Princess Aeri's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Aeri woke to gray light through the balcony glass. The storm still pressed against the spires, softer now but not gone. Her rat lay curled on her chest, warm and small, rising with each breath she took. She stroked his glossy fur and looked past him to the window. Another day lost. The sky over the northern peaks stayed hidden behind cloud. She could not fly today either. The door burst open. Ava rushed in, braid swinging, her pink gown a bright shock against the dull room. She jumped onto the bed. The rat scrambled up Aeri's shoulder and clung there. "I've got a match!" Ava cried. She bounced on her knees, gripping Aeri's arm. "He arrives in a week. We are to be married, sister!" Aeri sat up. Her sister's face shone the way it did as a child on feast mornings. Ava had spoken of marriage since she was small. She wanted a husband, a home, all of it. Now she had it. "A week," Aeri said. She pulled Ava into her arms. "Then it's real. You'll have everything you wanted." "You'll be here, won't you?" Ava drew back. Her smile shook at the edges. "For the wedding. You have to be here." Aeri's chest tightened. The storm would break in a day, two at most. She had waited years to fly. A week ago she meant to slip out at dawn without a word. Now her sister's wedding sat one week away, and the sky over the mountains would clear long before then. She looked at the window. She looked at Ava's bright, hopeful face. The rat pressed against her neck. "You copied Father's charts for me," Aeri said quietly. "You helped me go, even knowing it hurt you." "That's different." Ava's voice dropped. "That's finding your family. I would never stop you." She squeezed Aeri's hand. "But if you leave the day the storm clears, you won't come back in time. The peaks are far. You told me that yourself." Aeri knew the truth of it. The High Crags lay days of hard flying south. If she left now, she would miss the wedding. If she stayed for the wedding, she would lose over a week of clear sky, and no one knew when the next storm would come. She held her sister and made the choice. "I'll stay," Aeri said. "I'll see you married. Then I fly." Ava threw her arms around her and cried into her shoulder. Aeri stared past the braid at the gray window. The storm had stolen her first morning. Now her sister's joy had claimed the rest. Her wings would wait one more week. But the prince came from a far kingdom. And Aeri had never asked from which direction he would travel.