Morning came with music.
It wasn't the ringing of bells or chimes this time, but something greater that carries a deep, resonant singing that seemed to well up out of the very roots of the Chocolate City itself. The air was resonating with music, and through the windows of the Hall of Confectioners, the children could see banners of sugar silk unrolling through the streets.
The Festival of Flavors had started.
The city sparkled.
Ribbons of golden syrup oozed down through the canals, shimmering under the fake light provided by the glass dome above.
Towers of marzipan and sugar sparkled as if they were cathedrals, while caramel bridges connected buildings.
Everywhere, mechanical birds, fashioned out of chocolate and gold leaf, fluttered as if they were alive, singing as they released a fragrance of melted, roasted cocoa.
"It's beautiful," Nia pressed her face to the window.
Aya, standing by her side, whispered, "Or distracting."
The air was filled with colors of pink, amber, and shades of velvet red, but beneath the beauty, Nia sensed motion among the shadows between buildings. Forms that didn't belong with the beat of the festivities.
Tomas spoke softly, "This, vellum declared, was the city's gift to itself. A festival to nourish the heart that sustains us."
"Then let's hope it's not hungry."
Felix laughed softly behind him. The sound was different now it sounded a little light, but hollow.
When they went down to the main courtyard, Vellum was already present. He was wearing a pale silver silk coat, and his gloved hands were clasped at the small of his back. The light seemed to cling to him as if reluctant to depart.
"My young confectioners," he spoke loudly enough to be heard over the murmur of the crowd, "Today, the city marks the creation of something all its own. You will bear witness to what very few outsiders have ever seen: the other side of our world."
Aya frowned. "The Citizens Below?"
The smile that creased Vellum's face was weak. "Yes. They appear above only during the Festival. It is… tradition."
He pointed to a bank of gigantic chocolate-glass doors at the far end of the hall. Behind those, the city's avenues stretched out broadly, already filling with mask-wearing, fragrance-plumed people.
"Remember your rules," Vellum spoke, his tone soft, but suddenly cutting. "Taste what is offered. Refuse nothing. And, above all, stay within the light."
"What if we don't?" He cocked an eyebrow.
Felix said
Vellum looked at him for a very long time. "Then the city will show you what lies in the dark."
The doors opened.
A warm blast of air surged through the hall, bringing with it the sounds of the Festival: laughter, music, the high-pitched hiss of sugar engines, the thunder of a thousand footsteps.
The kids went out into the outdoors. They were among the citizens for the first time.
Men and women walked by, their faces hidden by porcelain and gold masks, their clothes a-vibrations with color, their eyes hidden. Some walked a little too smoothly, as if they were puppets joined at the joints. Some haloed with a faint light, their edges soft, their shadows lagging a beat behind.
Aya grabbed hold of Nia's sleeve. "They're not all human,"
"I don't know, okay?"
The air was filled with fragrances of so much chocolate, so much spice, so much citrus, so much smoke, that the smell made Nia feel dizzy.
"Watch this!" cried a young performer, catching a burning orb of sugar and holding it aloft.
"Check out this one!" shouted another, manipulating a cluster of molten sugar."This thing makes you a cup of hot cocoa, and refills it when you drink the
It was blindingly bright.
It was mind-boggling.
It just got to be too much.
Now,
And beneath all the music and merriment, this same rhythm throbbed through the cobblestones: a strong, deep, living beat.
They followed Vellum down the main avenue towards a large square, where a fountain composed of liquid chocolate rhythmically rose and fell. The crowd surged around the fountain, chanting something melodic.
Aya frowned. "What are they saying?"
Vellum stopped beside her, a faint smile creasing his face.
"They are offering
"For what?"
"For being remembered."
Aya gave him a pointed stare, but he was already walking away.
As they walked through the square, Nia noticed other things as well: the cracks in the marble. Thin, hairline fractures that looked like veins, pulsing a faint reddish color just beneath the surface. No one else seemed to notice them.
Reaches out, fingertips tracing the border of one of the crevices.
The stone is warm, hot as a fever.
Then, just for an instant, she could have sworn that something was moving beneath the stone, slow and regular as breathing.
"Stay in the light," Vellum spoke from a distance, without turning around.
Nia pulled her hand away. The warmth remained.
The parade was starting. Giant floats moved through the streets, each one designed like a component part of the candy maker's craft: a sugar horse carousel, a caramel snake with clockwork interiors, a tower of black glass out of which flowed eternal rivers of chocolate. The townspeople shouted as the music reached a frenzy.
But among all these, hidden among the masks and colors, Nia noticed a figure moving, or rather, NOT moving, among the crowd.
It was motionless, a tall figure standing at the edge of the square. The mask was blank, with robes the color of burnt sugar. And yet, even as it did not speak or move, she could feel its gaze directed squarely at her.
Then the lights overhead flickered. The parade slowed down. For an instant, the music skipped a beat and in that moment of quiet, she heard it again:
"Sweetness remembers…"