Hiraeth: Blackout (I)

Chapter Sixteen

Bexley walked me in and out of leafy tunnels, over vine-bridges, through enormous flowery greenhouses, and under a vast floating pool of water with seahorses congregating inside.

After some time, Bexley and I sat in one of the greenhouses, surrounded by purple lilacs and magenta snapdragons.

"Bexley?" I asked weakly.

"Yes, Mike?" she replied.

I felt my ears flatten on my neck, my heart sinking as I remembered the conversation I had overheard the Night before. "Are these... Did I have these wings before?"

Bexley's hand grew stiff against mine. She looked away warily, lips pursed. "What do you mean..?"

"I heard Ju-" I paused, remembering how Bexley had reacted to him telling me about phase two. "-Uh, I overheard some soldiers talking about how you... gave me... wings."

Bexley's eyes flickered, her face dark. "Oh." She went silent for a minute, sighing and gripping my hand tighter. "That's not true."

"But I-"

Bexley shot up angrily. "-I said it's not true!"

I cowered back, afraid she might yell at me like she did with July.

Seeing my reaction, Bexley closed her eyes and paused, letting go of my hand.

Suddenly, her face lit up and she explained, "The reason they said that was because your wings were torn by the Ragdoll Army. They couldn't function, you wouldn't have been able to fly in that condition. So I healed you. In a way, I suppose I gave you wings. But they're yours. They've always been yours."

I felt myself smile. I'd wanted them to belong to me so much. "Thank you for healing me, Bexley," I said, intertwining our fingers.

She let out a small gasp. Her eyes grew brighter and her smile widened. "Oh, um... You're welcome."

"Thank you for being patient with me, even though I can hardly remember a thing and I'm barely any help," I added.

Bexley stared into my eyes with a sentimental, longing expression on her face. She seemed unable to speak, so I smiled gently and stood beside her.

"You okay?" I asked, tilting my head.

Suddenly, Bexley leaned in closer to me and kissed my cheek. "I'm wonderful."

I felt butterflies in my stomach, and blood rushed to my face in the blink of an eye. I just stood there awkwardly. I didn't know how to respond.

The queen giggled and kissed my other cheek. "C'mon, let's go."

#

Bexley had to take care of things outside the mansion, so I got to hang out with Jade.

"How'd it go?" he asked while we walked through the mansion's diamond halls.

"It went alright."

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Well, not really. Mallory hates me, though."

"The overseer of the Southern Realm? She hates everybody."

"Well, she was kind of... upset to see me there. No one told her."

"Hmm."

"Oh, and Bexley took me to the gardens-"

"-BEXLEY TOOK YOU TO THE WHAT?!"

I jumped back in surprise. "The gardens. What's wrong?"

Jade's face grew into the biggest grin I'd seen. "Didja kiss?!"