Serendipity: Jovana And The Duke

"What a lovely coincidence to find all the power the kingdom possesses, meeting in this one spot." Falcon said, and walked closer to the group while Jovana thought silently in her mind, 'Once again, he's around the Duke and the King. This doesn't look like a coincidence.' 

Caspian Clifford stopped in his tracks, he and Falcon faced each other. The Duke and the scholar. The power and the knowledge. "Next time we could throw you an invitation, Lord Ridley." Caspian said, his voice cold.

"Oh, I don't think it will be necessary, Lord Clifford. You know me, I don't have much interest in politics," Falcon responded.

"Yes, I know. I know a lot of things about you, Lord Ridley." Caspian said, and Falcon raised his brows at him.

"All this attention from a man like you is quite an honor," Falcon replied, as they exchanged a cold look.

"I always give my attention to anyone I consider worthy. Over the years, I learned that it doesn't matter what you know, there is always something more to uncover." Caspian said, and Falcon nodded his head in agreement.

"Funny, that's exactly what we say at the Academy," Falcon retorted. Neither of them bothered to smile during the long moment of silence that followed. 

"Goodbye, Lord Ridley." Caspian said, and Falcon also said his goodbye to the Duke. As Caspian started walking along the path, Jovana's eyes lingered on him.

Falcon moved closer to the King and bowed deeply in front of him, paying due respect. "Your Majesty, it's always a privilege to find myself in your presence." He said to the King.

"It looks more like a miracle than a privilege to me, Lord Ridley. I thought you were nowhere to be found at such mundane events." The King said, 

"Yes, that's usually the case." Falcon said, and looked around, he smiled at Jovana and kept looking. "I don't see your personal guard, Your Majesty." 

"How observant. I swear, the next one that bothers me about my safety will have to worry about his own." The King said, and for some reason Jovana felt called into the matter. She was too nervous to keep her mouth shut.

"I wouldn't dare to do it, not even if a dragon was swooping down from the sky." Jovana said, and it was barely a whisper, but in the silence that weighed on the garden, it was more than enough to be heard.

The King looked at Jovana, astonished and started laughing, "Finally. Here's a girl with some spirit and more balls than you two put together." The king pointed at Falcon and the Duke.

Jovana laughed along with the King, as she was supposed to, but she couldn't help but feel bad for the two victims of the king's joke. "Oh, Your Majesty, you are way too kind to me. It's very easy to feel brave with you at my side and these two wise lords guarding the kingdom." Jovana said,

"So honest and so humble. I wish these two wise lords would learn a thing or two from you, Lady Stafford." The King said, while Jovana was looking at the Duke, she could see that he was distracted. He made a couple of signals with his hands toward a dark point in the garden.

"Please, excuse my hasty retreat, duty calls." Caspian said, as he paid his respect to the King with a quick bow, and said goodbye to Jovana with a smile. 'I wonder if he was signaling one of his spies. I hope Keith had enough time to clean everything up and get to safety.' Jovana thought in her mind.

All of a sudden, a loud drum started rolling and the royal host's voice boomed across the garden. "Hear, hear, debutantes! The King's big surprise is finally here. Gather in the center of the garden." The King graciously waved Jovana off from his presence. 

The sun sunk below the horizon and the night's pitch black cloak descended upon the garden. 'What the hell is going on here?' Jovana mused. She couldn't see anything and didn't even know where Eli or Xena were.

"In the chaos of life, we are all blind and lost, that's why every glimmer of light should be caught." A male actor said, and three small globes started glowing on the hat of the figure speaking, making him the only visible thing in the whole garden. He continued, "But, as you may know, my honored guests, not all the light is so easy to collect." He went around dancing, and a bigger globe appeared in his hand, shimmering like a star. "I have a story of fires and dreams. I have a story of laughter and screams." He said, and juggled with the light globe, passing it from hand to hand and sliding it along his arms.

"Before I take you along on this little trip. Tell me, have you heard of the Willowthewisp?" The actor said, and tossed the globe up high into the air and, just like magic, thousands of other globes turned on across the whole garden. It was like being surrounded by fairies in one of the most daring tales of all time.

"This is incredible." Someone said in the crowd.

"They should make jewelry out of those globes." Another person said, 

'I have never seen anything like this in my life, Xena was right to be excited.' Jovana thought in her mind.

"Willow was a nice young lad out looking for pleasure, so he carried this lantern, searching for treasures." The actor said, and the globe that he threw in the air came down from nowhere, back into his hand. An actress entered the scene, dancing around him. She continued the narration, "But our hero, poor Willow, was unlucky at his core. After his last treasure hunt he was seen no more." 

"Now a tale from the past and out of mind, his lantern still shines where there's a treasure to find. And tonight, dear ladies, his light will fascinate, because you are the greatest treasure of all." The actress completed the story, and they took a deep bow under the rumble of applause.

Jovana felt enchanted with the magical atmosphere and approached one of the lighted trees to give it a closer look. "A pretty effect, isn't it?" Falcon's voice reached Jovana as she was about to touch one of the globes. She turned around, almost blushing, like she was doing something she was not supposed to.

"It's really fascinating. It almost feels like magic." Jovana said,

"Almost, huh?" Falcon repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yes. But I didn't mean it in a bad way. If you think about it, science is a kind of magic." Jovana said, and Falcon seemed very impressed with her choice of words and logical stance.

"Tell me, how do you think the globe works?" Falcon said, looking at her. Jovana moved closer and examined the bulb. 

"There is some liquid inside, so I would say that the light effect is of chemical nature. And the glass is much thicker than it looks. It's under pressure, isn't it? That's how you control the reaction. A very exact pressure gives you the powerful release of light and a slow burning time." Jovana explained, and Falcon gazed at her with an awe expression on his face.

"That's very impressive. Many of my dignified colleagues haven't been able to provide me with such an exact explanation." Falcon said,

"Wait, there's more." Jovana said, and when Falcon nodded at her to go on, she continued, "I haven't told you how they light up." 

Falcon chuckled, and said, "That's quite a challenge, but I'm all ears." 

"I think one of the two reagents is photosensitive. So, when the actor threw his active globe up high, the light activated the first globe on the tree, which activated the second and so on, in a chain reaction. Am I right?" Jovana said, grinning at Falcon.

"I don't know what to do or say, because mere applause wouldn't ever be enough to reward your brain." Falcon said, and Jovana's cheeks got burning hot as an incredulous smile appeared on her lips. After all, it was the first time someone had praised her brain and not her appearance.

"There is no need for applause, Falcon. The sheer beauty of your creation is more than enough to repay me." Jovana said, and Falcon smiled, a genuine one, as he looked at the globe.

"It was a nice change of pace from the usual research. Maybe with a bit more time I would have found a way to turn it off as well." He said, and Jovana flashed him a toothy grin.

"I'm sure you will, eventually." Jovana assured, and just then, a servant passed by with a tray. "Can I tempt my lady and my lord with a salmon canapé?" he asked, and Jovana's eyes lit up as she excitedly thought to herself, 'Finally, salmon canapés.' 

"Gladly," Jovana answered. As she and Falcon took a canapé from the tray, the servant secretly put a message into Jovana's hand. Jovana smiled and ate her canapé as she took a sneaky peek at the message while pretending to fix her makeup. The note read, "We managed to destroy the signs of our presence. Whatever you did to distract him, it worked." Jovana smirked, and threw the message in one of the nearby braziers.

'The call of the sirens never fails. Although, I'm not even sure I was actually trying to distract the Duke from a certain point on.' Jovana mused, and as she was trying to put her stormy thoughts in order, music filled the air, and people started dancing. Jovana and Falcon were caught right in the middle. "Should we join them?" Falcon asked, and Jovana nodded with a smile. They both jumped in, following the rhythm of the fun, lighthearted music. It was a joyous carefree moment Jovana hadn't had in a long time. 'Xena was right after all. This is a fun and special day.' Jovana thought in her mind.

The music grew in intensity and rhythm, making Jovana spin faster and faster in Falcon's arms. When everything came to a sudden end, Jovana's head felt light, and she couldn't stop laughing. "Oh, Falcon, this was the most fun I have ever had dancing in my entire life." She said, 

"I'm pleasantly surprised by the magical atmosphere as well. Who would have thought that court could be fun?" Falcon said, and Jovana bobbed her head.

"I know, right?" She remarked. Another servant approached them, but this time he was not looking for Jovana but instead bowed to Falcon. "Forgive me, Lord Ridley, but the King requests your presence right away." He said,

"I'm sorry, Lady Stafford. I have to go." Falcon said, giving Jovana an apologetic look.

"Of course, Falcon. You have nothing to worry about. Go, please, don't keep the king waiting because of me." 

"To our next meeting, Lady Stafford." Falcon said, as he bowed and left. Jovana found herself alone once again. She looked around searching for some familiar faces. 'Xena was nowhere to be found. She must have found some valid candidate.' Jovana mused, and then looked around in search of her brother, and she quickly found him. He was not far from her, and was chatting with another soldier. 

As Jovana looked at her brother, she couldn't help but listen to the conversation between two girls nearby. "The performance was incredible, with all the lights, and that actor dancing and I loved the rhymes." 

"Yes, it was a nice show but the story he told was complete nonsense," A redhead said, and the other girl with blonde hair gasped.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"That the Willowthewisp has nothing to do with treasure. It is known that they're the souls of the dead that can't find peace." The redheaded girl answered.

'The restless souls of the dead?' Jovana mused, and the simple thought was enough to make her fall from her cloud of happiness and dig her feet back into harsh reality.