The Mariposa

Chapter 18

Kalon

I hadn't been back in the castle since I was a child. I had sworn to myself I never would. When we got up the next morning and the maids returned to get us dressed in stiff gowns that wore you and not the other way around, it all felt familiar. Like a distant acquaintance I had hoped to never see again.

I could tell I was worrying Maeve. To this day I had told her nothing of my past. As much as I loved her, the only person who knew was Azriel and I fully intended to keep it that way.

I was the daughter of one of the most important, wealthy businessmen in the high tier. What his job specifically was remained a mystery to me, and I had never dared to question him. The job kept him and my mother from me and my twin, leading to years of being ignored where the only parenting we got was from the maids. My brother made it his mission to follow in his father's footsteps, but I wouldn't be a pawn in the monarchy's chess game. As soon as I had the opportunity, I stole some wings and flew away from home. Azriel found me at ten years old and recruited me into training for the Mariposa and I had never looked back.

My mission was to help dismantle the monarchy that had encouraged my family to abandon me. Little did I know, I was as much as a pawn as my brother was.

If they found out where I had been all this time...

"Kalon? You good? You've been staring into space for ten minutes. It's time to go, we're supposed to be meeting Elyas for a tour through the tier."

I scoffed, looking at her. "Is that excitement I hear? Have you already forgotten these people are our enemies?"

Maeve rolled her eyes. "They're not all bad, look at Elyas. Besides, as evil as this city is, you can't pretend it isn't cool to look at."

I crossed my arms, refusing to verbally appease her, but quietly stood to my feet, following her out of the room. Before leaving, we collected our wings and met Elyas at the front doors. He smiled brightly at us, and his gaze lingered on my best friend a moment too long.

"Are you two ladies ready to go?"

Maeve opened her mouth to say yes, but I cut in:

"I'd like a hoodie."

He arched one brow. "Cold? I could've gotten the maid to give you longer sleeved dresses."

"A hoodie will do." I didn't want any one of the businessmen that knew my father to catch me. They hadn't seen me since I was a child, but I couldn't be too sure. Elyas got a maid to fetch me a hoodie, and I put it on, slipping my wings through the holes on the back. I flipped it over my head and followed them out of the castle.

We were halted by a guard. "You will need protection, Your Highness. Allow me to come with you."

Elyas smiled, glancing at the two of us. "They are the ones who saved me in the first place. I think I am in perfectly good hands, thank you."

The guard reluctantly let him go, returning to his post.

Elyas took off, Maeve and I close behind him. We descended until we reached the city we had flown through before, landing on the street. We walked along the meteorite road, looking up at the skyscrapers as we passed them.

"You two should see this city at night. It's even more gorgeous. All of the buildings light up like a bunch of stars," Elyas said.

Maeve had a look of sheer amazement on her face as she looked at her surroundings and I couldn't help but smile at her wonder. We were hardly sent on missions to the high tier, and when we were, it was an in and out mission. She had lived almost her entire life in grungy cities with grey, polluted skies. This was a far cry from that.