The Wings of the Beautifully Fallen

Chapter 19: Reginald

"True." He responded and I groaned in frustration, my fingers curling tightly into fists. "However, if you can discover the fear then you have a chance at that happiness."

"How can I discover something when I do not have the person to discover it with?" I demanded and he chuckled, his shoulders shrugging slightly as his eyes turned away from me. I knew that face, the face of knowledge, as if he knew something that I did not and was proud of that fact. "Father, what have you done?"

"Only what needed to be." He grinned at me, his eyes twinkling with merriment. "Your mother and I are attempting to care about our son as well as everything else."

"And what does Princess Illiana have to do with it?" I demanded and he chuckled, his hand pointing down at the palace that still zoomed towards us.

"You will find the answer to that question down there." His eyebrows rose quickly, as if attempting to hint at something but not telling me what it is.

A sinking feeling told me that the answer that he seemed so proud about, so blissful, would only end with hours of suffering for me and, by extension, if what I think is correct, Illiana as well.

Tucking my arms by my side and leaning forward, my head pointing down-wards at the castle, I plummeted towards it. The wind bashed harder against me as I dropped, my hair lashing in the wind as I neared the castle.

Horns announcing our arrival rang in the distance, but I could barely hear them over the thundering cries of the wind. Then again, perhaps I did not want to hear them, the only thing on my mind is what lay below me, the secret that my father possessed.

What had he done?

The question plagued me like nothing else and would drive me insane until I knew the truth, knew what was really happening.

Zooming over the houses, the speed that I gained from the fall accelerated my as I leveled out, shooting towards the palace and my home. I knew that mother and my sister would be surprised to see us so soon, that dinner would be hectic with the chefs making sure that they made enough food for all of us.

But even that, as I thought about it, meant very little. The idea that Princess Illiana was here and would be forced to marry me against her will was what bothered me more than normal. While it was not odd for a man and a woman to have an arranged marriage, I felt that, with Illiana, it would be far worse than normal.

Not even my father understood why she was so terrified and unwilling, so why would he do something like this? Why would he hurt someone else who just wanted to try to be happy? Was that not something someone like Illiana deserved? To have a choice?

The gates of the palace sped closer, the sunlight glinting off the silver metal. The few guards that stood there turned in time to see me flash by, slipping into the palace grounds without having to stop. Whether they noticed me or now was a different issue and there may very well be men and women following, just to make sure that I was not some criminal.

A carriage stood by the steps of the palace and the men stood around it, one of them stepping forward and opening the carriage door.

"Your majesty." Surprise filled their voices as I landed, my feet colliding with the ground and a loud thunk echoing around me. Of course they were surprised. For one, I was back home a few days early and two, I did not land quietly.

"Reginald?" Mother's voice called out and I turned to see her step out of the carriage, her eyes staring at me in surprise. "Pray tell, what are you doing here so early? You are not supposed to be here until the end of the week!"

"I am fully aware of that, but things settled down earlier than we earlier imagined." A forced smile appeared on my lips as she dropped down from the carriage and stepped closer, her arms enveloping me.

"Well, early or not, it really is good to see you again, my dear. Though I wished you had sent word of early arrival, I would have made sure everything was ready." She sighed loudly and turned towards the carriage and the two of us watched my sister appear from within.

"Oh, it really is you! I thought it might be with the way you landed." My sister smiled as she rushed down the steps of the carriage and over to me. "You could end up hurting yourself one of these days, you know."

"I know, Rebecca." I sighed and then turned to my mother and watched as she stood there, smiling at me. Once again, the face on knowledge. It was something that the two of them were excellent at portraying and also something I was excellent at recognizing. "Mother, Father had said something about the two of you doing what you thought was best. What was it?"

"Only what we believe will make you happy." She shrugged, but her eyes twinkling mischievously and her hands clasped in front of her. "Of course, I am fully aware of how infuriated you will be with your father and I. In all honesty, I am not sorry now will I ever be."

"What have you done?" I demanded and her eyes flickered over to the carriage and I turned and watched in both horror and happiness as I watched Illiana step out of the carriage.

For one, I was so happy to see her again, to have a chance to actually get to know her without the depressing walls of her palace. But then there was horror, and not just from me. Her eyes widened as her eyes froze, staring at me as if doubting that I was here. I was afraid because I knew she did not come willingly and I had a feeling that there was so much more to her fear.

"Well now that you are here, we could easily move up the wedding since the others should be arriving tomorrow." Mother sighed beside me before turning away from me and walking forward, her hand sliding around Princess Illiana's arm. "Come, my dear. Let us get inside and rest before dinner."

My legs would not move and there was little else that I could do other than watch as my mother escorted Princess Illiana inside.

Clenching my jaw and tightening my fists, my gaze shot upwards as I watched Father and the others get closer. Whatever he was thinking and planning, why did it actually have to be this?