Chapter 14
When I left the king's office, I saw Aiden was talking with the guard. He grinned at me.
"Hey there, Hailey! I'm here to take you back to your room in this maze we call a castle."
After saying goodbye to the guard, we started back towards what I supposed was the direction of my room.
"So, what did the king talk to you about?" Aiden asked carelessly.
I hesitated. Was I allowed to tell him about my ties with the king, yet? He would know in a few hours anyway, so I concluded I was.
"He wanted to tell me... about his relation to me."
Aiden frowned. "What's that mean?"
"I'm his granddaughter."
Aiden froze and looked at me, astonished.
"You're his what? Wait, really? I didn't even know the king had a granddaughter! Wait, so how are you related? Oh, well, through your mom obviously, since the king has no living sons. So, then, who's your mom? I guess it would be Delilah, right? I mean, -"
I laughed, interrupting him, "Woah, there, Aiden. You need to slow down. And yes, my mom's Delilah."
He nodded, recovering from his surprise, and we resumed walking.
"Wow, that's so weird. I mean, I think it's great that you're our new princess and all, I just didn't expect it... Does Chase know?" I nodded, and he laughed. "Man, I would have loved to see you guys' faces when you learned who you were!"
"Well, I can tell you our reactions weren't half as funny as yours!" I teased him.
"It was unexpected, okay?"
"Great excuse, Aiden, it was totally expected for me."
"You know what I mean! You just dropped it down on me without warning!"
I laughed.
"When are the rest of the Winged gonna know?" Aiden asked.
I shrugged. "Apparently there's a banquet tonight. The king will announce it then."
Aiden nodded and led me through a guarded archway, though I could have swore the one I passed through with Chase was a bit different.
"Hey, Aiden?" I asked after a little while, looking around me. "Are you sure this is the right way? I mean I don't know my way around here at all, but I'm pretty sure Chase and I didn't go through this way earlier."
Aiden stopped and looked around thoughtfully. He walked forward a few steps, a confused expression on his face, before turning to me.
"We're lost." He said dejectedly, leaning against the wall.
"Are you serious?" I shook my head in disbelief. I turned around and walked a few steps back, determined to find someone who knew their way around better, when I heard the sounds of foot steps rapidly hitting the floor and Aiden's laugh ringing through the hallway.
I whipped around to see a flash of red wings taking a right turn, and I sprinted after him.
"Aiden!" I yelled after him in frustration. I turned right as well, but he was nowhere in sight.
I sighed.
"Boo!" Aiden yelled, jumping out from behind me.
I let out a high pitched scream and turned around in fright.
"Aiden..." I whined as he burst out laughing.
"Sorry, Hailey, you're just too easy to prank." Aiden said, preening his red, going on orange, wings with a satisfied air.
"I don't even want to know what is going on here..." A new Winged made his appearance, looking between Aiden and I with a sight.
"Oh, it's nothing," Aiden said with a sweet smile.
The newcomer rose an eyebrow, showing he clearly didn't believe Aiden.
"He's being mean to me." I said, although I was aware I sounded whiny.
"Well, then, new girl who I have never seen before, let me give you a piece of life advice. Listen closely, this will change your life."
"Okay, I'm listening." I said curiously.
The man leaned in, the tip of his dark blue wing hiding his face from Aiden, and said, "Aiden's an idiot."
Aiden glared at him, but a smile played on his lips, "Ha, ha. You're so hilarious, man."
His friend laughed it off, and both boys were soon laughing together.
"So, who are you, anyway?" The Winged asked.
"My name's Hailey."
"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking? I don't recall ever seing you before."
"I'm... From the human world." He looked at me strangely, so I added, "My dad is human, but my mom is from here. At least that's what my grandfather -well, the king- told me."
He frowned, looking completely lost, and turned to Aiden who just looked at me blankly and faked a sigh.
"Sorry, my cousin has an even worse sense of humor than you."
"What is that supposed to mean?" The Winged protested. "I have a great sense of humor."
Aiden's and my blank stares were meaningful enough replies to that.
"Well, okay, then. I have to go, though, " the Winged said, checking his watch. "See you guys later!"
He left, and I stared at Aiden.
"Jerk."
Aiden just gave me a goofy grin.
"He probably thinks I'm a complete weirdo, now! And why did you say I was your cousin? I don't want to be related to you, what if horrible sense of humor is hereditary?"
Aiden patted my shoulder consolingly, completely ignoring my weak insult.
"Okay, Hailey, let's go, we've got somewhere to be! You were right, by the way, this isn't the way to your room, I've got to drop by someplace first."
As we walked, we lapsed into a comfortable silence.
"Aiden?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you know about my mother?"
He sighed. "I'll tell you what I know, but first you should know the three royal children are a touchy subject around here. Some people will just ignore you if you ask them anything about them."
"All right," I nodded, my curiosity spiked.
"Well I hope this doesn't come out sounding too much like a fairytale, because it certainly isn't, but here goes: The king of the Winged had a beautiful wife, Iris, whom he loved very much. Together, they had two daughters. The first one is kind of an unofficial taboo, so we'll skip over her. The second one was your mother, Delilah. Then the queen became pregnant again. Everyone knew the king hoped for a boy, in fact, the whole kingdom hoped for a boy. You know, an heir to the throne. So you can imagine the joy everyone felt when the royal baby was, indeed, a boy."
Aiden's grim face far from reflected the joy he talked about. The fun loving boy I knew was gone as he said abruptly, "The queen died giving birth."
I gasped, but the story wasn't over.
"The baby boy followed her a day later." He took in a breath. "As you can imagine, the king was devastated. And the oldest daughter, she was the one watching over the infant when he passed away. No one blamed her, she couldn't have done anything to help him, but she felt guilty. She left."
Without my realizing it, we had stopped walking, and Aiden was now leaning against the cool stone wall.
"Is that why you guys don't talk about her?" I questioned.
"In part, yes." Aiden answered, before continuing his story.
"All that was left of the Royal family, so happy barely a few days ago, was a heartbroken king and a grieving princess. To be honest, without your mom I don't know where we'd be. She took the reigns of the kingdom, kept things running smoothly while she helped her father overcome the loss they both felt. The king gradually came out of the sea of despair he had almost drowned in, but his radiant youth was gone. His daughter handed the power back to him. I guess she knew she would end up being queen anyway, but she didn't want to be before her time. After all, her father was still in his forties or something, she still had time. After a while, some people say that she would start to leave the castle for a few days, and each time she left she took longer in coming back. One thing's sure though, one day, she left and never came back."
Aiden resumed walking and said in a forced light tone, "So yeah, I guess she went to the human world and had you, and then who knows what happened. The disappearance of his last child was a hard blow to the king, so no one really likes to talk about it... Not like it's a fun story anyway." He turned to a wooden door, so like all the other ones that lined the hallway. "We're here."
A young girl opened the door in answer to his knock, and the noise and life of the room was a sharp contrast to the quiet hallways that echoed with Aiden's story.
"Aiden, my boy! What can I do for you?" A smiling old lady asked, hurrying towards the door and motioning to the girl who had opened it for us to go back to her activities. I spied over her shoulder and saw several women, sewing machines, and lots of rolls of fabric.
Aiden pointed to me. "She needs a dress and... Well, she is an important guest to tonight's banquet, and she has no idea what to do."
The portly lady smiled warmly, "I understand, dear, I've been told all about the situation. If you'll lead her to her room, I'll be there in just a moment."
Aiden nodded and grabbed my arm. "Come on, Hailey, we're really going to your room this time." He laughed, but it sounded a bit strained to me, although that may have just been my imagination.
---------------
And no, this is NOT the end! I'll tell you clearly when it is!
... Sorry, but so many people have asked if last chapter was the end... What kind of book would that be if I just ended it like that with so many unanswered questions? We still have a long way to go in this story!