DOMINIC: AT THE HARVEST FESTIVAL

Its mid afternoons and we're on a ship heading to Evergurd, and so far we haven't encounter any pirates, our team of soldiers divided into two groups, one on land and another on sea. the one on land lead by Alistair Voss, they're heading to scourer the boarders for any bandits while I lead the on sea.

By the time we get to Evergurd it's past midnight, we are received by the head commander of Evergurd and a few other soldiers by the docks "welcome to Evergurd prince Dominic, we've been expecting you" the head commander, Clinton amez greets with a deep baritone voice "hope your journey here wasn't too hectic" he inquiries and I humm "thank you commander, it wasn't too bad." I say "can my soldiers go to the camp to rest, it's been a long journey" I say straight to the point too tired for small talks "of course, my prince, I'll take them there" Clinton offers and I nod "in that case I'll head to the palace to meet the king" I say before signaling two soldiers to follow me to the royal palace to make our present know.

The Kingdom of Evergurd is a small one compared to other kingdoms I've been to, it's a kingdom consisting of mostly farmlands and small villages. it's a beautiful place with the meadows, mountain and water falls view. I've only been here twice, this making it the third visit.

On getting to the palace of king Declan Radcliffe the butler escorts me to the door of dinning room where the king and the members of the family are seated, he announces my presence and not a second later a voice calls out to let me in, and the door's are pull open from the inside. "good evening your highness" I greet with a head bow and a beefy man with a pot belly, round face with black tiny eyes with grey scanty brows perched low above them, and an almost bald head save for the tiny grey curls that remains and an upturned mustache, stands and walks to embrace me in a friendly hug "good evening prince Dominic, we've been expecting you. look how big you've grown since the last time I saw you, your such a fine young man, right honey?" he ask turning to face his wife an old lady with blonde hair mixed with grey stands pale blue eyes and a sweet face "ah, yes your right, he took his mother's face and grandmothers hair but with the sharp features of his father, you're a really dashing young man. Say, would you be interested in my daughter princess Emily we've been looking for a suitor for her for a while now" queen Talia ask unbashful "Mother!" Emily exclaims from where she sits at the dinning table "don't mother me Emily, it's high time you find a husband" she waves her hand dismissively and faces me "what do you say prince Dominic" she ask with amusement.

"as beautiful as your daughter princess Emily is I'd have to decline" I say with a polite bow, she is indeed beautiful with her pale skin, blue eyes and brown hair but I have another in mind. "tsk awwn aren't you sweet let me know when you've changed your mind" she says giving me a suggestive look and I can hear Emily sigh loudly causing her mom to chuckle "come, come join us for dinner" king Declan says guiding me to the dinning table and taking his seat again "dinner?, isn't it a bit too late for dinner?" I ask confused while taking a chair next to him as I observe the table its a feast. "its for the pre celebration of the harvest festival. tonight we eat what we grew from our lands" he states with a wide smile on his lips. I can tell he loves the festival for whatever reason "is that so, what takes place in the festival" I ask not really interested but in order to keep the conversation going "it's a very...." King Declan begins but is interrupted by a burly man with blonde hair and pale blue eyes dressed in a blue vest with a white shirt peeking from underneath it and peered with black trousers$. The man walks into the room escorted by a beautiful chubby woman with black hair and deep blue eyes wearing a beige colored dress with loose sleeves that hugs her upper body emphasizing on her bosom but then hangs loosely over her baby bump and flows to the floor "don't spoil the surprise for him father, he should get to experience it first hand" the man comment "of course Abel, prince Dominic meet my son Abel and his wife Mira" Abel extend his hand towards me and I take it in a hand shake before releasing and his wife waves at me shyly and I wave back. They take their seats and we begin to feast

"wont the celebration of the festival tomorrow affect the mission to take down the outlanders" I ask half way into the dinner "yeah that brings us to the topic, I was going to ask we postpone the mission until the festival is over, it takes three days. After that we can carry on" he says waiting for me to agree, I don't "no we can't do that, I have to be back to Rimvard before next month as the travel back takes two-three weeks to and fro" I say and the king nods in understandingly "how about we postpone it just for tomorrow then" he ask and I consider it before nodding "we can do that" I say "beautiful!," the queen exclaims "tomorrow my son Abel will personally show you around our kingdom, you'll love it, in our kingdom everybody knows everybody " she says excitedly. The rest of the night we eat our meals while engaging in random conversation nothing serious with mostly queen Talia teasing her daughter and making jokes while the rest of her family would chip in here and there or just smile at her indulgently if one didn't know you'd think they're just a normal family and not royalty.

in a straying thought I think Nyx would wants a family like this.

I sigh and continue to eat, my mood dulling. The next day I'm strolling in the meadows and next to me is prince Abel and a friend of his, Michael. They are acting as a tour guide as they take me around Evergurd From the towns to the farmlands to villages. currently were touring the village of Meadows hill's, as Michaels introduces me to important villagers and explaining significant things to me, we are avoiding the market square for now as it is bustling with people celebrating the festival, selling items and dancing on the streets. "this is a gracing ground for the our farm animals" Michael says but is cut off when two boys run past the middle of me and Abel "woah!, be careful kids" I says jumping out of the way "sorry sir" the boys call back while still running I look at their little running figure bolting through the fields and bumping into other people.

"Those twins" Michael mumbles "you know them" I ask "yes I do, they're the little trouble makers of this village" Michael says shaking his head "the impish triplets" he adds "ah, so those are the famous imps" prince Abel chuckles "they look too cute, to be that troublesome according to the stories I've heard," he reasons "they have your kind of hair, gray. funny, all gray heads I know always have a bad reputation" he says chuckling as he slaps my back and I shoot a glare at him "it's part of the charm" I counter.

We continue our little tour and burst out at the water fall "wow" I say taking in the beautiful scenery. We're surrounded by majestic trees and a beautiful water fall that cascades down into a river which tapers down to a small creek with beautiful shiny rocks at the edges where a few people are perched on it with their feet in the water taking while a few are swimming. at the bank of the water I see the two boys from earlier inside the water engage in a water fight, they splash water at each other while the other attempts to dodge it, though it's pointless as they are both wet. At this proximity I take in their features and for a moment I'm stunned.

Wow, they....., they look so similar to me. with their gray hair, gray eyes and facial structure the only difference being their light caramel skin and curly hair.

They look like something Nyx and I would have created. but that is a wistful thought.

"Marcellus!, Malakai!" A little girl's high pitched voice startles me out of my straying thought, as she runs to halts close to the river bank "there you guys are I'm telling mother, she said you shouldn't play in the water" the girl says and my eyes zeros in on her as my heart stumbles in my chest as memories of Nyx younger self floods me. She's the literal copy of Nyx. curly long brown hair with a patch of white at the front, caramel skin, big brown doe eyes, her features are similar to nyx yet it resembles that of the boys next to her, me. "don't be a fun sponge gennie" one of the boys says dully "yeah and a prude too" the other boy chirps in "I don't care I'm still telling" she says turning to leave and the boys exchange looks that contain a telepathic massage and simultaneously they reach out to grab the young girl before pulling her into the water. A small yelp escapes her lips "y-you didn't… ugh….." she exclaims "you can't tell on us anymore" one of the boys says "yeah your also wet" the other adds and she glares at them.

"who's their mother?" I find myself asking and Abel shrugs his shoulders and Michael shakes his head before he adds "I don't" I know it's a strange question to ask but the resemblance between the three kids to her and I can't be a coincidence and subconsciously I find myself drawing nearer to the water banks "you shouldn't be mean to your sister" I say offering them a soft smile and immediately they heard my voice the two little boys step In front of the girl forming a protective barrier hiding her behind them "who are you" one of them demanded and I immediately guess that this one is the older one I look for something to distinguish the two boys and come up blank they are too identical down to the small birth mark on the left side of their necks "I'm Dominic Hawthorne" I answer then ask "what's your names" he eyes me warily reluctant to answer until the little girl nudge him a little from behind and whispers something that sounds like 'don't be rude' "Marcellus and my brother here is Malachi" he bobs his head sideways at the other little boy standing next to him and he nods at me "and sister Gennieve" he introduces and girl gives a small wave of her hand and I wave back "we weren't being mean to gennie" he adds "we….. just invited her to come play in the water" and Malachi nods, I know it's a lie but what surprises me is when Gennieve agrees "mm-mmm, I wanted to swim too" I open my mouth to tell her that I saw what took place, but then held back when I realize what she just did.

She didn't tell on her brothers to an outsider she defended them against me so that I wouldn't scold them.

At the thought a chuckle bubbles out of me and the children blink at me "what's so funny" Marcellus ask puffing his little chest and amusement washes over me "I just appreciate the fact you didn't rat your brothers out to an outsider, I respect that" I say honestly with seriousness before adding "I'd like us to be friend" "why?" Malachi ask and I notice this one isn't much of a talkative he only adds when necessary and their character difference intrigue me they are the same yet not " 'cause I think we would get along really nicely, you guys seem interesting plus I feel we silver heads should stick together, don't you think." he looks at me warily before nodding and Gennieve smiles at me causing her dimples to appear and I'm stunned again, the resemblance is remarkable she looks too much like Nyx, they look too much like us "who's your mother" I finally ask, my demeanor calm but my insides are coiled up in anticipation, Marcellus opens his mouth to answer but just then a woman in her late forties with thick curly hair, caramel skin and brown eyes appears she's dressed in a brown gown with a white shirt and an apron is tied to her waist she has a basket held between her waist and underarm "CHILDREN!" she exclaims and Marcellus, Malachi and Gennieve head snap to her "oops, we're doomed" they say simultaneously before they quickly scramble out of the water and race towards her. Gennieve gets to the woman first and she immediately starts to tattle tale on the boys "mama, they pulled me into the water, I didn't want to join them" she reports and the woman glares at the boys "how many times have I told you not to play in the water, hmm?" she asked "especially you Malachi, you just recovered from a cold" the woman scolds and the boys look down sulking and muttering a 'sorry' "come quickly let's get you guys changed into something dry" she ushers them away but not before her eyes lands on me, surprise flashes in them before they narrow and she returns her attention to the children and join them to walk away. Abel and Michael come to stand on either side of me at the edge of the water "was that their mother" Abel asks "looks like it" Michael answers and my insides constrict in pain.

I did that to myself I thought to much about it, got my hopes too high was this what the stupid little voice inside my head had planned to get me to a place where almost everything reminds me of her this hurt, I can feel myself crumble and my heart crack for the quadrillion time.

what am I thinking I should probably stop dreaming about reuniting with her it's been eight years and still no signs of her. I should prepare to spend the rest of my life without her, alone. My eyes dull at this thought and i feel my energy drain and I'm beginning to think about going back and not continues with this tour and Abel notices this "are you ok?, you look so crestfallen, is it the atmosphere?, is the heat getting to you?" He ask concerned and I force a smile "yes, I'm fine, umm…. I guess it's the atmosphere" I lie trying to cover up my sunken mood. It's always like this, I'm easily readable when it comes to her, my emotions are always too strong to conceal.

"ok, let's head to the carnival then" I just nod and let them lead me to the market square.

The market square is bustling with different activities. colorful tent of different sizes are erect as vendors sell different items my nose twitch as the spring air whisk the tempting aromas to my nostrils and I inhale greedily. I glace around as my eyes feast on the different food on display, from grilled meat seasoned with spice, roasted potatoes, baked bread, candy etc.

And though I'm not In the mood for food, My mouth still water "would you like something to eat" Michael ask from beside me and I nod a bite wouldn't hurt "sure" I say already feasting with my eyes and we head to one of the stalls "happy harvest day handsome's what would you like to have" the woman behind the stall asks, and the she address us makes the Conner of my lips to subtly tip up, we're all dressed in commoners clothing to avoid bringing attention to ourselves though a few seem to stil recogniz Abel "we would like three of everything on the menu, beautiful." Michael says with a wink and the woman smiles "coming right up sir, please take your seats over there" the lady says pointing at the small table set up beside the stall and we take a seat. Soon our food arrive and we begin feasting on it. We engage in light conversion as we eat "Michael was quite the trouble maker when we were younger." Abel begins "You know he once stole a horse from a farmers stable when he couldn't even ride, the thing flung him off and then kicked him on the stomach" he ends with a chuckle at the memory "yeah he's right, I fell into a comatose state for at least a week, the family doctor said I broke three rips" Michael says with a proud grin showing casing a missing second molar at his right cheek and I'm guessing it's from one of his adventures "and that's not even the craziest thing I've done there was a time when I was a young lad and me and my father went to rockeeter island the beachy side of it and I jumped into the water when I saw..." he trails his eyes locks in a particular direction "wow she's beautiful" he says in a awe filled voice, before sighing and his eyes turning all gooey as he takes in whoever he's looking at, I turn in the direction following his line of sight "what..." I trail off as I'm immediately struck by shock the spoon in my hand falls with a distant clatter on the table before slipping to the ground, I'm frozen in place as my heart and breathing pick up pace.

Christ, I'm I hallucinating again.

I shake my head to clear my self of the haze but its still there, she's still there.

Standing a few stalls In front of me is what that has haunted both my nightmares and daydreams what's causes my longing heart to wail in sorrow, regret my greatest pain, Nyx. she standing inside a yellow stall with a sign that say pastries and desserts, an apron's tied around her waist and sweat and flour cling to her forehead and cheeks her curly hair is packed in a messy bun with some strands errant, her hazel eyes are bright and appearing green from my angel she's conversing with a customer that she seems quite close to, the customer says something and she smiles her dimples appearing and my heart tightens inside of me. How come she's hear, I remember sending trackers to check here too, they came back empty handed. I should have come check myself, looking at her smiling face and bright eyes and radiant skin I'm awe-struck.

She looks happy, really happy. Have I been the only one suffering our separation, probably. Yes. I've been the only one.

I watch her take out some loafs of bread and smear it with butter before handing it to the woman bidding her fair well. She reaches up to her hair and pulls at the band holding her hair up the beautiful brown locks fall past her shoulders stopping at her waist the curls framing her face, she runs her fingers through it to smoothen it before gathering it to a somewhat neater bun again and using the band to keep it in place, the whole action is mesmerizing capturing not only my attention but everyone else's who saw, she's breath taking without even trying. she looks much more mature and more beautiful than the last time I saw her, her features much more exquisite she's changed in so many ways but also still looks the same..... I've finally found her.