Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

By now, Esther was on good terms with the other servants who were working along with her under the Queen. Not only the other royal servants, she was also friends with the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, who treated her like an adorable younger sister. After all, Esther was easy to get along with, and she was kind no matter who she talked with. These ladies were also excited to show the yearly festival celebration to Esther.

On the evening of the first day of the year-end festival, Esther found herself wearing a pretty dark blue dress that was gifted to her by the Queen. It wasn't made of expensive silk but common cotton, as the Queen knew Esther would use that as an excuse to refuse it, but it was made with delicate details by the royal tailor. Her long honey blond hair was loosely tied with a ribbon of the same colour. The other ladies with Esther all praised her when they found the blonde finally wearing something that wasn't the palace uniform. 

After gushing over each other's appearances—and teasing about the boys they would likely charm tonight—the group of ladies were finally ready to leave the palace and enjoy the festival.

"Esther, this kind of grand celebration is only held once a year, where we girls can take a break together and still get additional pay, so we must not miss it! We must play to our hearts' content! I am sure you will like it too," one of the girls said excitedly as they walked out of their quarters. The other girls also started chiming in with their expectations for the night.

"I want to see the performance in the plaza! They say that Miss Nightingale, that famous singer from Griven, is invited to perform tonight."

"Oh, what I'm looking forward to is the dance afterwards!"

"The dance? Why? did you get invited by some unlucky lad to be his partner? Is it Arkus, that handsome gardener, or that Warren boy, the young apprentice knight from the other night?"

"No, no, stop! No one invited me!"

Sweet female laughter could be heard as their group reached the carriages arranged by the Queen's order to carry her servants out of the palace. While riding the carriage, Esther observed the streets of Blackhelm, the capital city of Megaris, which was brightened up with seemingly countless lanterns. Music could be heard on the main streets, as different performances could be spotted. Stalls and shops with fancy decorations offering curious items and food could be seen as well. It was as if the entire city was shining with life, keeping the darkness of the night away.

As she normally stayed within the Queen's residence, Esther only saw this city from the palace, more specifically from the window of the Queen's chamber. For the past month, the Queen didn't leave the royal palace grounds, and as her companion, neither did she. Although she did visit the city proper on her own before during her breaks, it was only because she needed to purchase some things, and didn't stay longer than an hour before returning to the palace. This was truly the first time she would be enjoying the outside world. 

The carriages took them to the centre of the city.  The plaza was filled with people dressed nicely. Because the people were gathered on the roads, no carriages could enter because they were blocked by the crowd. The streets nearby were full of stalls of food as well as different interesting items that small merchants were selling as trinkets. Groups of artists were performing some acts on a built stage, and the bystanders were rewarding them with money after giving them thunderous applause. The festive crowd looked so lively—from the young children running about with toys in their hands, to the young couples enjoying the performances, and even the families lining up to buy food from the stalls—that it brought a radiant smile to Esther's beautiful face.

"Esther, are you not going to dance?" one of the girls asked after dancing in the large dance area designated in the plaza for a round. "Oh, come on—"

Esther found herself laughing as her fellow servant pulled her to the middle of the plaza, where the other servants looked like they were having fun. She was unfamiliar with the music playing, so she merely held her skirt and twirled like the other girls dancing with her. Unknown to her, she was already having a great time.

After another round of dancing, their group finally left the dance area with bright smiles on their pretty faces. Esther could see that even though they were tired of dancing, they were still all pretty energetic as they teased each other about who stepped on someone else's toes. 

One of the girls clapped her hands. "All right, I'm starving. Let's first buy trinkets from the stalls here so we don't have to return again. After that, shall we eat and then go light lanterns?"

"Lanterns?" Esther asked curiously. 

Another girl explained, "What she meant are floating lanterns. It is a year-end tradition where you write your wishes for the incoming year on the lanterns and you either let it float on the water to be carried away into the sea, or you let it fly and reach the sky."

"We will have to go to the harbour area for that, so we normally do that last after playing here in the plaza," one of the older servants added. 

Esther blinked. "I heard that it was done on the last day?"

The older servant nodded. "Yes, and it would involve the royal family. The King and Queen, along with the royal princes and princesses, would start sending out their floating lanterns first. After that, everyone else can follow suit. It was like that several years ago, but there were too many people crowding together in the river harbour and it caused some security issues, so later on, the royal family extended the tradition for the entire three days to avoid having casualties. The royal family would still do it on the last day, but for us commoners, we normally do it on the first or second day."

Esther understood and thanked them for explaining. Of course, the group of girls continued to tease each other as they walked around the plaza.. Esther took that chance to mostly observe and enjoy every single thing that came into her sight, things that she had been missing out on for the years she spent hiding in the forest.