Princess Aeri's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

The wedding guests arrived a day early. Aeri watched their carriages roll through the castle gates from a high window. Servants swept the halls. Musicians tuned their strings. And somewhere among the strangers walked people who had never seen wings like hers. She pulled her cloak tighter over her back and slipped toward the quiet part of the castle, where no guest would wander. Aeri met her mother in the library, her wings trailing behind her. Queen Aileen sat by the tall shelves, a book open in her lap. She raised her head, and one hand pressed to her chest. "Aeri, you scared me." She let out a breath and smiled. "For a girl with large wings, you really have always been quiet." Aeri did not smile back. "The guests are here. If any of them see me like this, they'll ask questions. About where I came from. About what I am." She glanced at the door. "I'm not ready for that. Not before Ava's wedding." Her mother closed the book. She had raised Aeri since she was a baby, had hidden the black feather and the stitched cloth for years to protect her. She knew exactly what the wings could cost. "Then we hide them," Aileen said. She rose and crossed to a locked chest beneath the window. She lifted the lid and drew out a wide cloak of dark cloth, cut deep across the shoulders. "I had this made after we found you. For a day like this one." Aeri turned so her mother could fit it over her. Aileen worked the clasps at her throat, then folded the fabric close against each wing. She bound them flat with cords sewn inside the lining. Aeri felt the pull of it, the weight, the way her wings pressed hard against her spine. "Can you breathe?" her mother asked. "Yes." Aeri turned to the long mirror. The cloak fell smooth down her back. Her wings had vanished. She looked like any other daughter of any other court. A knock came. A servant leaned in. "My queen, the guests wish to greet the family in the great hall." Aileen took Aeri's arm. "Walk slow. Keep your back from the walls." They stepped into the corridor together. In the great hall, strangers turned to look. Aeri kept her chin up and let them see only her face. No one stared at her back. No one whispered. She passed among them, and her secret held. Then the prince entered at the far door, travel dust still on his coat. He crossed the hall toward Ava. As he passed Aeri, his eyes caught on the odd cut of her cloak, the strange bulk beneath it. He slowed. He looked once, longer than a stranger should. Then he moved on. Aeri's secret held tonight. But the prince had come from the north. And he had noticed.