Magic and Destiny: Fate

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dominic and Maya walked back to the village in silence, both in wonder about the voice in the cavern. A voice out of both of their pasts. It struck Dominic as odd, the message that he heard, addressed to Maya. Who is the one she loves? He wondered, not sure if he was the one the voice was talking about, if she was destined for another. But no... it couldn't be, for his mother had a vision of a girl who looked exactly like Maya, and he refused to believe that he was to find another.

Maya was silent, head on Dominic's shoulder, arms around one of his own. She loved him, she already knew that much. She never thought her dream from when she was a child would have actually come true. "Dominic." His name, which was all she said.

Dominic's ear peeked at the sound of his name, and he looked down at Maya. "Yes, Maya?"

She smiled gently, looking up into his green eyes. "When will you ask my father for my hand?"

At that, Dominic broke into a wide grin, smiling generously. "At the stroke of midnight, when the festivities are coming to their height, and all gather for the speech, I will ask your father after that. When the time for questions is upon the village; I will not tell your father of the impending army, but I will let him see that we are ready. After the speech and the questions are at an end, I will talk to your father in private." He moved his head down, continuing to walk with her, and kissed the top of her head.

Maya held his arm tighter as they reached the edge of the forest and were beginning to get into the village. They could see that more people had joined the festivities, and everyone was enjoying themselves. Her arms slipped from his, and she stepped away slightly. No one needed to know that they had been so close when they were not to be wed yet. She looked about them, and pointed at a stand that had a bunch of bottles and stones to knock them over.

Dominic's gaze followed the direction of Maya's pointing finger, and nodded, smiling, walking with her over to the booth.

"Alright Dominic, Maya, the rules of the game are simple. Knock over all the bottles with no more than two stones, and you win a prize. Price is one copper."

Dominic thought it over and nodded slowly, digging into his pouch for a copper coin. The vendor handed him two good sized stones, and stepped back as to not interfere. Dominic hefted the stones in his hands, calculating, and then brought his hand back to throw the ball, and in a blur of speed, hurled it at the bottles. The stone hit the bottles right in the center, and they all toppled over, and off of the platform. The vendor clapped his hands, and came over to them, bearing several baskets with items for which to choose his prize.

He stepped closer to Maya, and looked at the prizes to be taken from the multitude of baskets. He glanced up at her, sideways, a though in his mind, and nodded as he saw the prize he wanted. He picked it up, and they walked away from the booth, allowing all others present to play as well. He held up his prize for Maya to examine, a handcrafted necklace of gems and leather with a pendant in the center. They stopped a ways down the road and Dominic put it around her neck, liking how it brought out her natural beauty.

Maya spun about for him, and continued their walk down the street, seeing more of the booths. After a short distance, she stopped and bought a few pastries for them to munch on. Hers was strawberry, his was apple. Both their favorite fruits. A little distance away from the pastry stand, they came across an interesting game. People were tossing these little wooden rings, trying to get them to go over the tops of bottles.