Ciara Candy's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The runner was already leaving. He turned on his heel and walked toward the next tent, sash swinging. Ciara stood frozen beside her display, the golden bloom glowing between the wild candies. She still did not know one thing. She had picked this bloom, yes. But what if a bloom fell on its own? What if someone gave one as a gift? The rule might not cover that. She needed the answer before dusk. She chased after him. "Wait, please!" she called. "I have a question!" But the runner slipped into a crowd of bakers and vanished. Ciara's wings drooped. She stopped near a tall hall built of swirling cotton candy and glossy lollipops, a golden flower crowning its roof. Inside, at the long judging table, a huge figure sat alone. He was a giant, and he looked mean. Purple and orange cotton candy hair curled above a stern face. A judge's robe hung off his wide shoulders. He held a lollipop like a tiny scepter and licked it slowly. Bakers passing the hall gave him a wide path. Ciara nearly turned back too. But she had no one else to ask. She stepped up to the table. "Excuse me, sir. You're a judge?" "Giant Greyl," he said. He set down the lollipop. "You look scared. Most do. It's the face. I can't help the face." Ciara laughed before she could stop herself. Her shoulders loosened. "I have a question about the golden blooms. The rule says contestants can't pick them. But what if one falls? Or what if someone gives you one?" Greyl thought. He tapped a finger on the table. "Doesn't matter how you got it. Rule's about the bloom, not the picking. If it's on your table, you're out. Fallen, gifted, bought. Same answer." Ciara's chest tightened. "So there's no way to keep it." "No way," Greyl said. "Sorry, small fairy. I don't make the rules. I just eat things." He glanced past her, toward her display in the corner. His eyes found the golden bloom. "That yours?" Ciara nodded, throat dry. "Then take it off," Greyl said, gentle now. "Before another judge walks by. I didn't see it. But the next one might." She understood. He was giving her a chance. Ciara hurried back to her display. Her bird landed on the shelf and chirped, sharp and worried. Ciara reached for the golden bloom and lifted it free. The shelves dimmed at once. The theme fell flat. The wild candies looked scattered and plain without the flower to tie them together. She held the bloom in both hands, safe now from disqualification. But her display was broken again. Dusk was coming. And she had nothing golden left to make it sing.