Triplet Queens' mysterious Guard

Under the sun, under the rain

December 1339

Outer ring of the capital city

Common folk district

Alicia, Nirvana

Last day of the Queen’s carnival

Jon had been waiting all morning for his new friend. He was excited and as much as he was trying to be indifferent about everything like he normally was, he knew he wasn’t. He found himself struggling not to smile when the coach from the previous night turned the corner and approached the town square. The coach came to a halt just in front of him and the door swung open.

Elle took her time to step out the coach and only made the effort when her new friend gave her an outstretched hand for support which she took slowly and stepped out slowly. She was used to being dotted on and had no problem making others wait for her, those were perks to being royalty that she had enjoyed all her life. She had decided to wear a simpler and less mesmerizing gown than what she wore the previous day, she knew how crowded the carnival got and was in no mood to be recognized by someone as Queen Isabella today. She had a shawl on her head to keep her blonde hair unnoticed and she could see the inquisitive look on Jon’s face made even more obvious by his reflexively raised eyebrow. “What is it you want to say?” Elle asked as soon as both her feet touched the ground and she was standing in front of him. “Jon, you clearly have something to say or questions to ask me so please go on.” She asked smiling at him even as the thought crossed her mind that maybe she was way more under-dressed than she had intended. Jon noticed her adjusting her shawl and gown and quickly remedied her fears.

“You look stunning my lady. I was just surprised that someone with hair as beautiful and enthralling as yours would be willing to keep it hidden away.” Jon said asking a question indirectly while giving her an indirect compliment at the same time.

“Well everyone in Nirvana probably knows that the Queen and ladies belonging to her royal bloodline have this characteristic blonde hair you seem to love so much.” She said teasingly while flashing him a smile and grabbing him by the arm so they could begin walking towards the actual fun. She had never spent the final day of the carnival at the outer wall before but she heard the commoner’s district made the day a spectacle. People from all over the continent came to Nirvana to experience the carnival but never got past the captivating activities going on at the outer part of the city. “I don’t want anyone knowing I am someone of significance today, I just want to have a fun day in a fun place and maybe make new friends. I hope you are okay with me hiding my hair now?” she asked looking up into his eyes to be sure his response was genuine and she saw that it was.

“I am just happy you honored our wager and could make it here. We’ll have fun, I’ll make sure of that.” He said with all honesty while looking straight ahead, he didn’t want to start of the day looking into her eyes because he knew if he did, he would continue staring at her all day.

“Now this is getting really exciting” she said letting go of his arm and letting all her focus fall on the beauty that was everywhere around her. “This has to be the most beautiful place in the world right now.” Elle said excitedly as she whirled round to look at everything about her.

The city of Alicia was already the finest city on the continent and everyone knew that, but on the final day of the Queen’s carnival it transcended beauty and became almost magical. From the end of the town square, down the road and round the entire outer wall of the city, life was being celebrated. Decorations had been set up all around the city. Every building in the city was decorated and what made it even more captivating were the tents and stalls set up all around the city for that particular day. Elle as Queen Isabella had attended the final day of the carnival in the inner ring as well as the middle ring, but the way it was being done right here at the outer ring of the city sent cascades of warmth and joy down her very soul.

The only part of the city not decorated today was the town square itself which was done on purpose so it could serve as some sort of bland entrance into the magical beauty of the rest of the town. She let out a deep breath as they got into the first sections of the colorfully and artistically decorated line of building on each side of the wide street. She remembered quickly that there was something she needed to do and turned to wave at the old man who drove her coach. “If I am not back here by sunset, wait for me at the fountain a short distance from here.” She screamed to be sure he heard her. She had no idea how the day itself was going to go but she knew she wasn’t leaving till she had entered as many tents as possible, played as many games, tried as many of the exotic foods she could smell even from here and stopped at all the beautiful stalls. She would be out till beyond sunset if she had to. She planned to have a splendid day free of all the stress of being the queen.

They were laughing hard now as they stepped out of their third tent. They had spent three hours already but none of them had any idea how fast the time was going; they were having too much fun to care. The first tent had been a face painting tent and the white paint Jon had chosen as well as the dragon drawn across his face with the paint were still very visible for all to see. Elle had chosen red paint and decided to get a rose flower drawn across her face. That whole experience had taken an hour but it had been worth it. The second tent had an artist who had painted a quick portrait of the two of them together in an hour and some minutes to commemorate their attendance of the carnival for 3 silver pieces. The portrait had been wrapped in leather and given to Jon who in turn had given it to Elle as a sort of memorabilia.

They were laughing hard as they emerged from the largest tent so far by the third hour together at the carnival because it had been an entertainment troupe that set up the tent. They had watched a funny word-less drama of less than 30 minutes which had them laughing hard even as they left the tent holding hands without the interlocking of their hands registering in either of their minds till they were done laughing and quickly realized it. Jon let go of her hand quickly and pointed in the direction of another stall at the far end of the street with an excited look on his face. Elle had noticed how quickly he let go of her hand and was surprised by that because she knew just how many men dreamt off the possibility of even holding her hand in public, of course he had no idea who she was, but still. She got her mind steady and followed him to the stall. They had covered a lot of distance already and were already far from the town square where their little trip had begun. They entered only the biggest and less crowded tents; this was why they had managed to go through three hours and three tents already.

This was the first crowded stall they were going to and from the look on Jon’s face she could tell this was something he really liked. He took her hand in his slowly this time while looking straight into her eyes and guided her through the crowded street so they were just a short distance from that particular stall but could see everything happening there clearly. She was shocked to see what was happening on the carpet just beside the stall which was what she knew got Jon Terra so excited earlier, they were men wresting there. She was used to seeing duels, jousting tournaments and archery tournaments so she knew just how the rules were for those games but had no idea how it was for wresting. The nobility never wasted their time on games or affairs that seemed less than honorable and for some reason wrestling was considered just that.

Jon could see from the big eyes staring into his with some hint of confusion covered by confidence, she didn’t really understand what was going on. He wanted to explain it to her but knew it would be impossible with all the noise from the crowd. He decided to do something much more daring and catch her off guard for at least a minute. He smiled at her before leaning in towards her as though going in for a kiss and then tilted his head to the side at the last second so he could speak into her ears instead; it had been his intention to give her the wrong thoughts with that slow and intentional lean while leaning into her. He saw the redness in her cheeks even as the red face paint from earlier covered it up, he was sure he saw her blush. “You see, the aim of wresting is to get the other man on his back for longer than three seconds. No hitting, biting or going for vital points. However throwing and grabbing are allowed. I did it a lot as a kid and even some bit in last year’s carnival which is why I got excited earlier. I got Ferran to bet on me with a large sum and when I won we split the money.” Jon explained quickly before getting back up to a standing position and shifting his attention back to the wrestling match that was still going on.

Elle understood the rules now and cheered as the smaller man managed to put his larger opponent on his back to the count of three as the crows cheered while some murmured as they lost moneys placed on bets. She turned to see Jon cheering and clapping with much more excitement than she imagined he could show. He was totally different from the cold stranger she met at the ball dance yesterday. He wore nice boots and a tan jacket that fell across his shoulders perfectly even as his dark hair contrasted beautifully with his tan jacket and trousers. She began imagining him in a wrestling match last year shirtless and sweating under this sun. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks instantly and at that exact moment he turned to look at her forcing her to quickly look away from him and begin cheering for the wrestlers. She was sure he caught her staring, she was sure, but she wasn’t going give stop cheering. He couldn’t be too sure of why she was staring and the red face paint would definitely hide the color in her cheeks.

Jon looked over and saw her staring at him for that split second before she turned away. He was not sure if her cheeks were red again or if it was the face paint so he just followed her lead and continued cheering for the wrestlers. The next two wrestlers were brought forward as shirtless as the other two but for some reason Jon didn’t want Elle staring at any more shirtless men so he led her through the crowd again, this time placing his hands on her shoulders and making it even more trouble for the young queen to bear. He had no idea but she had not had much physical contact with men except while dancing at the numerous occasions she attended or a curt hug here and there. He was having much more of an effect on her than he knew. She was enjoying her day so far and so was he; it was getting even more interesting for both of them all of a sudden.

They spent the next couple of hours eating exotic fruits, tasting foreign wine and even dancing together to the joy of the very impressed crowd at one of the more crowded stalls. They had a few more hours to spend together and they had a lot of more ground to cover round the city or so they thought.

In few minutes the sun that had been shinning brilliantly all day suddenly got swallowed up by dark clouds that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and covered the sky in mere minutes. The downpour was sudden and unexpected, in no time everyone was running helter-skelter either looking for some cover from the rain or to get back into the great indoors that they considered home. Jon didn’t want their day together to end like this and neither did Elle though none of them would dare say it, they were playing a little game of indirect teasing and secret wishing for hours now, ever since their time at the wresting stall. Jon was quick to remove his tan jacket and place it over Elle, he didn’t even think. He just did it. The rain beat him while he kept her covered underneath his jacket. He didn’t want them to be cooped up somewhere with the rest of the crowd that had already filled up every possible place that could have been a sort of covering for them both.

He looked around quickly and scanned where he was; he knew his city like the back of his hand and knew exactly where they were in a few seconds. There was an immediate and beaming smile on his face when he noticed where they were. The realization hit him instantly and almost immediately he let the jacket fall on her head while he guided her with his hands on her shoulders.

She had the jacket halfway down her face but could still see that he was guiding her off the main street and into one of the side streets between the line of houses, in few steps they were away from everyone else and everywhere became quiet with the exception of Jon breathing hard beside her and the rain falling more and more. They came to stop at a large tent at the end of what was clearly an alley. She took the jacket off her head just little enough so she could still see everything happening around her while protecting herself from the rain. “Where are we?” she asked obviously confused as she turned to look at Jon who had been totally beaten by the rain.

“We are at one of the carnival tents Elle, so we can both get out of this downpour.” He said stepping past her and pointing at the tent’s entrance. She looked at him, then at the tent, then at him again. A part of her got excited and that excitement covered up the initial seconds of fear at the thought that he was trying to get her alone.

“Why would one of the tents be put at the end of the alley where the people won’t be able to find it?” she asked getting confused but equally excited for some weird reason. Normally she would be scared but as a queen she had never really experienced fear, she trusted herself to handle any situation at any time. The actual reason she wasn’t scared this time was because though she had just met Jon, a part of her totally trusted him already and that part of her was one she had grown to trust and follow at all times. “Is it okay to go in though, it obviously looks closed. The person who set it up is not here.” Elle asked making clear observations and shrugging at Jon who had a smile on his face.

“Mi lady, it is completely fine for us to step into this closed tent even when the tent’s owner isn’t around and I will explain when we are both out of the rain. There is also a reason why the tent is so far away from the other tents, this tent makes more money than more than half the stalls and tents by the street and I will also explain that later.” Jon said shifting the leather strip covering the entrance to the tent like some sort of door. He took of his soaked boots and stepped into the tent for some seconds before coming back out halfway. His head arms and upper body were out the entrance but the rest of his body remained inside. He stretched out his right hand at Elle “Do you trust me?” he asked and stood there expecting her to take a minute before deciding if she would join him inside the shelter of the tent or not. It didn’t take few seconds and the answer came to him.

“I do. For some reason I actually do trust you.” Elle said with a low laugh surprising herself by how quickly and honestly she answered. The look on Jon’s face was one of surprise as well, a part of him expected her to distrust him and walk away as many other women would have, she was not like most other women though and he was only just getting to notice the signs. The look of confusion on his face was quickly replaced by a smile. Elle reached for his outstretched arm and took it, she took a few steps forward and then walked into the red tent. She didn’t really understand what she was doing, but she trusted her instincts at all times.

Even more confusing for her, she trusted this mysterious, now secretive and overly confident stranger named Jon Terra.