by Iyanna Orr
At first, he thought she was doing quite well despite her nervousness. Her wings were holding her, and she was working up the courage to hover every few seconds, hands clenching the legs of her pants. It wasn’t until one of her wings hit the ceiling with a thump that she started to fall. Chandler dived forward and caught her, jerking to a stop when he hit the wall. Angel gasped, and the usual air of strength was broken when she wrapped her arms around him and clung, burying her head between them.
“That was good,” he told her. “You’re okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’d have to have been asleep in the first place to be woken up, Angel. You always could’ve asked for help. But, just now, you looked like you were doing just fine.” Chandler laughed softly to keep from bothering the others. “But can I give you a word of advice?”
“What?”
“You might want to try flying outside,” he whispered. For a moment, she was silent, and then she laughed. Angel sniffed, picking up her head, and Chandler was surprised to see the sheen of tears in her eyes. “I could show you.” She nodded, and they turned for the door. They were on the third floor, but he stepped out onto the balcony looking out over the courtyard. Looking down at Angel one last time, Chandler braced himself before jumping over the banister.
Chapter 16 – Arrival
The passing time of the last couple of months wasn’t obvious in the courtyard, but the events that had taken place there was. Numerous games of wing-ball and late night camp sessions with the villagers had left its mark on the usual neatness of the grass. Gargoyles stood at each pillar holding up the balconies. Their stone eyes stared at them as they all moved to the center, where a fire pit stood cold in the moonlight. Standing next to it, Chandler’s eyes flickered back, where he’d let Angel down. He stood and turned to face her. She was standing next to a pillar, her knees locked together and arms crossed tightly over her chest as she glanced around. She saw his eyes on her and looked away.
“It’s cold,” she whispered, and her breath came out in a puff of white before her. Chandler smiled as she glanced back over at him. He sat down on the wall of the fire pit and crossed his arms, mimicking her. He saw her attempt to hide a smile and shook his head.
“We both knew the cold isn’t bothering anybody,” he said to her. Uncrossing his arms, Chandler gestured her closer. Hesitantly, she made her way to him until she stood but a few feet away. “Oh, come on,” Chandler groaned teasingly, then dragged her the rest of the way. Coming to a staggering stop in front of him, she elbowed him lightly before standing still, taking a deep breath. Chandler put his hands on her shoulders, feeling the tenseness of them under his fingers. “All right, Angel,” He said. “What I want you to do is extend your wings. Get them as far away from your body as you can.” She slowly complied, and Chandler felt his own wings extend, two feet longer than hers on each side. “Now, can you feel that?” This feeling was the muscles stretching, tensing, and waiting for the moment of flight. “They want to obey you. All you have to do is give them the command.”
“It doesn’t usually work,” Angel mumbled, but her attention abruptly went from Chandler to her wings. He felt them tremble and watched the tips flicker back and forth. The movement quickly rippled up the planes of her wings, and they were beating at the air, her feet an inch off the ground.
“Good,” he said. “Go higher.”
“I can’t! This isn’t like inside. There’s so much space out here. If I fall who knows what could happen,” she answered as her feet met the ground once again. Chandler smiled and beat his own wings, rising, so he was above her, hovering in the air as his wings flapped lazily.
“Hey, look at me, Angel,” he said. She looked up, and her orange beams flickered as she blinked. “I won’t let you get hurt, all right?”
Angel paused, turning to look up at Chandler.
“All right.”
“Good. Now, come on.”
Her wings started moving until they were moving fast enough to push her up. Chandler saw her eyes close, but instead of interrupting her progress, he silently pushed her on. Her body rose higher and higher as her wings fluttered at the stiff winds fighting back. Her hands were stretched in front of her with her fingers splayed wildly as they trembled. Her feet kicked as if this would help with her flight. Her eyes never opened as she drew closer to Chandler, but she reached out and grabbed his leg, using it to pull herself up further. After she had a sure grip on him, she picked her way up until she could use her arms to hold on. Her wings stopped moving and automatically folded against her.
“Was that so bad?” Chandler asked her. She nodded against him.
“Yes.” Her voice came out unsteady. “I’m never going to be able to do this. It’s too high.”
“The height gets to be familiar,” Chandler assured her. “When I got my wings, I was terrified. I didn’t want to use them either, especially since I was on Earth, and everything there is different.”
“You’ve been to Earth?” Angel suddenly asked, her head coming up. She seemed to forget where they were as her eyes shown up at him. “What’s it like?” Surprised, Chandler’s mind turned to what he’d seen, heard and experienced before everything had turned to hell. Life on Earth wasn’t simple nor was everything a utopia that made everyone’s lives perfect. But when it was compared to this, years away from the technological advances that had taken over the human mind, Earth was a utopia. Legacy was being held back from what it could accomplish if Drake weren’t still using fear and murder to keep his reign. It was being ruled by a man who would rather start a war or, better yet, destroy anything and everything that wasn’t going in his favor. The one thing separating Earth and Legacy is that the humans would never allow a tyrant to rule them; not without trying to do something about it.
“It’s a lot better than here,” Chandler finally murmured, eyes turning to the strange stars.
“I want to be able to travel there,” Angel responded. “I want to see where all the other species evolved from. The differences between the cultures of the planets would be obvious, but without magic, Earth is real.”
“If you want to go so badly, why don’t you?” Chandler asked curiously. “I know you’ve got the power to do it, too.”
“Traveling to Earth without permission is against every law the universe runs on, especially for those with magic. Nobody wants to expose Earth to it and change something in the way the world there runs.” Chandler felt her shrug and looked down at her.
“I’ll tell you this. If I ever get the chance, I’ll take you to see Earth.”
“Really?” At that moment, her excitement could compete with Rose’s, and Chandler grinned.
“Really. But, first, I want you to fly. I’m going to go take a look at the village from the sky. If you can’t follow, then maybe I’ll have to rethink you visiting Earth.” He gave her a wink, so she’d know he was kidding as he dropped her back to the ground. Then he waved and took off, flying fast enough that he knew she’d have to try to keep up. Chandler passed over the wall of the courtyard and ducked lower, instead of going higher like he said he would. He knew if she were going to get better at this, she’d need some challenge.
Chandler weaved in and out of the cottages until he could see the gate enclosing the entirety of Rockbryr. Then he flew up and landed on top of the wall, crouching down and staring intently at the direction he’d come from. At first, there was no movement, then Angel’s blonde head poked through the final barrier of houses, and she unsteadily flew over to Chandler. Her eyes were wide, showing white all around, but her body looked like it was used to the sky. Chandler smiled on the inside as he watched her land on her feet on top of the wall, but her wings stayed ready. When Angel looked at him, he cocked an eyebrow, then turned and started running along the wall.
“What are you doing?” she called out behind him, but he could hear her following. Chandler didn’t answer and picked up speed. His feet moved in a
blur to Angel’s eye, just as she’d noticed near the beginning. Chandler felt like he was pulling energy from every source of life around him, and it was giving him what he didn’t have when he was on Earth. When he reached the corner of the wall, he jumped, dropping down the cliff side like a rock. Flipping onto his back and looking up, Chandler could see the surprise and horror in Angel’s eyes as she watched. He just raised a hand and gestured for her to follow, and then he whipped his wings out to the side and caught the speeding wind. The hollow drop in his stomach made Chandler’s blood pump faster through his veins, just like the remembered feeling of the roller coasters Earth. He let out a yell of exuberance. It echoed around him until Angel’s scream pierced the air. Quickly, Chandler pulled himself to a stop and flipped around to look at her. But she had it under control. She pulled her wings and was pulled back up a few feet before she started flapping to keep up. She made her way over to him, her face flushed and eyes bright.
“That was awesome!” she laughed. Chandler nodded to her in agreement.
“I’ve only ever felt that rush here, and it was better than anything I ever could have experienced back home.”
Home. The word was foreign. The last time Chandler had believed in home seemed to be so long ago. It was just a place on a road where people were afraid to drive. He could just recall the moment Max had told him to go back home. What had she meant by it? By then, he’d known that Zafrina wasn’t real, but what would have come of going back to that house?
Chandler realized that he and Angel had been flying back toward the manor in silence. A bright haze of orange-hue light was filling the sky, and he knew the sun had finally broken over the horizon.
“Those princes are being knighted today,” Angel suddenly said. “Avan thought it would be a good idea to have more knights to better enforce the tax collection.”
“Well, the tax collection hasn’t been going well,” Chandler said. “Between these people, they don’t have money. Everything is codependent. They only keep money around because of the tax. I suspect I’m only here because Drake knew I would fail whatever test he was giving me.”
“How long do you think they have until the money runs out?” she questioned.
“I’ve got no idea, but when it does, Drake will know about it. Then we’ll have another problem on our hands.”
“He’d come here.”
“Yeah,” Chandler answered. “He would.”
When they arrived back to the manor, it was already up and running. The villagers had been invited inside to witness the ceremony though it really wasn’t that big of a deal. The grand hall had been turned into a ballroom. Three tables at the far end of the hall were filled to touching with chairs. Food had obviously been set up on the table at some point, but it was gone since Leon seemed to have volunteered to taste test everything.
Angel immediately took off for one of the tables, where some of the Nephling were already seated. Chandler saw her roommates pull her to sit next to them, and then he turned away and walked over to where Avan was leaning against a stage that had been raised at the other end of the room.
“Who decided this had to be such a big deal?” Chandler asked him.
“The princes,” Avan snorted. “They might be good fighters now, but they can’t seem to grasp that they relinquished their titles the moment they skipped out of Legacy castle and decided to follow you.”
“A few late-night training exercises should drill it in,” Chandler suggested, and the side of Avan’s mouth pulled up into a smile.
“That’s up to Leon,” he admitted. “Until they’re officially knighted and have sworn their loyalty to you, he’s their boss. After all, he did mentor them.”
“Here come the sideshows now.” Chandler pointed out where Tyler and Troy stood in the doorway. Their armor had been created locally because there was only armor enough here to dress Avan and Leon. They fiddled with the black cloaks stitched with the winged symbol of Rockbryr until they noticed they had an audience. Then both jogged across the room to them. Avan nudged Chandler briefly before he walked away to speak with Leon.
“Hey, Chandler,” Tyler said.
“Hey. How you guys feeling about this?”
“I know I’m great. I feel like I’ve finally done something. Aidan always wanted to be a knight instead of a prince, but Dad didn’t want his oldest son having dreams like that.” Tyler shook his head with a disgusted look. “When he disappeared, all we wanted was to do something that would make Aidan proud.”
“We’ve done it. That I’m sure of.” Troy put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder and started tugging him away. “We’ll see you later, Lord Dixon.”
“Don’t call me that,” Chandler muttered in agitation as they were walking away. He’d told them the same thing since he’d been given the title, but he thought they just enjoyed watching Chandler squirm. He gave a huff and turned away from them. Leaning against the wall, he kept his eyes on the tables where most of the Nephling had taken their seats. The morning had progressed and brightened, but the usual sounds of the villagers coming awake outside were silent. Inside, today, they were making friends with the Nephling; meeting with those they weren’t all that familiar with. Chandler liked the way it felt so natural to be here with them. There was calmness he’d never felt before in his life.
Some time later, Leon went around to Chandler to tell him the ceremony was beginning. Chandler made his way onto the stage to stand before Troy and Tyler. They looked back and nodded before kneeling down onto the floor. Leon, who’d gone up with Chandler, removed his sword from its sheath and handed it to Chandler. The silence of the room surrounded them as Chandler held it down to his side. He recalled the words Avan had written for him to say. Chandler ran through them and let them spill from his mouth.
“Today, you are all gathered to bear witness to the knighting of Prince Troy Kinsey and Prince Tyler Kinsey of the kingdom Ethausa. They’ve willingly stripped themselves of their royal titles and have given themselves over to be the servants of Rockbryr and the people who survive here.” A cheer rose up, silencing Chandler from going on. He suppressed a grin as Troy and Tyler snickered as silently as they could without seeming to ridicule the ceremony. Chandler waited patiently while they all settled down and then continued. “As Lord of Rockbryr and this manor, it falls to me to give it to them. And so—”
Chandler’s words froze as he stared at the doors of the grand hall. Just a second earlier, they’d slammed open, making a fair share of the people in the room jump and look as well. The Nephling, in particular, had removed themselves from their seats to put distance between them and the man who’d come striding into the doors. The king of Legacy didn’t seem to notice them as he turned to face Chandler, flashing a smile as though they were long, lost friends. Chandler had to remind himself of the role he was playing. It took him all of a few seconds to melt and make his way down the stairs of the stage. Behind Drake, Zafrina extended her arms to him, and Chandler walked into them without hesitation.
“This is a surprise.” Chandler managed to say once he’d taken a step back. Looking at them, he inwardly cringed at the silence that had risen in the grand hall. “Was there a messenger I missed?
“Of course not,” Zafrina laughed. “We thought we’d come for a visit to see how well you’ve been getting on these past months. We had been expecting more contact than your knight coming to deliver the taxes last month.”
“I apologize,” Chandler answered. “I’ve been a bit busy.”
“As we can see.” Drake peered over to the stage. “What are King Elrid’s sons doing up there? Is this a knighting?”
“Yes, it is.” Avan suddenly appeared beside Chandler, bowing deeply until Drake grunted out something like a command for him to stand. “We ran into a little trouble in the Ring. It was lucky the boys chose to follow us.”
“Of course. I heard of Sir Thackory’s unfortunate downfall.” Zafrina sighed sympathetically. “His family moved to Legacy Five after they heard the n
ews.”
Avan, Leon, and Chandler exchanged glances. Chandler quickly looked away, gesturing for Angel to come over. She was hesitant at first but shuffled over, hiding slightly behind his back.
“Would you and the others mind getting a table for the King and Queen?”
“Yes, Lord Dixon,” she muttered before running back over to the others. Matthew and Nate detached themselves from the group, obviously constructing a barrier around her while she and Nate began to use their magic to conjure the table and chairs. Matthew, who had gotten his magic a while back in the practices, stood back and watched. His magic wasn’t nearly as strong as theirs, but instead of returning to the bitter little boy, he seemed to have accepted it. After the table was set, complete with more food than was necessary, Drake ordered them to drag it to the middle of the room. That’s when Chandler stepped in and told them to go have a seat.
Chandler took the time and energy to move the table to the place Drake had indicated. Drake looked pleased with it and even went so far as to pat Chandler on the shoulder before holding out Zafrina’s seat for her. Chandler made his way back to the stage as Drake sat and picked the ceremony back up from where it’d left off.
Nothing was the same after they arrived. The conversation that rose from the tables was forced. There wasn’t anything anyone could say to bring back the level of familiar comfort they’d built. Troy and Tyler were obviously a little put out that it had been their day interrupted, but as Chandler sat at the separate table for himself and the knights, he reminded them that Drake and Zafrina would leave, eventually. It was enough to bring them out of the dark holes they’d buried themselves in but not enough to make any of them forget the enemy sitting on the other side of the room.
