"Do you have anything to say?"
He shook his head, but never shifted his gaze from her face.
"Well then, what do you want?" She snapped, tired of his incessant staring.
He shook his head again, still remaining speechless.
She sighed. "Is there someth...
With the Calabar festival holding that same night, the whole kingdom gathered in front of the King's palace to celebrate. Also, the new prince would be named and brought out for the first time.
At first Ara and Fade didn't want to go, although they hadn't both agreed to do this.
However, Queen Isua ended up convincing Princess Ara to attend and the same happened with King Ekpe and Prince Fade.
The royals sat at the balcony of the palace while they watched the performances of the dancers, the shape shifters, the magicians, the skilled swordsmen and the fire breathers.
The festival had begun in earnest when Princess Ara arrived, and Queen Isua being the good cousin she was, had placed Ara's seat next to Fade while Dipo was seated at the far end, away from both of them.
Dipo seethed but didn't let it show, trying to concentrate on the performances below.
Ara sat beside Fade who behaved as if he wasn't aware she was there. But on the inside, his heart raced as the sweet scent of the crushed flowers she used as perfume wafted to his nose.
He knew she looked stunning, for he had glanced up when she arrived and that was enough to take his breath away.
Ara wore one of the Queen's outfit, which was a blue mermaid shaped gown with straps. Her hair had also been adorned with silver accessories and her lips with crushed red petals.
Fade himself happened to be wearing a white shirt, blue wrapper and a blue scarf around his neck, topped with a black cap which matched Ara's outfit. He suspected this to be the handiwork of the royal couple, especially since they kept smiling and sending secret glances his way every now and then.
But he would ignore Ara. Act like she wasn't even there. He would put his full concentration on the performers and make sure he has a good time. He would also–
His thoughts came to a staggering halt when her hand slipped into his.
He glanced down to make sure it was real, and when he saw that her hand was truly there, he looked at her and saw that she was already gazing up at him.
"I'm sorry."
Although he couldn't hear her over the noise of the festivities, the arena was so lit he could see her mouth and make out what she just said.
He sighed, shook his head and faced forward while trying to remove his hand from her grasp. But instead of letting go, she tightened her hold on him.
Fade sighed again, his heart melting as her hand clasped his, and then he stopped trying to disengage his hand from hers. Instead, he entwined her hand with his.
For the rest of the night, these two lovebirds sat in silence as they pretended to watch the festivities, although their minds were elsewhere.
For it wasn't only their hands that were intertwined.
Their hearts were too.
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This is how Ara was dressed for the Calabar festival.
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