For the Sky (DISCONTINUED)

8 - An Ungrateful Mistake

I couldn't believe myself. I wasn't even sure what I was in disbelief with myself for. The fact that I decided to accentuate to every single member of this ship that I was indeed a pegasus? The fact that my wings somehow still had the ability to lift me off the ground?

I seldom had time to think as the ocean's harsh air currents whipped me this way and that, and I had to steady myself a ways away from the ship. Every part of me suddenly felt light again, as if the wings were no longer the burden I had made them out to be for all these years. Instinct overcame any fear or doubt that I may have had - a bird can never really forget how to fly.

I soared as high into the clouds as the poorly-feathered appendages would take me and as my breath started to feel cold, I made a sharp turn and nose-dived back down. I opened my wings at the very last second, sending a gust of wind billowing all around me, raising decent sized waves around the rocking ship. I could spy Asger standing by the edge, likely mortified by the prospect that he was so close to the water, but his eyes locked on to me, his glorious black mane billowing in the breeze that I had managed to create.

I glided a bit at the surface of the ocean, lowering one hoof in to send a spray of water in my face, and then returned to the deck. "What a lovely display, princess!" Oskar shouted from his place at the steering wheel.

I dipped my head shyly. "I wasn't sure I was even able to fly again in the first place..." I folded my wings to my sides with little resistance to the action.

"You'll have plenty of time to polish your skills," Asger said, stepping away from the railing to where he didn't have to look at the brilliant blue expanse anymore. "Perhaps once you lay on the throne the people will actually believe you're a pegasus."

I chuckled, astonished. Had Asger just made a joke? Through his whole facade of being some hardened soldier, he still had the heart to try and make me laugh.

"Starting up a kingdom again from scratch won't be easy," Frin remarked. "Whether they know you or not."

"But if you tagged along with me, that means I at least have a chance, right?" I asked, still filled with glee from my brief flight.

For a moment then, Frin's eyes looked incredibly guilty. Her ears swiveled back behind her, she shifted her weight from one back leg to the other. "Of course," was all she said. Her smile was slow-coming and sad.

Whether it was childish naivety that led me to ignore this tell-tale sign or something else, I couldn't tell you now. I always recalled that smile with some speculation, but I had never said a word. A shame, really.

"I also owe you thanks, princess," Aro turned his head a bit towards me. "Had it not been for you standing up for melike that, I would be sitting at that dock awaiting your return right now."

"What kind of queen would I be if I went around leaving my subjects behind?" I asked.

"Well, you and Asger seemed rather mistrusting of my blood ties and my previous treachery, for good reason, of course, but..." he swiveled his ears back and tucked his chin to his neck, trying to make himself look as small as possible.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Asger scoffed. "Days without sleep and a moment to lock one of your legs will do that to you. Don't mistake my outrage for hatred."

"That was a hard-learned lesson, wasn't it?" I wrapped one wing around him and gave him a good squeeze. He squirmed under my touch but was too afraid to move a muscle to anywhere else on the ship to object.

"I can only assume that it was..." Asger' knees began to shake more feverishly than before and in less than a minute's notice, he had crumpled to the ground, out cold.