I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

Ah, the sweet satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

geeky and childish as this may sound, i'm a bit in love with the song and i thought it fit quite nicely because guess who's home (in the book--it's not me--i'm in my home right now).

also, dedicated to Purple_Giraffe for the banner she made!!

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"I want the queen!" I cackled triumphantly, holding my hand out. Logan groaned as he plucked the black queen from his stash of chess pieces and handed it over. A frown was on his lips as he saw that I was at an advantage now. I was in possession of his white queen, one of his knights, a bishop, and a rook. He only had my rooks and a black bishop. 

"I guess I've got to get serious now," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair as his eyes danced all over the black and white chess board. 

At first, I was ecstatic, knowing that the possibility of me winning this round was high. Then, move by move, the elation turned into despair and hopelessness as Logan began to dominate the chess board, knocking out my black marble army until finally, his queen (which he had won back) faced my king. 

"Checkmate," he smirked. I gave him a sour glare before I grabbed my king and flung it at his chest. 

"Every damn time," I grumbled, slumping back in my seat.  "That's it, I'm not playing anymore."

"Oh, don't be a sore loser, Sparrow."

I opened my mouth to remind him that he had four years of being Cross Academy's chess club president when a voice boomed throughout the jet. 

"Good morning, Your Highness. I'd just like to announce that in about forty-five minutes, we'll be descending into Riveria, Cimeria. If you look out the windows, you'll see the Karvaggen Mountains."

Sure enough, a glance out the small windows showed showed me the vast, marvelous evergreen-infested mountains that served as a border around the kingdom. My chest swelled up as the familiarity of the landscape began settling in. I knew this view--I had flown over it before and gods, I didn't know how much I missed seeing the pine trees reach towards the brilliant sky until now. 

Right then, one of our stewardesses, Nora, stopped by our seats. She gave Logan and me a quick bow before she spoke. "Your Highness, is there anything I can do for you before we descend?"

Around this time on a properly scheduled and organized flight, Nora (or someone else) would hand me an outfit to change into, courtesy of my mother. She handpicked my "arrival outfits" and then convinced my grandmother to pass them on, so that when I arrived, I would literally look like a Cinderella, puffy blue gown and all. 

Judging from the lack of clothes in Nora's arm, I guessed the flight was put together too suddenly for my mother to finalize her decision on my outfit and send it off. 

I send a 'thank you' to the stars before saying to Nora, "I'll just be in the bathroom for a bit. Thank you, though, Nora."

"Of course, Your Highness." Nora gave two more bows before walking away towards the cockpit. I slid out of my seat and stood on my toes, reaching towards my backpack. There was a sudden rumble through the plane and both mine and Logan's backpack began sliding with uncontrollable speed out of the compartment--their trajectory being my face. 

Before I knew it, I was yanked backwards and Logan gave this loud shout, followed by a groan of pain. I twisted around, watching Logan massage his lower back with an expression of agony on his face. 

"What the--are you okay?" I asked. 

"I think there was a bit of turbulence, and you nearly got yourself a concussion," he answered through gritted teeth. "No wonder I hate planes."