The Ring Master's Fair

PART 5

The Ring Master's Fair - Part 5

Lark wandered down yet another garden path. She was wearing one of Chrys's old dresses. Not one with fancy things, but a simple baby blue dress with a sweet heart neck line that had a bow in the back and went down to her knees. Her hair was up into a beautiful braided bun, courtesy of Chrys. She wandered around barefoot, as Chrys didn't have any shoes that fit Lark. She felt beautiful after having a good cleaning and wearing a dress that fit her like a glove.

Lark stopped in front of a small fountain with a wicker bench in front of it. She sat carefully, in fear of damaging the dress. The birds sang a cheerful tune and the afternoon sun beamed down on her. The garden was nearly empty, except for the occasional dolled up couple.

Soon, a familiar stranger sat down besides her, Prince Rylan. "So my brother bought you?" he asked unamused.

Lark nodded silently, afraid that he would be like his brother.

"Are you waiting for him?" he asked.

Lark again nodded silently.

"Are you going to talk?" he asked.

"What shall we talk about then, my prince?" Lark asked politely. She had never been around royalty before. And the time with Atticus didn't feel like she was around royalty; judging by the way he had acted.

"You never told me your name," he said.

"Lark," she responded quietly.

Rylan laughed and shook his head at Lark's quietness. "No need to act so shy and polite around me. I would like to be your friend."

Lark smiled a little at this, she would still need to keep her guard up, but having a friend would be good. "My name is Lark," she spoke again, this time with a boost of confidence.

"That's more like it," he laughed. "As your friend, though, I should warn you."

"Wa- warn me? Warn me about what?" she asked scared.

Rylan sighed. "My older brother, Atticus. He can be a... bipolar rainstorm; sometimes just a light drizzle, sometimes a stronger rain with some winds, and - sadly - sometimes the real deal."

"What exactly do you mean by 'the real deal'?"

"The real deal: booming thunder, harsh winds, crashing lightning, pouring rain."

"Oh my," Lark gasped. If how Atticus had acted earlier wasn't bad, then she didn't want to see him at his worst.

"There's my girl," said a new voice suddenly said.

Atticus.

Lark looked up to see Atticus casually leaning against a vine covered pillar.

"I'm not your girl," she snapped.

Atticus ignored her. "Loving the dress by the way," he said while examining her from head to toe.

Lark tried to restrain from blushing as much as possible, but failed.

"Aunt Lucinda wants to see you about something, Rylan," Atticus said sending his brother a glare.

Rylan smiled nervously. "I will leave you two then."

"Good." Atticus quickly took his brother's seat the second he was out of sight.

"What was that?" Lark asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"What was that with your brother? Are you enemies or something?"

"It's a long story," he responded curtly.

Lark sighed as an awkward tension rose for a moment. "Let me show you something," Atticus suddenly said as he stood up and held out his hand for her to take.

Either he was back in his "drunk" state, or something bad was going to happen if she went with him.

Lark hesitated for a moment, but she took his hand anyway. Atticus led her through the garden, occasionally stopping to avoid a couple taking a stroll. Eventually the stopped in front of a gazebo that overlooked a medium-sized pond.

"What exactly are you showing me?" Lark asked confused.

Atticus let go of her hand and moved to take hold of the gazebo's rails.

"This is where all the men in my family proposed to all their women," Atticus explained, "It has always been a family tradition."

So Atticus was currently in his "drunk" state

It was always Atticus's dream to find a woman to propose to; someone who could put up with his ways. But no matter how hard he tried, his head always found a way to get in the way of his heart. Atticus played with women's feelings. He meddled with their hearts until they were broken beyond repair. It was all like an unbreakable curse that was never cast.

Of course, no one actually knew about it. Everyone thought that he did what he did on purpose, for the fun of it. No matter how many times He had tried to tell someone, something always held him back. He yelled and screamed in his head, but the words never came out of his mouth.

Looking at the girl in front of him, he saw another pure soul to destroy, another girl to make his slave; but he also saw another chance at love.

"Wow," Lark said, snapping Atticus out of his thoughts. "The fish," she whispered softly, "they're so beautiful." her head was propped up on her hand, and she was leaning over the rail.

Atticus went to stand next to her. He followed her gaze to the center of the pond. His eyes landed on a group of large fish. Their bright, rainbow colored scales shone underneath the sun.

"Amazing," Atticus said breathlessly. "I've never seen anything like them around here before."

"There's a first time for everything then," Lark smiled softly.

His gaze went to her smile and he smiled as well. "There's a first time for everything," he said quiet enough so only he could hear "For everything."