Lysandra walked in all of a sudden. “Stasia, breakfast is..” She started to say but cut herself off when she saw the scene in front of her. “Oh goddess!” She exclaimed. “Lysa, can you take Adelaide to the nursery and feed her for me? I will come get her when we are done talking to Adam.” I asked, noticing that the baby was waking up. How she slept through Michael and I screaming on her first morning out of the womb, I will never know. “Of course Stasia.” Lysa answered as she walked over and picked up my daughter.
Once they were gone we went back to silence. No one had any idea what to say. Michael decided to break the silence by spreading his wings out. They were huge. He flapped them a couple of times and they created a strong breeze in our bedroom. Mine and the girls' hair was going crazy. I decided to join him and see how it felt. I stretched them out and tried flapping them a few times. It definitely felt weird, to say the least.
Damyen came back with Adam while we were playing with our wings. Damyen walked over and stood by Catalina as Adam walked right up to me. The look on his face was one of pure amazement and awe. “I cannot believe it.” He said softly. “What?” Michael asked a little impatient. “My kind tell stories of the ancient winged beings. Everyone thinks they are just creatures of legend, but I know differently. When I was young, before I had even accessed my magic, I came upon a cave. Inside the cave was the body of a woman with large angelic wings. None of my people before me had even known about them. My parents sent me to try and find out what they were. My search took me to the lands on the other side of the mountains. These lands are filled with all kinds of mystical creatures, but it is ruled by a community of Wise Women, as my people call them. These women are the daughters of the Gods. They know of all the mystical creatures of the past and the present. They can tell you everything you need to know about your new powers.” Adam said, the look of awe still on his face.
After the conversation with Adam, I sent Catalina and Rhiannon to get things ready for Rhiannon's birthday ball, and sent Damyen to send word to the temple of what has happened recently, including mine and Michael's transformations. Michael went to talk to the guards and I went to the nursery. Everyone that Michael or I passed in the halls stopped to stare. You would think with my position in society since birth that I would be used to being the center of attention, but I was not. It felt so good to finally get to the nursery.
Adelaide was lying on the floor in the middle of the play area. Lysandra was seated next to her showing her some of the little toys. It seemed Adelaide's favorite was a little stuffed bird. She kept reaching for the wings and giggling. I stood near the door and just watched my daughter for a few moments. It was calming, after everything I had gone through lately and everything I was dealing with. She broke me out of my trance a moment later. She turned her little head and smiled right at me. After that I could not just stand back and watch. I dropped down next to her and started playing too. For a baby only a day old, she moved quite a bit.
Lysandra and I sat in the nursery playing with Adelaide for a few hours before Michael came in to find me. He picked up the baby and told me to follow him., so I did. He led me down to my dressing chambers. Shealah was inside with a rack of new gowns and a basket of baby clothes. “Ana!” She cried when she saw me. “Shea, what are you doing here? I thought you would be getting ready for your wedding.” I asked confused. “Michael sent word to me about what happened this morning, and I figured you could use some new clothes that would accommodate the wings. I went through my stock and brought you every low back gown I had in your size. I also found some beautiful baby dresses I just had to bring for the little princess.” Shea said with a smile. “Oh thank you Shea. Do you have something I can wear to Rhiannon's ball tonight?” I asked excitedly. I always loved new clothes. “Of course. I even have something for Adelaide.”
Shea and I spent the next hour trying on dresses. I finally settled on a purple off the shoulder gown. It was silk and the back was just low enough to be comfortable underneath my wings. There was even a baby version of the gown for Adelaide.
After we got dressed, Adelaide and I went to find the others. Catalina was in the ballroom overseeing the last of the decorating. When I walked in everyone froze. Catalina stared at me for a moment before recovering. She walked up to me and pulled me aside. “What was that about? By now everyone has seen our wings.” I asked Lina quietly. “That was not just for the wings. You looked like a completely different person for a moment. There was an ethereal aura around you. It was strange and beautiful at the same time.” She explained to me. “Okay I cannot take any more of these surprises. Tomorrow, Michael and I are going to the other side of the mountains to find out as much as we can. I will leave you in charge until we return.” I said a little exasperated.
Michael walked in then just in time, but he was not alone. Lady Demetrya was with him. She bowed to me and smiled at Adelaide who was lying in my arms giggling. “Lady Demetrya, how nice to see you.” I said politely. “Thank you Your Majesty. When we received word from your brother in law about what had happened I had to come down.” She said with a smile. “Thank you. It is a big surprise, but so far all we know is that we have wings. I decided that tomorrow we will travel to the lands beyond the mountains and meet with the Wise Women over there. Adam said that they will be able to help us.” I informed her and Michael. “Who is Adam? How does he know about the Wise Women?” Lady Demetrya asked confused. “Adam is my sister Rhiannon's father who we just met yesterday. He is the leader of the mystical beings that live at the base of the mountains. As a child he stumbled upon the body of a woman with wings like ours and his parents sent him to find out what she was. His search brought him to the Wise Women.” I explained and then added, “He is also the one who cured the kingdom of that illness that was killing everyone the last few days.” “I was not aware his people were still in the mountains.” She said matter of factly but her expression looked like she was hiding something. Before I cold question her on it, Damyen walked in. “Stasia, Rhiannon needs your help with her ball gown.” He said, sounding very bored. I nodded before handing Adelaide to Michael and heading down to Rhiannon's dressing chambers.
Rhiannon was inside with Shealah. They were arguing over some part of the gown that Rhiannon was wearing. I stood in the doorway and laughed. It was just like the conversation I had with Shealah before my last birthday ball (before my disappearance). My laughter halted their argument. “What is so funny Stasia?” Rhiannon asked slightly angry. “Oh nothing. It is just that I had that same exact argument with Shealah before my fourteenth birthday ball.” I said still chuckling. “I remember. Your mother stormed in wondering what was taking so long and she started laughing at us.” Shealah said with a smile.
The Ball went smoothly. There were no tragedies and no crimes committed. We had finally had a successful event, the first since my disappearance three years earlier. Rhiannon danced the night away with her new fiance, and Catalina managed to keep everyone from asking questions about me an Michael. By the time midnight came I was ready for a long sleep.
The next morning Lysandra woke us up early. She already had us all packed for our journey, even the baby's stuff. Michael and I got dressed quickly while Lysa dressed the baby for me. After a quick breakfast, we said goodbye to my sisters and headed out with Adam. He would bring us through the mountains.
The journey was long but quite beautiful. It had been years since I had traveled through my kingdom. I loved seeing all the people out and about. They all stopped to wave at us. The lands beyond the villages were even more beautiful. Wild flowers grew everywhere and the wild life was countless. A few hours later, we had finally gotten to the foot of the mountains, where we stopped to take a break to eat. This was where Adam's people lived.
The community Adam and his people built here was beautiful. Everyone worked together to keep it going. There was no separation by rank or power. Adam was their leader but he still got his hands dirty with the menial everyday work. Watching them for the s
hort while Michael and I were among them, made me desire a community like that in my kingdom.
During the rest of the journey through the mountains, I told Michael of my new desires for our kingdom. He loved the idea but he was doubtful it would work with our people. Our kingdom has lived the same way for centuries and the people were not ones for change. We spent the duration of the journey discussing possible futures for our family and our kingdom.
It was just about sunrise when we finally made it out of the mountains. Adam gave us directions to the little village of the Wise Women and left us to return to his people. Michael and I decided to use our wings to make the journey a bit quicker. Michael carried our bags while I carried Adelaide. We flew for a little over an hour before coming to the gates that led to the village. Adam said these gates were spelled to not let any through unless their intentions were pure. We landed in front of them and walked slowly through. As we passed through the gates, we could feel the power rush through us. Even Adelaide felt it, as she giggled in my arms. A short ways down a footpath and we came to the village, where we were met by a beautiful young woman who made me instantly jealous of her beauty.
She greeted us as Lady Davina and welcomed us to the village. Then she led us into a small cottage where he offered us tea and biscuits. “Your Goddess told me you would be coming to us. I could not believe at first that she had awakened more of your kind after so long, but she was always unpredictable.” Lady Davina said with a smile as we sipped our tea. “What is our kind?” I asked getting straight to the point. “Myself and the other women of this village are called the daughters of the Gods. That is not true. We are the daughters of one goddess and a human man. Your kind are called Descendants because you are descended directly from the Gods. The first of your kind were born of two divine parents. Every generation after got a little less of the divine power and eventually your kind died out. But it was said that one of the goddesses who mothered the firsts would be able to awaken more Descendants and they would be as pure as if she had birthed them herself.” She explained. “So you are saying that we are pretty much the children of the Goddess in literal terms?” I questioned. “Basically yes.” “So what does it mean to be a Descendant? What are our abilities and such?” Michael jumped in. “Well first off is the obvious, the wings. You can also wield magic as we can. You can manipulate the elements, and you can not die until you have achieved a status of divinity so that upon your deaths you may be welcomed into the home of the Gods as only their children can be.” Lady Davina answered Michael's question as if she were reading items off a shopping list.
After our first conversation with Lady Davina, she introduced us to her sisters. They all helped us in one way or another to learn about our new abilities and how to use them. Three days after we had arrived in the village, I was reading through a spell book and came across a spell that would fix a problem my family thought unfixable. The spell would make it so a woman who was born without the ability to bare children would be able to bare but one child. After Lady Davina assured me that the spell truly does work, I packed us up and Michael and I flew home.
I wanted to share with Catalina that I had found a way to make her dreams come true. Though when I arrived home I found a scene I was not prepared for. Lysandra met us in the entryway. “Stasia, Michael, I have some amazing news.” She said sounding both excited and confused. “What is it Lysa?” I demanded. “Catalina is with child.”
Divine Royalty (The Descendants Book 1) Page 9
