“Mari!” They both heard the voice through the crowd.

It was only when she started looking around that Sorin realised that was probably her name. Strangely enough, they both hadn’t bothered with such formalities as names.

“Mari!” They both turned when they noticed that the voice was behind them and much closer than before.

“There you are, I thought we agreed we would meet again by the inn,” said a well-dressed young man with a relieved look on his face.

The young nobleman was clearly relieved to see her again, but he was wary of the imposing person next to her and so was his attendant.

“We lost something in the river and this Lord was kind enough to retrieve it for me.”

“Ah, I see, thank you friend,” said Urien while taking Kamaria by the hand.

Sorin almost smirked at the display, but he was completely unbothered. They didn’t know each other, and he had no need or desire to compete with this boy. He knew he had been respectful towards the young lady the entire duration of the night.

“Where are the girls?” Urien asked in a low voice.

“They wanted to go shopping. I thought I’d let them have some fun,” answered Kamaria at an audible volume.

Although their entire night had been completely innocent, it still wouldn’t look good for them to be alone together, so Sorin understood her subtlety.

“I had my subordinate accompany them, not to worry. They shouldn’t be far.”

“My Lady, we’re here! We got those pastries you wanted,” said Raisa as she tried catching her breath. While they had never been too far, they kept enough of a distance to allow the young Lord and Lady to be to relax.

“Once again, thank you. We should let the gentlemen enjoy the festival, Mari. Let’s go.”

Kamaria freed her hand to turn to Sorin and put her right hand over her left hand with her palms facing inward.

The gesture was made on the left side of her body just above her waist and then she curtseyed in the most elegant way. It was as if she hadn’t been running around like a fae goddess of the hunt.

Not that she had lost any of her elegance doing any her fun activities, but he understood the sudden reserved switch for the sake high society etiquette. For Sorin, the curtsey only heightened his curiosity about her origins.

Each region had certain recognisable greetings whether it was within the empire or beyond.

However only certain prominent families had specific greetings. Having travelled extensively and met a host of different people, Sorin was aware of most of the imperial province’s greetings but not this one.

Who knew that in one simple night, someone had even invoked a vague thought he had never considered he would be having so soon. Even he was surprised with himself since it was something that he had even considered too troublesome not too long ago.

Urien looked at the young man again and glanced at Kamaria. Who did he think he was to get this type of acknowledgement from Kamaria? He could clearly tell that she was of a higher status but hadn’t stopped her when she curtseyed to him.

This made Urien’s brow furrow as Lili and Raisa curtseyed to the young lord as well before they turned to leave.

“Young master enjoyed his evening while I just received suspicious looks the entire time,” grumbled Altair.

“You complain like an old man,” said Sorin with a smirk.

They both turned to leave but the young lord looked over his shoulder to see them get further and at that moment, the young lady, turned to glance at him one more time before continuing to walk away.

He looked at the box with the quiver and smiled. Altair noticed the subtle smile but didn’t comment on it, since it was both surprising and a little frightening. It had been a long time since Sorin had genuinely smiled.

The chaotic prince eventually re-joined Kamaria and Urien, but she didn’t mind the company. She was a little glad about it after the silence between her and Urien. He tried holding her hand again, but her hands were securely tucked away in her long sleeves.

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“Mari, did you know that gentleman?”

“No, I’ve never met him before,” softly said Kamaria.

“Just be more careful from now on okay, you never know people’s intentions.”

“I understand, don’t worry.”

“Alright, as long as you understand how much I worry about you,” said Urien with a smile.

Somewhere deep inside he was glad she was wearing a veil. She clearly didn’t know how defenceless her face made her seem.

Khayri had not joined them immediately as he was watching the scene of Kamaria, Urien and the unknown gentleman meeting. Honestly, he had never seen his sister perform a full curtsey to anyone other than their imperial parents and even that was on very special occasions.

He made a note of how different she was compared to what he had seen earlier. The earlier version of her seemed much more fun and relaxed, maybe even a fellow chaos connoisseur. Khayri felt as if he was only just starting to understand his sister after eighteen years.

Urien thought Kamaria was quiet because she was hungry. Snacks always made her feel better. He didn’t quite understand her fascination with common foods, but it was one of the things that made her cute.

“If you’re hungry, I know a few places we could go.”

Kamaria saw that they were walking in the opposite direction of good food but wasn’t sure if she should suggest anything since he had taken the initiative.

“The girls and I had food earlier, no need to worry,” she insisted.

Raisa and Lili didn’t even flinch when she answered even despite Brice observing them.

The girls thought it was no one’s business how they spent their time so if the princess chose not to say anything, they would wholeheartedly agree even with a sword at their necks.

If anything, Raisa almost rolled her eyes. After almost fours and only now was he thinking of making sure her lady wasn’t hungry. Was he truly trying to court her?

Khayri was walking a short distance behind them but had heard the conversation and almost laughed out loud. His big sister was obviously such an adorable little fox.

“I would have just said I had a grand old time without him,” whispered Khayri.

“Not everyone is a petty little ghul, my Lord,” replied Nima and prince gasped dramatically.

“Where have you ever seen such a good-looking ghul?”

Nima rolled his eyes and looked away. Obviously, the main point of his statement was missed on purpose.

“We can play some of the games,” Kamaria suddenly suggested.

“Great! I’ll win some prizes for you,” said Urien.

It wasn’t what Kamaria meant as she also wanted to play as well but she understood the good intention, so she let him take the lead.

They stopped at a stall that offered horseshoe throwing as a game for one of the charms on display as prize. She clapped as Urien hooked the shoe on the nail with the first throw. He took up the second one and scored as well.

In the middle of the game, she unintentionally yawned out loud. They were out of the palace for a little over four hours, had walked and partly run around, played, and eaten generously making her full, sleepy, and tired.

Holding back the yawn was extremely hard no matter how subtle she was. She didn’t want Urien to feel as if she thought their time together was dull. This was the main reason for her silence.

Urien turned to see if anything was wrong with her wondering if she was not satisfied with the game?

“I’m sorry, we’ve been out for a while now,” she said while taking down her veil.

He nodded with a smile and completed the game to get the prize for her. It was an accessory with tassels and a moonstone pendant which she gladly accepted.

“I’ll get a carriage, Princess,” said Nima and she nodded with a gentle smile.

The small party gave her and Urien some privacy while they waited for Nima to come back with a carriage. It also gave them time to discuss all the things they had bought.

“I’m sorry about tonight. I’m sure we’ll have other chances.”

“Yes, your appointment must have been important,” said Kamaria.

He thought of venturing to ask something that he had been thinking about since they met again.

“Where is your comb?”

“Oh, it’s in my pouch. I realised it was too valuable to be wearing it in such a crowded place.”

He was relieved hearing that as he thought she had thrown it away because she was unhappy with him.

The young man took both of Kamaria’s hands into his own.

“Don’t be upset about today, it’s inevitable that sometimes we’ll have social calls we can’t miss. I’ll plan another outing for us, I promise.”

Even though they made plans weeks before, their appointment suddenly become the least prioritised thing. She held back from commenting thinking it a bit childish to complain about such a thing and simply nodded to which he smiled.

Most couples she knew didn’t have such leisure time for frivolous outings together. He would be even busier in future. Who would she complain to then?

Urien knew how sensitive women could be about these small things so it was better to comfort her while he could. It wasn’t long before a carriage came their way.

“I guess we’ll see each other at the banquet.”

She nodded again and looked up at him with a mild smile before turning to Khayri who offered her a hand to help climb into the carriage. Everyone else was inside the carriage while Nima casually sat up front with the driver.

With the fun of the festival over, it was time to finally ride their horses back to the palace and rest for the night.

As she settled into bed, Kamaria could only smile about their great time at the festival that night.

It hadn’t started or ended on a high note but the time she spent with the strange young man had had brought a different sense of fun and freedom.

She silently wished him luck on his path ahead as she turned down the nearest lantern and closed her eyes.