Could Remesis have imagined that this day would turn out like this? Definitely not.
When the princess unexpectedly came to her and declared that she wanted to invite her for a festive walk, Remesis, of course, initially intended to refuse. However...
Asil turned out to be surprisingly stubborn. She declared that she would not leave until Remesis agreed, and with these words, she sank into a chair, her entire demeanor demonstrating that she intended to stay for a long time.
Remesis tried to usher her out, but... all attempts suffered a crushing defeat.
And now here they were, walking with the princess through the city square to celebrate the festival together.
Remesis could only sigh heavily.
How, pray tell, did it all turn out this way?..
The market square greeted them with noise and a colorful variety of smells.
The vast expanse of the central square, usually filled with market stalls and carts of goods, had been transformed beyond recognition today. Everything around was beautifully decorated — specially for the festival.
Musicians — three with lutes and one with a drum — had positioned themselves on a wooden platform in the center of the square and were playing a fast, lively tune. Several couples were already dancing right on the cobblestones, ignoring the cold.
Remesis stopped at the edge of the square, by a tall stone fountain that had been drained for the winter and covered with boards. Now those boards served as an impromptu bench, and a few elderly townsfolk sat there, warming their hands on mugs of hot drinks.
At that moment, a voice sounded beside her:
"Wife, what would you like to do today?"
The princess stood so close that their shoulders almost touched.
Remesis sighed.
"I don't know..."
Thinking about it, she and Asil had never attended this festival together before. Because the festival days always coincided with the time of military campaigns. And given that wars in the north had been almost continuous for the last ten years, it was unsurprising that they had never had the chance to visit the festival together.
Not that she regretted it.
Rather, Remesis didn't even imagine what she could possibly do at this festival with the princess...
She hadn't planned on coming here at all!
"Then let's just take a walk."
Asil took her hand.
The touch was light, almost weightless, but Remesis felt it with her whole body. She flinched but obediently followed the princess.
"Let's go," Asil said and pulled her towards the market stalls. "Let's see what they have."
The market stalls buzzed like a disturbed beehive.
The shopkeepers vied with each other to praise their wares: "Spices from the south! Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg!" "Northern honey! The purest, from the heathlands!" "Woollen shawls! Softer than a cloud!" "Handmade silver jewelry! For your beautiful lady!"
The last exclamation made Remesis flinch. The merchant — a gray-haired man with cunning eyes and upturned mustaches — was looking directly at them and smiling.
"My lady," he addressed Remesis. "Take a look at this brooch. Moonstone in a silver setting. It brings luck in matters of the heart!"
He held out a small, crescent-shaped brooch to them. The stone inside indeed shimmered with a soft, milky light, shimmering with blue and silver sparks.
"What do you think?" Asil asked unexpectedly quietly.
Remesis hesitated.
"Well... it's beautiful," she replied politely, already intending to walk past. Jewelry did not really interest her, and besides, she wasn't planning on buying anything. She hadn't even brought any money.
But Asil unexpectedly lingered. She looked at the brooch with some strange, almost thoughtful expression. And then...
"How much?" she asked.
Remesis raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn't intervene.
The merchant named a price — three silver coins. Mere trifle by the standards of the mistress of the northern lands. Asil, without haggling, simply tossed him a gold coin and took the brooch.
The merchant, clearly stunned by such generous overpayment, opened his mouth to call out to them and offer change, but the Lord of the North and her wife had already moved far from the stall by then.
Stepping aside to where there were fewer people, Asil unexpectedly stopped and turned to her.
"Turn around," she said.
The girl's eyes widened.
"Your Highness, there's no need. It's too..."
"Wife, do it," the princess interrupted her gently but firmly.
In the end, Remesis didn't resist and simply allowed it.
The princess's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly as she pinned the brooch to the collar of Remesis's dress. When it was done, Remesis looked down at the ornament, then raised her eyes to the princess.
Honestly, she didn't even know what to say.
"Thank you..."
"You're welcome," Asil replied and smirked — surprisingly warmly and softly. "Wife, are you thirsty?"
"A little..."
"Then let's go get some cider. The best drink for such an occasion, don't you think?"
Remesis frowned but followed the princess without hesitation.
Honestly, Asil's behavior seemed a bit unusual to her today... Why was she suddenly acting so tenderly? Try as she might, Remesis couldn't find an explanation for this, and simply decided that the princess had always acted strangely after all.
She sighed and decided not to think about it anymore.
A little later, they found a bench on the square, away from the noisiest crowd. In their hands were mugs of hot cider, spiced with cinnamon and orange peel — a rare, expensive treat for the north. But today, in honor of the festival, this drink was sold everywhere.
Remesis drank her cider and watched the square. Dancing couples, laughing children, old people reminiscing about their youth. Life — simple and real — was bustling around her. This sight involuntarily made her feel a little strange.
"What are you thinking about?" Asil asked.
Remesis was silent for a moment before answering.
"Nothing much..." she hesitated slightly. "Just thinking that the north has changed a lot over the years. It has become much noisier and livelier here than before."
The princess smirked upon hearing her words.
"What about us?"
"What?"
"Wife, do you think... we have changed much?"
Asil put down her mug and turned her whole body towards her.
Remesis frowned.
"Changed? Hard to say... How can I judge when I don't even know what's on your mind?"
"Don't say that. I have always been completely honest with you."
Remesis didn't even find the strength to smirk.
Was that supposed to be a joke?
How could a person who, as it turned out, had been hiding more than anyone all this time, claim to have been open with her?
Simply absurd.
Remesis sighed and shook her head.
"...As you say."
But to herself, she thought that the princess was again saying some strange things.
A little later, Asil asked if Remesis was hungry. And before the girl could properly answer, the princess had already volunteered to bring snacks, telling Remesis to wait for her there.
Remesis did so.
She waited for the princess for some time, sitting on the bench. But when over ten minutes had passed and the woman still hadn't returned, Remesis involuntarily felt a pang of worry.
Nothing had happened, had it?
Not that she was truly anxious... and yet she decided to check.
Remesis stood up and walked past the market stalls where the princess had previously disappeared. She hadn't gone far when she suddenly noticed a familiar silver head in some alley. For some reason, despite the princess saying she was going for food, she was in such a place.
Remesis called out to her in confusion:
"...Your Highness?"
Hearing her voice, the princess immediately turned around. Remesis barely had time to notice her wiping a bloody trace from her lips.
"What are you doing here?" Remesis approached.
"Ah, wife," Asil's usual expression very quickly returned to her face. "I told you to wait. Why did you come here?"
"You had been gone quite a while. So I..."
"What? Were you worried about me?" the other smirked.
Remesis frowned, and her expression instantly turned icy.
"Not at all! I just got tired of waiting, so I came to find you."
"Well, sorry I'm a little late... Then let's go."
But to the question of what exactly she had been doing there, Asil somehow never answered. Remesis frowned again.
"Your Highness... may I ask, were you coughing up blood just now?"
"Of course not," she objected without hesitation. "Why would you think that?"
"It just seemed to me..."
"It just seemed that way to you," Asil smirked. "How could someone like me cough up blood? Wife, what do you take me for?"
...Indeed.
Remesis found nothing to say to that, and decided it had indeed just been her imagination.
As it turned out, the princess did buy them some food — a paper package of honey cakes, a traditional northern delicacy especially loved during such festivals. They snacked a little before continuing their walk.
"Are they tasty?"
"...Fine."
The princess laughed upon hearing her answer.
And for some reason, Remesis felt that this laugh too was a little different from usual. It seemed softer, warmer... Remesis again felt strange.
In the end, they walked until late evening. And at some point...
"Wife, look over there."
Asil pointed somewhere upward. Remesis looked up and gasped.
The sky over the market square was beginning to blaze.
The northern lights started timidly — a pale green band on the horizon, like a blurred watercolor. But with each second, it grew brighter. Green flowed into blue, blue into purple, and this entire celestial dance was reflected in the eyes of hundreds of people who had tilted their heads upward.
The music fell silent. Even the musicians stopped playing, mesmerized by the spectacle. Almost complete silence fell over the square — only the admiring sighs of people witnessing such a rare phenomenon as the northern lights.
Remesis also watched the sky and couldn't tear her eyes away.
"...Beautiful," she whispered.
"Very," Asil replied quietly.
Remesis involuntarily turned to look at her and froze. The princess wasn't watching the sky. She was watching Remesis. And in her eyes, illuminated by the green and blue flashes of the aurora, there was something that made Remesis's mouth go dry.
"Your Highness... why are you looking at me?" she asked, a little confused.
"Am I not allowed to admire my beautiful wife?" came the reply.
Remesis flushed. She knew this was surely another provocation from the princess, which she didn't intend to fall for.
For a while, silence hung between them. Until the woman suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice:
"Wife... Thank you for spending this day with me."
"What?" Remesis looked at her in bewilderment.
But at that moment, Asil was looking at the dark night sky, adorned with unimaginable colors. And it seemed she was truly, deeply admiring the spectacle before her.
"I will remember this day forever," she said quietly, and in her voice, there was something Remesis had never heard before — a poignant, almost sad tenderness.