The orderly crowd pushed through the gaps between the posts and nearly trampled the three welcomers. They scooted to one side and allowed the mob to tumble into the park. Many of them aimed straight for the stalls, and Arian and I were two of them. All the merchants were ready with their goods and their vocal chords.

  “Come get your lanterns right here! Can’t have a Twilight Fair without a lantern!”

  “Sweets! Candies! Sugar pops! Everything a kid could want!”

  “Lanterns! I have the best lanterns in the whole fair! Come see my selection!”

  “Freshly cooked fish! Fish balls! Fish pasta!”

  “You won’t find finer lanterns than the ones I sell! And cheap, too!”

  I cast a questioning look at my companion. “Lanterns?”

  Arian kept her gaze focused on everything but me as she nodded. “Yes. Many vendors sell them during the Twilight Fair.”

  I lifted my eyes to the bright sun and squinted. “But what do we need those for? We can’t see them glow.”

  Arian’s eyes held a mischievous twinge as she grabbed my hand and tugged me along. “You will understand soon enough, so choose the one that you like best and I will buy it for you.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” I assured her.

  All my protests died in my throat when I beheld the wide assortment of paper lanterns that the merchants showed off. Hundreds hung in the stalls and from racks out front. Most of the supply was folded for convenience but every style of lantern had one on display. There were square ones, rectangular ones, and cylindrical ones, and all the shapes in between. Some were plain lanterns with nothing but their frame while others showed off Gothic-like buttresses and pagoda designs. A few were even tall enough to be doll houses and featured little people standing on the edges looking out as though pleading for someone to buy them.

  “Wow,” I murmured as I brushed my hand over a pagoda-like design. The paper was of a grayish-white hue crescent shapes covered the walls.

  “Do you like it?” the merchant inquired as he leaned over his table. “It’s not as fancy as the others but when she sails she’s straight and shimmering like the moon!”

  “Then I’ll take this one,” I told him as I grabbed one of its folded counterparts.

  “Allow me to buy it,” Arian pleaded as she scooted between the vendor table and me. She slapped down the coins and change was given before I could even blink.

  “You and that seller need to go into the banking business,” I teased as we strolled away. “You two exchanged money faster than I could see.”

  Arian shrank a little and blushed. “I only wanted to buy your lantern.”

  “And you bought the best one in the whole place,” I agreed as I held it out in front of me and studied the mechanism to open it up. “But what was that about these things sailing?”

  There was that sly twinkle in her eyes again. “You will understand when the ceremony begins at twilight.”

  I dropped my arms to my sides and sighed. “You can be devilishly cruel to me, you know that?”

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  Arian’s face drooped and she furiously shook her head. “That is not what I intended-”

  I clapped a hand on her shoulder and grinned. “It’s alright. I was only teasing.”

  “Is that her? The new goddess?” The low, hushed voice caught my attention and I turned to a pair of women huddled close. They were both staring at me but at catching my attention they scurried away.

  “Is something the matter?” Arian asked me.

  I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing that a little window-shopping couldn’t fix.”

  “A seed for the lovely ladies?”

  Arian and I stopped and turned to find ourselves staring at a peddler who stood a few feet away in the middle of the fairway. He carried around an open shallow tray filled with strange seeds. His worn attire didn’t lend itself to my opening my coin purse but there was something in his voice that made it difficult to ignore him. His stooping posture meant he was a half-head shorter than even Arian but that didn’t stop his presence from overshadowing all the other vendors on either side of us.

  “Pardon?” I asked him.

  He stepped closer and his sharp black eyes darted between us. “Two young ladies without an escort to the fair? Can it be that your loves are far away?”

  Two could play at this con game as I smiled at the man. “Our ‘loves’ haven’t told us where they are yet but I’m sure we’ll find them without resorting to a bean soup.”

  The man looked aghast and wrapped his arms around his box. “Soup! Who would throw away a chance at love for a full stomach?”

  “Someone who is very hungry,” I quipped as I grasped Arian’s arm. “But if you’ll excuse us.”

  “A moment more of your time!” he pleaded as he slipped around us with more agility than I would have given him credit.

  His swift action meant he blocked our path. The man plucked a seed from one of the cushioned compartments and held it aloft in front of his face. The black seed was in the shape of a pinto bean and its glassy surface meant its flesh glistened in the many lantern lights that vied for our attention. The man turned it this way and that, allowing the light to shine off the smooth skin.

  His voice was low and soft like one admiring a piece of jewelry. “A piece of perfection. Everything contained in a tiny cover of slim skin.”

  My creep alarm bells were ringing off the hook. His soft tongue was having a completely different effect on Arian.

  My friend leaned forward and squinted at the assortment. “I have never seen a fruit like this. What are they?”

  “Seeds of sincerest passion, dearest lady,” the peddler explained as he patted the top of one of them. “You plant this seed in the garden of the one you love and it will bind him to your love forever.” He held the seed out to her with a toothy smile. “Would you like one?”

  Arian’s eyes shimmered as she stretched out her hand. There was something in her expression that I didn’t like one bit, so I grabbed her wrist and drew her behind me. I stood as tall as I could manage before the sweet-tongued merchant and plastered a tense smile on my face. “Listen, you’re a great seller and all but we’re not buying anything right now. Maybe later, okay?”

  “But I may be out later,” the man countered as he patted the side of the box. “There are but a few choice items here and temptation will drop a coin in my purse and carry them away.”

  “Then we’ll be sure to listen to the coin count and come back when you’re almost out,” I quipped as I scooted around him, dragging my reluctant friend behind me.

  I scooted us through the crowds and risked a look over my shoulder after a few steps. The man stood in the same spot staring at us with that dark look in his eyes. He wasn’t so hunched nor so sweet-looking as before. The change in him made me shudder and I quickened our steps.

  “Anna!” Arian pleaded as she stumbled along behind me. “Why are you hurrying so quickly?”

  I slowed my step so she could move up to my side. The eerie aura around the man had left a suffocatingly creepy vibe over me and I spoke in a low whisper. “I wanted to get away from that guy as fast as possible.”

  She blinked at me. “But why? There was no harm in listening to him.”

  I looked her up and down. “I think he was about to get you to do more than that.”

  “But there is no harm in the wares anyone sells here,” she assured me as she looked about the fairway. “They have all been vetted by Lady Shian and Lord Pampir.”

  I stared ahead and snorted. “That doesn’t give me much comfort, and I still don’t want you hanging around that guy, okay?” Arian bowed her head and bit her lower lip. My heart twinged with fear as I recalled the strange look in her eyes. “Arian, I really don’t want to have to order you to do something, but I’m serious about this. I want you to stay away from him.”

  My friend nodded. “Very well. I will do as you say.”

  I squeezed her hand and grinned with more enthusiasm than I felt. The bad taste of the bean seller remained in my mouth. “Good. Now let’s go see about those sucker sweets over there.”