.

The festival was not a festival, Sebastian noticed, but more of a poor person's ball. It was in a large, open space, where the food stalls had been cleared away. The ground was dusty, and as soon as anyone took a step, small clouds of debris rose around them to dance too. Sebastian was busy getting dragged through the town square by Jylan, who seemed, quite literally, over the moon. 

"Oh, look!" Jyaln said, pointing at multiple things. Sebastian, meanwhile, was busy looking at the butler, who was smiling and relaxed, which he hadn't been in a while. "Are you listening?" Jylan asked, and Sebastian shook his head. "No, I'm busy staring." 

"You should smile more, Butler."

Lei probably wouldn't have been able to predict this turn in events, where all her waves of candlelit dinners had not been able to go up against a free-for-all fair, but what mattered right now was that even if it had happened a bit later or in a different way then what was expected, the number eight had still done a ridiculously good job. 

In the air was the smell of all sorts of things, dull spices and exotic fruits. Music was playing, not the practiced, elegant notes Sebastian was used to, but instead there was fiddle and harmonica, a type of wild craziness that spiraled up and down and sideways that made you simply want to forget your wariness and dance the night away. 

"My prince, do you want to dance?!" Jylan asked, excited, and Sebastian tried to keep a straight face. He nodded, and then the dance began. If the music up until now had been a prologue, now it was the real thing. The notes started tumbling, spreading over the square as people gathered into twos and began spinning in chaotic circles that looped around and around each other. Sebastian and Jylan started spinning too, bumbling over each other's feet at first, and eventually joining into a unity, where they held hands and moved at the same time. Dust swirled around them, blurring the world around them until they were all alone. 

Then the music came to a final stop, and Jylan and Sebastian parted, still looking at each other's eyes. The whole town was staring at them, and then there was a wave of loud applause, which sent the two scrambling away from each other.

Above, Lei, who was watching with binoculars from a rooftop, snickered to herself while eating a spicy chicken kebab off a stick. Sebastian and Jylan didn't notice, but the townspeople the next day were gossiping about a strange hooded figure who had watched the dance. 

Everything was finally perfect, or so they thought.