A Princess Named Harry: Book 2

Chapter 13

After the duel, Lianne went back to the palace. The knights who had been watching the fight now all began training. Kahil had attempted to say a few words of encouragement to Harry before leaving. Even Varian tried his best to cheer her up. He offered to escort her back to the palace, but she didn't feel like going back inside, not yet anyway.

Everything had been a little bit different from the Cardiaire Kingdom, but luckily there were still tall trees surrounding the palace. She leaned her back against one of them, and though it was foolish of her, she began to cry. Maybe it was because of her pride, or maybe, it was because she wasn't used to losing. Harry knew she was acting like a child, crying over things not going her way, but she couldn't help it. It was so sad and disappointing to her.

She continued to cry and berate herself when she heard someone coming. Had they heard her crying? But she had tried her best to be as quiet as possible. She was even far away from everyone too.

Just then, Varian suddenly emerged from behind a tall tree. "I knew it." He sighed, as he began walking closer to Harry.

"V-Varian," she stuttered. "Why are you here?" She felt her wet face. "Other than that, please wait for a moment! I'm not presentable right now! So . . . so if you see me, well . . . well I might look ugly."

Varian did not stop walking towards her. "If you wanted to cry alone, then you should have let me escort you back to your room first."

"I didn't feel like going."

"I knew you'd act this way."

"Act what way?" Harry asked puzzled.

"Smile and act like our words were making you feel better, and then go off on your own and cry alone. You won't find any satisfaction in crying alone."

"How would you know that?"

"Well, do you?"

Harry thought about her answer for a moment. "No . . . I don't." She hardly ever felt okay, even after going off to be alone.

"See? I told you so."

Varian was inches from her. He grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Aren't you mad at me?" she asked nervously. "I'm crying over something so dumb."

"Is it dumb to you?" Varian asked while hugging her tight.

"N-no," she hesitantly replied. "It's not dumb . . . but other people might see it that way. They'll think I'm a spoiled brat who is making a fuss about losing."

"Yes, but from what I've seen, you hardly ever lose."

Harry squeezed him tighter. It was true; she hardly ever lost.

"The thing about people who win a lot," said Varian. "Since they hardly ever lose, when they finally do, they take it very badly. They think it's all their fault when that's not true. Losing happens sometimes, just like winning. You lose some you win some. That's just how life is."

"Aren't you upset with me at all?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm not," he answered. He patted Harry's head. "But I do get upset when you keep things to yourself like this."

Just like that, Harry could feel her tears welling up due to Varian's words.

"I lost!" she cried.

"I know."

"It was so embarrassing!"

"It's okay."

"I looked so weak!"

"Everyone knows you aren't."

Harry continued to cry and complain in Varian's arms while he listened and consoled her. He did this until she felt better.

•••

A couple of days later, Harry sat and drank tea with the twins. They had obeyed Harry when she had told them that they should attend their classes and learn to listen to others more often. They had even left Harry alone until she came to them. She had wanted to ask them to join her for tea, and it seemed like they really wanted to tell her something too, so it worked out perfectly.

After about ten minutes of small talk between them, the twins finally brought up their long-awaited news.

"Harry, have you heard of the night market?" Collin asked.

Harry shook her head and answered, "I haven't. What's a night market?"

"It's sort of like a festival," Claire answered. "It's held in the town square for five days around this time of year."

"And every year we sneak out to attend it," added Collin. "Do you want to go with us?"

"You go every year?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah," Claire answered. "We go attend all five days because each day has something a little different from the next."

"It's the last day that has the most exciting things."

"Yeah, the closing day is the best!"

Collin and Claire became giddy just from thinking about it.

"We'll be sneaking out to go every day anyway," said Collin casually. "So, do you want to go with us?"

Harry thought about the exciting offer. "When is this again?" she asked.

"The first day starts tomorrow night," said Claire as she picked up her teacup.

When Harry was hesitant to give her reply, Collin added, "If you don't want to come with us every night, then you should at least come with us for the last night."

"Yeah," said Claire. It seemed like she wanted to say more, but she didn't want to say anything that would reveal what made the last day so special.

"If you don't come with us, you'll regret it," Collin told her.

"What if I fall asleep?" Harry awkwardly asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that," replied Collin smugly. "There's no way you'll be able to get any sleep that night."

Claire gave a small laugh. When she noticed Harry's eyes on her, she quickly grabbed a cookie and feigned innocence.

Harry didn't want to tell them no, but she also didn't want to tell them yes. She was still over the fence about it. Part of her wanted to go, and the other part was scared to get caught. She finally replied after a long time of thinking, "I'll think about it."

"Well," called Collin. He seemed a little disappointed. "You have four and a half days to give us your answer."

"We're the only ones who know how to sneak past the guards," spoke Claire with a smile.

"Yeah, we learned their routine," Collin replied.

Harry laughed; the twins were indeed difficult.

"If you're still uncertain about it when the day arrives, then, you can bring your knight with you," said Collin.

"I'm not sure he'll want to go," Harry replied.

"Well, there's only one way to find out if he does or not." Collin side-eyed Harry. "Ask him."

Harry had still been concerned about going. She hadn't been sure if she wanted to go yet, but around the middle of the final day of the festival, she decided she did want to go. She decided to ask Varian if he wanted to go with her during his break from training.

"The night market, huh?" he asked as he wiped his sweaty face and hair with a small towel. "I've been thinking about going one of these nights to check it out."

"Really?" Harry asked while keeping her distance. "Do you want to go with me?" When he gave her a confused-like look, she quickly added, "The twins have been sneaking out to go every night. They had invited me to go with them, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go." She gently clasped her hands together. "Since it's the last night, I'll probably go with them." She smiled at Varian as she asked her question again, "You can go with us if you want. It'll just be me and the twins. Do you want to go?"

Varian answered similarly to before. "Yeah, I was planning on going on the last day."

"Yes, I've heard something special happens on the closing day."

Varian nodded, "I've heard about that too. It's a festival that only happens in Taram."

Varian didn't think that after this month was over that he'd ever be back in the Taram Kingdom again, or at least not when the night market appeared. It was probably his only chance to go. "Someone once told me that I should go see the night market. They told me that even if I couldn't go on any of the main days, that I should at least go on the last day, or I'd regret it."

Harry tilted her head to the side and asked, "Who told you that?"

"Just someone who I used to know."

When she saw Varian's nostalgic smile, she knew she wouldn't get a straight answer from him.

"So . . . you're coming with me . . . right?"

"Yep," he answered. "Later tonight, right?"

Harry nodded and cheerfully answered, "Yes, later tonight!"