CHAPTER 13 #2
Thoughts raced through my mind. Were mortals really that bad? A moment later, I boldly reached for the notebook that was now sitting beside the Prince on a pillow.
“Nothing interesting is in there, but go ahead and look.” His eyes remained closed, not bothered at all.
So, I did. I opened the pages and was met with words written in black ink:
‘Things Sweetheart Notices’ was written at the top of the page, and then below it in a list:
- Tulips
- Willow Tree
I rolled my eyes at the title, but then wondered how? He had nothing to write with, yet the words were right there, staring back at me. “How did you write this without a pen?”
He opened one eye in my direction before smiling and answering, “Magic.”
“Show me,” I demanded, curiosity getting the better of me.
Without even moving a muscle, black mist emanated from the page, and script crept across the page, one cursive letter after the other.
‘Hello Sweetheart, you looked gorgeous this morning.’ appeared on the page. I slammed the book shut, causing a cloud of black mist to erupt and dissipate into the air. He would use this moment to try to flirt with me. Not happening.
“Nice party trick,” was all I said, trying to hide my amazement, but all he did was laugh, so I tossed the book onto his stomach, refraining from thinking about those rock-hard abs.
The Prince allowed me to sit for a while, taking my time until I was ready to move on.
The entire time I spent thinking of ways he could have made the words appear in the book.
We got up and left the willow tree's cover, and again it parted its leaves for us, closing them behind us once we were through.
A shadow swept across the ground in front of us, and I looked up to the sky, but the sun blinded me, and I could only see a large figure fly by.
“What was that?” I asked, watching the figure glide towards a large building beside the manor.
“A horse.” He said bluntly, as if I should know what it was.
A horse? Horses can’t fly. Well, they couldn’t before. But trees also didn’t dance, and tulips didn’t hide from my touch.
“Would you like to head to the stables? He asked, letting me decide how far I wanted to go today.
“Yes, I think I would.” Curiosity always got the better of me.
We approached the vast stables; their sheer size was staggering; they could easily house at least thirty horses.
The exterior was made of the same stone as the manor, and the roof was black metal.
The front doors, also made of the same hard material, were wider than normal stable doors.
The Prince pushed them open, and a large dirt pathway lay in front of us.
Lanterns trailed down the stone walls, and a small ball of light was bouncing around in each one.
The Prince stood back, waiting for me to walk further and explore, so I accepted his silent invitation and proceeded.
I walked over to one of the stone stables, where I could see a dark grey horse’s head peeking out.
I had always loved horses ever since I was a child.
My mother gave me a small wooden horse figurine for my birthday one year, a memory that now seemed like forever ago.
The horse nickered at me, dragging me away from my fond memories.
Its head was poking out of a wrought iron gate that had a wolf's head embellished into the ironwork. Reaching my hand out to rub the horse’s snout, I froze in place, my hand hovering just above its nose.
It nickered again and pressed its nose up into my hand.
Holy shit! I was lost in awe. The horse had two giant wings protruding from its back.
It flared them open, stretching them towards the sky, and then tucked them in neatly at its side to rest. They were a lighter grey than their body and looked as soft as a feather.
Wait, they were feathers! Delicately large feathers lined down the length of their wings and filled them out completely.
Each feather looked softer than the one before it.
“They are called Pegasus, technically, but we just call them horses. It is easier to remember when we are around mortals, and it prevents unnecessary conversations.” The Prince reached out and scratched under the horse’s chin, and it neighed in response.
“Can… can they really fly?” I looked at him as I asked, slowly moving my hand up and down its nose, feeling the horse press into my hand for more pets, so I obliged, “No, it was a giant bird that flew above us.” He joked.
I rolled my eyes as he chuckled softly.
His laugh was entrancing, light but dark at the same time, just soft enough to hear but loud enough to fill a room.
“Yeah, they are an integral part of our training and battles.
They fly high into the sky and use cloud cover to sneak up on our enemies, but also allow for quick ground speed if needed. "
I looked back at the winged horse, the Pegasus, and looked at how wonderful and amazing the creature that stood in front of me was.
It was so powerful… “How does the incantation hide them from us?”
“I was wondering when you were going to ask about that. They look like normal horses to human eyes, and when they take to the air, well, the incantation blocks that part in the mortal's mind. To put it simply, you don’t see them when they are in flight.”
A bell chimed above us, and somewhere from the back of the stables a voice called out, “Clear the landing!”
The landing? What was a landing? Did they mean a balcony?
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wings beating the air and hooves hitting the dirt.
I quickly turned towards the sound, and a giant winged horse was barreling right towards me.
Before I could even react, the Prince had grabbed me into his arms and whirled us around until I was pressed against his chest and the wall, his arms wrapped protectively around me.
We didn’t move and were frozen in place for, I don’t know how long, seconds?
Minutes? I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against me, against my cheek, and my breathing quickened, locked in his embrace.
He held me there, not letting go, and I felt safe, secure, almost like I didn’t want him to let go.
But his grip loosened around my waist, releasing me,
“Uh…. um…. Thank you.” I said, the warmth creeping up my cheeks, and I pushed away from his body, looking to the ground to hide my reddening face.
“No need to thank me.” He said in an uneven voice, clearly caught up in what had just occurred.
My face felt even hotter now, and a small smile touched his lips.
“And what are you two up to?” A deep husky voice called from behind us, and a man hopped down from the horse that had just run…. I mean, flew in.
“Ah, Ulric, right on time. Always interrupting me at the worst times.” The Prince said, walking over to him and slapping him on the back, which then turned into a hug. Ulric returned the motion.
“It is my job to make sure you stay out of trouble, isn’t it? And to me, this looks like trouble.” His eyes flashed over to where I stood, my face fully on fire now.
“She is a guest here, and it is my duty to make sure she is well acquainted with the grounds. At least until we can figure out what is going on. So far, she has been able to see everything; the incantation is hiding nothing from her.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin and looked at me.
Ulric moved towards the horse and began unhooking the large leather saddle, which was designed so it wouldn’t interfere with the horse's wings.
It had intricate carvings of wolves, mountains, and the moon.
They sure loved their wolves here. “Has the Professor found any information on her yet?” He asked as he threw the saddle over a stable wall.
“Not yet, he is looking into the archives to see if there is anything in the past that would be of interest to us.” The Prince grabbed the horse’s reins and walked it into a stall, as Ulric grabbed a hay bale and tossed it in, which the horse seemed happy to indulge in.
“Very curious, I’m sure with time everything will make sense. For now, we should remain cautious; we don’t know who or what she is.” Ulric said as he closed and locked the stable door.
Here they go again, talking about me as if I wasn’t standing right here.
“My name is Avyn Ashwood. I have nothing to hide, at least I don’t think so.
I grew up in the small village of Vryndhal, on the outskirts of the kingdom.
For all I know, I am a mortal, and I am also standing right fucking here, so please don’t talk about me like I’m not.
” Crossing my arms, I stared Ulric right in the eyes, challenging him to fight back.
His eyes were cocoa brown, with a red undertone, and they looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them.
His face twisted into a grimace, but the Prince let out a laugh at my outburst.
“Well, now that the two of you are friends, shall we?” he turned and walked towards the entrance of the stables, “Unless you want to fight each other first.”
Ulric didn’t move, continuing to stare me down. I glanced upwards in exasperation and scoffed in his direction, then walked out after the Prince, Ulric, trailed behind us like a good little doggy.