v. chapter five

3 0 0
                                    

The sun was setting by the time Aeryn had finished packing. The air was humid and Lumine was bathed in a golden glow, making Azrael's wait for the princess even more agonizing. Despite the fact that his pants were sloppily tucked into his boots and the top two buttons on his shirt were undone, he could feel the heat seeping into his bones.

As his foot tapped against the cobblestone driveway, he exhaled sharply.

Aeryn, on the other hand, swore as she rushed to the front doors and yanked them open. She dashed through them, skidding to a halt when she spotted him.

He hadn't yet noticed her, but she couldn't take her gaze away from the large, jet black wings sprouting from his back and almost touching the ground.

She stared at them for another second before clearing her throat, alerting him to her presence.

He turned around and looked her in the eyes.

"You sure you can move in that, sweetheart?" he asked, referring to her dress, which appeared to have too many layers and a corset that was too tight to be comfortable.

"Of course I can. And stop referring to me as that."

"Hmm, I don't think so."

She scoffed. "Are you prepared to leave, or are you going to stand there thinking of more annoying nicknames for me?"

He just gave her a look, and after a few seconds of silence, he motioned for her to come closer. She approached him, her gaze drawn to the sunlight that was casting a golden glow across the front of the castle.

"Where are my bags?" she inquired, having noticed their absence.

"They have already been relocated to the castle. If you're done worrying about your luggage, "he said, reaching out a hand to her once she was close enough. She took a look at it, then at his face, and then back at the hand. She took it cautiously, and then he snatched her into his arms and shot straight up into the sky.

She would've screamed if it hadn't been for the sudden realization that she was in the arms of her sworn enemy and flying. She looked down once she was sure it was safe to do so, and she'd never seen anything so beautiful.

Sprawling forests in various shades of green, lakes and rivers as blue as the sky on a clear day, and small, beige-colored villages whizzed by as they flew. The whirlwind of colors and mist that came from the north was breathtaking. She looked out the window with wide eyes, then noticed a pair of eyes on her. She raised her gaze to Azrael's face, an amused smirk on her face.

"Are you enjoying the scenery, darling?"

She smacked him in the arm as a result. He only laughed, and she could feel his chest rumble with the sound.

"That's even worse!"

"It's amusing to see your reactions, so as long as I get them, I won't stop calling you that."

"All right," she mumbled. Her gaze returned to his wings, and she raised a hand to gently graze the middle of one of them. He shivered.

"Don't do that."

She lowered her hand and, intrigued, asked, "Why not?"

"A sensitive part of each fae's wings, but which part depends on the fae."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I've also been trained to defend these with my life, because humans enjoy slaughtering fae and collecting their wings as trophies. Many of you mortals forget, but you were not the only ones affected by the war."

a kingdom of light and liesWhere stories live. Discover now