Chapter 14b

Chapter 14: The Journey Ahead.

"Here."

Standing alongside the Horse, Joanie turned around to see Urla hold a brown leather travelling bag her way. She bit her lip and quietly looked up to meet the woman's eyes. The dwarf woman had not spoken to her since failing to convince the Horse to let her stay until she's better. The woman had been nothing but good to her and Joanie couldn't help but feel that she had somehow let her down by siding with the Horse. She was afraid of the resentment the woman might feel but luckily she saw a familiar kindness shining out from her clear eyes.

"It's stronger than yours," the woman said quietly. "And bigger. I've put two flasks in for you. One's soup for tonight, the other's medicine. The soup's got a black top, it will hopefully still be warm when you two stop. There's also some bread and fruit. It's not very exciting but it will last you for the rest of your journey to the Crystal Mountains." She glanced at the Horse. "Come by here again when you are done. Then I can look at your wounds and hopefully you and your mother can have a day or two's rest."

Perhaps it was the kindness in her eyes, or the fact that she mentioned Skyla but Joanie felt her throat constrict with tears. She nodded quietly, carefully taking the bag from her outstretched hand. She took a deep breath to say thank you but couldn't get the words to form in her mouth. She looked down at her feet, swallowing heavily, wondering whether the woman thought she was ungrateful. Her unspoken question was answered when she heard Urla sigh softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Look at me child," the woman whispered. "Please."
Joanie carefully met the woman's gaze, once again vaguely thinking that it felt strange to have people who were close to her own height around her. Urla's hand travelled from her shoulder to her cheek.

"Don't look like that," the woman continued. "I can understand why you are doing this love. It's very noble of you. For your own sake, I would've liked it if you stayed at least one more eve. But, you have to go. I can understand that."

Joanie bit her lip harder when the tight feeling in her throat increased. Unable to manage anything else she nodded and carefully leaned forward towards the woman. She was not physically comfortable enough with people to initiate the whole ritual herself but luckily the dwarf woman caught on without pause and with a quiet laugh leaned over and hugged her. "Too humble for a queen," she said in the Horse's direction. "Are you ready to go?"

The Horse nodded, turning away from where he had been watching Ingwar shuffle around. "As soon as your husband joins us," he said. "Thank you for your quick preparations Urla. I can always count on you and your husband."
Urla sighed and nodded. "I sometimes wish you can't," she said. "Hear me again my Lord, she shouldn't travel."

The Horse didn't comment but just tossed his head. "Can you find out what's keeping your husband?" he queried mildly. "I'm not sure what he's doing, but he told us to wait."
Urla nodded and giving Joanie's cheek one last pat quickly shuffled off to her husband's side. The Horse blew out a short breath and glanced at Joanie who quickly rubbed a few slow tears from her eyes. "One more night will not make a large difference," he said. "And I do think the journey will be more comfortable if you allow your injuries to settle."

Joanie swallowed and stubbornly shook her head. "I can't do that," she said. "We need too… As much time… We have to get there as soon as possible. I… I need to get there as soon as possible."

"Did he tell you that it will take you two at least two days to get there?"
Both Joanie and the Horse turned to see Ingwar walk up with a map rolled up in his hands. He also had a cloak or coat of some sorts slung up over his one shoulder.

"Do you know how far you're going young sky queen?"
When Joanie shook her head the man smiled and opened the map. "Our Lord knows," he said, "or so we trust. But I thought that it would be good for you to have a visual guide of where you are going."
Joanie felt a warm rush of gratitude in her as the old man carefully pointed out their route to her. His wife meanwhile took the cloak from his shoulder and, without hindering her, fastened it around Joanie's neck. It was quite heavy, and the youth could feel immediately that it would be warmer than anything she had with her. She didn't fail to notice all the mountain ranges that they had to pass and it disturbed her somewhat that all had been drawn with snow on. The wingdom was essentially a warm place in both summer and winter. Joanie had always wondered what happened to balance out the inevitable cold and somehow, she got the feeling that it was the Flightless Realm.
Sensing the Horses impatience, Joanie kept all her questions about the journey to herself when the old dwarf finished and rather gave the man a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she said sincerely when the man rolled up his map again.
Ingwar smiled and bowed ever so slightly. "Anything to make the Queen's journey more comfortable."
She winched inwardly, but hid it and glanced at the Horse. "Is there anything else that we need to do?"

The magnificent animal shook his head. "I believe it's time to say our good byes for now," he said and turned to the two dwarves. "I would like to get at least a few hours worth of travelling in before we settle for the night. With your leave my friends?"

Urla looked as if it was the last thing she wanted to give her ruler but with grudging consent inclined her head. She missed the wink her husband gave the Horse as she turned around for the cottage. "I'm going to get Joanie a blanket roll," she said. "I really don't want her to be cold."

Joanie thought of telling the woman that she had had worse during her time on the street but decided that allowing the woman to care wasn't going to hurt either of them. Although she didn't smile, she felt an inward lift of the tension in her heart.

It was strange how one's point of view could change. She would not have thought like that a year ago.
Holding onto the feeling Joanie turned to Urla's husband and gave him a deep bow.

"Master Ingwar," she said to the floor, "thank you for your time. And… For showing me where we're going. Thank you."

The man chuckled softly and bowed back to her, his much deeper. "It was a pleasure meeting you, your highness," he said and smiled at her. "I hope you succeed in your journey. I think… you need time to grow into your title."
Joanie sniffed and felt herself blushing. "I hope I don't have to," she said and watched Urla as she came back out of the house, two blanket rolls in her arms. "I'm… Not queen material. I'm just me."

"Still too humble," the woman said with a small smile as she joined them. "Here, I'm going to hang both of these over your good shoulder." She did so gently then smiled at the young Sky Dancer. "It's been a pleasure Joanie. I hope that we will see you again. To be precise," she glanced meaningfully at the Horse. "I'm counting on it."
Joanie smiled gratefully and, steadying the rolls with her free arm, bowed forward. "Thank you for everything," she said, "for… preparing me for the journey. And for treating me. I have not been a good guest."

The old woman laughed and briefly touched Joanie's shoulder. "You were a perfect guest, you just weren't always perfectly treated. Now, off with you two. The sun's well past its zenith."

Joanie nodded and turned to the Horse who had been watching the exchange quietly. When their gazes met he flicked his ears forward and flared his nostrils. Joanie made to bow but before she could he carefully stretched one leg forward, dropped his head and bowed to her ever so slightly. Goosebumps travelled up her spine as the sun caught his wings, sending silver flashes across the clearing.
When the Horse rose she knew that he was smiling at her.

"It's a bow long overdue, Joanie-Ellen Zavere," he said. "Now, let's go find your mother."

&

Jade wandered around the city without much purpose until she reached the palace. There she hesitated, wondering whether Slam was still outside or whether he had already returned. Somehow, she knew that she couldn't face seeing him again just yet. She regretted not touching him again, not leaning against him when their comfort became intimate. She regretted not knowing how it felt to kiss him.
She regretted a lot of things.

Looking up at the magnificent tower of the palace she wondered when she would be able to go home again. She knew that the school was looked after. The ex-wingdom physician Lord Weirmon, who had had his wings seared off by Skyclone, had taken on the role of Skyla's personal aide as well as giving music lessons in his free time. Skyla always let him know when they went to the wingdom. If they stayed away longer than planned he always made sure that he had a valid excuse ready for those who looked for both them and Skyla. She was very sure that he was taking care of everything in the school. With a touch of guilt she realized that he must be getting pretty worried.
It was hard not having an effective way of communicating between the wingdom and the academy.

She missed her father and wondered when she would see him again. If Joanie didn't succeed in bringing Skyla back from the Flightless Realm then they were at the mercy of her control over the Skyswirlstone. The incident which had sent them back into Time had shown just how important control over the stone was. She didn't think that it would be wise for Joanie to try and use it immediately.

She sighed and rubbed over her face.
She really didn't want to go into the palace, she really didn't want to chance running into Slam.

It took some thinking to come up with another option, but when she did she felt quite pleased with herself. It was a place devoid of memories of Skyla or Joanie, yet filled with a comfort from home.
The Royal Library.
While she was there, she decided, she might as well do some research on the Flightless Realm. She had only heard of it once, when they had been trapped in the Past. She had made a note then to look it up in their library at some point or another but because they had been so relieved to be home and so scared that Skyla might find out where they had really been she had never gotten round to it. Now, she decided was as good a time as any. It wasn't as if she had anything else to do.

The Royal Library was a stone's throw away from the palace. She knew that the only other Sky Dancer she stood at risk of meeting there was Camille because she had been trying very hard to understand wingdom politics. She had been surprised at her friend's vigour to understand the turmoil that Joanie's crazy act had thrown the wingdom in. Or, for that matter Joanie's right over the Skyswirlstone.

The library was relatively devoid of people. Even the scribes, normally busy and full of 'lost in their own thoughts' vigour seemed few and relatively subdued. She made her way to the catalogues immediately and took special care to write down exactly where the book was. She found it amusing that the catalogue not only provided the place of the book but also, in a separate book, exact directions on how to get there.
The library was pretty big and she could well imagine getting lost in it.

Her directions took her to the far end of the library where she was quite shocked to find that she was not alone. Someone else it seemed had beaten her to her research though she wasn't doing a very good job.

Jade hesitated then carefully walked forward to where the Lady Faolin was slumped over a desk sleeping. The woman was older than Skyla with the same light hair and easy grace but she used to be more open, easier to laugh. Jade had always liked her, though like everybody else she was somewhat wary of her because she could be pretty sharp tongued when it suited her. The past few days had been rough on her though. Camille had sat in on a few of the council meetings and had reported back of horror stories of people arguing over Joanie's claim to the wingdom as well as debating what would happen if she didn't come back.

There had been some disturbing suggestions. One of them being to approach Skyclone. He was, some of the council members had argued, the only true member left of the royal family. It was strange how easily they forgot that he had started all of this.
Lady Faolin had stood in the middle of it all and had done a good job and deflecting any of the rogue appeals. Jade knew well though that this was not the end of it. She hoped that the woman would hold out long enough for Joanie to come back. Hopefully with Skyla in tow.
Sighing Jade covered the last of the distance between her and the woman and lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, causing her to start up and blink disorientated. When her confused gaze landed on Jade she paused then rubbed at her mouth and blinked at the books that lay littered around her. With a guilty expression she first rubbed at her cheek then dabbed at some moisture on the one's cover.

"I'm not even going to ask what time it is," she said her voice hoarse. "Hello Jade."

Jade smiled and pushed a cup of cold tea closer to the harassed looking woman.

"Past midday," she said. "You alright?"

Faolin didn't look up immediately but gratefully took the cup and took a sip, grimacing at the taste of cold tea. She looked up and studied Jade for a moment before her old smile crept back to her tired features. "As alright as you are my dear," she said. "I must've dosed off. I came in this morning after council…" she looked around her and shrugged. "I didn't mean to use this as an extended bedroom but there you go, I always knew libraries were good for all sorts of things."

Jade smiled and pulled a chair closer.

"I take it you were here to do research on the Flightless Realm?" she queried and rolled a forgotten apple closer to the woman as well. It had been all but drowned under a sea of notes.
Faolin nodded with a smile and pulled the apple closer but didn't bite into it immediately. "If you can call it that," she said with an exasperated sigh. "It's more like gathering bits and pieces of information on it really. There isn't a lot of information concerning that part of our realm. Very few people travel that way. You are more than welcome to look at my notes while I leave for the corner room. I'll be with you in a moment or two."

Jade pulled her notes closer as the councilwoman left the table. They were randomly distributed but luckily numbered and referenced. She just started on them when the woman returned, looking a bit more composed and certainly a bit lighter. She started playing with the apple again, looking intently at Jade as she skimmed through the notes. Jade was frowning intently, taking in as much as she could.

"You didn't start on the Flightless Realm," she said as she picked out a pile of notes. "Am I understanding this correctly, you researched…"

The woman smiled and nodded.

"Joanie's feather," she said – motioning with the apple. "As you can see though, the only thing I found worth mentioning was that there's nothing to mention."

Jade frowned and skimmed over the notes. "But, there must be some mention of it somewhere," she said. "I mean… It's… A Sky Dancer's Feather. Are there research or mention of our feathers?"

The woman nodded and bit into the apple. "Oh yes," she said when she finished chewing. "Your feathers are mentioned almost everywhere. They are tied to this realm you see. I believe that they are as old as the Skyswirlstone itself. Joanie's feather on the other hand. Well. That's another matter completely."

Jade felt terribly slow. The problem with Lady Faolin was that she was also very quick on her uptake and tended to presume that other people were as well.

"You mean Joanie's feather? But Skyla had it in her possession."

Lady Foalin smiled and shook her head. "You forgot that it wasn't Jade," she pointed out with a smile. "Joanie was sworn in as a Sky Dancer a few weeks after she came here for the first time. The reason for the delay was because there had been no feather available for her. The Tinker gave the Silver Feather to Skyla. She never even knew of it before he produced it."

Jade frowned and glanced at some of the notes. She recognized a name on them, Anwar, it was the name the Tinker went by in the past. She had not heard it mentioned here in this time at all.

"Why would he have it?" she queried and added tentatively. "He was just a scribe."

Faolin chuckled softly. "King's advisor, posing as a scribe," she said with a smile. "The Tinker has an interesting political background. Social as well, and it was that which had kept him from being a public advisor. Don't ask anything, it's too complicated to explain now. I'll do so on a full stomach one day. Anyway, the Tinker had gone travelling when he was younger, just after Skyla and Skyler got married. His mission had been to get to the realm beyond the Flightless Realm – or find out whether there was such a place. He was gone for years, only coming back just before the old king's death, probably just to say farewell. He never spoke of his travels, but we always wondered what trinkets he had brought along. He gave up advising then and became as he is now – just the Tinker. He only came back to politics after Skyler's death to help Skyla."

Jade sat back, trying to take it all in and also to link up some of the information between the Tinker and the Master Anwar they had met. She realized that it was probably their fault that he had gone travelling. In the Past they had been pretty surprised at the mention of realms beyond the Flightless Realms. The circles in which their adventures worked frightened her.

"So, you think that he got the feather in the Flightless Realm?" Jade asked tentatively.

Faolin, who somehow managed to make eating an apple a thoughtful and intense action, nodded. "That's what led me here," she said. "It's just…" She sat forward. "Think about it Jade. Joanie going off to the Flightless Realm. Future queen of the sky realm, a girl from your realm, wearing what might just be a feather from the Flightless Realm. Call me an imp but I think there's more going on here…"

&

She felt lighter than she had in days.
Joanie-Ellen watched the horizon with a strong feeling of determination. They had been travelling in silence for quite some time, a period that had somehow felt precious because she had regained the rudder which she had lost when she had lost the race. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath of cold air. It gave her the courage to look at the strong neck in front of her, watch the way the Horse's main tossed in the wind. He was… Something else, she decided. She wasn't sure what to think of him anymore or for that matter the hold he had over her. She was smart enough to realize that she had not been let off the hook yet. Somehow, she knew that in a way her service still belonged to him. Yet… He had bowed to her.

She sniffed and took a steadying breath.

"How did you know my name?" She whispered the question at first but realized that it would be impossible for him to hear her. Gathering her courage again, she spoke the question out loud.

"How did you know my full name?"

At first she thought that he still didn't hear her. Then, his skin against hers rippled and he snorted into the wind.

"I am not ignorant of what's happening in the Flightless Realm, Silver Feather."

His tone was not cold, nor was it distant. There was an undertone of caution that made her sit up suddenly and snap.

"Are you spying on us?"

His chest shook underneath her as he chuckled. "No Joanie, most certainly not," he said amused. "To what end? To invade the Sky Realm perhaps? What would people like Urla and Ingwar do there?"

Joanie blinked, feeling foolish.

"They are not the only people in your world," she said defensively, trying to hide her embarrassment. "It sounds ominous. The way you put it."

Again she could feel him laughing. "Most of the inhabitants of my Realm are like Ingwar and Urla Joanie," the Horse said with a chuckle. "They have no need to be otherwise. They are not simpletons. But, the world does not need to move at a complicated pace for them. I believe your wingdom folk are a lot the same. Peaceful mostly, usually unable to defend themselves. That's why you and other Sky Dancers are needed is it not?"

Joanie still felt uncomfortable and shrugged, immediately aware of the twinge in her shoulder. "I guess," she said as she looked out to the clouds. "It doesn't matter, here and now. How did you know my name?"

The Horse breathed a suffered sigh. "Because it was told to me," he said exasperated. "By a communal friend, I believe. The person told me you had the Silver Feather. That is how I knew of you."

The young Sky Dancer frowned and touched her belt. "What's that got to do with anything?" she queried, perhaps a little bit too defensively. It had been the best day of her life, the day she had been made a Sky Dancer. She had somehow felt justified for the first time in her life, as if everybody who had ever thought that she would never amount to anything had been proven wrong. It had been a big day for her because she always suspected that, like the people at social services, there had been many who looked at her negatively.

The Horse was quiet for sometime. "Everything and nothing," he said eventually. "It's not like the other feathers. Keep that in mind Joanie. It works in the Realm of Flight, but it does not need to adhere to its rules. It was a gift, a sign that its time for all the remaining realms to stand together. I believe that a time will come where that will be very important."

Joanie shivered and pulled the cloak closer to her with her free hand. From lack of anything to say to the Horse's foreboding she chuckled nervously and shrugged.

"Well I've never adhered to any rules," she said proudly. "So that's probably why we get on so well."

She hand meant the feather, but the Horse chuckled as if she had said something funny.

"Perhaps Silver Feather," he said. "We shall see…"

&

AN: I finished this a few days ago. It was the first chapter that I wrote in my new country. I didn't post it immediately because I had promised my Phantom of the Opera fans that I'll do their chapter first and being a bit tired of PM's from their side saying: UPDATED OR WE'LL REBEL! I decided not to tempt fate and post this first! Lol, anyway. I hope that this finds you all well and safe. Thank you for coming back and thanks for reading this! I hope that the next chapter will come out sooner.

Love to all!

Alyssa.