After last night's fun and games, it was time to start off again, and that is exactly what we did. We had been flying most of the day. Or, rather, Lucas and Lina had been flying, and I had been carried by Lucas. Who, despite all my protests that he couldn't carry me the whole day, just kept on flying.
"Lucas!" I whine. "Come on. I don't want you tumbling out of the air just because you insisted on carry me all the way without stopping."
"Do you doubt my abilities?" Comes the response, which, or course, made me feel guilty.
"Oh, no, sorry." I immediately apologize.
"I was joking." Another miracle,he made a joke. "Look. Aires is coming into view." He points out, just as we rise above the clouds.
Sure enough, Aires was coming into view. It was a beautiful kingdom, suspended in the air. Soem building floated apart form the others, but most were together on one great landmass. The clouds threaded in and out of the buildings, obscuring half the kingdom from view.
Aires looked serene and peaceful. A slumbering kingdom, if you will. But that wasn't it. Not at all. Despite it's peaceful look, it was the exact opposite.
The air-fey were well known for being warriors. They trained children of any rank, age and gender in intensive training. What made it easier, is that the air-fey were born with some innate battle-sense. From the time they could walk, they could fight. It was in their blood.
Scaring the air-fey was a very bad idea. If they were startled, they would react, and not in a good way. Having defensive warriors pointing weapons at you was a very bad situation to be in, whatever kingdom you were in.
Lucas stops midair. "Carolina, go on ahead and inform them that we are coming."
Apparently, he was thinking the exact same thing as me. But I didn't like the way he solved it. He was sending my best friend to face a bunch of guards.
"I don't like this." I counter Lucas.
"Eh, I'll go." I stare at her. "What?" She asks. "I can handle a few angry wind fey. I'll even make lots of noise to they know I'm coming." She reassures me.
I sigh and shake my head. "Be careful."
"Tell them that the Princess is coming." Lucas reminds her.
"Yeah, yeah." Lina calls over her shoulder as she calls off.
I start to worry. "I hope she will be okay."
"You don't live under the same roof as her. She will definitely be alright, Princess." Lucas reassures me.
After that, we hover in silence. Until I hear a "Hello" ring out and the sound of weapons being drawn. After that, an argument ensues. Typical. Carolina was arguing with an army of trained guards. By the time it had died down, I was shaking with laughter.
Suddenly, an indignant Lina came bursting out of the fog, guards on her heels. She comes to a stop a bit away from us, and turns to address the guards.
"See?" She bursts out, jabbing her finger in our direction. "There you go. That the Princess. I was not lying."
One guard steps forward. "Come with us. We will bring you to the king."
We all come with them and are brought through the kingdom. The difference between Aires and Fyria is striking. Fyria is full of noise and light, with houses painted all sorts of colours. The colours are vibrant and and the townspeople have personalities to match. Aires, on the other hand, felt washed out in comparison. The colours were grey, and the houses were made out of glass and grey stones. The towns people here all seemed to be quiet and . . . dull. There was laughter from fledglings, but all other fey were seemingly quiet.
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