found in an old Xadian text back when her mothers ruled Durn)). If things went well all four cousins would be born on or around the same time.

And it wasn't just the four women of the royal family who were expecting. Opila (who had married Corvus not long after Amaya and Jania had announced their engagement) was due to give birth to her first child within the month. That meant that by the Harvest Festival there would be five babies in the palace (plus a five-year-old).

~*~

Sari pulled her parents towards the entrance to the fair grounds. She wanted to get something to eat, play some games, and go on the rides.

"Slow down, Sari," Callum said with a laugh.

"But daddy, I want to get some cotton candy and then go on the rides," the four-year-old said.

"How about we go on the rides first and then have something to eat?" Rayla said. "That way you won't get sick like you did last year."

"Okay, mommy."

The family continued on and soon came across some familiar faces.

"Artemis! Diana!" Sari called.

The princess ran up to her two friends. Artemis and Diana where Runaan and Ethari's daughters; half-sisters born from the same surrogate mother. Artemis was the oldest at five and Runaan's biological daughter while Diana was just a few weeks younger than Sari and Ethari's biological daughter. The three girls giggled and talked while Callum and Rayla came up to the group at a slower rate.

"Prince Callum," someone called.

Callum turned and smiled, waving at Commander Gren and his family. About a year after Callum and Rayla were married, Commander Gren had married Jaharana, the sunfire elf who had acted as translator for Jania and Amaya during Amaya's first "visit" to Lux Aurea. Nearly a week before Artemis was born, they had welcomed their own daughter into the world who Commander Gren had insisted on naming Amaya after his best friend. Little Amaya (as she was so often called) had her mother's horns, pointed ears, dark skin, and golden eyes and markings but her five fingers and red hair she inherited from her father (she also had a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks but only her family and friends knew about it).