The Thames? A source of magic?
Perhaps the greatest source in the world. Not that you’d know it here, but if you could see it as it is in my London …
It was indeed magnificent. And yet, Lila was drawn less to the water and more to the ships blanketing it. Vessels of all shapes and sizes, from brigs and galleys to schooners and frigates, bobbed on the red waves, their sails billowing. Dozens of emblems marked the fabric on their masts and flanks, but over them all, red and gold banners had been hung. They glittered, taunting her. Come aboard, they seemed to say. I can be yours. Had Lila been a man, and the ships fair maidens guiding up their skirts, she could not have wanted them more. Hang the fine dresses, she thought. I’ll take a ship.
But though the mismatched fleet was enough to draw a gasp of approval from Lila’s lips, it was neither the gorgeous ships nor the impossible red river that held the crowd’s attention.
A procession was marching down the avenue.
Lila reached the edge of the crowd as a row of men paraded past clothed in swaths of dark fabric that wound around their bodies as if their limbs were spools. The men held fire in their palms, and when they danced and spun, the fire arced around them, tracing their paths and lingering in the air behind them. Their lips moved as they did, the words buried under the sounds of the parade, and Lila found herself pressing forward into the crush to get a better view. Too soon the men were gone, but in their wake a line of women came into view. Dressed in flowing gowns, they executed a more fluid version of the same dance, but with water. Lila watched, wide-eyed; it behaved like ribbon in their hands, twisting and curling through the air, as if by magic.
Of course, thought Lila, it is by magic.
The water dancers gave way to earth, and then metal and finally, wind, the last made visible by colored dust blown from palms into the air.
Every dancer was dressed in their own way, but all had ribbons of red and gold tied off along their arms and legs, trailing behind them like comet tails as they moved through the city.
Music rose in the dancers’ wake, strong as drums but sweet as strings, drawing notes Lila had never heard from instruments she had never seen. The musicians continued on, but the music lingered in the air, hanging over the crowd like a tent ceiling, as if sound itself could be made physical. It was hypnotic.
And then came the knights atop their mounts, armor shining in the sun and red cloaks billowing behind them. The horses themselves were glorious beasts, not speckled but solid whites and greys and glossy blacks almost as beautiful, thought Lila, as the ships. Their eyes were like polished stones, some brown, others blue, or green. Their glistening manes ran black or silver or gold, and they moved with a grace that didn’t match their size or pace.
The knights all held banners like jousting poles, a golden sun rising against a red sky.
Just then a huddle of young boys cut in front of Lila on their way past, trailing ribbons from their arms and legs, and she hooked one around the collar.
“What’s all this about?” she asked the squirming child.
The child’s eyes went wide, and he spit out a string of words in a tongue she did not recognize. It certainly wasn’t English.
“Can you understand me?” she asked, drawing out the words, but the boy only shook his head, wriggled in her grip, and spat out foreign words until she let him go.
Another, louder cheer rippled through the gathered crowd, and she looked up to see an open carriage approaching. It was pulled by a set of white horses and flanked by an armored guard. The carriage ran banners that were more ornate and more elaborate: here the sun she’d seen on so many flags rose over a chalice, as if the contents of the cup were morning light. The cup itself was marked by an ornate M, all of it woven in shades of gold thread against red silk.
In the carriage stood a man and a woman, holding hands, crimson cloaks pouring from their shoulders and pooling on the polished carriage floor. They were tan, both of them, with sun-kissed skin and black hair that showed off the gleaming gold crowns nested there. (Royalty, thought Lila. Of course. It was a different world. A different king and queen. But there was always royalty.)
And there between the king and queen, one boot up on the seat like a conqueror, stood a young man, a thin crown glinting in his dark, tousled locks, a cloak of pure gold spilling over his broad shoulders. A prince. He raised his hand in a wave to the crowd, and they devoured the gesture.