Iris couldn’t help but giggle at the image. “I would have paid good coin to witness that.”
“But he wasn’t always so severe,” Rosavyn added, her expression growing slightly more serious. “It worsened after our father’s passing some years ago. Jasvian believes it his duty to uphold tradition, to preserve our family’s standing. At times, I wonder if he remembers how to take pleasure in anything at all. “
Iris opened her mouth to carefully inquire further, when something—or rather someone—barreled up the hillside and nearly collided with them, accompanied by a burst of giggles. “Rosavyn! You came after all!”
Iris immediately recognized Charlotte, her dark hair escaping its pins and her eyes bright with mischief. She wore a dress of faded indigo—simple and unadorned compared to the elaborate silk gowns and feathered hats dotting the hillside around them.
“Charlotte!” Rosavyn exclaimed, embracing the girl warmly. “I thought you wouldn’t be here! You said you had to work at the shop today.”
“Mother allowed me to leave early,” Charlotte said, grinning. “All of Bloomhaven society appears to have abandoned their usual haunts in favor of the races. The shop stands quitedeserted.” Her eyes sparkled as she turned to Iris. “What a delightful surprise to find you here as well!”
Iris smiled in return. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“Oh, we’ve been good friends for years,” Rosavyn said, linking her arm through Charlotte’s. “Ever since an incident in Charlotte’s mother’s shop when we were children.”
Charlotte burst into laughter. “Oh, the dress stand disaster! I’ll never forget your mother’s face.”
Rosavyn turned to Iris with a conspiratorial smile. “I was about nine, and Mother had dragged me to the dressmaker for a fitting. I was bored beyond tears and noticed another girl hiding among the dress racks, peeking out at me. That was Charlotte.”
“I was supposed to be sorting ribbons,” Charlotte added.
“We started making faces at each other,” Rosavyn continued. “Then I snuck over, and we both hid behind a display of silks draped on padded dress stands. We were whispering and giggling, and then?—”
“I backed into one of the stands,” Charlotte interjected, “and they went down like dominoes! Crash, crash, crash! Silk and lace and toppled stands everywhere!”
“Both our mothers came running,” Rosavyn said. “They were furious, demanding to know who was responsible. Neither of us would say, neither wanting to get the other in trouble.”
“So we both got punished,” Charlotte finished. “I had to reorganize the entire ribbon collection.”
“And I was not allowed to speak for the entire time Mrs Fields pinned my dress, which felt like an eternity. But by the end of it, we’d passed so many secret smiles that we were inseparable from then on.”
A trumpet sounded, drawing their attention back to the race above. The pegasi had taken their positions, their riders leaning forward in anticipation.
“You might not expect it,” Rosavyn murmured to Iris as they focused on the racetrack, “considering my brother’s opinions on humans and their supposed unsuitability as companions for a young fae of good standing. But I’ve never been bothered by Jasvian’s views. A friend is a friend, no matter their lineage.”
The horn sounded again, sweet and clear in the afternoon air, and the pegasi surged forward in a blur of wings and color, following the golden track that wound through the sky. “What are those golden spheres?” Iris asked, pointing at the large spheres floating at different heights.
“They’re filled with enhancement magic,” Rosavyn said. “If a rider manages to pass through one, their pegasus gains a temporary burst of speed or agility.”
Iris nodded, her gaze darting ahead along the track, taking in all the various obstacles. “And those dark clouds?”
“Storm pockets,” Charlotte said. “They create random wind patterns and occasionally release lightning. The riders have to time their approach perfectly. A skilled rider can use the wind currents to gain advantage, but one wrong move … Well, it’s potentially deadly.”
“Oh, Charlotte!” Rosavyn suddenly exclaimed in a theatrical whisper. “Is that not the Turner family over there? Indeed it is! We simplymustgo and pay our respects.”
“Rosavyn!” Charlotte hissed as Iris looked around to see who Rosavyn was talking about. “No!”
“But why ever not?” Rosavyn asked with feigned innocence. “When it is quite plain you’re entirely taken with young Mr. Theo Turner?—”
“Hush!”
“The Turners keep the stationer’s shop across the road from Charlotte’s mother’s establishment,” Rosavyn explained to Iris. “They offer the most delightful assortment of fine papers. You trulymustpay a visit. And should you do so, if you happen tosee a handsome young man with fair hair behind the counter, do inform him that a certain young lady from across the way wishes most earnestly to?—”
“Rosavyn, that is quite enough!” Charlotte cried, though she could barely contain her laughter.
As the two of them continued arguing good-naturedly, Iris’s attention was caught by the name ‘Starspun’ and the words ‘that human woman’ spoken by someone behind her. An unwelcome chill coursed through her, and she shifted forward slightly, not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation. But the woman’s sharp voice was loud enough to cut through Rosavyn and Charlotte’s chatter.
“You’ll notice the Starspuns are not in attendance today.”
