Time passed the way that time passes on holidays. It moved impossibly slow at first, as if the day would never come, and then suddenly, hours flew by like minutes.
The sunset looked like melted candy canes.
The sky above Nutcracker Castle was a swirl of red and pink and white, while inside, everything was merry and bright and bright and merry.
Scarlett’s Great Holiday ball felt like the sort of party children imagine experiencing when they become adults.
Every guest was dressed up in exquisite Holiday suits and gowns. There were lots of red cravats, long white gloves, dresses with trains lined with fur or sparkles, and suit coats with velvet lapels in all sorts of merry colors.
The Holly Jolly Holiday Ballroom was full of light that might actually have been magic. There were long red candles on banquet tables and filling chandeliers, but they never seemed to burn down. There were no drops of wax or plumes of smoke, just sweet-smelling light that made everything sparkle.
Parts of the ballroom tasted like frosted peppermint and others like gingerbread. It was all warm and delicious and slightly intoxicating. Guests were drunk on laughter and smiles and the lighthearted feeling of being entirely without a care.
Worries and fears were not allowed in the ballroom, thank you very much.
Joy, wonder, and peace were being served in crystalclear glasses with striped red-and-white handles.
The Royal Potion Master, Poison, oversaw the punch bowls. His fingers glittered with rings as the Fate garnished drinks with sprigs of Holiday trees, gingerbread men, candy canes, and snowflake-shaped marshmallows that Poison promised could make some minor wishes come true.
In addition to the Fate, a number of Legend’s performers were there.
Jovan was positioned at the door. She sat on a reindeer that had red ribbons adorning her antlers. The reindeer’s name was Harmony, according to the ribbon hanging around her neck, and to the dismay of many children, Harmony the reindeer did not talk.
But Jovan more than made up for it by wishing all sorts of things to everyone who entered:
“I wish you a heartwarming Holiday!” she said to some.
“I wish you discover new dreams and that they come true,” she said to others.
“I wish you a night full of surprises!” “I wish you much love!”
“I wish you find something hidden and wondrous!”
And for those hopeful people who chose to believe in them, all of Jovan’s wishes came true.
Amid the finely dressed crowd were a number of guests in top hats.
One of them was Aiko, who wore a red top hat and a smart white suit with red heeled shoes tipped in bows.
She sat in a sleigh near the center of the room, looking pretty and picturesque as she swished a brush tipped in red over pages of white paper.
Aiko hummed as she painted and people around her started to sway. Then they smiled when she handed them her art. A few of the pieces were for the adults, who thought they were merely cute keepsakes. But the children all seemed to know better.
“Are these pictures of the future?” the children asked.
“They could be,” Aiko replied, sly and mischievous, with a smile to match.
And then the children ran off in search of things like milk-white kittens, delectable sweet treats, hidden presents, and friendships that would turn out to last for a lifetime.
Scarlett smiled as she tried to take it all in. It was just how she’d dreamed.
appearance.
Although one guest managed to surpass all of her dreams.
Everyone at the party looked lovely, but Scarlett thought Julian Santos was the most dashing of all.
Julian usually looked like the piratical rogue she’d met on the Isle of Trisda, but tonight he looked like a perfect gentleman in his dark green velvet coat and vest. His cravat was black silk, his shirt was pure white, his pants were tailored black—and just looking at him made her feel as if she was falling in love with him all over again.
He was standing just to the side of the ice carousel, appearing to check the time on a gold pocket watch, although Scarlett had a sneaking red feeling that he was giving her time to appreciate his
“You look quite dashing, my love.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek as she reached him.
But Julian turned quickly enough that her lips found his instead.
His arm snaked around her waist, holding her tight and kissing her back until her cheeks were redder than a candy cane.
“You scoundrel,” she murmured.
“It’s not my fault you look so pretty when you blush.”
He looked her over and Scarlett could feel her dress practically preen under his gaze. Tonight she wore a flowing strapless gown with ruby-red
ribbons that crisscrossed over its snow-white corset before tying into a bow at her back. Moments ago, the skirt had been as white as the corset and very full. But now it was turning red and fitting to her curves.
“You look devastating, Crimson.” Scarlett smiled wider.
Snow fluttered throughout the Holly Jolly Holiday Ballroom, dusting the shoulders of guests who had decided it would be a good idea to kiss each other as well.
For a second, everything was perfect.
The crisp air smelled of spiced cider and trees and something that could only be described as Holiday joy.
And then, Scarlett felt a familiar flutter of bloodred nerves. She looked away from Julian toward the door of the ballroom. “Do you think Tella is all right?”
“Depends on your definition of all right.” Julian stopped a passing servant to take a glass of spiked eggnog from a tray. “If you’re really worried, just drink this.”
Scarlett took the glass but she didn’t sip. She was probably worrying for nothing.
Tella was probably exactly where she wanted to be. Scarlett might have tried to imagine where that was, but she’d learned a long time ago that it was best not to try to imagine what her sister might be doing.
