Featherlight (10 page)

My whole house wasn’t this big! The view was undeniably gorgeous, and
it made me briefly forget about my whole predicament.

Mentally shaking myself, I turned from the window and noticed food on
the table. Exotic fruits, cheeses, and breads were spread out. It looked
delicious. Not sure whether to be creeped out that someone had come inside my
rooms while I was sleeping or grateful for the breakfast, I sat down and gorged
myself. I assumed my increased hunger was from the Change. A shudder went
through me just thinking about it. Who had I become?

Someone knocked on the door as I was finishing my last fruit. It was
yellow, sweet, and juicy. My heightened senses made eating a blessing. Each
flavor individually stood out, slowly satisfying my tongue. After reluctantly
wiping my fingers on the napkin, I opened the door.

A short woman with long black hair, bright eyes, and brown wings stood
outside. With relief, I noticed she wore an outfit like mine. Hey, I know I
shouldn’t want to fit in, but that girlish fear unfortunately followed me here.
She was cute, curvy, and looked to be in her mid-thirties, but you could never
tell with these people. She could be as old as Samantha for all I knew.

After a moment, she blinked at me and said, “Hello! You must be Jacque!
I’m Rene, and I teach some of the young women here at Roya.”

“It’s good to meetcha,” I said warily.

We stood there awkwardly because I wasn’t going to invite this woman
into my rooms. Well,
I
stood there awkwardly, since
she wasn’t
paying attention. She had darted a glance to see my wings and was now openly
staring at them. Although not fully out, they were still visible. I was used to
this by now (not the having wings part, but the staring part), so I gave her a
minute.

When she noticed I was waiting, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m
supposed to take you to the Grounds, if you’d like to accompany me.”

There were several reasons I should have declined, but that would have
made me seem rude.

Almost laughing out loud at my still-intact Southern manners even
after being kidnapped, I came to the conclusion that running away wasn’t going
to do me any good… Unless I could steal a plane and figure out how to fly it.
Slim chance. Either I could sit in my rooms all day and mope around, or I could
learn all I could about this new life and eventually make my way home.

Nodding and snatching my coat, I said, “Sure thing.”

Curiosity to see this odd city suddenly blossomed. As we made our way
down the golden stairs, she spoke, “I hope you don't mind, but could you be
sure to not make eye contact with anyone?”

“Sure,” I sighed, getting tired of avoiding my eyes. The Tower lobby,
I noted with relief, was empty.

She sighed too, and began explaining, “It's not, I'm just, it's just-…
I don't want anything to happen to you while I'm here.”

We reached the cool outside air. The rest of the city spread out below
us, covered in a hazy mist. My sharpened gaze noticed the dominating tall
trees, interspersed with homes and shops. It felt so strange to be able to see
everything clearly without my glasses.

The large, grassy area that we had landed on yesterday was to my right,
level with the Tower. After that, the ground began swooping downward and steps
led through the forest-city. I saw a flash of gold color from between the
trees, but it soon vanished. It was oddly quiet and calm.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Rene.

“It is early in the day. The city is sleeping,” she replied. Without
meaning to, I glanced up at the bright sun. The other sun was just barely
beginning to peak over the horizon. It was so strange to be in a place of
constant sunlight. My human clock made it feel like 4:00 in the afternoon, not
4:00 in the morning.

Rene gave me a minute to look the sky and city over, and then she
began to head right. As we walked, I noticed the weather was nice and cool. A thick,
influencing breeze tickled my cheeks while the sun lightly warmed my skin.

 “Keep your eyes down, please, Jacque,” Rene told me over her
shoulder, “and stay close.”

I kept my eyes lowered as we stepped through the thick grass covered
steps that led to the Grounds. The path was not well-tended, and I realized
with a start that the steps had probably very rarely been used. Why walk when
you had wings?

We didn’t pass any people, but long, winged shadows covered the light
from time to time.

“The steps are for the children who haven’t grown their wings yet,”
Rene told me quietly.

We were halfway there when the back of my neck started tingling. I
heard the quiet thumps of landing beings behind me, but I kept walking. Rene
must have heard them, too, because she picked up the pace.

I wasn’t even winded, and the steps were surprisingly effortless to
descend. I longed to hide as more and more quiet thumps followed, and I began
to hear hushed clips of conversation.

“Is she different?” “Do you smell that?” “She’s not taken.” “Do you
think…?” The city was awake, and we had reached the Grounds.

Across the area was a large, plain building, and we began to quickly
head towards it.

“Rene? Why are you walking?” One voice behind us asked. “Who is your
friend?”

We kept walking. This coat was suffocating my wings.

“Answer me!” A voice demanded, and Rene flinched.

We had almost reached the building when she leaned close to me and
barely whispered, “Go through the door. Don't turn around.”

She stopped and began talking to the people behind me as I kept
walking.

“Sorry, I had a hurt child that needed to be taken care of,” she said.

“She is no child, and this is the training area. You are not a very
good liar, Rene...” A man's voice replied.

Rene faltered, and I felt a stab of pity for the woman. “I- I was only
doing what wa-was asked of me.”

 I had reached the door and was just about to open it when I heard a
sharp noise and a whimper from Rene.

I wheeled around, fists clenched. “Hey!” I yelled.

That sound was no stranger to me. That sound had escaped my mouth more
times than I could count. I was no longer the helpless child from my past, and
I would not idly stand by while another woman was harmed.

Rene was bent over and holding a hand to her face. Beside her, the man's
arm was raised. He was ready to strike again. Slowly, he looked over at me. The
door at my back opened, and I was yanked inside by a pair of arms as the
Marshal ran outside, slamming the door behind him. Although I couldn’t be sure,
I thought I saw Peter’s dark form landing behind the man. Not having time to
think about that, I leapt up, trying to keep my balance and see what was going
on around me.

 I was inside a very large room, at least twice as big as our school's
gym, and twice as tall.  Actually, this place could rival the size of a
football field. There were white foam walls and a padded floor with a black
circular track marking the perimeter. I noticed Samantha standing beside me,
waiting to see what I would do. We were the only two in the gym.

“Rene-” I started, but Samantha said, “Marshal will take care of it.”

It was odd that I was so trusting of them, because for some reason I
believed her. Marshal had exited the building angrily, and it had all been directed
at the man who had hit Rene.

“Well,” Samantha began, “As you can see, we are inside the Grounds
Gym. This is where the kids learn to fly and the Sentinels prefect their
skills.” She looked at me, and continued, “We will be working on the basics
today, if that’s fine.”

I nodded at her, although what I really wanted was knowledge. I wanted
to know what was going on with this society and with my instincts. Rene and
Marshal entered the gym through the door behind me, taking me by surprise.

“Now, I know you discovered how to unfold your wings, but we need to
make sure you have that part down. It won't be long before men discover who you
are, and you need to be ready to make a quick getaway.” Sam exchanged a long
glance with Marshal.

I couldn’t help it. While she was looking away, I rolled my eyes.
Childish, I know. But honestly? Who cares if men ‘discover’ me? That just
sounded wrong… Oh, this was going to be a long day.

“We had a discussion, and we decided that it would be for the best if
you had a choice regarding your mate. We figured it would be unfair to force someone
on you, even if that someone was the best choice.” She gave Marshal another
long look.

I had a feeling she didn’t say that last sentence for my benefit. And
these people were also in for a long day if they thought for even a second that
they could force me to do
anything.

“Anyways, we will be starting out with a few basic exercises, to find
out exactly where you are. We've never had anything like you. All of our
children are trained to fly young, so all are proficient flyers by your age.
But you've had no training, and your wings are new, so this will be an
interesting experience for both of us. I would figure, since you've just gained
your wings, that you would be on the same level as a child, but we will see.” Somehow,
she didn’t make that last statement sound condescending. She was simply
truthful. “Let's test out your strength.”

Marshal easily carried a set of large weights to the center of the
floor. I walked towards them, not knowing what to expect. Marshal beckoned to
the weights, and I bent down to lift them. They seemed huge, but I grabbed them
with ease and held them at waist level. If the gravity hadn’t been so weak, I
wouldn't have been able to lift them at all. After a few seconds, I dropped the
weights. Apparently Earth’s gravity had made my strength above average on Auro.
I stared at the weights while I figured this out. Rene assumed that I was
embarrassed at my abnormal strength.

“No worries!” She reassured me, “John and Marshal are much stronger.”

I’m not sure how any person could say that with pride, but she managed
it. Her statement was probably meant as a complement. Nevertheless, it was
extremely insulting. I bristled and tried not to glare at her.

Sam said, “Let's try your speed. Rene- if you would time this?” I had
almost forgotten about Rene. She was so quiet.

Rene tapped her electronic clipboard (I hadn’t noticed her pick one
up, and I didn’t like the fact that my statistics were being recorded). She
nodded to Sam once the clipboard timer was ready.

After placing my coat by the door, I walked over to what I had assumed
was the starting point on the track. Lining up on a white line, I got ready to
run. This was something at which I was good, and it would feel glorious being
able to run after staying locked in the house with leukemia.

“On three. One. Two. Three!” Not wanting to look like a complete fool
again, I took off. My legs stretched out to their fullest, and I felt free and
alive for the first time since arriving here. The air rushed by my face, the
wind whistled in my ear, and my muscles awoke. I pushed the limits, and
couldn't help but grin. It felt so wonderful!

It was like my body just realized that gravity was lighter on this
planet. My feet lightly pounded across the padded floor. Did I just finish a
lap?

“Stop!” Someone yelled. I didn't want to stop. I couldn't stop. “STOP!”

This time, it almost sounded desperate, but I was having too much fun.
I was finally
free.
I heard Rene running.
Wow!
I thought,
she's
pretty fast!
It took a minute for my brain to catch up with my
observations. There should not be anyone else running.

Skidding to a stop, I quickly twirled to see John running towards me.
Before I could even register what was going on, I was tackled by him. Being
tackled and chased constantly was getting old fast. This needed to stop.

We rolled on the padded floor several times, and I was soon pinned
down. His intoxicating smell invaded my senses, and our eyes locked for a split
second. John’s blue eyes swirled into a deep black. My instincts kicked in full
gear.

I took him by surprise when I immediately rolled and pushed. Finally
free, I saw a flash of black, and heard the
whoosh
of his wings. Without
thought, I took off along the edge of the gym. I was ready to run for all that
I was worth.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Samantha sprint up to us. Glancing
over my shoulder, I saw her standing in his path. He was floating! Oh, wait. He
was just flying… I needed to get used to people having wings.

Nevertheless, he hovered about five feet off the ground. Odd, I could
have sworn that he had golden wings, not black. Seeing that he was not
advancing, I slowed down a tad, my body half turned and ready to make a quick
getaway. My calves shook and my back ached. Every instinct was screaming run,
so I tried to calm myself.

Samantha spoke, “John. Look at me. Gain control. You can do it.”

His fists were clenched, and he was breathing hard.  It was difficult
for me to just be still when my body wanted to do anything but stand here idly.
I was like a sitting duck. I could feel my heart beating, and with every beat
it told me to flee. I refused.