The streets were a riot. That's really the only word for it, a chaotic, pulsing sea of humanity that seemed to have swallowed the Capital whole. Tonight was the Empire's founding anniversary, and if there's one thing the people knew how to do, it was throw a party that bordered on a civil disturbance. Verona leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the carriage window, watching the blur of colorful paper lanterns and the vendors hawking honeyed nuts and cheap tin whistles.
People looked happy. Genuinely, messy-happy. There were children sitting on their fathers' shoulders and couples dancing to the discordant strumming of a street lute. It was a world away from the stiff, airless drawing rooms of the nobility.
"I want to go out there," Verona whispered, her breath fogging the pane. She didn't turn around, but she could feel Elric's gaze on her back. "Just once. To be in the middle of it without having to worry about anything."
