In that moment, all Lucas wanted was to find somewhere quiet so that he could be alone with his new wife, but he wasn't given that option. They managed to hold hands for a little while, but after only a few waves of well-wishers, they were separated by the crowd as different people came to pay their respects to both of them. Sometimes they were reunited, but more often they were separated as Lucas was barraged with handshakes and pats on the back by an infinite variety of guests.

Some of them were friends, others worked for him, and passed them there were the locals. Before they ever even reached town, where they had the food and the band set up, he was nearly smothered by the attention.

Once they got there, though, he was seated with his new wife at the head table, which had been put on a small platform to give it a commanding view of all the other guests. "It feels like we're royalty," she said nervously, squeezing his hand under the table.

"For the day we are," Lucas agreed. "But even though I turn back into a pumpkin tomorrow, you'll stay my queen forever."

"Awww," she whispered, trying and failing not to blush too fiercely in front of everyone she knew.

They'd only just gotten comfortable and been served their first glass of wine by one of his messengers who had been retasked as waiters for the day, when the speeches started. Lucas had tried to minimize this part, but it was apparently a part of local tradition, and the people would not be denied.

So, as they sat there, speaker after speaker came up to sing their praises. In Danaira's case, that praise was universal. No matter who spoke, be it a member of another noble house or the village baker, they had nothing negative to say about her. Though Lucas enjoyed those speeches on their own, he enjoyed the way she squeezed his hand as she looked like she was about to crawl into a hole and die even more.

Still, he didn't go unscathed. Plenty of people said their piece about him as well. Those speeches were a bit more mixed. Some of them contained a few caveats about him being a "diamond in the rough" or "turning out okay in the end." Those sorts of speeches mostly came from the locals who were just glad he made Danaria happy.

The people who worked for, with, or around him tended to deliver a few words that were more veiled or ribald. Lucas was never outright insulted, but those who spoke well of him tended to roast him more than celebrate him, and soon enough, he wanted to join Danaria in that hole she was so keen to dig.

They were only spared this cruel fate when the talking stopped and the dancing started. There, at least, Lucas was finally glad he'd practiced such a useless skill so much. Whirling his bride around the complicated patterns that were required of such things wasn't easy, but the fact that there were uneven cobbles beneath their feet instead of polished hardwood floors made it all that much harder.

He barely noticed the difficulty, though. Instead, he just noticed the way she smiled as he held her lithe form effortlessly. Though it felt like half the time they were dancing with other people as the rounds required, each time she returned to him, he couldn't help but tell her how beautiful she was.

"Stop!" she said breathlessly. "People will hear!"

"I hope they do," Lucas murmured, kissing her again. "I hope everyone hears."

While they didn't quite continue until exhaustion, they continued until the main course was ready, which was about the same time. By the time it was ready to move the tables to the center of the square, the sun was getting close to the horizon, and the two of them returned to their table and began to feast in earnest. Lucas had spent most of the rest of his share on this party, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy it. He had a little of everything that was brought around. He tried every dish, and sipped every beer and wine, though he was careful not to let himself get too drunk. The last thing he wanted to do was spoil the night that lay ahead.

While the party started well before sundown, the light quickly faded. Even before the sunset was gone, though, the crowded square was illuminated with more than a hundred little paper lanterns that lit the festivities. People continued to drink and feast. They continued to dance without any interruption, and Lucas was sure that the party would continue on well into the night.

He was conflicted, of course. He was having a great time, but he was also looking forward to being alone with his beloved. Still, he was in no hurry and only stepped away to take a leak after one too many toasts.

On his way back, though, he paused to take in the whole scene. It was beautiful. He'd seen Meadowin a thousand times before, but never like this, and it made him wish he had a camera to take a picture of it. While he was admiring the scene, someone short approached him out of the corner of his eye. At first, Lucas thought that it was a child; lord knew that everyone had come out of the woodwork tonight to offer him their congratulations.

As they approached, though, he realized it was a man, and for an instant, he worried that whoever they were, they might be an assassin, but a familiar voice quickly diffused the situation.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"As nice as this is, I still don't think it truly competes with the magic of alchemy," Heisenburgle said, revealing himself.

It was a real surprise. After his letter, Lucas hadn't been expecting him, but when he took off his wide-brimmed hat to reveal a familiar head full of wispy white hair, Lucas recognized him immediately.

"Well, look who decided to show up. Hei—" he started to say.

"Not so loud," the gnome hissed. "As far as anyone knows, I'm still locked away in my water laboratory until sunrise, and not to be disturbed."

Lucas didn't see the need for secrecy, given that both the Prince and the head of the Whisperers were dead, but he opted to humor the gnome, if only because he'd come all this way.

"Well, I appreciate you coming regardless of whatever name and albeit you've assumed for the evening," Lucas said, offering the man his hand.

"We can't be too careful, not in times like these," the gnome insisted as he shook it. "Someone has brought the kingdom inches from revolution…"

"Not my problem," Lucas said. "I'm pretty much out of the game now. I just want a quiet life and a beautiful wife. Maybe an inn with a decent taco menu. It's not so much to ask."

"As nice as that sounds, I doubt that's in the cards for you… for either of us, for that matter," the gnome chuckled. As he did so, he reached into his dark coat and pulled out a small wrapped box.

"What's this?" Lucas asked. Looking at the small wrapped package. His first guess would have been reagents or potions, but no matter how much he concentrated on it to try to pull off one last surprise identification, no popups appeared.

"Just a trifle really," the gnome answered. "Nothing that you didn't earn. It's just your share of Skylara's treasure, or at least the deed to it."

Lucas had been about to make a joke about how the horde was a hell of a lot smaller than either of them thought, but the gnome robbed him of his thunder, so instead he just said, "I thought you buried it with tons of stone."

"I did," the gnome agreed. "It will not see the light of day for years, I expect. It's safer that way, until the kingdom is settled from all of the turmoil you caused. Still, an initial assay was done by my men. They went by volume rather than any more detailed count, but based upon their observations, and my calculations… well, it's an impressive number."

We caused, Lucas added mentally, looking at the number written on the form. It was too large for him to take in properly. It was like one of those bank errors you saw in movies, and he couldn't do the mental math to figure out if he was a millionaire, a billionaire, or perhaps a trillionaire. All three seemed equally likely.

"Still, even if you can't collect your share now, should you need to, I'm sure you can borrow against it," the gnome added while Lucas was still counting zeros.

"Isn't this… won't this belong to the king or the council or whoever takes charge?" Lucas asked finally, unsure what else to say. If he really got even half this amount, he never needed to work again if he didn't want to. Neither would his children or grandchildren.

The thought of children made him look around for Danaria. He instantly found her sitting at the high table, but before he could do anything but smile at her, Heisenburgle stole his attention a second time.

"When the council forms, they can well do what they want, I suppose, but the law on salvage is twenty percent, and they are unlikely to change that," he noted. "I wouldn't worry about them moving too quickly, anyway, the hyperinflationary impact of Skylara's horde will be a headache for anyone—"

"This is only 20%?" Lucas gasped, looking at the giant number again.

"No, that is only ten percent," the gnome answered pedantically. "I get the other ten, and after I've paid my men from the sales of the dragon hide and blood, and restocked my—"

"Ten per…" Lucas almost shouted before he repeated a second time in more hushed tones. "Ten percent?!"

"Indeed," Heisenburgle said smugly. "It's probably enough to make you the richest person in the Kingdom, besides me, of course."

Lucas felt faint, but before he could comment further, or worse, thank the man, Heisenburgle added, "It's barely even a gift. It's yours, really, but we can talk more about it in a less crowded setting. Now come, light your fireworks, I want to see how your recipe works before I retreat to Blackgate."

"Of course I… How did you know I made fireworks?" Lucas asked, taken off guard.

He thought such insight would be evidence of the man's new talent, but Heisenburgle just smiled and said, "What kind of alchemist would get married and not make fireworks?"

Lucas laughed at that and nodded. Then he and Heisenburgle walked over to the tubes, and after Lucas got everyone's attention, and let them know that they'd soon be showing them the second most beautiful sight of the evening, they got to work.

One at a time, each tube was lit, and as it did so, a wave of tiny explosions launched little clay balls into the air that were packed with more powder and metal filings. Lucas and Heisenburgle barely looked up at the sky after the first few as everyone else oohed and ahhed, but quickly returned to the conversation. The show was for everyone else; they were here for the chemistry.

"Good power," the gnome nodded. "Excellent height and spread, but the colors could use some work."

Lucas had intentionally chosen a muted palette of reds, pinks, and whites rather than adding blues or greens, given the occasion. Adding blues or greens would have been the easiest thing in the world, but he didn't bother to explain that to the gnome, since aesthetics and romance were well beyond him.

Instead, between explosions, Lucas discussed the difficulty he'd had in obtaining good-quality sulfur. It was a fine conversation, and almost enough to make him miss his time with Heisenburgle. Still, eventually, toward the end of the show, the gnome announced that he would depart soon.

"I didn't know he was a wizard!" one of the young children said excitedly nearby, just loud enough for Lucas to hear him. He smiled at that, too. He felt like a wizard, but even as he finished lighting the last tube and said his goodbyes to Heisenburgle, he was already heading back to Danaria, because the real magic was found by her side.

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