Shaella turned and ran her finger lovingly down Gerard’s nose, and smiled brightly.
“Think about my offer Gerard,” She told him. Then, in an almost girlish gesture, she tiptoed up to his lips and quickly kissed him before rushing away.
After she had gone, Gerard grinned at his brother triumphantly.
Hyden started to make a comment, but found that he couldn’t even manage to speak.
Chapter 10
The two brothers walked the Ways of the Festival together, taking in the vastness and diversity of the carnival like atmosphere. The sun had left the sky, but it wasn’t quite dark yet.
As they weaved through the crowds, Gerard told Hyden about Shaella’s offer. Hyden found that it made him jealous. Both he and Gerard had dreamed of finding fame and fortune somewhere beyond the sheltered little world of their clan. Hyden was about to say something about his feelings to his brother, when a great gout of fire erupted up into the air before them. The sound of drums filled the area and a man whirled and jumped, then acrobatically turned a flip, before landing perfectly on his feet to blow more fire up out of his mouth.
He was bald, and painted bright scarlet from head to toe, with wicked symbols painted in black on his arms and chest. He wore only a loincloth, made of some wild animal’s skin, and he held a fist sized skull of what looked to be a cougar, or a mountain cat, in each hand. Every so often, the captivating drumbeat would stop dramatically. The man would arch his back so that he was facing painfully skyward, then another streaking blast of flame would shoot forth from his mouth, causing the people around him to scream with terror and delight.
“It’s no trick!” Hyden exclaimed. “There are no liquids and no torches. It must be magic – real magic, like your ring.”
Gerard shot him a look that started out as anger, but ended up being more annoyed than anything. Instinctually, his left hand moved over the ring on his right protectively. Realizing that Hyden was just trying to make conversation, he kept himself from getting riled over the matter by studying the fire breather. After a few moments, the wonder of the wild man wore off and they moved on. They were nearly trampled, when a pair of towering stilt walkers, dressed like flamboyant knights, one chasing the other with a wooden sword, came stalking by. The crowd cheered the pursuer as he almost, but not quite, cornered his quarry.
A short while later, the boys found themselves at the base of the monolithic Spire. They paced around its three sides until they found the names of the archery champions. They saw several names that they recognized from the tales of the Elders, but all the recent names were elven. Hyden tried to look upward to see the top of the towering thing, but couldn’t crane his neck back far enough. Even when he took a few steps back, the top disappeared into the darkening sky.
The area was far too packed with people, and Gerard saw the pressure of the upcoming competition showing plainly on Hyden’s face. He knew that the Elders were putting a heavy load on his brother’s back. They didn’t just want him to win the archery tournament, they expected him to win. Gerard pulled Hyden away and dragged him back into the throng.
Neither of them had been down the Way that let away from the river, so they started off eastward to see what they could find. There was still a good while left before the Brawl started, so Hyden felt they had plenty of time to investigate.
It wasn’t much different from the rest of the festival: barrel makers, potters, leather-men, and jewelers, all yelling, bartering, and arguing with the passersby. The only thing noticeably different about this part of the gathering was the more frequent groups of armed and armored men moving about. Some were even on armored horses. These men wore polished steel plate mail armor, and had the horse-head shield of Valleya emblazoned over a field of yellow and red checks proudly displayed upon their shields. A few of them wore rich, blue cloaks as well. Hyden assumed that this was a sign of authority, for it was far too warm to wear something that heavy for any reason other than recognition.