บท 5: Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice Festival was the only official event allowed by the royal family of Erelith where the commoners from all over the kingdom could gather together to celebrate the blessing of the sun.
Due to its location, Erelith had good weather conditions and its summers were moderately hot which facilitated rather generous yearly harvests. The commoners who were mostly uneducated, believed that it was all due to their praising of the sun, and since it did not really harm either the crown or the rest of the nobles, the royal family allowed and even sponsored this event.
This year, the Summer Solstice Festival conveniently overlapped the Continent Union celebration which meant a lot more festivities for both nobles and commoners because when nobles were busy celebrating, the whole kingdom was forced to do the same.
Lorelai had never seen the festival before.
In truth, perhaps she did, but she simply could not remember. She could not remember anything that happened to her before she injured her leg.
There was something undeniably exciting about witnessing it for the first time and the princess could not help but tremble with her entire body as she anticipated her secret outing tonight.
Althea did not allow Lorelai to leave the royal palace on her own. It was not because she cared for her and was worried that something might happen to the royal princess; the reason for that was that the queen wanted to control her stepdaughter's every move and know what she was doing or saying at all times.
Lorelai had not left the palace on her own in a while, but today, as she was buttoning up her plain black corset over a simple red dress she had secretly bought from one of the maids, the princess was nearly jumping out of her skin with excitement.
Once her outfit was finally completed, she gathered her long blonde hair in a loose bun at the back of her head and concealed herself underneath a long black cloak.
Her hand automatically reached for the cane when she suddenly paused and let out a long sigh.
It would have been difficult to walk without it, but using a cane was too risky when sneaking out of the palace. The choice was obvious––she had to go without the cane.
Luckily, today, Lorelai did not have to resort to the help of the secret passages she had marked around the palace when she first started sneaking out to meet with other noble children in secret.
Alisia, one of the young kitchen maids, agreed to lead the princess out of the palace while hiding under her own cloak as she pretended to go to the festival's market to buy spices.
"Thank you, Alisia," Lorelai placed a few gold coins between the maid's hands and turned to her right, following a narrow street path leading out of the royal quarters.
'Ugh... This is getting troublesome...'
As expected, walking without her cane had proven to be difficult.
She felt fine for the first thirty minutes of walking but then her right hip started giving up and her entire leg felt sore, making it almost impossible to walk without limping.
'Would anyone care if I start limping? Surely, there are many people like me... And I cannot even hire a carriage to get there.'
Lorelai sighed and leaned against the cold stone wall of one of the shops in the shopping area, wiping the beads of sweat caused by the soreness in her leg.
Only private carriages were coursing through the Capital on the day of the festival, and since the princess could not use her own coach without Althea's permission, she had no other choice but to get there on her own.
Having struggled for a few more blocks, she was finally there.
"Woah..."
That quiet exclamation escaped her lips without her realizing that she was already standing in the midst of the celebration process, her mouth agape.
Lorelai could not believe her eyes.
Everywhere she looked, the Capital Square was bustling with life, sound, and light, pulling her in with its bewitching cacophony of emotions.
Everywhere she looked, she saw happy people dancing, singing, drinking, and laughing.
Drunk men with red noses were hugging one another, spilling the beer from their huge wooden mugs while women scolded them jokingly for ruining their flowery dresses with that smelly liquid.
To her right was a long food stall; the tables creaking under the never-ending piles of food the princess had never seen before. With every breath she took, her lungs filled with a new, delicious aroma that made her almost drool from hunger.
To her left was an impromptu theatre: multiple stages built in one day with the sole purpose of entertaining the greedy onlookers who were laughing at the grimacing jesters on one stage while gasping emotionally at the tragedy of a drama performance on another.
Walking past the theatre, Lorelai could not help but pause to learn what the drama was all about only to realize that it was about the royal family of Erelith.
One had to be a fool not to recognize the characters.
The first one was a tall, skinny woman in a long red wig with her face covered with white powder and her long nails stretching out like gargoyle's claws.
Next to her was a tall pale man in a short red wig, smiling arrogantly as he pretended to beat up the actors dressed as servants, kneeling down and crying before him.
Limping around the stage was a girl with blonde hair; she was flinching and gasping every time the pale woman's body moved, her hand trembling while clutching the wooden cane.
And in the middle was he––the "dead" king; or as portrayed by this performance––a skeleton sitting on a chair resembling the royal throne.
'I don't need to watch this. I am living through this tragicomedy myself.' Lorelai averted her eyes and discretely placed her right hand on her throbbing hip.
That drama performance delivered a little sting directly to her heart, but the princess' sadness did not last long. With everything she knew about the nobles and the atrocities they did to both her kingdom and her people, she was surprised a little theatrical mockery was all that the commoners were doing.
Lorelai stepped away from the benches near the stage and as her deep green eyes shifted forward, she felt her heart skip a bit.
There they were. In all their colorful and enchanting glory.
The Gypsy tribe.
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