The Wings of the Beautifully Fallen

Chapter 35: Reginald

Chapter 35: Reginald.

My hand rapped on the door, waiting, hoping that Illiana will answer. I had only just arrived back from town, my hair and clothes soaked by the violent story, and I should be changing, but I wanted, needed to see her. I did not tell her because I wanted it to be a surprise, but I had gone there for her, to get something that I thought she may like.

My finger slid over the small box in my pocket, imagining the silver necklace laying inside, the blue gems that decorated it waiting for the light to hit it. Overall, it was a simple necklace, small and pendant-like, but it was beautiful and elegant as well. All I could do was hope that Illiana would find it pleasing as well.

I knocked again only to be answered by silence. Could it be that she was asleep? That she had laid down for a nap? Even so, it was almost time for dinner and she would have to wake up for that. Of course another possibility was that she was not even in the room.

With a sigh, my hand slid from the pocket, and onto the door knob, gently pushing the door open without even a sound. My gaze slid from one wall to the next, studying the empty room and freshly made bed. There was no fire in the fire place, no food or drink on the table in front of me. If I did not know any better, it would be like she did not even live here.

Turning on my heel, I hurried down the hall, wondering where my wife had disappeared to. With the storm, it was possible that she could be in a few places, but since no one had seen her, I had assumed that she would have been in her room.

"Did you find her?" Father demanded as I walked toward him and I shook my head and he looked at me curiously. "Where could she have gone?"

"I have not a clue. Are you sure that no one saw her?" I demanded and he shook his head, his right hand lifting and stroking the small stubble of his beard.

"No one has seen her since after breakfast." His hand patted my shoulder, his eyes smiling gently at me. "I will start an order for the maids and butlers to look for her. I am sure she is just tucked away in some small room or another, reading or going over her lessons."

"Hopefully." I nodded once before passing him and kicking myself off the ground. I had doubted that Illiana would be just anywhere, rather somewhere she felt comfortable. The most obvious one, minus her room, would be the library.

"Prince Reginald!" A high pitched voice shouted in surprise and my eyes flickered over to see two familiar faces as their bodies curtsied at me.

"Isabella, Elizabeth. Have you seen Princess Illiana?" I demanded, feeling the frustration as they shook their heads, the defeated looks on their faces, their eyes refusing to look at me.

"We have been trying to find her but she does not seem to be anywhere, your majesty." Isabella muttered, curtsying again, her voice choked with tears. I knew that these two were already close to wife, that they meant a lot to each other, but if they could not find her, then where was she?

"Do you know anything that might help me find her? Anything at all?"

"When I was with her this morning!" Elizabeth exclaimed, her eyes glaring up at me before looking away, almost unable to say a thing.

"Tell me." I told her and she nodded, refusing to look at me in fear or in sorrow.

"She was acting a little strange. Her hand would never leave her wrist and she just kept staring out the window. It was like she had lost something close to her." The girl swallowed nervously as her arms wrapped around her middle, her body doing a mix of a bow and a curtsy all at one time.

My shoulders tensed in realization. Something lost that was on her wrist. There was only one thing that I had ever seen on her wrist, the bracelet made by her siblings. If she thought she had lost that, I was sure that she would do anything to get it back. And, if she lost it and couldn't find it here, there was only one other place she would look.

My feet pounded the ground as I turned away and ran towards the stairs, beating my wings behind me until I was up in the air. If I was right, then Illiana had decided to go back to the cottage on foot.

*

Rain drops pummeled into my face and arms as I shot through the sky, fighting the violent winds that swirled around me. She had to be there, there was no other possibility. I hoped beyond all hope that Illiana was safely tucked away inside the cottage, doing her best to keep warm and dry.

There was only one way to find out and that was to go there and see. The lake appeared in the distance and, even from here, I could see the rain colliding with the water below.

The dark clouds above clouded over the lake's surface, sending a darker spin on the calm, gentle lake that I showed Illiana before now. I could feel the wind getting stronger and the rain was now falling like sheets, so hard that it was almost impossible to see.

There was no way I could continue to stay this high with the wind as it was, I could feel the threatening and dangerous will of the wind as it attempted to tear off my wings, to separate them from me. I had to get lower if I wanted to find Illiana quickly and in one piece. The wind slashed at my body as I plummeted towards the lake below, feeling the droplets tear at my skin.

A small figure on my left caught my attention, its dark shape nearly blending into the dark, rainy backdrop around it. It had to be her.

My feet collided to the ground as I rushed towards it, every fiber of my being sure that it was her and fear flooded through me as I realized that she was not moving. I fell beside her, my hands snagging at her arms as I pulled her close, attempting to block the rain with my body as my right hand tapped against her cheek.

"Wake up, Illiana. Wake up." She could not be dead, it was impossible. There were still so many things that I wanted to do with her, so many things that I wanted to show her. I lifted her body higher before pressing my ears against her chest, imagining the flushed cheeks that she'd have if she was awake right now. A weak but steady heartbeat echoed in my ears and I felt a sense of relief, a calming feeling that came over me. She was alive.

But she could not stay out here. I needed to get her somewhere safe and warm, if only I had the time to get her back to the palace, but with the wind, it would be impossible. There was only one option until the storm subsided. I carefully lifted her into my arms, holding her tightly against me as I dashed into the trees, leaping over fallen branches and through the muddy walkway until, finally, the cottage appeared in front of me.

Even the storm had affected it, giving it a gloomy, sinister look as the rain and wind pelted at the roof, walls, and windows. It would survive, it always did, but this time it would have to protect the two of us from the outside world as well. I could not waist another moment out here, waiting in the rain when Illiana needed to be dried off and warmed up, so I hurried inside, quickly placing her on the couch in the sitting room that we walked into. She would have to wait here for just a moment, even though I hated to leave her.

I ran down the hall, into the small bedroom, tearing the blankets off the bed and then stopping off at the hall closet to grab a towel before hurrying back to her. She still had yet to move, but laid there in her slumber that I could only hope that she would wake from. It did not take me long to peel the soaked clothes from her body and drying her off with the towel.

"How long will you sleep, my love?" I whispered to her as I wrapped her tightly in the blankets before laying her back on the couch and turning to the fire place. There was so many things that I had to do, but I knew that the best place for the fire would be the bedroom, where she could sleep comfortably.

The wood was in kitchen, tucked away in the corner so it would not be in the way, but visibly enough that I could not miss it. I loaded my arms with it, hugging it close to my chest with it, then returned to the bedroom and dropping it all by the fire place before going back to Illiana. I could not leave her a lone for as long a it was going to take. I needed her to be with me so that I could keep an eye on her in case a fever should take.

Why did you have to do this now, Illiana? Why could you have not waited for my return? I would have brought you here, we could have looked together. Is it because you still cannot trust me?

"Reginald." Her weak voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned my eyes to her as I tucked her in. "You found me."

"Always." I whispered, my hand brushing against the side of her head. "I am going to start a fire so it will get warmer in here."

"Will you stay with me after?"

"Of course."