[Ovelia’s POV]
The sizzle and smoke from the stall had pulled in like a lifeline, the savory aroma so potent it drowned out the flutes and harps. I had been so captivated that I hadn’t realized how far I’d drifted from others until I was standing alone before the grill. The shapes cooking there were strange and fascinating—long, tubular bodies with curious, curling tentacles, their surfaces blistering and turning a golden-brown. Then, the mory surfaced: a faded, water-stained illustration in a book I’d secretly read in the Timberline library. A squid.
"Hello, beautiful lady!" the male vendor said, his face breaking into a wide, friendly smile as he expertly flipped the grilling seafood.
Beautiful lady? The unexpected complint sent a warm, self-conscious blush to my cheeks. No one in Timberline had ever spoken to like that.
Suddenly, a hand gripped my arm firmly, not enough to hurt, but with an urgency that brooked no argunt. I felt a solid presence step directly behind , shielding from the jostling crowd. "Don’t wander off like that!" Gale’s voice was a sharp, angry whisper in my ear, the words laced with a frustration that couldn’t quite mask the underlying current of sheer, undiluted panic.
"Sor—" I started to apologize automatically, the old habit rising. But then I stopped myself. I looked up at his stormy gray eyes, offering a genuine, reassuring smile. "Thank you for worrying about , Gale."
Gale released my arm as if it had burned him, taking a half-step back and creating a sliver of space between us. "No need to thank ," he muttered, looking away and shoving his hands into his pockets. "And I wasn’t worried at all. Your sudden spike of panic through our bond was just... loud and irritating. Like a persistent fly."
"He’s lying," Ray called out from a few feet away, having just shouldered his way through the crowd to reach us, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "I can sll the anxiety rolling off him from here. It’s as sharp as vinegar."
"You—!" Gale spluttered, pointing an accusing finger at Ray, his face flushing with indignation.
"Lady Ovelia!" Ann’s voice cut through the noise as she erged from the crowd, her movents swift and sure. I saw her subtly sliding her two daggers back into their scabbards at her hips. She rushed to my side and pulled into a brief, tight hug, which I returned imdiately, feeling the rapid beat of her heart against my own.
"Did sothing bad happen?" I asked, concerned. I saw both Ray and Gale’s faces had beco serious, their eyes continuously scanning the people around us with new intensity.
"No, my lady. It’s nothing for you to worry about," Ann assured , her voice steady, but then she shot a glare over my shoulder at Gale and stuck her tongue out at him in a surprisingly childish gesture. Gale just crossed his arms and stared back at her, his expression a perfect mask of grumpy defiance.
I looked around our small, reunited group and realized with a start that soone was missing. The space where a particular silver-eyed gaze should have been was empty. Where’s Ace?
Ann released from the hug, her hands lingering on my shoulders for a mont as if to assure herself I was truly there. She then looked directly at Gale, her gaze unwavering. "Thank you for keeping her safe." The way she said it was clipped, as if forcing the words out, but the underlying sincerity was unmistakable.
"No need to thank ." Gale t her stare, his own gaze steady. "I do that for my own good. Her safety is my safety." He stated it as a simple, unemotional fact.
I smiled, a warm feeling blossoming in my chest. I could feel that they were getting closer, even if it was just by the barest fraction. Their rivalry was now underpinned by a shared, unspoken priority: .
I turned back to face the grilled squid vendor, my curiosity piqued once more, though now it was tinged with a layer of unease. The joyful festival atmosphere felt thinner, more fragile.
Then, a familiar, warm hand gently patted my head from behind, fingers briefly carding through my hair. "Do you want that?" Ace’s voice was low and close, a familiar anchor in the swirling chaos of the crowd.
I tilted my head back and found myself looking directly into his silver eyes. He was standing very close, his body angled to protect from the crowd, his presence a solid wall of comfort and safety. My heart began to beat a frantic, happy rhythm against my ribs.
"Ahem," Gale cleared his throat loudly, a sound dripping with theatrical impatience. "The squid is getting cold, and my patience is getting shorter."
Oh, right. My answer. "Yes," I managed to say, my voice a little breathless from his sudden proximity. "I’d like to try it."
"Sir, five pieces of the grilled squid," Ace said to the vendor, already pulling coins from a small pouch and placing them on the counter with a quiet clink.
"Coming right up!" the vendor said cheerfully, expertly sliding the finished, glistening squid onto sheets of parchnt and handing a bundle to each of us.
"Thank you," we said in unison.
The vendor’s eyes widened slightly as he looked between Ace and Ray, who had moved to stand nearby. "It’s... it’s an honor to see the two princes of Silverhowl visiting our little music festival," he said, bowing his head respectfully, his earlier casual deanor replaced with reverence.
In a fluid, practiced motion that was almost a dance, Ace pulled a pair of simple, wire-rimd glasses from his inner pocket and settled them on the bridge of his nose. Simultaneously, Ray produced a single, polished monocle from a waistcoat pocket, fixing it over his right eye. It was the sa disguise they had used in Thunoa, but the effect here was even more pronounced. Their postures shifted subtly; the latent, predatory grace softened into sothing more studious and less intimidating. The set of Ace’s shoulders beca less that of a warrior and more that of a scholar carrying a heavy book. They both offered the vendor identical, polite, closed-lipped smiles.
The vendor blinked, his expression one of pure, comical shock, as if he couldn’t quite reconcile the fearso royal heirs he knew with the pair of mild-mannered, academic-looking n now standing before him.
We didn’t wait for him to recover. We quickly moved away, lting back into the vibrant, noisy flow of the crowd to continue our exploration.
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