I gazed at him curiously.

"I'm...not sure," He said, furrowing his brows. "But I do have this," He lifted his wrist, and there was a black wristband that clinged tightly to his wrist. I've noticed it before, even asked why he wore it all the time. He always diverted the subject. I never gave the band much thought. But now I gaped at it. Trying to figure out what was so special. It certainly didn't look special. It was so simple. Half the people in the kingdom have bands like that. He saw my confusion.

"Look closer," He said. I scrunched my eyes and leaned in. There was a tiny green crystal, the size of a pinprick. So intricately carved into the shape of a healthy man. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the Crystal Of Life. There were 3 stones. The other two were Gem Of Wealthiness. Jewel Of Immortaility. If you were dying, a shard of it would make you the healthiest man in the world. Use of it was illegal now. It didn't even matter if it was illegal. The Erasols destroyed all the stones. Thats what the tutors said anyway. The closest thing I've ever seen of the Stone of Life was a crudely drawn artists version. Of course I could be wrong. That crystal could be any other crystal. No, I've been right all this time, who's not to say I would be this time.

"F-Fang, you were almost dead?"

"I don't know, but whenever I try to take of the wristband, I feel... death." He chose that last word carefully, as if there was no other way to describe the sensation. He looked regretful as if he attempted to take off the wristband often.

"Go on," He took a deep breath, and continued.

"I don't remember any near death experience. Perhaps I was a baby. I think it has something to do with the wings," This puzzled me.

"What about the wings?"

"Princess, having wings puts us in a lot of danger," said Iglande. The sound of his voice made me jump. I'd forgotten that he and Angela were there. "Do you know how many kingdoms would love to use us as weapons?" He winced. I'd never thought of that. I was stronger than the average man. I had faster reflexes. I was more intuitive. And lets not forget about the giant feathers poking out of back. Of course they would want us. We would be the best weapons they ever had. Any kingdom with the fortune to own us would be the wealthiest. They would dominate every other kingdom. They would make us reproduce to make more weapons. The thought of that possible future made me cringe. How could've I been so stupid? Taking midnight flights and slicing slits in my dresses.

"What are we to do?" I asked. I thought about how Angela crawled out from underneath the apple cart. Unharmed. Surely rumors were speading now. It wouldn't be long till it reached some greedy king.(Not my father of course) This was all my fault. If I weren't to push that apple cart and expose us, we wouldn't need to make some hasty escape plan. Guilt overflooded me. Iglande and Angela would be selling apples right now. I wondered what would happen if I was like a normal princess. I would be sipping tea with all the other conceited princesses by now, while gushing over each others over-priced new dresses. I wouldn't have to worry about wearing that too-tight corsette anymore. I would be planning to find a suitable prince. One with lots of money. Would I be horribly conceited and brainless? Probably. But I would be happy. Being smarter is so hard. If I wasn't smart, I wouldn't of noticed that Angel could read minds, and never push over that cart because I was so absorbed in thought. But then... I wouldn't of bothered meeting Fang. What would Fang be to an ordinary princess? A worthless servant? He was so much more.

"We'll have to run," said Iglande, breaking my train of thought.

"Where?"

"Larrock,"

"Larrock?" I asked, aghast. Larrock was nearly a two month journey, walking. Walking. We had another form of transportation.

"Do you know how to fly?" Iglande asked. I blinked. The last time I flew was 2 weeks ago. And that was only for a few minutes. I flew quite clumsily.

"I'll admit, I've hadn't had a lot of practice," I admitted sheepishly.

"We'll have to teach you," Angel stood up and Iggy held onto her arm. She began to walk west, towards the setting sun.

(No offense towards princesses! I know some of them are nice and I have nothing against them! But in this story,they're the stereotypical conceited, brainless, spoiled brats.)