Chapter Text
The pre-holiday fuss, in fact, did not take up much of Prince Wilbur's time. As always, there are no special differences from previous years: all he needs is to write and memorize a small speech and occasionally give workers instructions on what and how to put and what color to hang flag ribbons here and there.
To be honest, the boy is sometimes a little ashamed and annoyed: he is already thirteen years old, he is quite an adult, probably he should already be able to do much more complex things and generally work more? After all, he must then become a good king! But Dad ruffles his hair every time and assures him that all big things start with small steps.
It probably is. But all the same, his hands are itching to do something useful! As a leader, a pillar of the people and the first among equals! A model prince!
Therefore, he rushed around the palace and the main square, trying to help everyone he met. Most often, it was possible to drag boxes, dishes or something else, sometimes he was asked to hold the edge of the tape at the right height, from the side to see how to hang something more evenly, submit a tool, and sometimes…
"Your Highness, white, snow-white or cream?" Says Clementine, holding three absolutely identical cloth napkins in her hands.
Wilbur blinks and carefully considers the options. No, of course he was taught to distinguish between a variety of shades, but in his opinion now he sees the same color. Techno on the side is also squinting, trying to make out the differences.
"It doesn't matter, Clem," The prince smiles disarmingly, lightly and casually waving his palm. He probably would have looked much more regal if he hadn't smeared paint and soot on his hands and cheek before.
"But they're the same!" Tommy exclaims, frowning.
"So it is!" Clementine laughs. Wilbur rolls his eyes in mock annoyance, Techno bursts into laughter.
Technoblade and Theseus run after him, which means they also help everyone they can. Techno started more from the fact that he felt out of place, dragging after the excited prince without doing anything, but then he felt the pre-holiday fuss and now he looks at the decorations, the weather and the people around with a smile. Tommy runs from place to place like a little comet, asks everyone about everything and rushes to give his help to everyone he meets. Absolutely all people are instantly smitten by the baby in the heart. In addition to the permanent palace staff, they began to adore Theseus a long time ago.
Wilbur thinks the pre-holiday rush has never been so much fun.
***
Tomorrow is a holiday, tomorrow is a holiday! Tommy is very happy about this and does not know how he will sleep today, because he will have to fall asleep to move to tomorrow… But how can he calmly doze off when he are so excited?!
So Theseus decided that he needed to work a lot today and get really tired. Moreover, it's fun to work — he follows Wilbur and Techno with his tail, gives the workers tools and helps carry baskets with flags and fabrics. And when he takes a break from errands, he looks at the city square — wide and beautiful.
At one point, he runs off to the edge of the square and almost collides with some boy - it seems to be his age, but slightly shorter.
"Ouch!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tommy throws up his hands, mittens dangling on elastic bands. Well, what about it? It's quite warm today, he won't freeze from a couple of minutes with bare fingers!
The boy examines the demon with curiosity. He has a green coat with white fur on the hood, high dirty boots, very fluffy brown hair and a funny hat, the ends of which should be tied on the chin and cover the sides of the head, but he has untied and stick out to the sides, and therefore look like sheep's ears.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before!" The lamb boy asks, bending down curiously.
"I'm Tommy! My older brother and I recently stayed in this kingdom!" Theseus replies cheerfully. "And who are you?"
"And I am Tubbo, the son of Schlatt, a junk dealer!" The boy holds out his palm, also without gloves and with reddened knuckles. Tommy readily shakes it firmly. How great, they met just like adults! Very serious adults without mittens. "You have expensive clothes! Are you and your brother some princes from another country?"
Tommy giggles and shakes his head, pointing to Techno and Wilbur.
"No, we are not rich at all! It's just that King Philza and Prince Wilbur allowed us to stay in the palace, gave us a room and new clothes. There they are! The one on the left is my brother Technoblade!"
"Wo-o-ow," Tubbo says admiringly. "Yes, our king and our prince are very great!"
Theseus nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Listen, what will happen at the holiday? King Phil and Wilbur only said that it was in honor of spring and it would be fun."
"It will be very cool! There will be music, lots and lots of delicious pancakes, and... Оh! Tubbo stopped abruptly and frowned. "Nah, that's not interesting. You need to see for yourself! Then it will be cool, a-am, Impression! In the meantime, do you want to play tag?"
"I want to! I'll only ask Techy for permission!"
Technoblade, taking a look at Tommy, Tubbo and the well-viewed alley where they were going to play, so as not to interfere with the design of the square, nodded approvingly. But he made he wear mittens. Nothing, Theseus will take them off as soon as he is distracted.
As a result, at night, the desired fatigue still wrapped him in its shroud, and Tommy, tired from a whole day in the fresh air, fell asleep in a matter of seconds.
***
Wilbur stands and crumples in his hands a piece of paper with a text that he has already memorized a thousand times. Techno was sure that the prince would give him away without hesitation even if he was woken up in the middle of the night.
"Come on, are you nervous, golden boy?" Technoblade nudges him lightly in the side with his elbow.
Wil finally looks up from the paper, processes what he said, and snorts.
"Have fun, devil. I'm just collecting my thoughts."
And again he buries himself in the text, losing his smile. Techno sighs. That's right, he's worried. Philza said at breakfast today that this was the second holiday under his leadership and assured Wilbur that everything would be fine. He cheered up, but now, just before the exit, he wilted again.
Technoblade takes the leaf from the prince, ignoring the indignant "Hey! Give it back!", rolls it into a small square, gives it back, grabs Wil and rubs him hard on the top of his head.
"Damn, Techno, I just combed my hair!" Wilbur twists out of the grip and tries to dodge the relentless demonic fist. After a couple of seconds, laughter breaks through the outrage.
"So you should hurry up and not waste time on empty worries," Techno easily fights off the hands of the giggling Wil, who wanted to tickle him, and finally releases him from captivity.
Wilbur laughs, takes a deep breath, and looks at the boy with a grin.
"Then you, please, hurry up to the square. I didn't wrote this speech so that you would miss it!" The prince hides the folded piece of paper in his trousers pocket.
Techno grunts and slaps him on the shoulder.
"Good luck."
The city square is filled with a lot of people. The sun is hot, the snow has already begun to melt, so there are puddles in the corners, drops are dripping from the roofs, and the paved stone is already visible through the icy layer of snow trampled by boots. It's very warm today, so Techno is not wearing hats and gloves. Some passers-by are even more lightly dressed. Tommy agreed to put on a hood, but refused the mittens flatly, and now he is running around in the crowd happy.
In the center of the square there was a huge bonfire with a big effigy resembling a human figure in a dress and a scarf — the personification of winter, as he was explained. Around it is fenced with a small non-flammable fence so that children do not get too close. There is a stage at the edge — a large wooden box with steps behind, decorated with flags and paper figures of birds and flowers.
Everyone goes quiet when Wilbur comes up on this stage. He is dressed in a thick vest embroidered with ornate patterns, a white shirt with ruffles on the shoulders, and a heavy blue cloak with fluffy fur and a pattern of the coat of arms of the Antarctic Kingdom hangs from his shoulders. His crown shimmers with solar glare.
"Dear friends! So the frosty, snowy winter time has passed, and we again meet the warmth of spring in our parts. The Solstice holiday has come to our glorious kingdom is magnificent and beautiful…"
The prince makes a speech solemnly, loudly, his voice is melodious and sincere. All the attention of the people is riveted to him, to the graceful gestures of his hands, to the smile and the stature with which he holds himself. Confident and welcoming the holiday with royal reverence. Techno also freezes with everyone and can only listen.
The words are precise, clear, smoothly flowing, like an awakened river or a grandiose song. The speech doesn't last long, and that's why it sounds even louder and gets into the heart of everyone who came here to spread their wings and enjoy the light after a long, long winter.
Wilbur raises his arms to the sides and up, raising his voice to a solemn shout.
"...Long live the sun, we will celebrate in the glory of it!"
The applause is a deafening roar.
And the music burst out — groovy, loud, and everyone immediately started dancing. Wilbur throws off his raincoat, puts his crown on the floor and jumps off the stage, runs into the crowd and gets lost in it laughing.
Techno looks timidly at how people are circling around, how they get together in pairs, dance together in different ways: who takes hands, who leads by the waist, who just tramples the rhythm with their boots, and then move on to other celebrants who happened to be nearby. The musicians try their best, the soul involuntarily begins to sing along to cheerful melodies. One of the violinists swims right behind his back, and one flutist manages to play and dance at the same time, bowing to each new partner.
There is everything here: rich and poor, old people and very children, everyone is talking and laughing, whistles and hooting are heard around. The square trembles from the trampling of soles, the dancers flicker before their eyes, merge and separate into many colored dances. Technoblade, having made up his mind, takes a deep breath and runs into the crowd.
The festive dance immediately captures him in its energetic, ruddy mess. It is very easy to join the stream of endless circling when people around pick up a beginner. Despite the fact that Techno's legs suddenly start to get confused, he loses his rhythm and now and then almost collides with passers-by, no one perceives him as a hindrance: every now and then they pull him towards them, laugh and help him understand which way to turn for a new pair.
And soon Techno gets lost in the dance. His breath opens up, his body rejoices in active movement, his hair flutters from behind. The boy gets hot, he unbuttons his sheepskin coat, and the air instantly hits him with freshness. Here Techno is dancing the rhythm with his feet with a strong carpenter, here he is holding hands with a richly dressed lady, here he is taking a kid off the ground in a circle, and new people are fluttering to him again, and Technoblade cannot restrain free laughter. At one point, he grabs someone's hands, and only a second later realizes that he is dancing with Wilbur.
"Well, do you like it?!" He shouts over the noise of the holiday, with the collar of his shirt open and a beaming smile.
Techno tries to answer him, but only exhales and laughs, and then they spin for the last time and, flashing each other's eyes, reach out to meet the next partners.
But a couple of seconds later, something sounds like a clock, and the musicians fall silent. Everyone stops, someone falls by inertia and immediately laughs, out of breath people around are breathing noisily. Techno feels how fast his heart is pounding in his throat, and greedily inhales the air warmed by people.
Meanwhile, Wilbur separates himself from the crowd and goes to the front, to the effigy in the center. An unlit torch is passed to him, the prince, catching his breath, loudly announces:
"Have a rest, winter, bring snow later, may the solar fire guide you!"
Wilbur lights a torch and, amid whistles and cheers, throws it into the scarecrow, the torch falls on the fire below, and the firewood bursts into a fervent yellow flame.
Techno freezes for a moment and remembers the scarlet sparks and the crackle of boards being eaten by fire.
But then the crowd explodes with a cheerful cry, and the vision passes. Technoblade shakes his head, sighs, and, watching the fire devouring the effigy of winter, remembers something else. The autumn harvest festival in his native village, when he was still a baby, sat on his porch and saw horned and tailed figures dancing at a high fire pit, spinning in the starry night.
The music resumes with renewed vigor, and people rush to line up in a round dance. Wilbur runs up and grabs Techno by the left hand, and lady owner of the candy store takes the right one. Everything comes in motion, the teenager has to squeeze else's palms tightly and watch his feet to keep up with the rhythm. He feels himself smiling.
The round dance in several rows accelerates, expands and narrows, people lift up their legs and stomp on the stones with a melted snowball, and then start a folk song. The loud chorus of dozens of different celebrants echoes somewhere in the chest, even if half of the words are lost in the hum of a busy square. A cheerful "Hey-hey-hey!" is heard, whistles and "u-u-uh!", everyone who has the strength and breath in their lungs shouts the song at the top of their lungs, deafening and fueling the melody and soul with something ancient, solemn, friendly.
Technoblade notices Tommy, happy and golden, holding the hand of the boy he played with yesterday. And over there is Philza himself — in one shirt, with his hair down, laughing with a trembling chest and spinning in a round dance with everyone.
Techno laughs, fueling the cheerful noise of the celebration, squints from the sun's rays and dances until he falls off his feet.