The festival invitation arrived with a great deal of gold lettering.
Elara looked at it.
Then she looked at Ravenna.
Ravenna looked at the invitation.
Then she looked at Elara.
"No."
Elara blinked.
"I haven't said anything."
"You were about to."
"I was going to ask if we should go."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it is a human festival."
"Yes."
"And I am the Demon Queen."
"Yes."
"Therefore, I should not attend."
Elara tilted her head.
"Why not?"
Ravenna stared at her.
"Because humans are not particularly fond of me."
"They invited you."
"Politely."
"With a royal seal."
"Still politely."
Elara picked up the invitation.
"The festival celebrates the peace treaty."
Ravenna nodded.
"Exactly."
"Which means they want us there."
"Which means they will stare at us."
"They already stare at us."
"Fair point."
Elara smiled.
"You should come."
Ravenna looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because I want you there."
Ravenna became silent.
Elara watched her carefully.
That sentence seemed to have much more effect than she had intended.
Ravenna cleared her throat.
"Very well."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"That was easy."
"It was not."
Elara laughed.
Ravenna looked away.
"I simply decided that accompanying my wife to a festival was a reasonable royal duty."
"Of course."
"And nothing more."
"Naturally."
"Elara."
"I'm not teasing."
"You are."
"A little."
Ravenna sighed.
The festival was held in a small human town near the border.
The streets were covered with white ribbons.
Lanterns hung from every window.
Children ran between the stalls with painted wooden toys.
The smell of roasted apples, cinnamon, and freshly baked bread filled the air.
Elara stopped at the town entrance.
She had not realized how much she missed it.
"This place..."
Ravenna stood beside her.
"You know it?"
"I visited when I was younger."
Elara smiled.
"Every autumn."
Ravenna looked at the town.
"It seems peaceful."
"It wasn't always."
"I know."
Elara glanced at her.
Ravenna understood what she meant.
The border had once been a battlefield.
Now there were flower stalls where soldiers had once stood.
Children played where trenches had been dug.
The old watchtower had been turned into a clock tower.
History had not disappeared.
It had simply grown flowers over the cracks.
Ravenna looked at the people around them.
"No one is running."
Elara smiled.
"Should they?"
Ravenna shook her head.
"No."
A little boy ran past them.
He stopped.
Looked at Ravenna.
Looked at Elara.
Then looked at Blue, who was perched on Elara's shoulder.
The boy's eyes widened.
"Is that a dragon?"
Blue chirped.
The boy stared.
Then he ran away.
"Mother!"
Ravenna watched him go.
Elara laughed.
"I think he liked Blue."
"I think he was terrified."
"Blue is adorable."
"He breathes fire."
"Adorable."
Ravenna sighed.
"Your standards have changed."
The festival was larger than Elara remembered.
There were musicians in the central square.
Flower crowns were sold beside baskets of fruit.
A group of dancers performed near the fountain.
Elara watched them.
Ravenna noticed.
"Would you like one?"
"What?"
"A flower crown."
Elara looked surprised.
"You want one?"
"I asked if you wanted one."
"But..."
Ravenna looked toward a nearby stall.
There were crowns made of white flowers.
And black ones.
Elara smiled.
Ravenna raised an eyebrow.
"Two?"
"One for you."
Ravenna looked genuinely startled.
"For me?"
"Yes."
"I don't wear flower crowns."
"You do today."
Ravenna stared at her.
Then, to Elara's surprise, she walked toward the stall.
The elderly woman selling the crowns smiled.
"Couple?"
Ravenna immediately began to speak.
"We are..."
"Yes," Elara said.
Ravenna looked at her.
Elara smiled.
The woman handed them two crowns.
One was made of white flowers.
The other was made of dark violet blossoms.
Elara placed the white one on Ravenna's head.
Ravenna stood perfectly still.
"There."
"How do I look?"
Elara studied her.
"Beautiful."
Ravenna's cheeks turned pink.
She picked up the second crown.
"Then you should wear yours."
Elara lowered her head.
Ravenna gently placed the flower crown on her hair.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Blue chirped loudly.
The spell broke.
Elara laughed.
Ravenna sighed.
"I think he is becoming possessive."
"He just wants attention."
"He already receives too much."
Blue chirped again.
They spent the afternoon wandering through the festival.
Ravenna tried roasted apples.
She discovered that she liked them.
She tried a human sweet called sugar glass.
She broke it with one bite.
Elara laughed so hard she nearly dropped her tea.
"I did not expect it to be that hard."
"You bit it."
"Yes."
"With your teeth."
"That is how one eats."
"Apparently not."
Ravenna looked at the remaining piece.
"I dislike this."
"You liked it five minutes ago."
"I have changed my mind."
Elara smiled.
"You are very dramatic."
"I am a queen."
"That is not a defense."
"It should be."
They continued walking.
At one stall, Ravenna stopped.
There were small wooden animals arranged across a table.
She picked up a carved fox.
Elara noticed.
"You like it?"
"It reminds me of something."
"What?"
"My mother used to carve these."
Elara's expression softened.
"Do you still have them?"
"Some."
Ravenna placed the fox back.
Elara picked it up.
"Then buy it."
"I don't need it."
"You want it."
Ravenna hesitated.
Elara handed the fox to the merchant.
"How much?"
Ravenna immediately reached for her purse.
"I can pay."
"I know."
"Then why..."
"Because I want to."
Ravenna looked at her.
"Elara."
"You bought me tea this morning."
"That is different."
"How?"
"I bought tea."
"I bought a fox."
Ravenna sighed.
"That is not how exchanges work."
Elara smiled.
"Then consider it a gift."
Ravenna accepted the wooden fox.
Her fingers curled around it carefully.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ravenna looked at the carving.
Then at Elara.
"I'll keep it."
"I know."
As evening approached, lanterns were lit throughout the town.
The festival became brighter.
Music filled the square.
People gathered around the fountain.
Elara stood beside Ravenna, watching the lights.
"I remember this."
Ravenna looked at her.
"The lantern ceremony?"
"Yes."
"You came here before?"
"When I was a child."
Elara smiled.
"My brother brought me."
Ravenna became quiet.
"Do you miss him?"
"Every day."
Elara looked at the lanterns.
"He used to tell me that if I made a wish when the lanterns rose, the sky would remember it."
Ravenna looked upward.
"Do you still believe that?"
Elara's fingers tightened around the edge of her sleeve.
"But I still make wishes."
"What did you wish for?"
Elara smiled faintly.
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because then it won't come true."
Ravenna nodded seriously.
"That's logical."
Elara laughed.
"What about you?"
"What?"
"Would you make a wish?"
Ravenna thought about it.
"Perhaps."
"What would you wish for?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because then it won't come true."
Elara stared.
Then laughed.
"You copied me."
"I did not."
"You did."
"I simply agree with the principle."
"Of course."
The lanterns began to rise.
One by one.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
The night sky filled with warm lights.
Elara watched them.
Beside her, Ravenna was silent.
The crowd grew quiet.
For a moment, the border town looked like a place outside history.
No humans.
No demons.
No Saint.
No Demon Queen.
Only people watching lights rise into the sky.
Elara closed her eyes.
She made her wish.
She did not know whether the sky remembered.
But she knew what she wanted.
She wanted the peace to last.
She wanted this strange home to remain.
She wanted Ravenna to smile more.
And, perhaps most dangerously of all...
She wanted to keep standing beside her.
Elara opened her eyes.
Ravenna was looking at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You are staring."
"I know."
Elara smiled.
"Did you make your wish?"
"Yes."
"What was it?"
Ravenna looked at the lanterns.
"I wished for something simple."
"What?"
Ravenna hesitated.
Then she said quietly,
"For this to continue."
Elara's heart skipped.
"Continue?"
"This."
Ravenna gestured toward the lanterns.
"The peace."
"The castle."
"Breakfast."
"Blue."
Elara smiled.
"And me?"
Ravenna looked at her.
There was a pause.
Then she answered.
"Yes."
Elara felt warmth spread through her chest.
She looked away before Ravenna could see her face.
On their way back, they passed a small group of people talking near the fountain.
One woman whispered,
"Isn't that the Demon Queen?"
Another answered,
"Yes."
"I thought she was terrifying."
"I did too."
They watched Ravenna walk beside Elara.
The woman frowned.
"She looks..."
"Different?"
"Almost ordinary."
Elara heard them.
She smiled.
Ravenna noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're smiling."
"I was thinking."
"About?"
Elara looked at her.
"You look ordinary."
Ravenna stared.
"That is perhaps the strangest compliment I have ever received."
"I meant it kindly."
"I know."
They continued walking.
Their hands brushed once.
Then again.
The third time, neither moved away.
Ravenna's fingers slowly curled around Elara's.
Elara looked down.
Their hands were joined.
Neither said anything.
They simply kept walking.
Behind them, the festival lanterns continued to rise.
And above the town, a single silver light appeared among them.
Neither woman noticed.
Far away, beneath the Demon Castle, the Silver Rose trembled.
One of its petals opened.
Then another.
And somewhere deep beneath the earth, the sleeping presence whispered:
"Together."