The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 50

MIRA

I drag him in the middle of a crowd, laughing on the way every time I see his shocked face. The gerdian did not expect that at all.

My first stop is the fire show, but seeing how bored Derrien is I realize that it would take a lot more than a traveling uneducated human magician to impress him. If anyone should be performing fire tricks here – it’s Derrien himself.

For that same reason, I am not taking him to any of the carousels. The man can fly for gods’ sake.

My next attempt is cotton candy. Who in their right mind wouldn’t like cotton candy?

“It’s terribly sweet”, Rien notices after I forcefully shove a piece into his mouth and I roll my eyes at the remark.

“You don’t go on many dates, do you?”, I snort, enjoying fluffy sweetness.

“No, I don’t. Why, Mira, do you go on many dates?”, magic sparks in his eyes.

“I’ve been engaged since I was 15,” I chuckle, “I haven’t been to a proper date even once! But if I did – I would want it to be it. A date at a summer festival is every girl’s dream.”

“Give me another piece,” he smirks and I tear a little bit of my delicious pink cloud, bringing it closer to his lips. He opens his mouth and I carefully put the candy inside – the next second his teeth close on my finger.

“Ouch!”, I pretend that it hurts although it doesn’t. He smirks and licks my finger, letting it go slowly. The whole motion makes me feel so hot even though it’s a chilly evening.

“You know what, this isn’t bad after all,” he smirks and brings me to him by my waist, covering my lips with his, “Mmm… So delicious.”

“Stop it!”, I blush, even though I know that I don’t look like myself.

“Alright, little mage,” he smiles at me and brushes his hand over my cheek, “What is next?”

We walk to the main square and the music is very loud there with people dancing happily in circles, holding each other’s hands and singing our folk songs. I look up at the gerdian next to me and for the first time ever he looks like he is terrified of what he is seeing.

“Don’t worry, I am not going to make you do that!”, I giggle until tears appear in my eyes, “Look, there is something that’s going to be more of your kind of entertainment.”

I bring him to a shooting range and pay a coin to the young man with freckles who is managing it.

“What are the rules?”, I ask him.

“Hit three goals, my lady, and choose any prize to your liking!” he answers, smiling happily.

“Alright”, Derrien smirks, and immediately the three wooden duckies are destroyed with blazes of fire. The flames catch quickly on the fabric wall behind the targets and the boy starts running around, trying to put it down.

“Gods, Rien!” I hiss at my companion, “You are supposed to do it with those balls! Not your magic!”

“My bet”, the gerdian waves his hand, and flames disappear, leaving holes in a festive tent, “Hope this is enough.”

He throws 10 golden coins to the table and then bends and grabs the biggest bear there is. But after twirling it in his hands, he puts it down and grabs a wooden sword at the other side, wincing at the boy.

“Th-thank you, my lord”, the seller collects all his coins happily, but he is still clearly shaken by the whole situation.

“There you go”, Derrien hands me the sword, “You would probably like it more than the stupid soft toy.”

“Oh, you know me too well!”, I flatter my lashes and accept the gift.

We walk through different stalls, looking at what people are selling this year and trying different delicacies, not taking our eyes off each other.

When I see a small boy crying because his mother cannot buy candy for him, I do it instead of her and also give him the wooden sword with Derrien’s permission.

But what happens next – I do not expect. When a famous sweet melody starts, Rien grabs me by my waist in the middle of the square and I recognize his position from one of the gerdian dances they taught us at the Selection. I put my hand in his and we start to move. Step, step, and turn. I turn my head to look at him from behind as his hands slide over mine, soon grabbing me tightly and turning back to face him. Step, step and he lifts me in the and then puts down slowly, not breaking the eye contact. Step, step, I turn again and only then realize how many people are standing around us, watching our dance and clapping along with the music. I feel how even the tips of my ears get red and at that moment Derrien pulls me back to him and slams his lips into mine while the crowd is raving with excitement. And everything around us seems so magical…

When we get out of the crowds, he pulls me closer again.

“Time to go back, little mage”, he whispers, his voice on the verge of breaking.

“But the most important part is before us”, I say quickly and he sighs.

“What is it?”

“The boats! We make paper boats and put tiny candles inside,” I start explaining rapidly, “Young men send them off on one side of the lake and girls do it on the opposite bank… And if two boats meet then it means that the couple is destined to be together.”

“Do you really believe in this?”, he chuckles, brushing my cheek.

“Of course not!”, I smile, “But it’s fun and it’s an important tradition. ”

“Then we just have to do it!”, he k****s my nose.

After we make our boats, I pick a little pink flower in the nearest flower bed and put it inside, “Look, now you can recognize my boat!”

Derrien whispers something and his paper boat turns black, “Now you can recognize mine.”

We separate at the bridge and go to different banks of the lake. I walk a bit to get to a place that is not crowded and when I get close to the water I see Rien on the opposite side. I wave at him and he nods.

“Look!”, I hear a voice right next to me, “What a handsome lord! I wish my boat touches his!”

A pretty blonde almost pushes me away to send her boat in Derrien’s direction. I hold back a laugh and carefully place mine into the water, blowing at it gently to send it off. Standing up, I see hundreds of lights gliding across the smooth water. My boat is right next to three others. And I see at least five coming from the guys’ direction. A perfectly white boat almost crashes into mine when it suddenly starts burning and disappears within seconds. I look up at Derrien and see him smirking as his black boat sticks to mine as if they were glued together. A young man next to him swears loudly as it was probably his boat that just got destroyed.

I wave to the gerdian and gesture that I will meet him back at the bridge.

Turning away, I try to get out of the crowd of girls who wish to send off their own boats. Suddenly, in the middle of all this craziness I bump into someone, and looking up I gasp.

“Talk to me when you can!”, Dereck says and puts something cold and metallic into my hand, walking away quickly.

Just how did he recognize me?