Chapter 43
Caspian
Great bonfires encircled the town square, melting the snow and sending crackling embers into the air.
The dancing had begun at sunset. The first were traditional folk dances.
Performers moved carefully through the practiced steps.
One such dance was reserved for the village children, dressed in their embroidered costumes and holly crowns.
Caspian couldn’t help but smile as they embraced their parents afterward, receiving all due praise and acclaim.
As he watched the crowd, his eyes became locked with Pricilla’s.
She’d clearly been watching him, but Caspian quickly looked away.
It had been clear enough that she’d been hinting toward their engagement before.
He’d been wrong to lead her on for so long, a mistake he would fix tomorrow.
Guilt settled heavily in his stomach. He’d never meant to hurt her in all this, but he supposed he hadn’t been considering her very much at all.
From the beginning, their arrangement had all been an effort to move on, to prove to himself that he could.
That was clear enough to him now, though at the time it had seemed a necessary duty of his newfound station.
Even so, it would have been wrong to cast her aside as soon as he’d returned, but now enough time had passed.
Now he was only avoiding the consequences of his own errors.
No good would come of it. They would both do better to be free of any undue expectations.
He turned in search of some more mulled wine.
It was quite refreshing, moving about the people as if he were one of them.
Earlier in the day, he’d been stopped almost constantly, thanked and curtsied to.
Petitioners and merchants alike vied for his attention.
But now that the sky was dark, and most everyone in the square had consumed at least one cup of wine, they were more captivated by the revelry about them.
Caspian moved among them with a refreshing anonymity.
His glass was full once more when Caspian felt her presence.
It was like a subtle scent in the air or a warm breath against his skin.
He turned, unsurprised, to find Keira at his side.
She was dressed in a woolen coat the color of evergreens.
It was tailored perfectly to hug her figure and flare at the hips.
The collar and cuffs were lined with plush brown fur.
Beneath, she wore fitted leather pants and knee high boots.
She’d braided her black hair into a crown around her head, ornamented with holly berries and snowflakes.
His thoughts were caught between how happy he was just to see her here at all and how magnificent she looked…
Her lips twisted into a somewhat nervous smile before her eyes turned from him to the gathering. A strange expression lingered in her eye which he could not decipher.
“You came,” Caspian said, hoping his tone better advocated for his meaning than the words alone.
“And with company,” she said, a faint touch of humor in her voice as she cast a bemused look over her shoulder.
Caspian followed her gaze to the motley assortment that was watching them from only a few steps away.
They were not members of the court, not from the village either.
Two of them were dressed in what he recognized to be altered military uniforms, one a dark skinned woman with long braided hair and the other a thick bodied man with a blunt appearance and a crooked nose.
In their company was a spritely blonde woman in a dark cloak and a well dressed man who was currently assessing him from over the rim of his wine.
Another stood behind them, blending into the shadows so much that Caspian had nearly missed him.
A hood was pulled over his eyes revealing only an angular chin and a few locks of brown hair.
“Is that…” Caspian asked, still taking in their varied appearances and matching them to Keira’s descriptions.
She nodded. “Would you like to meet them?”
“Of course,” he said, offering an arm. “I think your guests deserve a proper welcome.”
Keira snorted as she laced her arm in his. “Allow me to make the introductions then, m’lord.”
Caspian gave her ear a playful tug, unable to help the smile stretching over his face. He’d never liked those words so much as when she used them to tease him. More than that, he was glad to see that she was feeling at ease enough for japes.
“This is Rhea,” Keira said, motioning to the tall woman with the dark skin.
She gave a brief nod, an informal salute that brought back memories of his time in the army.
“She’s the head of the Blades, and this is her wife, Lilith.
” She was clearly talking about the small blonde woman, the one she’d once described as a firework in human skin.
“He really is a lord, isn’t he?” Her blue eyes were assessing him as expertly as one might peel an apple with a knife.
“I told you,” Keira said, seeming embarrassed by her brazen inspection.
“How did you come by the title?” the well dressed one asked. His red brocade vest was covered by a thick black coat, a common fashion of the southern lords. Perhaps he had some noble blood in him, which might also explain the interest.
“The prince and I fought together at Icespire Pass. When I recovered from the battle, he asked me to look after these lands.”
“You fought at Icespire?” The large one asked. Though his words were quiet, his voice was as heavy and blunt as a hammer.
Caspian nodded.
“Lost too many souls there,” Rhea said soberly.
“May they find peace in the next journey,” Caspian said the familiar mourning words.
“Well, I’m sure that the prince is not the only one who is grateful you made it through,” the would-be noble said.
Keira held his arm a little tighter.
“Florian Crestwell,” he said, extending his hand.
Caspian took it slowly. So this was Florian, the one she had…
“I take it you have heard of me,” Florian said good naturedly, no doubt trying to make up for some of his own awkwardness.
“Keira told me a good deal about you all,” Caspian said with a smile, trying to recover.
“Hopefully not too much,” Rhea joked, and they all shared a laugh.
“This hulking gentleman beside me would be Gareth,” Florian indicated. “And this is Knox, Lilith’s brother.”
Caspian had nearly forgotten the hooded man was among them until he nodded in greeting.
“It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you all and to welcome you to Northall,” Caspian said.
“The lands are lovely,” Rhea said.
“-Even if it is freezing,” Lilith added.
“You must be very proud,” she continued anyway.
Should he be? Of course he thought the land he’d been given was beautiful, and he’d done his best to keep it so these past years.
But it hardly felt as though he could take any ownership of his charge.
He hadn’t built the keep or the town. Caspian certainly hadn’t planted the forests or carved the rivers.
He didn’t even tend the fields. “I am grateful,” Caspian said at last.
“So modest,” Florian said, a jest in his tone, though not a teasing one.
“Not like the swells on the coast,” Lilith snipped back, taking a sip of her wine. “You ask them, the Highwinds shat the moon.”
That got a good laugh out of them all, Keira included. Caspian could only assume they meant the Highwind Trading Company. He’d of course heard of the largest merchant cartel along the Southern coast, but being so far removed from the channel, he’d never dealt with them directly.
Their talk dissolved into a myriad of topics, all light and full of jokes and teasing.
Some Caspian followed, and others he did not.
Even so, he was happy to see Keira laughing along with them.
Soon they separated to enjoy the festivities.
Rhea and Lilith left after the latter begged for a dance.
Florian joined them as Gareth and Knox shared a mutual intent to find the dice tables.
Once he and Keira were alone, they fell quiet, the revelry around them filling the silence comfortably enough.
“Does it- Do you ever feel like you’re dreaming?” Keira asked. Her eyes followed the festivities in the warm bonfire glow.
He nodded. “It’s hard to believe that this is all real. That I could have this life, and you in it.”
“Ignatius never let me go to feast days,” Keira said quietly.
“I remember,” Caspian murmured. His brows creased as he studied her. She had hardly mentioned her guardian. He’d almost forgotten that she had only just learned of his passing.
“He always said they were a waste of time. But I don’t think so, do you?”
His brow tightened. “No, I don’t think it’s a waste of time to celebrate, to enjoy yourself.”
Keira shook her head. “I never used to care what he’d think. But now that he’s gone, I find myself measuring my life against what he would have wanted.”
“He would have wanted you to do whatever made you happy, Keira.”
She looked up at him soberly. “I don’t know if that’s true.”
He sighed. “I want you to be happy,” Caspian said. That was the truth, undeniable.
She gave him a small, burdened smile.
Caspian took her hand. “Dance with me.”
Apprehension colored her features.
“Just you and me, I promise.”
Still, her eyes scanned the crowd. He was asking for her to be on display, but it was better than letting her linger in a shadow with only her ill thoughts for company.
Caspian waited for what seemed a lifetime before Keira took a step toward him and then another. Their momentum carried them all the way to the center of the square as the next song played.
She was stiff in his arms as the quick movements began.
It was different from the night before. The music was louder, folk tunes in contrast to the polite and measured ballroom waltzes.
Dozens of others danced about them, though they were given a wide berth.
He had attended Llyndale’s Holly festival every year since his posting at Northall, which he assumed was more than his predecessor had done.
Yet this was his first time taking part in the festivities.
There were many watchful eyes following them, but Caspian kept his fixed on Keira.
“It’s just you and me,” Caspian whispered.
Keira stopped glancing over her shoulders and looked up with her bright green eyes. He almost forgot himself in the dance. He twirled her until she was pressed against him, facing away, his arms crossed around her.
“They’re all looking at me,” Keira said.
He spun her back to face him. “Well, you are dancing with a lord.” He smirked.
Keira shot him a halfhearted glare at his cockiness.
From then on, he felt her stiffness melt away.
As true darkness fell and the mulled wine was consumed, they danced and laughed freely.
Her spirit returned to her eyes with each passing hour.
If it were possible, she was even more beautiful by the light of the bonfires.
The way the warm glow touched her skin was luminous, the chestnut notes of her hair shining.
Caspian caught her as she spun before him, overwhelmed by all of her, by love of her.
He didn’t care if it was the middle of a dance.
Caspian kissed her, pouring into her everything that was swelling in his heart.
I loved you before. I loved you every day you were gone.
I love who you are to me now, and I will love every version of yourself that you could become.
Without words, she understood him, and in her touch, he could feel her telling him the same.
They were no longer holding onto memories, loving ghosts.
Gasps from the crowd tugged at his attention, cheers and laughter filling the night. The holly wreaths that decorated the square had begun to bloom and grow, spreading down the buildings and across the cobblestones until they were encircled by sharp leaved vines crowned with brilliant red berries.
Keira blushed, looking at what her magic had done.
“They see you, Keira,” Caspian said into her ear. “I knew they’d love you.”