Wingless [Complete]

Chapter 23: The Earth Kingdom

It is a mess. I do not even know where to start. The kingdom is a mess, the palace is a mess, the royal family is a mess, the kingdom is a mess, and the whole population is a mess. Mess seemed to be the word that kept popping up in my head. Over and over again. Compared to everyone and everything else, Alicia was a pompous, stuck-up, and incredibly proper lady and Ryan was . . . well . . . normal.

When we first walked into the hall, we were left standing until a maid scurries in and looked at us as if we were the most atrocious things in the world. When we tried to get her to help us gain an audience with the king or queen she looked completely taken aback.

"You have legs, don't you?" She snipped. "Use the things and go find those two lazy shits by yourselves."

I trail after Alicia, in complete shock. I could feel the anger radiating off Isabella too. She is fuming and muttering to herself. When I peeked over at Lina, it looks as if she couldn't decide whether to cry or to laugh. The rest of them are behind me and I am too emotionally tired to have the will or want to see what they are feeling.

I am a hair's breadth as away from breaking down and crying for my mother. Yes, I know that I am supposed to be mature and grown up, but there really is only so much one can take before it all becomes too much.

My days had been filled with laughter, learning, reading, playing and lots of pockets of boredom, but now it was a constant strain on my nerves. I know this sounds cliche, but it is really how I feel. As we continue, following Alicia down winding hallways and up and down stairs, I become more and more disheartened.

Then I feel an arm snake around my shoulders and pull me into a sideways embrace. I look around and smile gratefully at Lina. I swear, sometimes I think this faerie is a mind reader.

"This has really been a change, huh?" She murmurs softly to me.

I nod my head and wrap my arm around her too as we walk down the hallway. I feel my mood lifting a little, just from having someone show that they care.

Finally, after what feels like hours, but was probably just minutes, we come to a stop in front of a set of double doors.

"Are they in there?" I stupidly ask, just needing to hear the confirmation.

"Yes," Alicia confirms.

"How . . .?" I trail off.

"How do I know?" Alicia finished my question. "I because of . . ." She winces at the crashing sound coming from inside. "That."

"Are you taking more guests inside there, Ali?" Someone asks from the shadows. "I wouldn't, you know. They've been fighting for quite some time now."

Someone steps out of the shadows. There stands a man. His looks were very similar to Alicia's, except for the exhaustion and exasperation etched on his face. He flicks his eyes over us once and gives a quick nod to Ryan.

I had a feeling that he was nit being rude when he didn't do more to acknowledge us, he was just too tired to do much more. I smiled at him, hoping to lift the poor boy's mood and I just sent me back a tired smile in return.

"Go get some sleep." Alicia chides.

He sighs. "I would love to but you see the little ones have tutoring now and I have to find them to bring them there and then after that I have to make sure that they go eat Lunch and after that . . ." He rambles on.

I'm surprised as Ryan steps forward and gives him a small shove, probably in the direction of his room.

"Seriously, go sleep, Aiden. You look like the dead." Ryan sighs. "I will take care of the two munchkins and you will rest until you can fully function again. This is not healthy."