A wide, cobblestoned street, warm with the crush of bodies flowing down it, was the scene of a swaying, shining festival. Strings of pastel lanterns glittered overhead, illuminating the swirling scarves and glittering jewelry of the festival-goers. The women were dressed in billowing skirts and loose tops, jangling with earrings and bracelets and necklaces. The men wore tall boots and floating breeches. Fire breathers and jugglers, clowns and fortune tellers pranced through the crowds, selling their wares alongside food vendors and red light girls alike.
“Nadya! Keep up, silly!” A small girl with long dark curls and a burgundy headscarf turned against the flow of the crowd to call back to her friend. The younger girl lagged behind, gazing at everything with large, dark violet eyes.
“But Vita…there’s a fire breather! A real fire breather!”
Vita darted back to her charge and took her hand. “Silly. You see fire breathers all the time!”
“But Vita-“