The bloom festival

That’s the first time I had ever seen Fen with such fury. The roaring, the wild hacking and slashing of his great-axe. Fen took a trophy as proof of kill. As we made our way back, Fen spoke up.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that Elle.” He looked disappointed in himself.

“What happened back there?”

“Some wolvir can go into a blood rage. They’ll attack anyone in their path, even others they know. It has its uses in battle, but it’s difficult to reason or control when a wolvir is in a rage.” He sighed. “I happen to be one of those wolvir that can go into a blood rage.”

“But you didn’t hurt me.” I said. “I know that you would never do that.”

We returned to town and turned in the contract and was rewarded with our pay, five gold coins.

The town was lively, people were decorating posts and buildings with bunting and floral patterns. Many signs were around town advertising an upcoming event. The bloom festival. With the information we gained from local residents, the festival happened every spring to mark the bloom of the first flower. Many residents and neighbouring towns and villages came to celebrate. Dancing, drinking and games to be played. The main draw of the festivities was the crowning of the spring belle. Essentially, it was a beauty contest, the public would vote for the most beautiful woman at the festival. Only if you signed up. The bloom festival would be in two days.

I was excited, it sounded like so much fun.

“Fen, why don’t we attend the bloom festival?”

He looked to be contemplating it at first, but ultimately agreed to go. The whole party could come and enjoy the festivities.

Rhiannon was equally excited at going, we needed to prepare. We had to go shopping for dresses, time to be spent on makeup and hair. Bathing in aromatic scents and oils.

I went to the tailors with Rhee to choose the perfect dress for the occasion. We tried on many dresses, complimenting each other’s beauty in them. We both picked our dress to attend the festival. Rhiannon chose a dark purple velvet dress that cut off just below the knee. She showed an ample amount of her bust. The arms were cut short close to her shoulders, she looked very pretty in it.

I chose a green lace backless dress with a low cut at the front that showed a generous amount of my cleavage. A short frilled skirt that gave little to the imagination for my thick thighs. The dress hugged my curvy figure, accentuating my breasts and rear end exquisitely. Rhiannon said I looked gorgeous in it.

The days leading up to the festival were lazy days at the camp. On the day of the festival, Rhiannon’s me I spent the entire morning in the baths. Washing our bodies, brushing our hair, and applying scented oils onto our skin. Still at the baths, in the changing rooms, Rhee and I styled our hair and applied makeup. Rhiannon but on dark red lipstick, with purple eye shadow to math her dress. She styled her hair in a dragon braid.

I applied light pink lipstick on my plump lips to make them pop. Black eye liner, eye shadow and mascara to bring out the intense green colour of my eyes. I styled my hair in a braided bun that rested just above the back of my neck. I pulled a strand at my fringe to give it a loose look.

We were ready. With arms interlocked with each other, we met the rest of the party near the local tavern. Mistle had dressed herself in plain clothing, not looking to impress anyone. We had hardly spoken since her time with Fen. Maybe she felt awkward, every time I tried to engage in conversation, she would become embarrassed and use an excuse to be somewhere else. I would try to make sure things were ok between us.

Fen, as always, looked handsome and strapping in a dark shirt and pants. The fabric clung to his large muscles. He hungrily stared at his bitches, clearly liking what he saw.

The town was alive with merrymaking and joyous laughter. Many people filled the streets to attend at stalls that sold sweet treats, and other stalls that provided games to be played. We tried to take part in the games that were available. One was where you needed to catch small and swift fish in a bowl of water. I was given a net that was small enough to be held in two fingers and thumb. Only this net had no mesh strands, but a sheet of parchment in place at the end. The water would decrease the integrity of the paper, making it more difficult to catch a fish. I attempted this game but had no success, neither did Fen. Only Rhiannon managed to catch one, with patience and nimble fingers, she kept a fish in the dip of the paper net without it breaking. Her reward for winning was either coin, or keep the fish. Rhee kept the fish. As we continued through the crowds, Rhiannon looked pleased with herself. Her newly caught fish was kept in a jar and screwed top lid. Smittens was resting on Rhee’s shoulder, glaring at the jarred fish held in her hands.

The sign up to enter the spring belle contest was near the end of the street. Rhiannon rushed to the table where other pretty girls had gathered. Rhiannon returned a few minutes later holding two floral corsages. She placed one of them around my wrist, whilst she put the other around her own.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

“You need to wear them to show that you’re in the spring belle contest.”

She’d entered us in the contest. I was a little bit frustrated as I didn’t agree to this. But she said it was too late to back out now.

Night had truly fallen, the dark blanket of the night sky only showed bright stars across it. The festival was in full swing, with people openly drinking whilst wearing silly costumes with floral patterns and actual flowers pinned on them. In the square, the area was open for people to dance as a band played music. Our group danced in the square with other residents. Fen at one point held me close, hands reaching down to squeeze my ass as we slow danced. We kissed under the starry sky.

An announcement was made by a rotund middle aged man for all participants in the spring belle contest were to gather on stage. Rhiannon and I made our way over to the stage. Mistle held onto her fish and Smittens. Around twenty of us were up here, many other beautiful girls stood with us in a line, each wearing the same corsage as me and Rhee. The people below stared at us in awe, admiration and some even in lust. We were all introduced to the crowd, and then the people were given a slip of parchment to write down the names of who they found the most beautiful. Then the parchment was placed in a ballot box that was passed around through the sea of people, the votes would be counted up soon after.

The names were counted out one by one. By obvious understanding, the girl with the most votes won. Names were put into piles from the ballot box, but no one knew who they belonged to, only the reading judge knew. After all names had left the box, contestants were dwindled down and asked to leave the stage until only three remained, myself, Rhee and a gorgeous blonde. Rhee was eliminated. I felt nervous. The tension in the air was thick with unease. I saw Fen in the crowd and felt a little better at seeing his reassuring smiling face. To my surprise, the blonde was asked to leave the stage making me the winner. The crowd cheered to be in the presence of this year’s spring belle.

I was given a large bouquet and a chain flowers that had been weaved into a makeshift crown. I couldn’t stop smiling. They placed the crown on my head and declared me the spring belle.