The Wings of the Beautifully Fallen

Chapter 1: Illiana

Chapter 1: Illiana

My fingers slid over the written words, dragging my eyes along as I digested the words in front of me. This was one of my favorite stories; a girl who wanted to save her family from an evil man who had stolen them. She wanted to protect them from the evils of the outside world and the darkness that it contained. That was one of the few things we had in common and why I loved her. We were so different and, yet, similar. We both have a family to protect, except my evil-doer was not some stranger.

A small sigh slid from my lips as I turned the page, staring at the new words that danced in front of me, waiting to tell their story.

"Reading your fairy tale again?" A voice sounded behind me and I turned to see my eldest brother, Leo, standing there with a tired expression. He walked towards me and collapsed on the floor in front of me.

"It's no a fairy tale!" I insisted, knowing full well that he wouldn't understand or change his mind. To him, all the books I read were fairy tales, stories so caught up in another world that they cannot tell the reality of ours. At least, that's what he thinks.

He huffed slightly before turning to lay on his stomach, his eyes closed and nuzzled into the crook of his arm. I stared at my brother for a moment, studying him. His brown hair was a mess as if he had been trying to rip his hair out for some reason or another. A slight discoloration stained the skin below his eyes as if he had not gotten enough sleep. Not that it would be a surprise, it was impossible to get enough sleep around here.

"Have the kids been giving you a hard time?" I questioned and he snorted in response, his green eyes staring lazily back at me.

"When aren't they?" He questioned with a smile. "They just want to play and have fun but they cannot. Not here, at least, and it is almost impossible to keep them in line." Leo grumbled before placing his head back down, resting his eyes from the day. "I'm not sure how much more we can take of this. We're not immortal, you know."

"I know, but what are we supposed to do? We're the eldest and we should be trying to protect our little brothers and sisters." I reminded him and he nodded.

"I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. We need to get away from here, away from everyone and make a new life for ourselves."

"And pray tell, who would take in all of us, even if we are a part of the Royal Family?" I demanded and sighed, shaking my head slightly. "After all, our father is not exactly well liked by anyone, someone would probably try to use us to get to him." Leo snorted in response and I knew fully well why. Our father would not lift a finger if we got ourselves in a spot of trouble. He would tell us that we were on our own and would tell our captors to go ahead and kill us. There was no where for us to go even if we couldn't stay here.

"Out of curiosity, do you know where Father is?" Leo asked suddenly, his words interrupting my thoughts and I nodded in response.

"He's down the hall in his study, working on something or another."

"Then I think I'll take the kids to the other side of the palace, try to give them some time to be loud and rambunctious." He sighed as he pushed himself up and stretched, a yawn tearing through his body as he turned to look at me. "Why don't you come along and you can read that book to the little ones. They'd probably enjoy it."

"They would enjoy if I just sat there smiling." I told him and he nodded, an amused smile on his lips.

"Well, they do see you as their mom." Leo admitted, his hand fell on my shoulder as he smiled down at me. "Though, I'll always see you as the little sister that needs my protection."