“Excellent idea, Maximilian. We should have our fun without them,” she said, swiftly darting ahead and brushing past Maxi like a playful breeze.
They left the flustered men behind and ran straight to the nearby green hills, where music was ringing out over the slopes. Young women wearing floral wreaths on their heads danced, their long girdles swaying as they moved. Without hesitation, Agnes pulled at Maxi’s hand.
“Come! Let us dance!”
Before she knew it, Maxi was swept into the crowd. Hand in hand, she spun and twirled with the princess. Their movements were closer to hopping than dancing, but in the field full of people frolicking in time with the music, their joyful leaps did not feel out of place. Soon, Maxi found herself trailing the women around the field.
The lively music that filled the air was unpolished but full of passion, different from the stuffier, more sedate music that played during the balls held in Croyso Castle. The women’s movements began to pick up speed as the lovely melody of the vielle and the delicate plucking of the lute mingled in the wind to create a fast-paced rhythm, intertwined with the cheerful beat of the drum and the harmonies of flutes and pipes.
Maxi felt as though she had become a reed swaying in the wind. As the symphony washed over her, for the first time in her life, she danced with complete abandon.
The women laughed as they struck their tambourines, and spectators tapped their feet to the beat. Soon, the clear falsetto of the lute player rang out above the music.
The knight gathers the pieces
Of his body broken asunder
And rises to the heavens
His beloved oak tree
Alone on a hill
Waves slender branches in the wind
Oh, dearest beloved,
When the snow melts
I shall rend my body
And with my new leaves
Sing a song for thee
How I wish the wind
Would carry my voice to thee
Maxi knew this song. It was about the legendary knight, Wigrew, and the nymph who had loved him.
The maidens, wearing beautiful wreath crowns, began to move faster and faster around the field as they joined in. They sang the words, full of yearning and melancholy, at odds with its cheerful melody, though no one seemed to mind. Basking in a pleasant dizziness, Maxi laughed until her body shook. She could not recall the last time she felt joy like this.
Her heart pounded in time with the beat of the drum, and her blood coursed through her veins with such fervor that she felt her pulse throbbing in the tips of her fingers.
It was liberating.
Who would have thought that unfurling her perpetually hunched body under the sunlight and dancing unabashedly could be this enjoyable?
“Maxi.”
A large hand grabbed her arm and Maxi glanced up, herface flushed. Riftan, who still had his hood over his head, looked down at her with smoldering eyes.
She shivered when she saw the intense desire etched across his face. Pulling her by the arm, Riftan led her out of the crowd. Agnes was too busy enjoying the festivities with the other women to notice the pair leaving.
Thoroughly winded, Maxi tried to catch her breath as she trailed behind him. The music and excited voices now sounded distant.
With his hand caressing her waist, Riftan glanced around to check that they were hidden from view. Maxi could feel the pressing need that was radiating off of him, and her own body grew hot and sensitive in response. The feeling was overwhelming in a way she had never experienced. Even her anger from earlier seemed to fan her desire.
