Chapter 3

For fear of being reported for not attending the festival and the repercussions that come with that, the two had to come out of hiding and be at the party. With Winter threatened to never mention to a soul what she saw and happened back there.

The last thing Sao wants is to be captured and tortured. As soon as he can leave this festival, he should escape this kingdom. Not sure where to go but he can't stay either. Not with a girl already suspecting him. Girls with the way they never shut up who knows when they won't have much gossip to share while bathing in the river then end up talking him.

Before you know it the whole kingdom is talking about Sao with the way men too like gossip and idling around with each other. They may profess out loud about how they don't like gossip and go as far as announce that it is not gossip they are spreading right before actually delivering the gossip. But do we say?

Sao keeps a close look at Winter. According to her ,too close a look. All she wants is for him to leave her alone because she doesn't intend on telling on him. Can't tell on the mean big guy with scary eyes and risk being attacked one night when going to relieve your bladder outside in godforsaken hours.

She's heard of the experiments done using magic on people but she's never seen anyone experimented on. She thinks Sao is one of those. Even though their king assured them that there are no such experiments, people still spread rumours about them.

Winter feels both sorry and pissed at Sao. It is said that prisoners who fall sick or those sentenced to be locked up for life are the ones used for those experiments. Winter feels sorry because she's heard of some prisoners wrongly accused. Sure the guy looks like he has anger management issues but what if he was wrongfully accused and locked up! Then experimented on and he escaped!

But the guy looks pretty familiar it's just that she doesn't remember when she saw him.

Then she thinks of what if he is a dangerous person who was experimented on and escaped? Obviously they wouldn't ask the public about him because the palace denied there being any such experiments.

Sao is lost looking at the girl who is staring at him like she could figure him out. He looks at her face and note her outstanding features. He would have felt great for trying to get it with her earlier if he didn't think she is the most stubborn girl ever .

Being born in line of command even after years he still can't help feel like people should listen to him. Take his orders and do his bidding. But he can't just get that, not until he finds the ultimate source of power . With it, he can bend anyone to his will.

More reason to get away from this place. It's like this girl has become his rude awakening. Previously he was torn between looking for the source of power and settling down in this kingdom. But now certainly, he will leave soonest possible.

Modei performing took Sao's mind off of things a bit. Since he was a baby music calmed him down. His eyes open more and ears more alert. He bobs his head to the rhythm feeling like a heavy burden is off his shoulder.

Once or twice he went home with Modei because he knows about his situation. There Modei was the cook and the entertainer. Sao enjoyed the free karaoke he got. He considers Modei's voice as one of those sweet ones that could easily capture your consciousness and have you in a trance. You would be set on fire and only the sudden rise of your body temperature would pull you out of that .

Winter notices how relaxed Sao looks. His eyes are normal now fixed on Modei. The dancing bonfire flame reflected in his eyes. His face is so relaxed she notices his sharp jawline that the lights in the place have cast shadows upon. This man is not just handsome but very handsome . Concludes Winter. His lips are slightly parted in what appears to be a very tiny smile.

'So it actually has other emotions !' Winter wonders.

She thinks back at all that has happened. She still feels humiliated because even the man she was seeing behind her parents backs was not that aggressive. She has done things with the man but this one just made her feel so cheap and easy to get.

Single handedly crashed her, 'very hard to get ' legacy. One thing she doesn't like is anyone crashing her ego. Nevertheless, deep down a part of her craves another incident like that one. Of course she pushes those thoughts away as soon as they start budding.

But hormones really get the wrong ideas all the time. She walks away from the man because she is getting more and more frustrated at him. Since he isn't looking, it is best she goes somewhere else and at least breath!

Youngsters in the festival are having a time of their lives and it is actually pretty convincing now that they might just be in another realm.

You would expect those far away from the fire feeling cold or those close to it feeling hot but they look like it's all normal around them. You can easily say they are too taken by this long awaited festival to notice or just agree they might be in another beautiful realm where environment too is beautiful.

Modei finishes his performance with locking lips with some pretty girl. Of course ladies love this guy. He always charms them.

'Lucky bastard! ' Sao thinks.

Some whistles are blown and drums are hit. Time to dance a bit. Sao thinks of just the person to keep watching, I mean, dance with !To his surprise she is not there. He panics and all that calm the music did for him evaporates in thin air. If anyone looks closer at him, they'll notice the working of his throat and the glowing of his Adam's apple.

"This is bad, this is bad !" He says a little nervous as his nostrils start smoking again.

Then suddenly someone touches his shoulder slightly and he quickly turns around hoping it's Winter. He is disappointed to see it's not and has a mind to ignore her but the girl hands him a flower necklace girls are supposed to give guys they want to dance with. He takes it because he could cover his neck with it. Plus the distraction would help him keep from burning down the place exposing his secret.

The girl seems to be too awe struck to notice his panic or anything. So he dances with her starting with slightly bending with hands at akimbo and shaking their shoulders to the beat of the drums while skipping too. This dance ensures working of almost all of your muscles but it is fun to do it while facing the one you are dancing with.

As the beats change so does the choreography which mostly they have to jump up and down, throw their hands and legs every which way. You don't feel the pain until the morning after so just enjoy yourself at the moment . Sao doesn't hold back because at first he desperately needed a distraction and now he is having a good time.

Yeah Sao, dancing has that effect on people. You just have to want to actually dance and then keep up with what other people are doing.

The drummers are too having the time of their lives. Practised the beats for too long they couldn't be happier now they get to play the drums and have people go crazy. They won't stop drumming until those on the dance floor come up with a new routine that has never been danced before. This has been the norm for the ones attending the festival of the millentians for years.

They will perform this new dance at the palace two weeks from now. Everyone will be expecting so they can't disappoint. And former groups will be waiting to see if the dance is better than theirs. Some, if they want, perform the dance of their time.

For a really long while, this new dance will be what every fun person would be dancing in case of a drumming anywhere. One of the things those back home are waiting for.

Let's hope there are people who were born to dance in this crowd because otherwise, the drummers hands might just fall off. Now that would be painful and embarrassing.

For a while, no one is trying to come up with any new dance. Everyone dancing is keen on enjoying themselves. And it went on and on and on .

Winter wasn't much of a dancer, so she was tired too quickly and ditched her partner. She also couldn't stop thinking about Sao. There was just something about him. She couldn't place a finger on it but she feels like he is something with a story she needs to unravel. Unfortunately, she can't stand the guy. She sighs.

She is always trying to find out things and just maybe this one would turn out to pure trouble and leave her in danger or something. She would only have herself to blame.

"Hello, beautiful. " A husky voice says to her ear from behind her.

She smiles. Then turns around snaking the guy's neck with her hands. The guy smiles back at her holding her by the waist and bringing her closer to him.

"Easy there, after tonight I'll be someone's wife. " Winter jokes.

"Oh who knows, you could be my wife . I've always thought we are meant to be. " Kilza says with a wink.

'Trying too hard! ' Winter thinks.

"Chances are very low . This kingdom is bigger than you think. Haven't you seen all of these people here? " Winter asks.

"But still, you never know. " Kilza insists.

Winter wants to roll her eyes but think better of it . She has already broken the guy's heart no need to rip it out of his chest. So she lets him keep his hopes up knowing all too well at the end of this night he will have a wife and finally leave her alone.

They dance for a while talking about their time together before they stopped seeing each other . They spoke about how exciting the day is ending. Mostly Kilza. Winter didn't care but didn't want to poop in anyone's party.

Kilza always did have a way of making her laugh. Deep down she is glad he found her. She was starting to get lonely and didn't realize it until she got company . No one wishes to be lonely at a party. The party could be very lame and boring . This is a festival of every eight years that not everyone attends it. You can't afford to be bored unless you are pretty boring yourself.

Suddenly, Winter feels some all too familiar piercing eyes staring directly into her soul. She sighs. How he found her in all this multitude she'll never guess. Kilza notices her change of mood and the staring contest with some guy he doesn't know.

"Are you lost? " He tries being a knight in shining armor.

Sao doesn't even show that he's heard him. Keeps staring at Winter. Kilza isn't too happy. He twists his mouth in annoyance. Then he tries pushing Winter behind him. Tries because Winter doesn't barge and also lays a hand on his chest to stop him. He looks at her confused.

"Would you excuse us please. " She asks politely.

"Are you sure? Because I can stay. " Kilza bargains.

"I'll be fine ." Winter snaps through gritted teeth eyes never leaving Sao's.

Kilza lifts his hands up in surrender then walks away. He thinks to himself how much he hates the way Winter always acts like she doesn't need any help . It always annoyed him because he felt like she didn't trust him.

"What do you want? You ruined my dance. " Winter asks not being able to be angrier at the guy.

"Did you say anything to anyone? " He asks cautiously.

Winter clenches and unclenches her jaws.

"What do you think? " Winter snaps.

"Answering a question with a question. .. Are you hiding something? " Sao asks suspiciously stepping closer and closer to her.

'Damn you! ' Winter curses in her head.

They are eye to eye, nose to nose, chest to chest type of close. They are like two warriors about to fight each other so they first stare down each other . That is until Winter steps away. Before anything else crazy could happen, people around them start cheering and chanting 'festo mille ' . Sao and Winter forget about their little contest to find out what's going on .

Turns out it is their unique dance being formulated. Phew, the drummers could rest at least . And for the festival to go on. But, right after the whole thing is done and most people learn it. The routine seems to be having a lot of leg work. People don't easily learn those with so much leg work.

But then again, it's their loss if they don't so they'll die trying. Many are in awe of the beautiful masterpiece being created right in front of them. Some are already trying to learn it. Then there is those who are just there.

With the endless flow of booze , there is mad energy. There has never been a night wilder than the night of the millentians festival.

Sao tries dancing with the crowd as Winter watches her. She acknowledges him as an effortless dancer. Even when he is missing the steps, he is swift and graceful doing it. He doesn't put so much energy in the dance unlike some people who end up looking like they are having a seizure or something.

'He is still an ass! ' Her inner voice reminds her.

So she starts dancing too to prevent her from watching him too much. Well she is one of those people who seem to never get dances with so many leg work. A couple of tries and she gives up.

"I was never really born to dance. " She mutters to self.

She watches Sao for a moment and wonders how carefree he is dancing. He looks like the weight of the world is not on his shoulder again .

'Good for him! ' She thinks.

She wanders off to have a drink. Been avoiding the drinks because everyone knows they are all spiked except for water of course. She'll have some beer but later in the night. For now she rather have some water. Nothing could ever go wrong with water.

Sao notices moments later that Winter ghosted him again. He decides to not go after her. He's having way too much fun to go after the girl plus he can always find her by her smell. He figured he could always use his strong smelling senses to find her the first time. He picked up a couple of interesting smells while at it.

Explore your imagination and don't hold back about just what kinds of smell he picked while looking for Winter. Clues include, a bunch of youngsters, dance, alcohol, excitement and everything else available in a party. Don't forget chaos.

Takes quite a while for at least most people to learn and enjoy the dance. At this point everyone is exhausted but having no regrets. Isn't that what everyone just wishes for in life?

Winter did learn the dance eventually and actually enjoyed it. For most people a festival is not one without dancing and screaming so your loss if you are just going to sit around and watch others have fun. It is sad.

Sao has not been this happy in a very long time. Turns out it's this festival exactly what he needed that he didn't even know . Funny because he didn't want to attend it and now he is glad he did .

Modei finds him again and scolds him for not spending time with him during the festival.

"I didn't even hear your voice cheering me when I sang. "Modei accuses.

Sao just shakes his head disbelievingly .

"You had all the girls cheering you on didn't think you needed me to. " Sao defends.

"So you can actually think? " Modei asks acting shocked.

"Alright Mo ,just drop it . There was no way you could have heard just my voice in all this multitude. " Sao dismisses him.

Modei pouts for a second then sighs.

"Problem is not that you couldn't cheer because of the crowd ,it's that you would never cheer even if it's just me and you . But I've accepted it and move on now ." Modei decides to drop it.

Sao smiles to himself and think about just how big a fan of Modei he is . He however doesn't tell him so. Instead he hits him lightly on his chest with the back of his hand. Modei being the dramatic one acts as if he has just taken mother of all blows .

Goes as far as throwing himself back with an 'oomph! ' This catches them some attention. Unfortunately from boys who look like they either don't care or feel jealous they didn't throw the punch. That went well!

Of course he sobers up before anyone gets any temptations. Sao drags him to the food table . Yeah people forget dancing is an exercise in its own form. Uses quite a bit of energy that needs be replaced. Don't try this at home! Just kidding go crazy .

"Come this way, there are these dishes I want you to try. " Modei is excited pulling Sao in the opposite direction of where he was going.

"Okay. " Sao says slightly annoyed.

He doesn't like being dragged around even if he did exact same thing. But of course Modei isn't keen on that. Or is he? He comes to a sudden halt causing Sao to run into his back. Hurt him a little but of course Sao a lot. Evil laughter. On the bright side, there is food to eat away the pain.