Raven

Chapter 2

Upon entering the grand dining room, I step towards the chair across from my mother, to the left of my father. He is seated at the head of the table, like any king should be. Queen Kateryn and King Adalric look as regal as always tonight in their fine clothes. Mother's brown hair is pinned on top of her head in braided coils and a plain golden crown rests on top of it all. My father's crown is very similar to her's, only his is decorated with rubies and other jewels as it sits upon his thinning grey hair. As I take my seat, William seats himself on the chair to my left. We wait patiently for all of the guests to take their seats and for the servants to lay the feast on the table before us. Finally, my father gives the signal for us to begin.

I take a delicate bite of lamb stew to start with and upon deciding that it is delicious, I gobble up the rest of it. Just as I am eating the last spoonfuls of the tasty stew, I start to feel a tingling sensation between my shoulder blades. Ignoring it, I continue to eat the other foods which have been set before me. Mere moments later, I feel a stabbing pain in the exact same spot. It feels like something is trying to pierce my skin from the inside and it hurts, badly. My eyes water and I bite my bottom lip, looking around to see if anyone is watching me. When I see that no one is, I take it as my cue to quickly slide from my chair and hurry out of the room before anyone can stop me. Out in the quiet passageways, I hear footsteps behind me. I look over my shoulder to see William standing there, looking rather concerned for me.

'Raven? What's wrong?'

Truthfully, I don't even know  the answer myself, so how can I explain this to him? I respond with the one thing that I know I can tell him, a lie just as the same as the ones I tell everyone else. 'I'm fine,' I say and though I should feel guilty for lying to him, I don't.

'Are you sure? You don't seem fine.'

'I am. I just needed to get out of there.' At least half of it is true. I had needed to get out of there, not only because of this strange sensation but because being around so many people was beginning to get to me.

'Okay. I'll stay with you.'

I shake my head, 'I'd rather be alone at the moment. Thanks anyway, Will.'

He pauses a moment before replying. At last, he nods his head. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

Faking a smile, I turn and quickly walk away, heading back to my room. As I enter, I am glad to see that Phillipa is nowhere in sight. I have no idea what is happening to me but I don't want her to find out. At least not until I know myself, for Phillipa eventually discovering this—whatever this is—is inevitable. I run to the mirror and turn around to see my back, moving my hair to rest over my shoulder as I do. What I see makes me gasp.

Two little grey feathers protrude from the skin between my shoulder blades.

I reach towards them with my hands and touch them. The feathers are soft, like those of baby birds. I tug on them lightly, causing pain to shoot through me. I let go as a small cry of pain escapes me. These feathers are as attached to me as my arms are and I don't see any way I could possibly get them off. The only thing I can do is hope that they won't be there forever. I walk away from the mirror to find a cloak amongst the clothes hanging in my wardrobe. I pick up a dark grey one and drape it around my shoulders to hide the tiny feathers on my back. Feeling exhausted, I make my way over to my bed and lay on top of it. Perhaps a lack of rest is making me hallucinate these feather on my back. Resting my head upon my pillow, I close my eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep.

The sun is well above the horizon when I wake the next morning with the light it gives off shining in my eyes. Sitting up on my bed, I groggily rub the sleep out of my eyes. As my vision clears, the events of last night come back to me. I had reluctantly attended my birthday celebrations and had come back to find tiny grey feathers on my back...

Twisting my head around, I try to see if those feather are still on my back. I find that I can't, there are these big black feathers in the way. It takes my still sleepy brain a moment to register what I am seeing. The feathers on my back have somehow grown and multiplied so I now appear to have the wings of a bird. Looking ahead of me once more, I stare into the mirror on the opposite wall. I shake my head, thinking that this can't be real. But when I pinch myself to check if I'm really awake, I feel pain.

When I at last come to accept reality, I remember that these wings won't be too out of place. Pixies, elves and other beings dwell in forests throughout all the kingdoms and dragons are said to live high in the mountains. This is a world of all creatures, magical and non-magical, which means I'm not the only one with wings. But out of the other winged creatures, not very many of them have wings like mine. Birds are really the only ones with feathered wings like these.

'Are you awake yet Your Highness?' Phillipa calls as she enters my bedroom through the servant's door.

I freeze, my eyes wide. How am I meant to explain this to her when I don't even understand myself? It's too late to try hiding them under the cloak, she sees me before I can even blink.

'Oh!' She cries upon seeing me, looking rather startled. I know that anyone would be, even myself if I were in her place.

'Phillipa, please don't scream!' I beg her, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself. What would the court say if they knew about these wings? It surely won't be good, that much I know.

When she at last recovers from her shock, she comes over to me. 'Now why would I do that? I know it's still you, Princess Raven.'

I sit back, feeling relieved. 'What is happening to me?' I wonder out loud.

'I don't know but we'll work it out. You don't have to worry, Your Highness,' she says in an attempt to comfort me.

It doesn't work. She has no idea how it feels to wake up and find that wings grew out of your back overnight, she never will. I climb out of my bed and allow Phillipa to dress me. She selects a simple, charcoal grey gown and a dark blue cloak which I can use to cover up my wings. I sit on a chair and stay still as Phillipa brushes out my hair and braids it again. When she is done, I thank her and step out into the stone corridor.

'Raven?'

I turn to see that William is there again. He must have some to check on me after my hasty exit from the feast last night, I plaster a smile on my face and walk up to him.

'Are you any better after last night?' He asks.

I nod and lie, 'I'm perfectly fine, Will.'

'If you say so,' he says but I know that he doesn't believe me. I've told him that lie so many times he's beginning to see through it. At least this proves he is a true friend but I am glad he doesn't probe me with any other questions.

'Come on, let's eat breakfast and then go do something,' I say, dragging him behind me as I walk down the corridor. Pretending to be happy is growing more and more difficult with each passing day but I have to keep the act up. I have to get my mind off what is happening to me.

Third update at last! How are you liking this so far? Is my story and/or writing any good? Vote and comment if you think so (but don't be afraid to critique my work at any point, just as long as you'renot mean about it) :D