I felt shy, but I held his tightly as he suggested. The moment our fingers intertwined, a little spark shot up my arm. As we stepped into the market, I felt we had crossed into a different world entirely.
The festival wasn't as I had imagined, it was louder, brighter, grandeur and more extraordinary. Coloured banners fluttering between stalls, lights flickering like fireflies, laughter echoing from every corner.
As we walked further, I felt, the shopkeepers yelled even louder when they saw us approaching. There voices hit higher and there was a rush of energy in their faces.
I inspected the shops carefully, when I found something interesting I pulled Shahr's hand.
"What is it Shia?" He asked.
I pointed toward a shop, where the shop owner had put multiple items on the shelves and he held a stack of large hoops in his hands.
"Oh, you want to play that?" Asked Shahr following my gaze. I nodded meekly. I wasn't quite sure what it was, I didn't also know if I could play, but trying something new couldn't hurt.
When we headed for the shop, the shop owner's face burst with happiness, "Come... Come." He called joyously, "My lord, here take the hoops, and win something grand for you wife."
Shahr's lips curled up, "My wife wants to play it." His eyes pointed towards me.
"Oh, my apologies." The shop owner quickly corrected his mistake and handed me the hoops. But, I stood with them confused. I didn't know what to with them.
Shahr chuckled softly, "Choose any item you want and throw the hoop. If the hoop lands on it, you win." Explained Shahr.
Hearing the explanation, it felt ridiculously easy. So easy, I even wondered, how is the shop owner making profit, why wasn't he bankrupt by now? Because everyone will be able to win a prize.
But my thoughts were very soon proved wrong. When I threw my first hoop it didn't land, then I threw the second, it didn't land either. One by one, I ended up throwing all the hoops in my hand but none of them landed.
I immediately understood, how the shop owner was making profit. My face dropped like a wilted flower. Then Shahr's graceful chuckle brushed past my ears.
"Give me one more set." He told the shop owner.
The shop owner hurriedly handed me one more set of hoops. But the damage was done, I was too dejected to even try again. I gave Shahr a defeated look and he nearly burst into laughter again.
My cheeks puffed up in annoyance, I forcefully handed him the hoops and told him, "you are laughing at me. If you are so good at this game, then win me something."
Shahr's chuckle quickly vanished, and a sneaky smile appeared on his face.
"Which one do you want?" He asked.
I pointed at a soft toy. He positioned himself to throw the hoops, as if he were going on a war. I was a hundred percent sure that the hoops wouldn't land but the first hoop he threw, went flying and landed perfectly on the soft toy I had pointed earlier.
My jaw dropped. The shop owner's jaw dropped. Even the soft toy's jaw dropped. We both stared at Shahr dumbfoundedly, we both hadn't expected that he would be able to do it.
"What do you want next?"
My saliva stuck at my throat, I pointed to a jwellery box. He threw another hoop and it landed perfectly too. But, before I and the shop owner could react again, Shahr spoke again.
"And?"
His voice was filled with pride and confidence. As he kept throwing, each and every hoop landed on the item I had pointed. When my gaze averted to the shop owner, he had completely fallen into despair.
It looked as if someone had sucked out his life force.
When it was time to pay he uttered in a dreadful voice, "Two copper coins." And handed us all the prizes. Tears shimmered in his eyes. I felt pity for him, it felt like we had robbed him.
Shahr took out a small red color pouch from his pocket took out a gold coin. The shop owner's eyes widened. As Shahr handed the cold coin, the shop owner uttered.
"I don't have such a big change." With a troubled look on his face.
"Keep it." Uttered Shahr with a smug look on his face. Hearing this the shop owner practically jumped to life. The life force that had been sucked out from him seemed to have returned his body immediately.
"You are such a generous man, my lord. May the goddess of fortune always looks upon you, and you never face any problems in your life." Blessed the shop owner.
As we headed for another shop, I asked Shahr, "Was that a big amount?" Since I had been caged all my life, I didn't understand much about money.
Shahr replied, "Fifty copper coins make one silver coin, and a hundred silver coins make one gold coin."
My eyes reached the back of my head.
Five thousand copper coins? For something that costs only two???
I almost fainted on the spot.
Shahr chuckled, standing in front of me, "If it brings my wife joy, then I'll be ready to sell myself too."
Amazed by his words I stood frozen, while my heart almost jumped out of my mouth. I quickly lowered my head to hide the effect of the heat rushing to my cheeks.
"Let's go." He held my wrist and pulled me. We explored some more shops and played games, and it was that day, I found out that I'm explicitly bad at games.
After playing many different games and failing each and every time, I had vowed that I would play no games in my life ever again. While Shahr chuckled at my actions, I refused to look at any games shops.
Meanwhile Shahr won every game he played. Seriously, he is the Grand duke not in name only but in actions also.
As we were exploring the festival, a sweet, salty, tangy, spicy aroma hit my nose. I turned my head and found out they were selling skewers in a shop.
Without any warning I pulled Shahr with me to the shop.
"What happened, Shia?" He followed my gaze and found out what I had been staring so intently, "Oh, skewers. Please give two no four for my wife."
The shop lady quickly gave us four skewers. My mouth had been watering, as soon as I got the skewers in my hand I started devouring them, completely forgetting to give one to Shahr.
When I came back to my senses, I quickly hand over one to him.
He shook his head, "No, I don't want any."
If he didn't want to eat then why did he buy so many? Now do I have to eat alone? But eating alone has no fun. My face dropped and I lost all my appetite to eat.
"Wait... All of a sudden, I feel like eating one." He uttered. My face brimmed with happiness.
We were almost done with our outing, but I wanted to go to a stationary shop, so Shahr and I had decided that it would be the last shop we visit.
I started searching for a something that I can gift to Shahr, while Shahr stood behind me with no interest on his face.
While scanning the shelves, a shimmering object caught my attention. Closely inspected, I found out, it is a fountain pen. Deep sea blue colour, a feather ornament on top, it seemed like the best gift for Shahr.
When I turned to show it to Shahr I found out he wasn't behind me, my heart almost stopped beating, I panicked heavily.
That's when, "Shia. Look at this."
I turned my head, breathless and there he was, beside me. My panicking stopped, and I was able to take a sigh of relief.
"I found this for you." He stepped closer, and gently slipped something around my neck. I looked down I found out it was a whistle. Confused I stared at him.
"If you are in danger some day by any chance, then you can whistle this and I will come running to you." Cupping my face gently, he uttered, "But I hope, that day when you have to use it, never comes."
His voice was soft, gentle and terrifyingly warm.
I bought the fountain pen for Shahr while he bought the whistle for me.
I handed him the fountain pen.
"Is this for me?" He asked. I vigorously nodded my head.
A faint painful smile appeared on Shahr's lips, "Thank you. I don't remember the last time I received a gift from someone."
His words made me stunned. He is the Grand Duke of this empire, how is it possible for him to not recieve any gifts? I turned to ask him but...
I found myself alone in the crowd. Left, right, I searched everywhere but I didn't find Shahr. That place was bustling with people. There was no space to even put my leg. How am I going to find Shahr?