Road of the Heavenly Light

2-3: Annora's Wings

The next day, Amaya woke up feeling more determined than ever to bond with Aella, and she was hoping her pegasus had already forgotten all about yesterday. Once she stepped foot out of her room she saw that all of her dorm mates were already awake too. As much as the three of them were a noisy bunch and would sometimes irritate her to no end, she would definitely miss their company. Eleanor's skills at mending clothes and making delicious tea were unrivaled, as were Audrey's lively court gossip stories and Isabella's skill at cooking.
"Good morning," Amaya yawned.
"Good morning! How did you sleep?" Audrey asked.
"Not the best, but it's nothing you should worry about."
"Is it about Aella? You seemed frustrated when you left us yesterday," Isabella said.
"N-No! Well, yes, but I said you don't need to worry!" Amaya answered, leaving the dorm, making the others laugh.
"Who is Aella? An unrequited crush?" Eleanor asked.
"Oh god no, Eleanor! It's the name of Amaya's pegasus. Amaya has always been scared of pegasi up until yesterday, but when Amaya tried touching Aella, the pegasus backed away," Audrey explained.
"I hope Amaya will be able to fix things... That must be awful." And trying to fix things was what Amaya was going to do right now, because she immediately went towards the stables to hopefully gain Aella's trust for good. She opened the door and saw Drake tending to his wyvern.
"What are you doing here?!" Amaya asked.
"That's none of your damn business!" Amaya rolled her eyes and ignored Drake, walking towards Aella, who was already wide awake because of a certain wyvern being a looming threat that would likely never go away. Amaya tried her best to smile to appear friendly towards Aella. Perhaps it was fortunate that Drake was here. She just needed to do this one thing and then she could immediately prove to him that she was better than him. The expression on Drake's face would likely be priceless. Aella stared at Amaya with a slightly distrusting look, but Amaya kept smiling. She reached out her hand towards Aella's forehead, but once again the pegasus took steps backwards.
"Why do you keep doing this?!" Amaya immediately covered her mouth upon saying that. She forgot for a moment that Drake was also there. Amaya turned around to see Drake with the most disgusting, loathing grin on his face. She could even swear she saw Set having the same grin.
"Pathetic," he said, taking Set with him and leaving. Amaya had just embarrassed herself in front of Drake, and it was all Aella's fault.
"Thank you for the help, now he thinks I'm even weaker than he already did!" Amaya shouted, leaving the stables.

Amaya went back inside the school and joined everyone else at breakfast. She was not in the mood to talk or even listen to anything the others had to say, so she quietly observed the room from her table. It was always the same people sitting together, and it annoyed her now more than ever. Everything annoyed her right now, though. There was the group of her, Audrey, Isabella, and Eleanor. Then there was the group that was seemingly at the center of everything, consisting of Anna, Elizabeth, Felix, Levi, Laura, Astrid, and that annoying Glen that just wouldn't leave any girls alone. Amaya recognized Howard and Apollo sitting together in the corner, one table filled with the annoying Theros nobles that remained even after Richard's actions and the whole school disliking them for their annoying behavior, Elizabeth included. The rest of the tables were quite similar, as most people sat with their countrymen, and most nobles and commoners sat separately. Not that there were many commoners, probably around seven in total including Isabella. Finally, there was always only one student missing from every meal, which was Drake. Nobody knew where he ate, but he always disappeared for every meal and returned for the lessons. It was rumored that he was meeting with a girl he was dating (Audrey managed to convince almost the entire school of this, despite the fact that Drake had the social skills of a boulder.), but Amaya guessed he was just drinking away in some tavern in Earth. Perhaps he gambled, if that was a thing in Divinia. Ugh, just thinking about Drake made Amaya angry again. Why wouldn't Aella just like her?! If only she hadn't just been scared of anything with hoofs for her entire life... Perhaps she could have trained with the other pegasus knights, and she would have been a fully-fledged pegasus knight by now. But no, her own pegasus disliked her... And yet, how could Amaya just give up like that? Her mother would be disappointed her... She decided to give bonding with Aella one last chance after school.

Sadly, that chance didn't arise until after dinner, late into the evening, due to the amount of homework Amaya had to do. The exams were slowly itching closer and if she didn't keep up, she would definitely fail. Amaya had to quietly walk on her toes through her dorm, because the others were already sleeping. When she went inside the stables, she saw that Aella wasn't sleeping. Amaya gestured for her to follow her, and surprisingly, Aella did indeed follow her. Amaya hoped it wasn't just so the other horses wouldn't wake up. The two walked toward a place that was out of sight of any balconies and castle entrances. Once they stood still, Amaya grabbed her wind tome from her bag and cast a spell in the air.
"Look, I learned this yesterday. Great, isn't it?" Amaya said. Aella didn't seem impressed.
"Now, do you want to try it while flying?" Amaya tried once again to touch Aella, but was refused once more.
"Why won't you just let me ride you?! If I ever want to be like my mother and be better than Drake you need to like me!" And after she said that, it hit her. Pegasi could sense people's true feelings and intentions.
"Wait... that's it, isn't it?" Aella seemed to nod. Amaya fell on her knees and looked at the ground.
"I... I've been so selfish. I was so caught up in my mother's expectations and my rivalry with Drake that I never thought about your feelings... I'm sorry, Aella." Aella walked towards Amaya and sat down, and Amaya hugged the head of her pegasus.
"I'll stop being selfish from now on, and be considerate towards your feelings too, even if I can't understand what you say. It's alright if you don't want me, though." Aella stood up, and spread her wings. Amaya looked up, and smiled.
"I guess you don't need to speak our language for me to understand you." Amaya walked up to her pegasus, and sat down in the saddle. Aella started flapping her wings and went into the sky. Amaya looked at the surroundings, and cast a wind spell towards the moon.
"Thank you, Aella, I promise I'll never neglect you again."