My heart sank with the last lingering bits of embers. “It’s done?”

  Arian sighed and nodded. “I am afraid so. Lord Eastwei expends only so much energy for the event, and I have heard tell it takes quite a bit of strength to part the heavens to reveal the night sky.”

  I studied the shimmering ‘stars’ created by all the lanterns. “What about the lanterns?”

  “Lord Eastwei will keep the lanterns aloft until daybreak when he revokes his magic and they fall to the grass,” Arian told me as she sat back down on the grass. “Anyone may fetch theirs for next year, but most allow the vendors to pick them up and restore them to sell again.”

  “Lady Anna! Lady Anna!”

  The shout came from our right where little Lia scurried across grass and blankets to get to us. She was nearly out of breath when she crashed into my lap. I caught her by the arms and smiled down at her as Kean raced up behind her.

  “What’s wrong? Why are you here and not with your parents?” I asked my young friend as I looked up at Kean.

  He set his hands on his bent knees and gasped for breath. “Do not. . .run off like that. . .again!” he scolded her.

  Lia shoved her deflated balloon in my face. “But it’s broken! Can you make my lantern fly like the others?”

  “Can I-oh.” Realization set in and I plopped my butt on the grass so I was more at level with her. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but your lantern can’t fly without some help.”

  She pointed at the other lanterns. “Like that?”

  I looked up at the dozens of floating paper lamps and furrowed my brow. “I suppose stuffing one of those flames would work but it wouldn’t be easy to get it into the balloon. You’d really know how to work that fire in there.”

  Lia sniffled. “Daddy said he couldn’t figure out how to get it in there, either.”

  I grasped her arms and offered her a smile. “Well, why don’t we try to put one of those flames into the lantern, okay?”

  Lia’s eyes lit up and she bobbed her head. “Yeah!”

  “I fear that will no longer work,” Lia spoke up.

  Her eyes were fixed on the starry sky. We followed her gaze upward and my heart sank. The last of the fiery crisps fell to the ground and vanished. The lord himself had left his spot and strolled around the bank of the pool toward the crowd.

  “Damn it,” I muttered to myself as I heard another sniffle from my little friend. I smiled down at her. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe somebody has a spare fire around here somewhere. Why don’t we-”

  Lia perked up and her eyes widened. She climbed to her feet and shot off down the slope of the park toward the pool.

  “Lia!” Kean shouted as he chased after her. “Where are you going now?”

  I followed Lia’s trajectory and my heart dropped into my stomach. She was headed straight for Lord Eastwei.

  I scrambled to my feet. “We have to stop her!”

  Arian followed my lead and we raced after the children. Their legs were shorter but they had a headstart. Lia neared the edge of the pool and turned left toward the tall, handsome figure who strolled along the grassy bank. The little girl ran in front of him and Lord Eastwei was forced to stop.

  Lia shoved the balloon up at him and her large pleading eyes stared up into his. “Please make my lantern fly!”

  There was such a look of confusion on his face that I had to stifle a laugh. Arian had a look of horror on her face as did the young Kean who reached his little friend a second after her request.

  He grabbed her shoulders and bowed his head to the lord. “I-I’m sorry, Lord Eastwei! Please forgive her! She doesn’t know what she’s doing!”

  “Nor do I,” Eastwei commented as Arian and I joined the party.

  I was a little winded by the excursion but I managed to bow my head. “It’s my fault, My Lord. I gave Lia the balloon and told her fire could make it fly like the other lanterns.”

  “Did you?” he mused as he returned his gaze to the little girl. “And you thought I could use my magic to make this thing of yours fly?”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Lia bowed her head and bit her lower lip. She clutched the flat balloon against her chest and nodded. “Yeah. . .”

  Eastwei held out his hand to her. “Let me see this ‘balloon.’”

  Lia’s head popped up and a smile brightened her face. “Will you make it fly?” she asked him as she eagerly handed it to him.

  Eastwei studied the balloon with an impassive expression but the corners of his lips turned down. “We shall see.”

  I pointed at the slender part. “The stem can open and you breathe into it.”

  The lord pulled at the mouth and it opened slightly before he released it, snapping it back into place. “I see.” He flicked his wrist and held up his palm. Strands of fiery light floated out of his hand and formed themselves into a creature I was familiar with.

  It was a tiny salamander.

  The ‘animal,’ if you could call a creature made out of shimmering flame such a thing, lifted its slender head and looked around. Its small flat tongue flicked out and tasted the air, and its slender tail flipped to and fro.

  Lia let out a gasp and stepped closer. “It is so very pretty.”

  “And useful,” Eastwei replied.

  He set the mouth of the balloon close to his palm and the creature scampered over to it. Its tongue flicked out and tasted the balloon before it wriggled itself inside. The fire creature’s outline could be seen through the slim skin of the balloon, especially when it lifted its head. The balloon wall stretched and clung to its head, creating a perfect copy of it.

  Lia laughed and I couldn’t help but smile at the silly creature. The salamander ducked out and stood still. The faint glow from its body grew brighter and the balloon began to expand. Eastwei lifted his hand and set the balloon adrift above us. The heat from his magical creature lifted the toy into the air where it joined the rest of the lanterns, though the silhouette of the salamander made it stick out from even the most impressive of paper beacons.

  Lia hopped up and down and clapped her hands. “It is so pretty! Thank you so very much!”

  Kean grabbed her hand and tugged on it. “Come on. I need to get you back to your parents before they worry.” He bowed his head to Eastwei. “Thank you for your help, Lord Eastwei.” The lord inclined his head and the children scampered off up the hill.

  “I want to thank you, too,” I spoke up, which caused the lord to turn and face me. I blushed under his unnervingly intense gaze. “Lia came up to you without thinking but you still helped her. That was very kind of you.”

  He studied me with that impassive expression before he slightly inclined his head. “No need for thanks. “I was glad to assist you.” He turned and strolled past us.

  I breathed out the air I didn’t realize I’d been holding in. Arian scooted close to me and lowered her voice. “I had no idea Lord Eastwei liked children!”

  I could barely hear what she said. Eastwei’s words still rang in my head as I tried to understand their meaning. He hadn’t said he liked helping Lia. He said he was glad to assist me. Little old freshly-made goddess me.

  Arian set a hand on my arm. “Anna? Are you feeling well?”

  I finally shook off my thoughts and smiled at her. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking I wanted to take another spin around the stalls and then go home.”

  My friend pursed her lips as she examined me. “Then let us hurry through them and return home.”

  Arian handled me like I was a box of expensive China. We walked up the hill through the vendors but my attention couldn’t be bought by the shiny bling and baubles. Our tour lasted only a half hour and then we took our first step onto the dark street. Everything was new again as we strolled down the shadowed walkways. The lanterns hung earlier now showed off their brilliant light. They cast their soft glow over everything and created a magical realm of gentle shadows.

  I felt a little bad when I recalled my cute little balloons. They were decorations made for the light and now they’d be overshadowed by the lit lanterns.

  “Are you sure you are well?” Arian spoke up.

  I turned my head to my friend and found her staring incessantly at me. She searched my face for some hope of a positive answer.

  I sighed and my shoulders sagged a little. I lifted my eyes to the starry sky and that beautiful crescent moon. “I was just thinking nobody would be able to enjoy our balloons in this light.”

  “I am sure they will be able to see them enough to admire them,” Arian insisted.

  I laughed and clapped my hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for the pep talk. I guess we’ll see what the crowds think.”

  We ventured down the majestic walkways and soon arrived on our street. A large group of people gathered about one of the arches.

  Arian gasped. “Anna, those people are gathered about our home!”

  Arian’s eyes hadn’t failed her. The people were indeed crowded about the entrance to our home. Many ventured in but few ventured out, and we arrived at the tight rear. A blade of grass couldn’t have wedged itself into that crowd.

  “Excuse me?” I shouted above the murmur. “Could we get through?”

  The onlookers noticed us and realization dawned on their faces.

  “The owners are here!”

  “Let the owners through!”

  The crowd parted enough to allow us through and we squeezed through the arch to find the walkway up to the house was equally packed. The visitors were polite enough to stay off the grass except for a few little scamps, and they formed a packed line up to the house. Their gazes were fixed on the balloons.

  The lit balloons.

  My mouth fell open when I beheld the illuminated bladders. A faint reddish light scurried about inside every one of them. The glows were all shaped into different animals. There was a cat, a bear, even a fish.

  And there was a salamander.

  Arian gasped and wrapped her arms around one of mine. She tugged hard and caught my eyes with her gleaming ones. “This is wonderful! Our lanterns are the most beautiful in the whole of the city!”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “Yeah. It does look that way.”

  The people thought the same as they oohed and aahed at the silly little animals. The slow line moved down the cord of balloons and flowed back out, and more than one person smiled and bowed their head to me.

  “Your lanterns are so original!”

  “You must do this again next year!”

  One of the older women stopped and grasped my arm in her wizened hand. Her face was open and friendly and she offered me a gentle though curious smile. “However did you do it?”

  I shook my head. “W-we just set them up and hoped they would make people smile.”

  “You must be congratulated on a fine showing. And your first year here, too.”

  “Yeah. . .”

  She moved off, leaving me to my stupor. However, I wasn’t so far gone that I didn’t know I had one god to thank for it all.