I returned home as the sun was setting. I had been running for hours and I was still upset about my unwanted guest. No way he's the prince, I thought, he's such a jackass! "Niel," I whispered with a smile, the boy was quite a looker. "If only his attitude matched the rest of him," I scoffed before opening the door. I heard voices in the living room, but chose to ignore them, heading right up to my parents' old room.
I flipped on the light and walked to their old bed, running my fingers along the pale green walls. Above the headboard were two large swords my grandfather had forged for them as a wedding gift. Closing my eyes I pictured my parents in their prime, my mom with her long brown curls and my dad with his short cut blondness. My nerves were calmed by the memory
I jumped as someone knocked on the open door. I turned, keeping my eyes down. I already knew who it was, but I wasn't mad anymore, so I didn't really care as long as he minded his manners. "I apologize for before," Niel said with a bow, "I didn't know." His voice was soft and he picked his words more carefully than before. He could be a good ruler, I thought, if he was always like this. He grabbed a picture of my parents off their dresser and looked at it for a moment before putting it back in its place. "You and Angelinia keep this room pretty clean," He observed.
"They deserve it," I explained, "they risked everything for me and their country." I sat on the bed and patted the spot beside me. He took his seat and looked at the room. "They worked for your father," I stated proudly, "as spies," I couldn't hide my smile. "They believed that nothing could harm them so long as they were together. And their wings were incredibly beautiful." I took down the swords from the wall and held them in my lap, "These were their weapons." I pulled them out of their sheaths enough to see the fine craftsmanship of the blades and lightly touched them. " My grandfather forged them as a wedding gift for my parents. He too worked for your father, but he was just a blacksmith." I looked at him, from the corner of my eye and caught a glimpse of recognition cross his defined features. "None of my grandfather's weapons have been destroyed in battle," I added brightly.
My mood darkened, "I wanted to follow in their footsteps, but that's impossible." My voice started to crack, "I don't have any wings, Niel, and I don't have any powers." My body began to shake, angry with myself for being so pathetic, "They even gave up their lives to make that hopeless dream come true," I cried, forgetting that someone else was in the room with me."I'm so useless," I mumbled, curling into a ball around my parents' weapons. I felt someone lightly touch my upper arm, causing me to calm down slightly. A male voice said something, but I couldn't hear the words through my own sobs. I cried for a long time, lost in my own negative thoughts about myself.
I will follow their path, I declared silently, My parents did not give up their lives for nothing. I lifted my head and uncurled my body, surveying the room closely. Setting the swords on the bed beside me, I put my feet on the floor and walked over to my mother's closet and opened the door carefully. I spent about ten minutes pawing through her clothes before stumbling across a chest in the far left corner of the small room. I pulled the chest out of the closest for easier access and studied the lock. They really weren't worried about people seeing the contents, I mused, noticing that the lock was only locked through the top latch. With a sigh, I carefully lifted the top of the chest and tilted it all the way back.
I couldn't see much in the light of the moon shining through the window, but I could see enough. There was a dark blue long sleeve undershirt with female torso armor on the top of the pile. Under the upper body armor, were dark blue leggings, a skirt that matched the torso armor and the same style shin guards. Holding the shin guards together was a simple violet ribbon with the royal crest embroidered in silver thread that matched the color of the armor.
I took off the clothes I was wearing and replaced them with my mom's uniform. Standing in front of a mirror, I tied my hair back with the ribbon. There was just one more thing I had to do, I walked back to the bed, grabbed my father's sword and held it up to my ponytail. In one swift movement about eighteen inches of my blond hair fell to the floor. I sheathed the blade and slung it over my shoulder, the weight little more than a nuance. It fit snugly in It's place behind the armor and I was confidant that I still remembered how to use it from my parents' training lessons.
I grabbed a bag that was designed to be tied to a belt and put a full metal water bottle and some dried meats in it along with half the cash I had- Angelinia and Niel would need the rest- in the bag and tied it to a loop in the armor skirt. I was strangely comfortable in my mother's uniform, the armor that I trusted to protect me was flexible enough to allow easy movement and was tight enough to not fall off, but not tight enough to cut off circulation. It was almost as if I was among old friends.
