Aimee Marseille knows something is wrong when she is summoned quickly to return home. Upon her father's death, she finds startling news about the family's secret. Mechanical knights walk the countryside, an odd woman who seems to know more than she...
"Why I never," Muzay said as he ruffled his mechanical wings, the slivers of steel catching any and all light which remained in the area. "How dare she think the King left because of wanting to save himself? He spent countless years searching for a cure and when he felt none could be found, he attempted to return home only to discover it was gone."
Aimee looked at him curiously. "What do you mean gone?"
He kept quiet.
"Were you planning on sharing this with me at any point or would you prefer I show up to an abandoned field somewhere you claim I needed to be."
He chose to ignore her, continuing on in his indignation. "We traveled all around the vicinity, searching for every medicine man,doctor, any rumor of something which may have cured the sickness people were afflicted with. For Stanton to have the cure and refuse to show it to him until she thought it proper to take over his position." He shook his metallic head with such ferocity it almost appeared as though it was in danger of being flung off in any direction.
Narit shrugged. "We needed something. I guess she wanted to make sure we had everyone gathered at once to use it." She tugged at one of her loose curls, twisting it about her finger as she spoke.
"How far away is the castle? You've come from there so you must know how to get back." Aimee could sort through everything later.What was important now was to discover where she was needed so she could meet with the people to discuss what truly happened. She didn't want them to continue believing her father abandoned these people.
Although in the deep recesses of her mind, she wondered if there was some truth to that assertion. He had never mentioned anything in the woods he was searching for although they had spent countless hours on hunting trips, leisurely strolling through the vicinity. It had all seemed like something they did alone.
"Not too far," Narit said as she looked off in the distance. "I mean, it took me two days to get here when I traveled by following the river but when I followed the birds who roost here, it took me five. However, if you want, we can always take the path but that loops around the mountain. Oh! Do you want to see the eagles up there?" She smiled, reaching out to grab onto Aimee's hands and vigorously shaking them.
Aimee felt herself being shaken back and forth before managing to pull her hands away. "Great. Well, not really. I can't watch the eagles right now but we can plan for this in the future. It seems like the river would be the best in this situation."
They needed to make their way into the Glass Castle so they could stop Stanton from whatever she had planned. Something about the entire situation didn't sit well with Aimee and she wasn't entirely sure. She never met the woman but anyone who would wait for the beloved king to leave before offering a solution to their physical problems was someone dangerous.
"Great!" Narit started off eagerly in the direction opposite that she was traveling in before.
"Weren't you looking for a book?" Aimee asked. "I don't want to distract you from whatever you were looking for."
"Oh that." Narit waved it off. "It's nothing important."
"What was it?"
"A map." She nodded firmly before walking off without stop,causing Aimee to need to struggle to catch up with her.
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They must've walked at least five miles before Aimee found words springing to her mind. "How many people are in the Glass Star anyway? A dozen or so?"
Narit looked up as though counting to herself. "There's more than that. My own family is six people and I'm sure there's at least six other people around." She moved her mouth as she counted to herself.
"We're going to end up being fed to something. I just know it," Muzay quipped in from behind Aimee. She couldn't help but agree with him on this one.
At least it seemed they weren't walking about in circles. That is what has originally worried Aimee when they started out. The scenery kept changing which meant they were at least headed somewhere else.Now instead of dealing with the mossy trees and overhanging limbs which threatened to fall, they were on the side of a slow moving river with strange creatures popping out every so often to stare at them with rather large eyes.
This certainly wasn't how she imagined getting to their location. She had thought perhaps there would be a simple road for them to take which would bring her right up to the castle entrance. It seemed peculiar for it to be located so far away but then again, it would keep people from constantly barging through or attempting to claim it for their own.
"You shouldn't worry much. You're made of metal. Doubt anything out here will want to snack on you. You'd end up destroying their innards if they tried."
"You never know how some things are," Muzay said as he ruffled his feathers, getting himself bothered within her pack.
"Would you prefer taking point?"
From his re-posturing, this seemed like an even greater insult. "As I'm the only one who knows how to deal with civilized people once we reach the Glass Star, I find myself as being far more in demand."
"So chicken?"
"Call it what you will but I know value in myself."
Narit raced back towards them with a small flower in her hand. "Look at this? This is a day flower. One of the rare ones." The pretty flower was a light shade of pink and the petals slightly curved inwards. The leaves appeared to be nearly see through yellow but it was indeed beautiful to look at.
"Are those native to here? I've never seen them before?" She had seen many flowers in the area especially since she grew up here but never one of those.
"They grow around here all the time. I used to pick them and then pretend I was getting married so they were my bouquet." With a solitary flower in her hand, Narit smiled and walked, her feet stepping forward one at a time in perfect cadence as though walking down an aisle.
Aimee smiled and shook her head as she continued along the riverbank behind Narit. At least she wasn't as condescending as the bird. Besides, a nice walk would settle her mind. She could think and best of all, it appeared the others were anxious to talk constantly which afforded her peace and quiet.
