Caelestis

Chapter 6 & 7

Chapter 6: Lord Ragus Takes the Floor

* * *﴾"What?!" roared Lord Ragus, pacing along the floor. "You mean he's not dead?!"

"W...we tried b...b...but he got away," replied the soldier called Yavex. He shook with fear at his master's anger.

"Well then, it looks like you'll just have to try again now, won't you?"

"Of...of course, Your Great and Powerful Majesty we thought his sister was he." Yavex's heart was beating harder than he had ever felt it beat before. He had never seen the great Lord Ragus before and even now, in his presence, Yavex could not see the face of his master because the shadows covered him. Small candles were burning on the floor but they provided little light. The darkness of the room consumed them so their light could not shine through. The cold, slimy, stone floor below him and the darkness around him seemed to swallow the whole room. Lord Ragus cleared his throat.

"Good," said Ragus. "Remember that he is the Princess' Pegasus and you might have a hard time getting to him. I have heard that he is very strong."

"N...no problem, Majesty, I will have the P...Pegasus' dead body to you in th...three days time."

"Excellent, because, without the Great Zanzibar dead, I cannot kill the returned Princess." Yavex bowed and left the room of which Lord Ragus' words echoed throughout. Lord Ragus turned to a tall, young man at his right side.

"Go," he demanded. "Go and fetch me as much information on this Princess as you can. Do whatever you need to, but keep your true identity safely hidden. We wouldn't want the Queen to know the truth about either of us." The man nodded silently and slipped through the door.

Chapter 7: The Tomboy Gets Dressed Up

* * *﴾I stood in front of the mirror in my room. Catherine had given me a few gowns to choose from that I could wear to the welcome home ball.

"The gowns I'm going to go get were worn by your mother at your age. They're very beautiful." Catherine bowed and left the room.

I was having terrible thoughts of being forced to wear a lime green 80's nightmare and having to dance in it when Catherine came back into the room with several dresses. One was purple, the color of royalty, made of fine silk. White lace trimmed the bottom and sleeves of the dress. I tried it on, but the color didn't look right on me and the lace was itchy, and to be honest, it resembled the 80's nightmare from my daydreams. The second one was blue and it looked very uncomfortable. I was supposed to wear a hoop skirt, a bustle, and a corset underneath it. I didn't even bother trying it on. I may be a princess, but I still considered myself from the 21st century. The third was the most beautiful. It was white with a slim V-neck. Purple and gold trim lined all the edges of the dress. I pulled it on and came out to show Catherine.

"Oh, your majesty. It's beautiful. Do you like it?"

"I do actually. It's simple. I appreciate that." I replied.

I sat down for Catherine to do my hair. Catherine was born a few years before I was and had worked in the castle after her parents had been killed in the war. We had never been very close friends, but I still remembered her. Mostly because of her eyes.

Outside, I could hear shouts of, "Princess Adeline has come home! Have joy! All are welcome to the ball in her honor!" and I smiled. The people here must have really missed me, I thought.

Our conversation ended as Catherine finished pulling my hair up. It was tied in a perfect bun and some small curls fell down at my shoulders and around my face. My necklace was arranged into several flowers, it looked like they were almost real. I put it on along with the matching bracelet and earrings. I was definitely not used to dressing up this nice. Even at school dances I would be found in a simple dress suitable for Sunday morning Church service. I honestly felt like a doll, and didn't hate it as much as I thought I was going to.

"There now, Your Highness, you look outstanding!" Catherine smiled at me.

"Thank you," I replied, "but you did most of the work."

"Well, it is my job, Your Highness," stated Catherine with a giggle. "Is your Pegasus ready to take you down to the party?"

I looked at her and smiled. "Of course, he is. All I have to do is call him."

"Zanzibar, is there any word on your sister?"

"Yes, thanks to you she is doing much better".

I saw images of her walking in a pasture on the castle grounds and smiled. Catherine tapped me on the shoulder and I was jolted back to reality.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Are you?" Zanzibar replied and threw the question back at me.

"Of course, you can come and get me whenever you get around to it."

"I'm already here, he replied and flew into the room. You look exquisite, Your Royal Highness." He picked up a front hoof and set it in front of the other quite some ways. He lowered his head in a bow.

"Thank you. So do you." I replied. He did look good.

A black, leather saddle sat on his once bare back and a matching bridle was on his head. Silver thread was stitched into both the saddle and the bridle to make wonderful designs. His mane, tail, and coat were brushed till they shone.

I patted his neck. "Are you coming to the party, Catherine?" I asked.

"Oh, no, Your Highness. I can't go tonight. The cook has assigned me kitchen duty." She shook her head, shrugged her shoulders, and started to clean up the empty dresses and the unworn jewelry. I felt badly for her and stepped to her side.

"Well, as Princess, I order you to come with me, but only if you will call me Adeline. I don't much like all of this Highness stuff."

"Oh! Your Highness! I couldn't call you just Adeline. That wouldn't be right!"

"Well, then you can just call me Adeline in private, then," I proposed.

"Well..."

"Come on, I'd really feel more comfortable if you did."

"Okay, as you wish. But only in private."

"Great, then will you come to the party with me?"

"Yes, I can't argue with that one!" We both laughed. I picked up a gown laying across my bed and handed it to her.

"I think this one will look fabulous on you." Catherine quickly put the dress on and found some suitable jewelry to match it. I fixed her hair for her and, if I do say so myself, it looked wonderful. I tied some purple ribbons into her hair and made it so they would curl, too. She looked like a princess. All she needed was the crown.

"Come along then. Get your Pegasus and we can go together," I ordered. Catherine closed her eyes and squinted them hard as though she was thinking about something very important. Another Pegasus came into the room. He was an old, gray swayback.

"He is a Pegasus that, well, he wasn't suitable for the Queen's jobs, so she was going to set him free. I wanted to keep him so your mother let me have him. His names is Gregory," explained Catherine.

"Come on, Adeline. You need to hurry or we'll be late to your own ball." Zanzibar was pawing the ground so, I put on my cloak and, with one swift movement, I mounted him and grabbed hold of the reigns. Catherine did the same but had a little trouble because Gregory was much taller than she. When she finally got on, the Pegasus' leaped off the balcony and flew off towards the party. As we flew, several mounted soldiers galloped out of the gates after us.

"They're just guards, Adeline." Zanzibar explained as I prepared myself to ask him who they were.

"Oh, why don't they have Pegasus?" I asked.

"Your mother will explain that when you talk with her. You both have much catching up to do."

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, we do."