Sabine

"Have you ever seen the streets of Vagra during the Autumn Harvest?" Rosalie asked, tugging me through the street bazaar.

"You know the answer to that," I reminded her.

Her cheeks reddened and she looked down. "Sorry. I forget sometimes. You've always seemed so... regal it is hard to think of you as a slave at all."

I turned my attention to the Harvest festivities. The prince had recently commented on my easy transition to nobility and apparently, he wasn't the only one who noticed.

Dancers twirled in bright colors through the main streets. Paper dragons decorated the buildings and lanterns were strung from building to building. Vendors had stalls with fried foods, roast meats, and easy snacks to carry around. There were stalls of fine fabrics, woven baskets, and other crafts and wares lining the streets.

All the normal shops were closed.

Street performers reenacted scenes from battles with red paper dragons swooping around as children watched on with wide eyes.

"We'll have plenty of time to enjoy the bazaar. It will be like this for the next week. But we've got to get you to Madame Cecily for your dress." The princess resumed tugging on my arm.

"Right."

Another holiday celebration and another ball I was expected to attend. Only this time, I was going as a guest, not an observer.

It was hard to pull my eyes away from all the activity. For the first time that I could remember, I had the luxury of stopping and watching the festivities for as long as I wanted. The only pressure on my time was Rosalie's constant fussing.

I doubted Madame Cecily would be put off if a royal mage was running a few minutes late.

Rosalie and Madame Cecily chatted away as I stood on a fitting pedestal. The seamstress stuck pins in the hem of my dress, adjusting the length.

I smoothed my hands over the crimson silk. It hugged my torso and my hips pleasantly. I would have preferred a color other than red, but Madame Cecily insisted it was my color and Rosalie insisted that I trust her instincts.

Red did work well with my dark complexion. I could easily see that in the tri-fold mirror as I stared back at myself from three different angles.

However much my life had changed, there were some things that were still the same. Automatically, my hand went to my neck. My fingers brushed a delicate necklace chain instead of a bulky slave collar. Sometimes, I still felt like it was around my neck, choking me, suffocating me and my powers.

"All of Telasia's territories are sending their eligible princes to the ball on the last night," the princess said.

I glanced over my shoulder at her. "What ever happened to Prince Fadir from Carsa?"

A blush crept from Rosalie's hairline down her face and neck and across her shoulders. "He will be in attendance too."

"Has your affection for the prince wavered?"

The last I heard of Rosalie's suitor was King Talis threatening to refuse his proposal if Cole didn't give him what he wanted.

"No! I... well, he hasn't made an offer yet and I need to keep my options open. I'm not going to wait around for him to grow a backbone. If he wants me, he'll make it happen. If not, I'm not going to pine over him."

Madame Cecily chuckled. "Wise words. A woman should wait for no man."

"If he still hasn't made his offer by the end of the night come the ball, I will have to catch the eye of at least one other prince," she continued.

"You will have no problem doing that," I assured her. "You're the only princess on the market."

"There are princesses from other territories. But it is not only princesses that the princes will have their eyes on. I have more competition than you might think." The princess gave me a strange smile.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Sabine, princes don't just marry princesses. All noble women are eligible to marry into a royal family."

I paused, my hands at my hips. "Is that so?"

"Yes. My brother was always careful to choose noble women as his consorts so my father would think there was a chance for marriage."

"I had not considered..."

"What, that you could marry into a royal family?"

I whipped around, the hem of my dress hitting Madame Cecily in the face. "I'm not in need of a husband. I only just gained my freedom."

Would I have to fend off unwanted suitors now that I was obtainable? No. I shook my head. Who would want a former slave?

"Hey, I'm just pointing out a fact." Rosalie curled in on herself slightly.

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"Stand still!" Madame Cecily admonished. She grabbed my hips and forced me to turn back to my original position.

I twisted from side to side in the mirror and checked how the dress swished around my body.

"How does it feel, Lady?"

I cringed. That was the part I couldn't get used to. The last time I saw Madame Cecily, she was ranked above me. Now, I was her superior.

"The dress is immaculate, but I'd expect nothing less, knowing your work."

She beamed. "Well, that work comes at a cost."

"Of course." I reached for my coin purse, stashed under the clothes I wore here. Being a royal mage came with a hefty wage I wasn't expecting. I could barely bring myself to part with any of the copper, bronze, silver, and gold dragon heads. Now that I had money, I never knew what to spend it on.

"Put it on my tab," Rosalie interjected.

"What?" I shook my head.

"It's a gift, Sabine, accept it." She took the coin purse from my hands and tossed it aside. "Friends can give each other gifts without an ulterior motive."

"Fine..." I shook my head again. "Shall I come back in two days to collect it?"

"Collect?" Madame Cecily laughed. "Oh no, I'll have it delivered."

I changed back to my normal clothes and Rosalie and I headed into the crowded, busy streets again.

***

After a week full of parades of harvest produce being presented to the palace, public livestock slaughters, and festivities in the capital streets, the harvest celebration reached its end with one final event.

The Harvest Moon Ball.

Rosalie insisted I come to her quarters to prepare for the event. Several servants bustled around us to attend to our hair, makeup, and dresses. They wove a crown of fresh flowers into my hair. Rosalie was given a similar adornment.

"I'm so excited for tonight!" Rosalie bounced on the balls over her feet. "Aren't you so excited?"

My stomach quivered and I looped my arms around myself. "I'm not sure 'excited' is quite the right word."

"Then what?" She peered at me with wide, blue eyes. Like a curious puppy.

"I'm used to being present and unseen. If I'm arriving beside the princess and not behind her, then I will be present and seen."

"You have nothing to worry about." Rosalie grabbed my hand and squeezed. "It's like you were born for this."

I bit my lower lip and laughed. The sound came out so high and grating. It didn't sound like my voice at all. I looked away from Rosalie. She meant well, but it was what she said that I was afraid of.

We arrived at the ballroom together and an announcer's voice boomed through the room as the double doors opened.

"Announcing the arrival of Princess Rosalie Agyion and Lady Mage Sabine Sacton."

I cringed with the weight of my name and title.

Rosalie hooked her arm through mine and guided me through the heavy, gilded doors into a room of lively music. Brightly colored fabrics danced around a massive bull standing at the center of the room in a ring of fresh flower petals.

"That's tonight's feast," Rosalie whispered with a low giggle. She pointed to the massive beast.

"He looks a little... raw and alive."

The princess laughed again. "It's part of the festivities. To mark the end of the harvest season. You'll see."

A whirlwind of guests greeted Rosalie. Some of them I recognized from around the palace as part of the Telasian court. Others were faces I'd never seen and Rosalie was quick to introduce me. Noble men and women from all over Telasia's territories and some royalty.

She always made it a point to tell me which ones were eligible princes.

"I'm sure you are more interested in the eligible princes than I am," I chastised her.

Rosalie shrugged. "I'm just making sure you know who is who."

The king, who always observed these events from his throne at the other end of the hall, stood up and raised his arms into the air. The music stopped and everyone went quiet. Only the heavy breathing of the bull in the center of the room.

"We are here to celebrate another bountiful harvest in Telasia and all our territories. Tonight marks the end of the harvest season, so we feast and prepare for the coming winter." He stepped down from his throne and held a hand out.

Three servants approached the king. Across their arms lay a long sickle blade. They moved in unison and held it out to the king, bowing as they did.

"He's not going to kill that in here, is he?" I gasped. I glanced sideways at Rosalie.

She winked at me. "Don't worry, he's done this before."

My stomach lurched. I was certain the king had slit many throats in his lifetime. Not all of them were bulls, I imagined.

The king stepped down from his throne dais and swept across the white, marble floor. His fur-lined cape rippled the flower petals around the bull. He stepped up to the beast's side and put a hand on the great, horned head. The bull lowed and bobbed his head from side to side.

With a swift stroke, King Talis pulled the sickle blade across the bull's throat. Blood sprayed out across the white marble. The flower petals were swept away in torrents of crimson.

I winced but everyone else around the hall didn't bat an eye.

The cow lowed and wobbled. With a resounding thud, the great animal fell on the floor when its legs gave out.

More servants came in and surrounded the cow. They lifted the dead bull and carried it out of the ballroom through the door to the kitchens. A second wave of servants came in and began cleaning up the mess.

As soon as the blood was gone, the music picked up again and dancing resumed.

It wasn't long before a prince came and asked Rosalie to dance. She immediately accepted and waved at me over her shoulder as she was swept onto the dance floor.

I went to a servant with a tray of appetizers and helped myself to a warm pastry with a fresh fruit filling. There were small tarts filled with sweet squash and meat hand pies. Each morsel I tried was more delicious than the last. A perfect blend of sweet and savory with harvest herbs.

When I had my fill, I mingled with some of the other palace mages. I knew them well enough to exchange pleasantries.

"I heard King Talis is selecting the top mages to be part of a special strike force," Gyselle, one of the most vocal mages in the palace, said. "And if you ask me, it's about time!"

"Time for war?" I countered.

Gyselle rolled her pretty eyes at me and licked her glossy lips. She laughed and darted her eyes around at the other mages. "Time to teach Stivalia a lesson."

"It's easy to say such things when protected by the secure, shining walls of the palace. Would you be so quick to dole out lessons and punishments if there wasn't an army on standby?"

"What would you know about the complexity of our political structures?" Gyselle scoffed.

"I know there is nothing complex about talking a big game," I countered.

The other mages laughed lightly when Gyselle fell silent. She turned on her heel and walked off.

"You have a quick tongue," Mage Ebrill said. He held his hand out. "I wonder, how are you on the dancefloor?"

I eyed his hand. Dancing was one thing my mother never taught me. I'd watched plenty of it in my tenure as Prince Cole's attendant.

No one had asked me to dance before. Mage Ebrill was a good-looking mage. He was only a little older than me and well-established as a mage. His eyes were dark but I could see the magic that danced in them, little electrical impulses.

My heart jumped as magic rippled across my skin. I reached for his hand.

Just before our fingers touched, a hand came around my wrist and I was pulled in another direction. Prince Cole came into my field of vision and his fingers tightened around my wrist.

"I believe this dance is mine." His voice was solid, firm, and held little room for disagreement.

I glanced at Mage Ebrill. He dropped his hand and shrugged. What was he going to do, argue with the War Dragon?

"What do you think, Lady?" He asked me, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Very well..."