Dripping Wings

Yuugi felt himself being vigilantly shook by his shoulder. His eyes blinked furiously as he tried to wake up, but the darkness still around him urged him to fall back asleep. "Nuuuuh," he groaned, rolling away from the hand trying to wake him and pulling the covers back over his head.

"Love, it's time to wake up," Atemu's voice chuckled above him. "Come on. We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Too early," he mumbled under the silken comforter.

"Too bad."

Yuugi cried out in objection when he felt the Prince lift him off the bed and straight onto the cold marble floor. "No," he cried. "Sleep! Too early!" His fight was a meager one, though, and he finally made himself stand as the Prince continued to wrap his arms around him. He pouted, sighed, and attempted to make his mind work properly. "Why do we have to be up so early?"

"It's the first day of Winter Solstice, love. We have to herald the beginning of the day at sunrise. There is a ritual that you have to take a part of."

Yuugi suddenly felt his mind become wide awake with this new information. "Me? There's something I have to do? What is it?"

Atemu walked him towards the bathing room, helping him to get ready for the day. "Every Winter Solstice, the King and Queen are pitted against one another in a race through the city. They ride their horses until they reach the finish line, where there is the Ice Platform. Your horse has to run to the middle of the platform, and from there, it will know what to do. If it doesn't, you lose."

"So...what's the point of winning?"

"That, you will find out soon."

Yuugi frowned, not liking the answer. He would have liked to know all about it, and didn't see too much of a point in keeping it a secret. It frustrated him not knowing. "You do realize that I haven't been coronated yet," Yuugi stated.

"I know, but your position is still higher than any other person in the country, aside from my own. Isis has had to step up to the place of the challenger for me for years now. I'm glad that you're here now to take part in this with me." The Prince smiled at him warmly, helping Yuugi to strip of his clothes and step into the large bath in front of him. Thankfully, the water was warm, if not hot, and the bubbles felt like satin against his skin. It was wonderful being able to take baths again since learning how to hide his wings.

"I...hope I don't screw up," Yuugi stated, tentatively rubbing soap in his hair.

"You won't. More than that, it's quite hard to screw up this race. The horses know what to do. They do most of the work. Astarte will do just fine with you riding her. I know you'll do well."

"At least someone has confidence in me." He rinsed his hair. "Say...Atemu, what do the rest of the citizens think of me? And the other officials here at the palace? I don't see very many people outside of the restricted area of the palace. And everyone is nice to my face...what do they think of me when I'm not around?"

The Prince frowned a bit as Yuugi finished with his bath and helped him out of the water to get dry. "I'm not sure, aybu. From what I've been told, most people are indifferent; they neither like nor hate you. Many here at the palace seem to have nothing but good thoughts of you, but as for those out of the palace...I don't know. Nothing bad has come up, if that's what you're worried about." He pulled Yuugi, now wrapped in a towel, towards him. "Don't worry about it. You know how to be polite to people. You also know how to be diplomatic - I've seen you at it before. Have a little bit of faith in yourself." Here, he kissed his smaller lover deeply.

Yuugi sighed when they broke away from the kiss, letting his eyes fall downward. "Ah well. I hope you're right. Anyway, how cold is it outside? How much should I wear?"

The Prince gave a wan grin. "Oh, it's cold. I threw some water out of a cup earlier outside, and it was ice before it hit the ground."

Yuugi frowned hard. "Oh, this is going to suck."

By the time he'd finished dressing, he figured he didn't look too bad, for the amount of clothing he'd put on. Two pairs of thermal under-ware fit snug and form fitting around him. Double insulated pants made of a smooth material he'd never seen before, but felt similar to satin and the color of white, felt like a sauna around his legs. A sweater made of the same type of material matched, but was underneath a type of vest that had cross ties in the front. It reminded Yuugi of the styles from the Renaissance back on Earth, but with a little more class. It's color was a deep midnight blue with accents of silver. One thing about the whole ensemble, however, did not have him very happy. "I look like a dope," he said, loud enough so Atemu could here him at the other end of the room.

"What do you mean," the Prince asked him.

"I do not want to wear a cape. I don't care how pretty the deep blue-ish silver color is, I feel like a pimped out super hero."

Atemu walked up next to him, gazing at his appearance in the mirror. He didn't see any problem. Yuugi looked like a respectable, cultured, and handsome ruler. "A what now? Yuugi, I don't know what you're talking about. You look wonderful. And you forgot to put on that silver headband. That shows your future royal status."

Yuugi sighed, slipping it over his hair and under his bangs. It was beautiful, he supposed, the silver glimmering as if it had been plucked from the very stars above. The royal symbol was directly in the middle of the headband, that being a crescent moon that had the points touch as they pointed upwards. A glimmering moonstone was in the middle of the crescent moon, shining like it should for royalty. "Look out, biiiotches! This mofo is going to rip this popsicle stand a new one!"

The Prince looked indeed quite lost. "Yuugi, what in heaven's name are you talking about?"

"Just making fun of myself," he muttered. He resigned to his attire, regal and pompous as it was. "All right, point me in the right direction to where I need to go. I'm ready, I suppose."

"Follow me, sweetheart. We have to go the Main Entrance on the south side. Senke and Astarte will be ready for us."

xxx

Yuugi attempted to keep his mouth firmly shut as he gaped at all of the people in front of him. Thousands, it had to be, were lined up in front of the palace gates. They were maybe a hundred feet below, none having been allowed to climb the some three-thousand step stairway that led to the palace doors. There was a slim pathway that wound around within the crowd, vanishing off to a point that he could not see as it looped its way elsewhere. Indeed, their horses were standing and waiting for them, decked out in as much pomp and circumstance as him and the Prince, stable boys standing at their side and holding the reins. Astarte had on a silver saddle that donned spools of white and blue ribbons. Her hair was brushed and laced with silver and blue ribbons as well, and her bridle and reins were sparkling in the pre-dawn light. Even her hooves had been finely polished, the true silver they were sparkling as much as her many ribbons. She tossed her head when she caught sight of him, her feet prancing in excitement.

Senke, too, was adorned in a saddle that matched him and Atemu. Where Yuugi's colors were silver and cobalt blue, the Prince's were black and a dark silver-purple. Senke wore no ribbons, but he did have extra straps and buckles on his saddle, bridle and reins that were purely for show. He scraped his right front hoof on the ice covered ground as he waited for the Prince to mount. It was hard to see him in the darkness of early morning.

Yuugi was surprised and delighted by the fact that he could hardly feel the cold of the winter air around him. He had never, ever been in weather this chilly before. Everything outside was frozen solid, and the very moisture in one's breath turned to tiny little crystals that clattered as they hit the ground. Atemu smiled at him reassuringly, grabbing his hand at his side and holding it firmly. "We'll do fine," he whispered, and before Yuugi could comment on the 'we', the Prince had drug him forward where the crowd could finally see them both fully.

Court officials surrounded them. Palace nobility held a place of honor along the sides of the platform. And spread out before them, spilling out of the palace gates and into the city beyond, thousands of citizens waited eagerly to hear what the Prince was going to say.

The Prince made a quick movement with his hands, and Yuugi recognized it, much to his own satisfaction, as an amplify charm. This would raise Atemu's voice so those far beyond earshot could hear him. "People of the Divine City," he began, capturing everyone's attention. "Yet another Solstice is upon us. This year has been a blessed one, and a happy one. The Co-Consort seat will no longer be empty, for now there is a soul that I have chosen to be with. He stands before you!"

Yuugi felt a lump catch in his throat when he heard those words, suddenly feeling thousands of eyes upon him. He was no longer a nameless person standing next to the Prince; he was one that would rule over them soon. The cheering was a good sound; at least no one sounded unhappy about his presence there. At least, none he could hear. All he tried to do was not look stupid in front of so many critical eyes.

"The Solstice will begin at sunrise. Let the Race for the Lights begin!"

The cheer from those below them were deafening. Quickly, Atemu dropped Yuugi's hand with one last squeeze, and headed to the side of his horse. Yuugi did likewise, having no idea what he was going to do. He knew he was going to screw this up massively. How could he not? He wasn't even sure where he was supposed to go! He mounted Astarte, taking the reins from the stable boy. "Thank you," he said quietly, and got a surprised grin from the sandy haired boy. He nudged Astarte next to Senke and Atemu, and waited for his next instruction. The Prince winked at him, then looked forward. Yuugi did likewise, and suddenly saw Lilian before them, grinning. She was going to tell them when to go. He swallowed.

She raised her arms, almost dramatically, and stood poised. Yuugi's body sat rigidly in the saddle as he waited. Without warning Lilian dropped her arms and a glow emitted from the platform they stood on, and without his consent Astarte took off after Senke and Atemu, who already had a head start on them. Goddess, no, we have to go down those steps. Right into the crowd! What are they thinking? Yuugi thought to himself. This was madness. It was beyond his control, though, and he let his horse do what she seemed to be very good at - leaping down steps four to five at a time, sometimes more. Yuugi hunched down low, both to strengthen his balance on her back and to help with wind resistance. Astarte had a beautiful rhythm to her flight down the steps, and she was easily catching up to the war horse who was a bit more cumbersome on those endless steps.

The cheering of the people grew louder and louder as they reached the bottom. Astarte took the final twenty steps in one graceful leap, landing heavily on the iced and snowy ground. Ice and snow crystals sprayed up around them. She didn't hesitate, though, as she sped onward into the crowd. Yuugi couldn't concentrate on any of the faces looking at him, he was moving so quickly. It seemed that a small runway had been roped off for him and the Prince, as the way before him was clear. Hell, he could navigate something like this. Losing his rigidness, he eased into Astarte's movements, attempting to meld with her and make them move as one. He laughed when he realized Atemu was right next to him. Astarte was faster than Senke, and that fact was becoming clearer and clearer by the minute. Atemu winked at him, then fixed his eyes forward. "Hya!" he cried, and suddenly...

Senke moved a lot faster. Atemu was moving further out of his reach.

"Astarte," Yuugi cried, "are you going to let some male beat you? Show them who's better! Don't slow down now!" The male comment might have worked, for suddenly her legs pumped faster and harder than Yuugi had ever seen them do. A turn came up, and a sharp one at that. The two horses made a huge shower of snow as they kept moving, the momentum they'd built up wanting them to keep going forward, rather than to the right.

The track started to get a little harsher. Huge snow drifts loomed ahead of them. Senke started plowing right through it. Astarte actually tried to leap over it, and did a fairly good job, till she got just past the tip and went chest deep into snow. She didn't stop, though. She kept on moving. Yuugi was impressed with her abilities, and kept encouraging her to keep it up. However, no matter how talented she was, a frozen river was bad news for anything with feet.

Or hooves for that matter.

Yuugi noticed that Senke started to slide as he attempted to run across the frozen water that had to be a mile wide. Astarte leaped over another snow drift, landing heavily onto the frozen water. Both she and Yuugi went sliding sideways, the mare attempting to regain her footing as snow continued to fly around them.

Senke and Atemu looked to be using the sliding to their advantage, using the inertia they'd built up to simply push them to the other end. It would run out eventually, though, and that mile was going to seem a lot longer than it actually was.

Yuugi, was once again, shocked. Astarte's dainty hooves seemed to take the ice in stride, and she kept pushing herself forward and managed to find footing when she needed it. They were at the other end in no time, whilst Atemu and Senke were still slipping their way across.

The next obstacle that was ahead of them was, in fact, a tall and rather steep hill. Astarte didn't hesitate, once again. She plowed through, pushing ice and snow behind her as she scaled the landmass. The wind had picked up, and started whipping about his delicate cheeks. It was all a blur as the mare reached the top, landing on a huge circular ice platform, in fact only ten, maybe twenty feet away from the one they'd started at. Astarte went right to the middle, stopped, and turned around. She was looking back the way they'd come, allowing Yuugi to see as Senke stumbled his way to the top of the hill. Atemu looked a little shocked as he saw Astarte starring at them smugly, her back left hoof raised regally over a small orb in the center of the platform. Just as dawn sunlight spilled over the horizon, Astarte let her hoof fall, and crushed the orb. Yuugi felt the platform beneath them start to shake. The mare moved swiftly out of the way, and from that broken orb a light brighter than he could bare to look at shot up into the sky.

Yuugi had to shield his eyes from the onslaught of light. It was nearly a full minute later when he could finally bare to look, and saw, to his wild amazement, the light had branched off as if it were a tree, and the same lilies that bloomed in the palace gardens during the summer were carved out of that same light the tree was now made of. Yuugi remembered hearing about the Tree of Lights. This had to be it. No wonder there's a race to see who releases this tree. Such an honor it is... Yuugi was mesmerized. He could hardly bare to tear his eyes away from this tree that now towered two, maybe three hundred feet into the air. The neigh of Astarte tore him out of his revere, and he looked around him, noticing now how Atemu, Isis, and dozens of other members of the palace were gazing at him fondly. It was then that the roar from the cheering crowd below him finally reached his ears.

"Congratulations, love. You knew what to do after all."

Yuugi almost jumped when he heard Atemu speak softly next to him. "Ha, yeah right. Astarte is the one who did all of the work."

"Told you."

Yuugi laughed a little bit, simply in the sheer delight of the moment. "So, love, what's next?"

"Next," Atemu asked him with mach curiosity. "Oh, next there's food, and wine, then some more food, then an ice skating contest, then ice sculptures, then some more food, then the ice palace gets built, then more food and wine, then horse racing, then some more food, and if there's time, wine and food."

Yuugi laughed again. "And how long does this celebration last?"

"Thirteen days."

xxx

Keylian looked up at the new Tree that loomed above her and the rest of the people in the city. She was one of the lucky ones, for she had been right up front and was able to see the Prince and his Betrothed race down the pathway that had been cleared for them. The white horse looked so pretty! Her heart ached to have a horse like that of her own someday.

"Keylian," a voice next to her cried in excitement. "Did you see it? Did you see? The Betrothed won! He won! The Prince has won every year since he started! That was amazing!" It was her younger sister, Neshya. She stood next to her older sister bouncing on her heals in excitement.

"I wish I had a horse like that," she mused to herself.

Her sister snorted. "Are you kidding? That's one of the Sacred. Trying to get a horse like that is nearly impossible unless you work at the palace. Or a Guardian, for that matter. Do you really want to be a Guardian, Keylian? Hm?" Her sister pressed.

Keylian sighed. No, she didn't really want to be a Guardian. The protectors of Sekesha had a hard and demanding job. Many of them died daily defending the borders from bandit raids and civil brawls. Besides, she wasn't even Gifted. She'd never be able to become a Guardian. "I can still dream," she retorted.

"I'll be dreaming about the Prince tonight," Neshya went on. "Oh, if a man like that were to come walking into my life..." she twirled around as her thoughts danced around her imagination.

She laughed at her younger sister's antics. "Like that would ever happen." People bumped into her now as they left the steps of the palace to head elsewhere.

"Come on," Neshya said, tugging on her hand. "The ice skating contest is about to start. I'm old enough to enter it this year. After that, mamma made fresh bread and meat pies for us. And wine is getting passed around all day long! For free! Come on, we have to get some!"

"Neshya, you're only sixteen. You're not old enough to drink yet. You still have to wait for two years."

Her sister pouted, but her face brightened up just enough that Keylian wondered what she was up to. "They don't have to know that yet." They meaning the vendors that would be passing out the wine. Things were usually so busy that they would hardly notice if a glass suddenly went missing from their table.

She scoffed. "You're going to get us in a lot of trouble! You know that, don't you!"

Neshya laughed as she pulled her sister towards Tranquil Lake, the largest body of water that was actually in the city limits. That's where the skating competition was always held.

"Hey, look out down there!"

Keylian turned around quickly when the voice boomed behind her. People were moving out of the way, and she understood why very soon. Two of the Sacred were running her way. She pulled Neshya, who cried out in protest, off to the side.

It was the Prince and the Betrothed! They were on their horses, running at a comfortable pace down the road! She starred transfixed as the two, on their beautiful horses, laughed and yelled at one another. The Betrothed dodged a snowball that came rocketing his way from the Prince. "You missed," he cried out happily. Keylian heard Neshya gasp next to her. The two of them were playing with snowballs?

The Betrothed's horse neighed in glee, prancing around to face the Prince. The one riding her summoned up a snowball from the ground with magick, then quickly flung it at the Prince. The dark horse the Prince rode turned around quickly, but his rear was still splattered with fresh white snow. The neigh and snort of surprise that followed was incredibly humorous.

"They must be on their way to the Lake," Neshya whispered next to her. "They're judging it, you know!"

Keylian wasn't really listening. She kept gazing at how beautiful the pair were together. Some things just weren't fair in life. But, she supposed, being a descendant from the Goddess gave one a lot of perks in life. The white horse, one of the Sacred Herd of the crown, neighed again as she ran off through the crowd. The midnight colored stallion took off after her.

"Entranced?"

Keylian nearly jumped out of her skin when her brother spoke loudly behind her. "Oh!" she cried. "You nasty child! Don't sneak up on me like that! And no, I was not entranced!"

Her eighteen year old brother laughed. "Yeah, right. I saw that look in your eyes. All sparkly and shiny. You'd probably jump into Tranquility Lake if the Prince just asked you to."

She growled angrily, picked up a huge lump of snow, and chucked it at him. It landed in his dark black hair, soaking it through and through. "Oh, you'll pay for that!" he roared.She grabbed Neshya's hand, and darted off to the Lake, laughing like crazy.

xxx

Confused about Keylian and Neshya? Don't worry, more will be revealed in future chapters...