Wingless [Complete]

Chapter 11: Aires, the Kingdom of Air

Once we reached the castle, I looked up in awe. It was a huge construction that looked elegant and sturdy. It was built like a fortress, but an elaborate one at that. There were lots of towers, window, and balconies. In front of the castle, there was a huge courtyard that was filled with statues and monuments of people and events. It was like a forest . . . of statues. When we flew over it, even Lina looked down in appreciation of the fine art and beauty of the statues.

As we landed in front of the huge doors (which were also made of grey stone) the guard, who had talked to us before (who, I assumed, was the head guard for this rotation, group, or something), knocked on the door using the huge knocker.

A few minutes later, we were in the entrance hall, waiting for the king to come down. But, to our surprise, the king didn't come down. The queen did. Or who I assumed was the queen. She wandered down the stairs, slowly. She had an air of confidence, and looked as if she owned the world, and was comfortable doing so.

Once she reached the bottom of the staircase, she spoke. "What is going on here?" Her voice rang out loudly and clearly.

The guard spoke up. "We found these intruders. They were claiming that this invalid is the Princess of Fyria."

She walk closer and stops just in front of us. She slowly looks us up and down. When she comes to my face, she suddenly smiles at me. Abruptly, she turns to the guard and frowns. Just as quickly, she turns around, her emotion switches back to happy, and she runs towards me and gives me a hug.

"Sweetie. You're back. I would recognize you anywhere." She gushes.

I was confused. I pretty sure I hadn't traveled outside of Fyria for a few years. But apperantly, she knew me. Lucas didn't seem pleased about this (but not unhappy) and neither did the guard who had brought us in either.

He stepped towards Queen Cressida (that was her name, I remembered now). "Mother, I think you should step back."

Wait, what?

"Oh don't be silly, Corrin."

Okay, this was starting to be really strange. She had called him Corrin, and he called her mother. Corrin was also the name of the crown prince of Aires . . . oh.

So . . . he wasn't a guard. He was Corrin Shay, the prince of Aires. Twin brother to Isabella Shay. They say that those two compete a lot, as both of them are vying for the crown because their father had announced that since they were almost the exact same age, either of them could get the crown.

That would lead to some friendly competition in most other kingdoms. But in Aires, where they were trained from birth to compete, it turned into 'killing each other with kindness' (as family etiquette still applied).

As I looked at him, I realized that this realization should have been obvious from the start. His hair was dark brown, his eyes a vibrant green, and his skin looked as if it had been out in the sun for all his life. Which it may have been, but also came from his parents.

Queen Cressida had jet-black hair that hung straight down her back, eyes that were a green as vibrant as Corrins' (or his were as green as hers?), and her skin had the same coloring as his. King Alexandro (the father of Corrin and Isabella, husband of Cressida, and king of Aires) had dark brown hair, black eyes, and quite dark skin.

Another fey strides into the room. Her jet black hair hangs down to her waist and her dark skin is contrasted by a white dress which had a slit on either side and was made out of a very light fabric. Her dark eyes flash in the light when she turns around and they take in the scene in front of them. She walks towards us, still holding her weapon. She is holding a white bow and a quiver of arrows are strapped to her back.

"What is going on here?" Her voice ring out with as much clarity as her mother.

I say her mother, because this is Isabella Shay, twin sister to Corrin Shay, and might be future queen of Aires.

"Hello Isabella." I call out. "Remember me?"

I say this because I suddenly remember why Cressida would know me. When i was young, and still used to come with my parents to boring meetings in Aires, I always played with Isabella and Corrin, when they weren't so uptight.

💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮

Okay, what did you think about this chapter? Please tell me in the comment section below!

Just in case you would like to know, this is what i envisioned Isabella to be like:

Okay, the pictures turned out to be huge, but there's nothing I can do about that . . . Do you agree on how Isabella looks? Please tell me in the comments (and vote please too!)

~Julica