Nanny to the Billionaire Dragon - Cynthia Wilde Page 0,6

steaming teacup flew from her hand and landed with a crash. Her limbs seemed to flail in all directions at once as she reacted to the hapless creature. Finally. after a frenzied dance like nothing Rafe had ever seen before, she grabbed her bag and ran to the door. The children giggled again as all three of them emerged into the dining room, smiling ear to ear with glee. Rafe shot them an annoyed glare. This is not going to be easy, he thought as he watched the woman run for her life out the door. Spirited was one word for them.

Chapter 3

Keira stood staring in awe at the huge wooden gates of Ravenstone Realm Renaissance Faire. She was overwhelmed, both at the very size of what looked to be a medieval village built in the middle of the woods, as well as by what could best be termed the absolute strangeness of it. Some of the people wore normal, everyday clothing like herself, but the majority were wearing costumes of every sort: medieval-looking peasant shirts with flowing skirts, little girls dressed as fairies, a delicate fawn-like creature, and one man dressed as a rather convincing ten-foot tall, what did you call them…a troll? As weird as it all seemed, she had to admit that there was an excitement in the air that grew with every step she took toward the gate, where a small throng was slowly gathering in anticipation of opening. It was almost like there was an electric crackle to the very air. She shook it off as nerves. I really need this job. How weird can it be?

The ticket booth lady was dressed in a medieval-looking pink shirt, and a blue lacy corset, with a flower wreath on her head. She asked Keira if it was ok if she waited just a few minutes for the gates to open for the day. It was just shy of eleven a.m. when they would be doing the opening ceremony, which was something of a big deal apparently, involving the whole cast. As soon as it was over, she would have someone escort her in.

Keira was early, so she didn’t mind. She had learned, long ago, to always plan on arriving fifteen minutes early for anything important. This is definitely important. She needed this job desperately and wasn’t going to screw it up. Besides, she was a little intrigued by the faire and thought if she had time, she'd look around a bit before she met her mysterious employer. It was certainly like no place she had ever been before. Looking at her watch, it read five minutes to eleven. A loud trumpeting from above pulled her attention to the top of the gate. Two horn players were playing a medieval-sounding fanfare. They flanked a man and a woman dressed in dazzling red and purple regal clothing with crowns sparkling in the sun. Both smiled and waved at the now cheering crowd below. Another man who was dressed in a long red and white tunic belted at the waist, a red flat hat with feather, boots, and red tights ran to the center of the gate. He unrolled a scroll and cleared his throat. Well, this was exciting.

“Hear ye; hear ye!” His voice projected to the back of the crowd. “His majesty, King Edwin the First, and his Queen, Allison the Fair, wish to welcome you to Ravenstone Realm.” It was clear this was a well-rehearsed show unto itself with every word and gestured timed to perfection. As he said the name of the fair his voice dramatically went up in pitch. He paused for the audience to clap and cheer...which they did right on cue. “We have many activities to delight and entertain you and your family! We have fairies!” As he mentioned them, she heard all the young girls in the crowd squeal as a group of three fairies in very realistic costumes came running out of the crowd and took their places in front of the announcer.

Two of the fairies played music on small V-shaped wooden pipes, while the other danced with the little girls that flocked to them from the audience. She was particularly struck by the large quantity of blue and silver glitter that flew everywhere about them. They were not just graceful in their movements. It was almost otherworldly. It was mesmerizing. When the music stopped, the fairies took a bow, ran to a hidden door behind the gate, and disappeared. She felt