“Do people celebrate Carnival often here?” I asked. I knew that he still refused to tell me why I was here, but I wanted to know so much more about this place… and about him.
“No.”
“Hmm… why the name then? It’s so quiet here, and the name of this land would imply people being loud and celebrating Carnival…”
“You are a curious little thing, aren’t you?”
My cheeks reddened. I couldn’t deny the effect his words had on me. His smirk told me he indeed knew how he affected me, and he was obviously enjoying it too much.
“If you try to find a deeper meaning behind Carnivalland… you’ll find none. It was just built as some sort of realm for fun and entertainment. The name has no certain purpose. Well, it hadn’t…”
“It hadn’t… which implies that it has a meaning now, right?”
He chuckled and took my hand in his, his skin soft against mine. I should have pulled my hand away, but it was like my body didn’t belong to me right now.
“I love your curiosity… it’s…” His gaze dropped to my lips as he bit on his own, “…refreshing.” His eyes followed every movement of mine before he added, “I asked all my servants and the people who live here to not leave their rooms today.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to show you this place all by myself, foreign eyes are not invited. Only you and I.”Only you and I.He talked about us as if we hadn’t just met each other.
“And I’ll kill anyone who sees you in this… that isn’t me,” he bluntly stated, opening the glass door leading outside, the fresh air cooling my skin.
And in the next breath, the world had changed.At least for me.Although Xavier insisted on me being enchanted by a place like this for so long, I wasn’t sure my imagination could have ever invented something as beautiful as the view in front of me. We stood at the edge of a winding stone path shimmering faintly beneath our feet, like it was housing the night sky. All around us, tall trees arched toward the sky, their dark leaves forming a velvet canopy above.
But these didn’t look like ordinary trees.
No, they feltaliveasif they were whispering the colors of the wind. The trunks were strung with red ribbons, similar to the ones Xavier was wearing in his hair, and delicate chains of glass beads that tinkled when the wind stirred. From their shimmering branches hung glowing lanterns, casting pools of golden warmth into the darkness of the sky. Beneath them, flowers bloomed in shimmering shades of whites, yellows, purples, and blues, spilling into the grass like some magical paint.
If I would have beena painter of the night, it would have looked exactly like this.
I listened to the soft music around us, a symphony of old, stringed instruments. Somewhere deeper in the garden,laughter rang out.
“Hmmm, looks like my people didn’t understand what wanting to be alone with you means…” Xavier muttered angrily, as if their happy moods ruined the day.
And then I saw it.
At the end of the path were some small wagons draped in ivy and pearls. Glimmering crystals, dried herbs in floating jars, masks made of feathers and silk, glowing fruits that seemed unnaturally shiny. A few people drifted between them, some dressed in formal attire, others in wild, vividly colored clothes shimmering with glitter. It was like a secret carnival, hidden in the folds of the garden. And somehow,hehad brought me here. As if I belonged here as well.
“Do you want something to drink?” Xavier’s question brought me out of my haze. Before I could answer, he had already handed me a little golden cup with some sort of red liquid in it.
“Here, try this,” he said, noticing how I eyed the beverage in my hands, a little more than skeptical. “It is fairy juice made of grapes, apples and raspberries. No poison, I swear.” He held out his hands in mock surrender.
I sipped it, praying he hadn’t lied to me, and could taste the sweet berry flavor on my tongue. I was about to take another gulp when a foreign female voice interrupted us.
“Xavier, where have you been?” A beautiful woman came up to him, pressing a kiss on his cheek. Her hair was long, curly, and golden-blonde and her eyes were colored the shade of deep teakwood. She wore a long gold dress which was almost transparent and accentuated her slim curves. Her ears were pointy, meaning she must be of elven heritage.
“Who is this?”This.She was referring to me as if I were nothing more than an object.
“This…is the most breathtaking and important woman in my realm, and she is none of your concern, Aura,” Xavier replied,almost growling, as he gripped my waist, drawing me even closer to him.
The woman came nearer to me. Her sleeves brushing over my arm, mustering me from head to toe like I was some kind of curiosity.
“A human? How interesting,” Aura sneered. “Why a human? You could have anyone, Xavier. Yet you choose some fragile little thing with no magic. Is that what your kind has been reduced to now? Falling for creaturesbeneathyou?”
Before the final words even left her mouth, Xavier’s hand immediately shot out, gripping her throat and lifting her off the ground.
“Speak of her like that again,” he growled, his voice low and lethal, “and I’ll rip your fucking tongue out.” His eyes turned a deep red again, and this time he couldn’t tell me that it was due to the flickering candlelight.
