Lost Wings

35~ All's well that ends well

Previously on LW:

After finding her mom, meeting fairies, and deflecting an attack by outlanders on the fairy village, Hailey has finally returned home. Her grandfather was less than happy about her little unplanned-and-not-entirely-safe trip, and asked her to come to his office to talk. However, this goes better than Hailey expected. Although the king does scold her about a few things, he also expresses his pride and fondness for his granddaughter.

Chapter 35

I left my grandpa's office feeling lighter than I had been all day and with a warm feeling in my chest. I returned to my room, feeling a sudden urge to write to my dad. If I remembered correctly, the mailman who went to the human world every week would be going tomorrow.

I sat at my desk and took out a pen and paper. I wrote about the trip, minimizing the dangers and forgetting to mention I had left without permission, but also about everyday life, missing him, and hoping to come back home soon. As I finished it and put my pen down to look for an envelope, someone knocked at my door.

"Come on in!"

"Princess," Ellie, a castle worker and one of my teachers, greeted me, "I'm really glad to see you again. I just wanted to drop by to say hi—and also check that you knew dinner was in twenty minutes."

"What?" I jumped up. "Is it a public dinner? Will there be any officials? What should I wear? Who will be there?"

Ellie laughed, fluttering her pale pink wings.

"Don't worry, just a few diplomats, including one from the area near the Petraz forest. She only sent a messenger earlier today, so this whole dinner is kind of last minute."

"Shouldn't she," I opened my wardrobe, "I don't know, be dealing with the fairies instead of coming down here?"

"She's here for one of two reasons. Either, one, she wants to complain that the king's ambassadors operated in her region without her knowledge, and because she has more expertise it would make more sense to tell her, blah, blah, blah..." She waved her hand dismissively. "Or, two, she wants to thank the king's emissaries for their good work. Though I'm guessing she'll start with the first one, then admit the second one."

"And what should I do, if that's the case?" I pulled out a flowy green top—I still hadn't figured out if it was a shirt or a dress—and black leggings. I had little fashion sense, but even I could tell this would be a better alternative to the ripped jeans I currently wore.

"If she addresses you directly, be courteous, of course. Otherwise, let His Highness handle it. I don't know if he has publicized the fact that his own granddaughter led the mission, but he won't want to confirm that you went on a rogue mission and solved tensions with our neighbors mainly by inadvertence."

"Not entirely true. Autumn knew what she was doing."

"Yeah, but she won't be there. Also, you've already worn that outfit in the presence of at least two of today's officials before."

"So? If I don't remember, there's no way they will—unless they're weirdly obsessed with me, in which case they should feel bad, not me."

Ellie laughed. "Sure. Anyway, I'll let you get dressed. But hurry up!"

"Yes, Mam! And thanks for dropping by Ellie!"

As she closed the door, I realized I had already fallen back into my familiar routine. It wasn't unpleasant, but it still felt strange.

Dinner was fine, but a bit boring. I would rather have eaten alone with my grandfather. Left mostly alone with my thoughts, I found myself missing Aiden more than ever. In the past, he had volunteered as a waiter several times just to get the chance to come up to my table and make silly faces when he thought other people weren't looking. He had almost been banned from waitressing, but the king had intervened in his favor. I knew my grandpa well enough to know he found his antics hilarious, even if he couldn't admit it.