It was rather difficult to distinguish the stalls at the festival. There really wasn’t much difference between those that sold bouquets and the ones that sold food. They all carried the damn colourful flowery theme of the event. Frowning in annoyance, he jerked his head from one direction to another constantly, trying to look for the lavender-haired elf.

Keryth wouldn’t have found her had he not heard the familiar shrill voice that yelled ‘knife ears’. The dark-haired elf rolled his eyes and immediately jogged towards the flower salad stall. And just as he expected, he found Zyra there arguing with the owner. He knew he had to step in when he heard her ask the question that typically ended with her declaring her status as a princess. His eyes widened in shock and he darted through the crowd towards the elven girl, ignoring the complaints from the rest of the queue.

“Hey! What do you think you are doing? You can’t just cut the line. Damn elves,” the stall owner bellowed, now turning his attention towards Keryth. The thief couldn’t care less about the opinion this human for his race; all he wanted to do was get Zyra out of there as soon as possible before things got out of hand. “My lady! This is no place for someone like you. It’s best we leave,” he said, catching her hand and urging her to follow him out and away.

Keryth knew very well what was coming as he watched Zyra sit on the stump with her typical adamant expression. As much as he found it to be bothersome, he couldn’t help but admit that she was also extremely cute when she threw a tantrum like this. The thief knelt beside his princess and listened patiently as she declared her wishes. Even as he was still working out whether he should oblige with her requests, his brain was already planning the prankful way to get her what she wanted. He watched a small roach skirt its way around the stump Zyra was sitting on. Keryth knew if the princess saw the roach, she would freak out. So, he casually put his right palm over the insect and held her hand with his other to distract her. “My princess gets what she wants. You stay right here. I’ll be back with the salad you want,” he said, smiling.

Closing his fist around the insect, he swiftly got onto his feet and walked back towards the salad stall where he found Zyra. This time, however, he was careful to not attract any attention from those in the queue or the shopkeeper. Instead, he innocuously walked towards those who had already got the salad and was enjoying it. It was now time to pick the right target. Keryth noticed that one of the customers was a Rune Knight. Perfect! The thief walked close to the Rune Knight and bumped into him softly, immediately apologizing after, acting like it was an accident. “Oh! So sorry,” he said, as he rushed out. “Hey! Watch where you are going,” the Rune Knight yelled, looking up. Unknowing to the cop, Keryth dropped the insect he caught previously into the Knight’s salad bowl before he hurried into the crowd to escape his vicinity.

When the Knight finally gave up on spotting Keryth, he went back to his meal. Looking down, he saw the roach in his bowl and yelled even more louder, this time at the shopkeeper, assuming it was his fault. “You! Is this part of your recipe?” he asked, shoving the bowl at the shopkeeper and holding him up by his collar. By now, the entire crowd had realized what the commotion was about and more than half the crowd left, while the other half remained to curse the scold the shopkeeper for his carelessness. One thing was certain; the man just lost his license to sell anything edible within the festival. Keryth stood at the edge of the commotion and enjoyed his handiwork.

Once the Rune Knight took the shopkeeper away, Keryth walked to the stall, picked up a bowl of perfectly good salad and brought it back to Zyra. “There you go!” he said, handing the bowl to her with a smile. “Now, let’s get back to the room, shall we?” he asked, politely stepping aside to let her take the lead.