Page 392 of Axis of Fire

We'd sampled far too many sweets from the market stalls—none of which tasted much different from the ones back in Vuduarus.

We'd wandered through the crowded squares where people danced beneath strings of glowing lanterns, filling the festival with even more life.

But eventually, Airis insisted there was something he wanted to show me.

Something, according to him...

Special.

Naturally, he'd said it in the most infuriatingly mysterious way possible.

I gathered the layers of my gown in both hands as we walked.

We'd rented it from one of the festival boutiques.

The skirt was long and slightly impractical, but I didn't mind.

I wanted to savor this moment.

After all, how often would I ever get the chance to feel like an actual princess?

Well...

Besides the Selection.

My gaze kept drifting toward Airis's tailcoat.

Like mine, it had been hand-painted for the festival.

Unlike mine, however, I couldn't read the meaning behind its symbols.

My dress was much easier to understand.

Its skirt had been decorated with phlox—the flower of success, according to the woman who painted it.

Alongside crimson roses and white lilies...

Symbols of passionate love and pure devotion.

"Do you have some kind of obsession with dragging me into forests?" I asked as another branch snapped beneath my sneakers—the same ones I'd been training in only a few hours earlier.

"I'm just waiting for little Fireling to realize how badly I wanted to get her alone," Airis replied without even glancing back.

I snorted.

He really was one walking contradiction.

"You'd have better luck if you were nicer to me," I said. "Nobody likes rude men."

"Nobody except you, Fireling."

The corner of my mouth twitched.

"We're here."

He stopped.

I looked around.