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Refenial woke with his usual start, dreams of the temple, with its hooded figures and scriptic magic still fresh in his mind.
He rolled over, trying to see if he could at least get a few more moments of sleep, but the morning light streaming through gaps in the shutters made it impossible. After a few moments of trying, he gave up and got up.
He dressed and wandered downstairs. Nia and Elagabalus were already sitting at a table eating breakfast. Refenial nodded to them, not yet ready for words and sat.
A few moments later, the innkeeper brought him toast and milk.
"You never told us about this festival, Ela?" Refenial asked when he felt ready to speak.
"I've never actually been here either, I was just curious, and I thought you two needed a nice day," Elagabalus said with a wide grin.
The three ate up and headed out into the street.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
There were already people coming and going bustling in the early morning.
A man walked over to them. He was a large set man, soft fur laid across his shoulders, held in place with a golden chain. "You honour us with your presence Elagabalus!" He said with a friendliness that felt put on.
He held his hand out for Elagabalus to shake.
Elagabalus shook the man's hand as he asked, "And you are?"
"Eurtix Maxin, head councilman of the Hamlin town council."
Eurtix seemed to shake Elagabalus's hand eagerly for a bit too long. Refenial saw Elagabalus glancing down at the shaking hands with a frown before Eurtix seemed to realize his mistake and let go.
Elagabalus manifested a white cloth and began wiping his hand.
"I would be honoured to show you around. We are having our annual spring fair today."
"Yes, that would be wonderful." Elagabalus gestured to Refenial and Nia. "I brought there two young people with me, they've had a rough time recently, and I thought the festival would do them wonders."
"Of course, of course," Eurtix said, glancing at Nia before looking at Refenial with an appraising expression.
Refenial saw the man look away with a hint of disgust as if he'd found Refenial wanting.
Eurtix looked at Elagabalus, "Your benevolence and charity work is legendary."
"It is still a little early in the day, but some of the stalls will probably be open," Eurtix said, turning and gesturing for Elagabalus to follow.
As they walked, Nia asked, "Who's the fat man?"
Refenial replied back in her language, "Eurtix, I think he's the one in charge of the town."
Eurtix started talking to Elagabalus as they walked, "I truly believe Hamlin is the best town in all of Frull. We have everything needed to one day flourish into a city, especially with our current town walls. I personally oversaw their construction. They were truly expensive to build but necessary if the town is to grow. They set back the town's coffers considerably, though we have many other town projects that are in urgent need of work. Without an outside benefactor, I fear it may take years for us to reach our true potential..."
Refenial blanked out Eurtix's constant diatribe as soon as he realized the man's angle. He was trying to get Elagabalus to donate to the town, but with all the subtly of a large stone dropped down a well.
Elagabalus, for his part, seemed unbothered by the fawning man.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
They soon approached one of the wide-open greens Refenial had seen the previous day. There was already a hodgepodge of stalls in various stages of being set up. In the distance, he saw several pens with livestock set up and farmers getting ready to trade.
He noticed a man walking through the crowd, elderly with a face so sour that it reminded him of Iln. He was wearing a wreath of flowers on his head, and several small children were dancing around him.
Elagabalus seemed to notice the odd sight, and Eurtix explained. "Every year, chosen at random, one of the townsfolk has the honour of dressing as the spring fool. Old Father Tun won this year."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Refenial wondered what had happened to Iln. He'd lost sight of the man when Stonehaven was attacked. He hoped the man hadn't died too.
"He doesn't seem very happy to have won," Refenial said.
"Hmm, well, that's just the way Old Father Tun is." Eurtix said dismissively before turning back to Elagabalus, "I noticed Mrs Hillock has set up her cake stall. She is simply an amazing baker."
"I think I'm going to wander around," Nia said.
"Mind if I join you?" Refenial asked.
Elagabalus turned with a frown, hearing them but then smiled. He produced two small coin purses.
"I'm not surprised you want to get away. Here take these, and have fun." Elagabalus said in Nia's language
Eurtix scowled as he was left out of the conversation due to the language barrier.
Nia gave the coin purses a dubious look.
"Here, take them. I'm the champion of Frull. A few coins make no difference to me." He said, holding out the coin purses to Refenial and Nia.
Refenial took his pouch. Nia gave hers a long sceptical look before finally taking it.
Eurtix looked away and then back to Elagabalus. "She's got her Wassail cakes out. One bite of them, and you'll fall in love." He promised.
Refenial and Nia left Elagabalus and Eurtix and began to wander through the stalls.
Refenial checked his new coin purse as he did, careful not to show its contents. There was a modest amount in there, enough to live generously for a day or two. Nia showed him her purse, and it had the same amount.
They wandered through the green, looking at the stalls. A juggler was performing at one for donations and the next sold hand-carved wooden toys.
Nia stopped at a stall selling hand fans. The man behind gave them an odd look.
"This one looks like one I saw in the crystal," She said, pointing at a simple cloth fan. "Ask him how much it is."
Refenial talked to the man at the counter and managed to get him down to a reasonable price.
Nia came away, holding the fan excitedly. By the time that was finished, it looked like the last of the stalls had been set up.
They saw a crowd forming at the far end of the green and headed over.
Two rows of men stood facing each other, brightly coloured ribbons tied to their joints and each holding two sticks.
A band standing nearby began to play, the men dancing to the tune and clacking their sticks together in time to the music. The crowd clapped along in time to the music that started slow but kept creeping up in speed.
Refenial noticed that one of the musicians was playing a whistle like his, and he watched with interest, trying to take what lessons he could from the woman's playing.
The happy atmosphere was infectious, and as the beat got faster and faster, he noticed Nia had put her fan away and was clapping along to the music.
The beat reached a blinding speed, and the men danced faster and faster. Refenial marvelled at their skill. They never missed with their sticks or hit each other.
The song came to a stop, and the men stood there breathing heavily.
Nia tugged at his arm and pointed. A young man was standing at a stall, three cups set upon it and a large coin in front of them.
"I've seen that game in my country. I've never played before, though. Grandfather always said it was a scam."
Refenial looked at Nia with curiosity. He'd never heard her talk of her family before. Now he thought about it; she didn't ever really say anything about her life back home. She'd talk about her country at great length but never about her life there.
They walked over to the man with the cups and watched as a customer walked over and paid. The young man running the stall placed a cup over the large coin he had laid out and began moving the cups around quicker and quicker.
After a moment, he stopped, and the customer guessed which cup the coin was under.
The man raised the cup with a dramatic flourish revealing nothing under it.
The customer sighed in disappointment as Nia and Refenial walked up.
"Greetings, friends, care for a wager. If you win, the coin is all yours." The man said, touching the large coin in front of him for emphasis.
Nia pulled a coin out of her coin purse. "Is this enough?" Nia asked, and Refenial translated.
The man grinned happily, "That's enough for three games!"
Nia paid, and the man began his game.
Refenial saw a man standing on a box a little ways away. Refenial turned to look. The man's clothes were somehow even brighter than his own. The man had a lute and began to strum as he sang gently.
"She came forth like a hero of yore, of yore,
She slaughtered her enemies by the score, the score,
That powerful witch spoke of in lore, in lore,
It's said she spoke like a... lovely young lady,
Oh, that old Crimson Queen of war.
The kings of old did this hero try to bewitch, bewitch,
they schemed and planned to use her to get rich, get rich,
but when she saw their greed her side, she did switch, did switch,
they called her a.. lovely young lady,
oh, that old Crimson Queen, that witch.
The kings sought a way to fight back somehow, somehow,
but to take their kingdoms as her own, she did vow, did vow,
their sovereignty she did disallow, disallow,
they all bowed before this... lovely young lady,
Oh, that old Crimson Queen that made even kings bow.
Lords and the Order, put on a good front, good front,
but this witch they did want to punt, to punt
they met her by her palace by the oceanfront, oceanfront,
They all tried to kill this... lovely young lady,
oh, that old Crimson Queen, viciously her enemies she did hunt.
One day though, the old witch fled, witch fled,
She looked upon the light of the Order in dread, in dread,
for the Order spoke the truth about the lies she spread, she spread,
the Order now say she is... a lovely young lady,
oh, that Old Crimson Queen, who of much has been left unsaid."
A small crowd was listening and joined in on the singing every time he got to the phrase 'lovely young lady'.
"Damn it." He heard Nia say, he looked back, and the man was raising an empty cup.
She pulled out another coin to try again.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
It took close to an hour and most of her money for Nia to finally win. Refenial couldn't help but shake his head as he watched Nia walk forwards, looking proudly at the coin she'd won.
"You spent more than the coin was worth to win it. You do know that, right?" Refenial asked.
Nia shrugged, "I don't care. I won in the end."
He shook his head again. He didn't want to ruin her good mood.
A boy who looked about 16 snatched the coin from Nia's hand and began running through the fair.
"Hey, that's mine!" She yelled angrily as she began to give chase. Refenial joined in.
The boy ran through the fair, dodging and weaving through the crowd and pasts stalls.
In seconds they were out of the green and back into the streets of Hamlin, the boy running like a monster was chasing him. From the bellows of rage coming from Nia as she ran, he couldn't say he blamed the boy. She looked furious.
The boy ran into an alleyway, and the pair gave chase.
As they rounded the corner, they saw the alley split into a t-junction, but there was no sign of the boy.
"I'll take the right path," Nia called out.
Refenial ran left down the alley, and the pair split.
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