Chapter 3
I woke up when Zachary's arm rolled off mine. As we'd been sleeping, we had moved closer and closer, and our noses were touching. All I had to do was lean in a little bit to kiss that perfect face. I was thinking on this when I opened my eyes and saw Zachary had his open too. Zachary looked at how close we were and smiled. Then, without any warning, his warm lips were on mine. A gentle pressure on my lips, his lips were soft, and I felt his mouth open on mine. His tongue darted about, his arms curved around my waist, running through my hair. I let it go for a long while, and then slightly pulled away. I smiled at him; he kissed me again, and got up. He shifted into Demi form again and went out of the cave. When he was gone, I put on a pair of airy traveling pants and a falcon blouse that allowed me to grow my wings in Demi form. I brushed out my hair and braided it. I went outside when I heard Zachary starting a fire. I looked outside to see him roasting a rabbit over a fire. I walked over and put my hands on his wings. He put one of his hands over mine, and pulled me over to the log. He gave me some of the rabbit, and we ate in silence. I stole looks at him whenever I could, and I could tell he did the same.
"You know, I set out to find a pair-bond, and I think I've found one." Zachary went down on one knee. "Arami'ka Ravena of Ahnmik, I love you, and ask you to be your pair-bond and alistar." He pulled himself back, and looked hopeful.
"Zachary of Ahnmik, I accept your proposal to be my alistar and pair-bond. Do you accept the responsibilities of being and alistar and pair-bond?" I had learned this from the day I was old enough to accept an alistar.
Zachary pulled me into an intimate embrace. I took it as a yes and kissed him back. We heard another falcon's cry and pulled back. The falcon was a peregrine, smaller than both of us. We knew this falcon could not hurt us, but we both reached for our weapons. The falcon landed, changing into a woman. Her features were sharp, narrow eyes coming down into a sharp mouth. Her eyes were so dark that they were almost black. Her golden wings stood out against her dark hair. Her eyes surveyed them, and then she bowed down on one knee.
"My lady, I am sorry to have interrupted, but the empress felt your magic rise and sent me to find you. I am one of the empress' personal guards; Clarissa of Ahnmik is my name. I am supposed to bring you back to Ahnmik. You, my lord, should come back with us, your mother has been looking for you. And, you both might want to make your announcement about your pair bonding. Yes, I heard the whole thing." The woman changed back into her falcon form and waited on the ground. Both Zachary and I shifted and joined Clarissa in the sky. We easily darted around each other, Clarissa barely keeping up. We started to see other falcons around us as we neared the white city. There were gyrfalcons, peregrines, alpomados, and merlins alike, flying beside us. I heard snatches of the conversations from the falcons around us.
"No…of course darling…oh, I don't…just do it…left by the shm'Ecl…Lillian, just listen to me!"
Zachary and Clarissa turned, heading towards the palace. I quickly followed, turning just after them. Zachary and I raced towards the palace, and had already changed back by the time Clarissa arrived to escort us to the palace. Clarissa made sure we looked presentable, and then walked us up to the palace doors. She knocked once, and then led us into the throne room. Empress Araceli was seated on the throne, her face the mirror of mine. Her hair was gray, and she had crow's feet at the corner of her eyes.
"Ah, Ravena of Ahnmik, I see you have finally risen to your magic. And, my young man Zachary has given you back your true falcon form. Now, who are Tuuli Thea and Diente? Sive and Salem?" The empress gave her a quizzical look.
"No, Sive's granddaughter Aleya was on the throne till your armies destroyed us. And Salem's son, Zenle Corbania, was Diente. How am I a falcon if my mother was a sparrow?" I gave her that same quizzical stare.
"Smart young falcon," the queen laughed. "Your mother is Darien, whom I bonded to a female sparrow, and force-changed her into that shape." The empress looked down her nose at me. "You look more like your father, my great-grandson. Now, if you are ready to begin your training as the next empress, my age is beginning to catch up with me. I only have a few more years left in me." She stood up and left the room, calling back over her shoulder, "But, darling, I must rest first. I would advise you and your alistar get to bed too."
Zachary and I just looked at each other, puzzled at how the empress knew we were mates.
Then, I just shrugged and tramped up the stairs to the room, somehow knowing how to get there, though I'd never been there before. The bed had it's sheets pulled down, prepared for us. My wings shifted and melted into my back, a smooth feeling in my skin, and changed into my nightgown. Zachary was already in bed when I got back from the bathroom, and I wriggled up next to him. I looked up and saw the sky through the clear crystal ceiling. It was made up of a billion different colors and hues, all reflecting against the diamond ceiling. As I slowly drifted into sleep, I heard a singing that reverberated through my body.
A rustle of sheets next to me awoke me in the morning. Zachary was getting out of bed, trying unsuccessfully to not wake me up. I just laughed and got out of bed. He looked at me sheepishly, and then went to clean up. I was still brushing my hair when he came out of the room. I counted, 89..90..91..92..93..94 ..95..96..97..98..99..100. I got up and moved to the bath, still somehow warmed by falcon magic. I let the sweet aroma of all the herbs that were in the bathwater drift slowly into my nose. I scrubbed my body with enticing soaps and lotions. When I got out, I went over to the full-length mirror. The eyes that stared back at me were completely alien. The depth of violet was dizzying, and I pulled back, surprising myself. When I looked back in the mirror, I saw Zachary behind me, his eyes tracing my curves, my chest, my waist, my thighs, and appraising me. When he saw me staring into his eyes, he lowered his head and walked back into the room. When I went back into the room, Zachary was pulling his hair back into a ponytail, hanging the strands of blue at the sides of his face. I quickly dressed, while Zachary told me how to hang my sleeves, my belt, and my pouch. When I started to braid my hair, he pulled my hands away and told me that the falcon law forbade me from braiding it. So, I settled to let my hair be pulled into a loose ponytail. I grew my Demi wings when Zachary reminded me and walked beside him into the glistening white city. I noticed as I walked the same singing that I had felt the night before pounding through my body, filling my ears with its beauty. When I asked Zachary where the singing was coming from, he laughed and replied, "It's the streets and walls silly, surely even if you didn't grow up here you would have read that in history."
We walked down to the palace, all of the falcons we passed bowing down to me, and staring at Zachary. They all seemed surprised that he would befriend royalty.
"Zachary," I whispered, "you don't have to go through with this. If it's embarrassing you just tell me."
He chuckled and squeezed my hand, "My, my, don't you worry about me. Actually, I'm enjoying the attention." He walked a few steps in silence, then stopped, and gestured for me to look up. The palace stood in front of us; it's beauty overwhelming my every pore. All of the spires reaching to the stars, and the singing almost made me stumble. It was louder here than anywhere. I stared openmouthed at it for a few more minutes before Zachary tugged at my hand, pulling me along in his wake.
We passed so many spires I stopped counting after ten. Zachary tugged me along, till I was stumbling to keep up with him. We stopped in front of the palace doors. Zachary fixed my hair and my dress and led me inside. All of the men and ladies were dressed so finely that even in my best clothes I felt poor. Then, we got to the throne room. Empress Araceli was seated on her throne, wearing robes of white silk so fine, they looked about to fall off her shoulders. Yet, she still managed to look more regal then Aleya or Zenle ever had. Her diamond crown perched lightly on the crown of her curled white hair. I gasped as a woman sat down by her side. I had heard her described by my mother hundreds of times. This was Lily, my grandfather's first lover. Of course, when he'd come back, Hai was the only one he'd give his heart too. Technically, I was royalty, but that did not matter in the least. Ever since Hai the wyvern had renounced her title and become fully falcon, we had no right to the title of Diente.
"Come my daughter, the falcon city is awaiting to receive her new queen, and our citizens need to know of this and the king." Araceli smiled gently at Zachary, and though she might have been harsh in her youth, she looked very grandmotherly now. Her white hair was escaping from her loose ponytail, spiraling in curves on the side of her face. It looked as though it had purposefully been curled that way. The once cold eyes had softened with age and now looked kindly upon the two young faces looking up at her. As I stared into the depths of those eyes, I got a sense of falling, and…
"A beautiful woman sat on the throne. Next to her, her King smiled down coldly at the man begging for forgiveness. His voice rang cruelly from his throat.
'You shall be executed tomorrow at the crack of dawn. You are lucky I have given you this punishment. If it were up to My Queen, you would be given to your wife so you could watch her dance with other men, as you have danced with other women. Now, guards, take him underground to wait till dawn.'"
I looked away, before I thought anyone had noticed. However, I knew Araceli must have. She smiled slowly at me before I spoke.
"Mistress, what should we do when the city folk see us?" The whole court looked at me as though I was crazy.
"You mean you don't know?" Empress Araceli silently asked. "I would have thought that my young man Zachary here would have filled you in-
"Zachary Morrison Juniper!" A tall woman from the court interrupted the Empress. "You're lucky your father is not here, or you would have gotten a severe beating, whether you had found the Princessa or not!" Her tone turned softer, "Begging your pardon Princessa and Empress. He would have found a way to avoid me otherwise."
She pulled Zachary away by his ear and sat him down next to her.
"Excuse me Lady Juniper," said Araceli, "but I do believer that 'Princessa Ravena' would very much like her alistar back."
Zachary's mother stared openmouthed as he went and stood by my side. I pecked him on the cheek and whispered, "Darling, you should not upset your mother any more than you already have."
He smiled shortly at me, and then his face
resumed the emotionless mask he wore in public.
"Now, Princess
Ravena and Prince Zachary, I present to you your kingdom!"
And, with a flourish, the doors of the hall opened. Outside of them stood citizens of Ahnmik. Big or small, old or young, all stood cheering before the next leaders of their land. I smiled, shyly at first, then showing my teeth, as I laughed with my alistar, then planted a firm kiss upon his soft lips. The citizens cheered wildly, and a thought ran through my head. 'What would happen if…if they found out everything, what would Zachary do? Oh my God!'
Then, I continued smiling, the thought fading from my mind. I heard a voice ring out, and at first I thought it to be the Goddess Anhamirak, but then I remembered that we were no longer in Wyvern's Court, and that the God Ahnmik ruled here.
"Children of Ahnmik, I ask of you one thing, that you accept these two young avians to be your next leaders. Grant them peace and long life. Let no one defy their wishes. I give you Princess Ravena and Prince Zachary!"
I turned just in time to see Araceli close her mouth and smile at me. I smiled back, and then, addressed my kingdom myself.
"Many of you may scorn me for not having grown up here. However, it was the choices of my father and his father before him that brought about my upbringing in Wyvern's Court. I would have much rather grown up here. This city is hundreds of times more beautiful than I could have imagined. I am quick to learn and believe that in the time Empress Araceli has left I can learn enough. If you would take me, I will willingly be your Queen. This White City has endless opportunities, and I believe I have found my place here."
I smiled radiantly down upon my subjects, and heard later, that to some of them, I looked like a goddess. My hair had been swirling around my face, my eyes turned dark violet. My dress had clung to my figure, outlining every curve of my new body, and seeming like a second skin. Even Zachary had thought that a goddess had replaced me. I then turned from the doorway and swept up the staircase. Zachary ran after me, calling my name, but I refused to turn. From what Zachary tells me, when I got to the room, I collapsed at the foot of the bed. He carried me to the bed and ran, almost flying, to tell the Empress and the doctor. Both of them came into my room, but neither could use their magic on me. Zachary stayed by my bedside night and day. For three weeks, I lay in my bed, neither moving nor waking. They say it was like watching a statue. Finally, my eyes fluttered. I took a deep breath, the first I had in weeks. I felt my body shudder as my muscles unlocked. I looked up to see three worried faces swimming above me.
"W-wh-what happened?" I asked.
"You used too much magic, and, being untrained, it almost sucked the life out of you. You were lucky to have survived. Most falcons hide in the shm'Ecl." The doctor's words made no sense, so I blocked the rest out. I only had eyes and ears for Zachary. To me, his face looked like that of a worried mother's. I giggled, quietly at first, then louder and louder until the laugh came from the middle of my chest. Zachary looked at me as though I was crazy.
"You-you l-look la-like m-my MOM!" I bust out. All of the sudden, Zachary was laughing with me. The laugh seemed to spread until all of the room, including the doctors and nurses were laughing. It even seemed as though the music had stopped, and in its place was laughter. I couldn't process whether it was because of what I had said, or that they were relieved I was better, but at the moment, I didn't really care. Zachary stood up, opened the window, and yelled, "The Princessa Ravena is awoken!"
I heard a great cheering, and my heart almost flew out of my chest. Here I was, in a city I ruled, with the man I loved. What could be more perfect?...
