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Chapter 1: Aren
The day dawned clear and lucid on Arenstat. Calls of the iridescent Tiriki birds flooded the morning air, interspersed with shrieks signaling the arrival of the Bror cats. It was survial of the fittest. Down below the tallest mountain with its craggy spires and livid red stones, a jungle flurried with the restlessness of life. The purples and greens of the trees glowed brighter in the light from the first sun, and once the second sun left the sky, they would continue to glow for hours, a faint shine to light the way for its occupants. It was a pulsing light that seemed to exist only on this world and in the minds of the insane—neon colors of wonder.
Watching this daily fight for survival, the girl stood resolute upon a cliff. Darkest of forest green hair framed a face that was the pride of her people—at least the ones who would admit she was of nobility—and she had it turned to catch the quickening light of day. Her eyes were a different green entirely, an almost electric color that was very common among the Angelic race, and seemed to glow with life if she concentrated on something as she was at that moment. She had a straight, almost pert nose and the lips below were turned down in the semblance of a frown. Palest of skin topped off her person, and it seemed to glow with its own inner icy light. Everything on Arenstat shone in some way or other.
The girl took one last look at the rising sun and jungle below her and then she jumped. Brown wings that glittered with tiny diamonds snapped out of hiding on her back and caught the thick air to propel her through the sky. The feathers rustled as her wings beat strongly and the girl stretched her arms out as far as she could as if she were trying to hug the wilderness as it spread out and unraveled before her.
A whoop of excitement escaped from her lips unwitting, and it startled a flock of Tiriki birds that took off and flew with her for a while. The draft from her wings seemed to fascinate the birds almost as much as the lights dancing along her feathered appendages, and they appeared to dance and chase after it until she left them behind in a burst of speed.
She arrived home—if home is what it could be called—almost too soon for her tastes and slipped her way back into her chambers. Her movements were smooth and silent so as not to alert her servants. To her knowledge, no other member of the household was awake. She was startled then to find the looming shape of her Guardian standing in her foyer. His golden face was stern and she knew without being told that she was in for a talking-to.
“I should have guessed you would notice my absence, but before you say anything,” she began, “I just want to say that I didn’t go too far.” She crossed her fingers behind her back.
The giant Angel shook his head and replied, “You should know by now, Milady Arenstatia, that you cannot be allowed to wander off on your own. There are too many—“
“Dangers,” she finished with a small sigh. “Yes, I am aware by now that you think I’m in danger, Gyre, but as you can see, I’m perfectly alright. Nothing amiss with my person. Not even a feather out of place.” Her wings she lifted slightly from their tucked in position, the small rustle of feathers comforted her as it always did. Her wings were her only vanity.
Gyre sighed. He was used to Lady Aren’s antics, and often wondered just why he bothered guarding her when she so obviously was beloved by the majority of the other Angels.
“I see you managed to come back in one piece today, but other times…”
“Jumping Bror cats, Gyre! That was an accident and you know it!” Aren exclaimed as she thought back on the time she had been attacked by a flock of Tiriki birds and come home covered in shiny blue dung and had her feathers rearranged by their talons. She hadn’t known she was too close to their nests. They were just too touchy is all.
The big golden Angel stifled a chuckle as he watched her indignation at having been defeated by the lowest class of species on Arenstat.
“Be that as it may, Milady—“
“Aren,” she corrected. Her tiny nostrils flared minutely, and then returned to normal.
“Milady Aren,” he said just as firmly, “it reflects badly upon me if I cannot keep you safe from the tiny fowl of the air.”
Aren sighed. She had been trying for two long seasons to get Gyre to call her by her chosen name, but he still insisted on that Milady nonsense. It was all her parents’ fault. That and her cousin the Queen’s foolishness.
“Gyre, please, you must call me Aren. I insist.” She almost found herself pleading, and she didn’t really know why it was so important to her that he call her by her actual name. It just was.
Gyre frowned. “That is against protocol, you know that.”
“To Earth with protocol, Gyre! Do you think I care what those Angels at the capital think? Shall I tell you my decision?” she asked, changing topic erratically. Her electric green eyes were alight as she settled herself into a chair in the foyer and motioned for her bodyguard to sit as well.
He followed her unspoken command, sitting warily as he took in the excitement edging from her body.
“I fear you’ll tell me whether I say I wish to hear or not,” he muttered with a contained sigh.
She fastened her glowing eyes on Gyre’s golden ones and said, “I’m going to Earth.”
“You cannot go to Earth,” Gyre admonished Aren for about the fiftieth time that sun cycle. She was busy packing the necessary things she thought might be needed on the world of Earth. She didn’t quite know what to expect, since her only ideas about the planet and its inhabitants came from time at the University and gossip.
An ornamented vest with her family crest depicting the outline of two wings curved around an arrow was removed, then replaced, then removed again. In its place Aren stuck a book she had been given by her grandfather. She tucked it carefully between two soft-as-down everyday tunics.
She was inclined to believe it would be like an adventure. Life on the Angel’s home world had become too tame, but she wasn’t of the mind to be stuck on a star cruiser with her parents. Aren had a feeling that whatever the Queen had in store for her couldn’t possibly be as exciting as an expedition to a primitive planet would be.
Besides, she had others on Earth there for the same reason. And she was going to be safe. Gyre would be there.
“I can’t come with you,” Gyre said softly.
Aren stopped her packing and turned to face him, a confused look on her face. “Whatever do you mean, you can’t come with me? You are my Guardian, aren’t you?”
Once a Guardian was assigned, the Angel was not allowed to desert his post for the remainder of his life. Aren knew this, and was shocked to hear him announce he was staying. It was unheard of and left Aren with a horrible feeling in her heart.
Gyre shook his head. “I’m a member of the Royal Squad. You know I cannot leave the planet unless the Queen permits it.”
Aren scowled and she understood. “And she won’t allow it, especially since I’m the one you would be attending. She had to let you protect me here where others were watching her, but on Earth…”
Gyre frowned. “That is not the reason she—“
“Don’t patronize me, Gyre. I’m not an idiot. I can see as well as hear, and I know she does not look favorably upon my branch of the family tree. Who can blame her? My grandfather wanted to start a war with the—“
“It is forbidden to speak of that time,” Gyre reminded hurriedly. His dark amber eyes widened and flitted around him trying to see into the shadows that might be hiding listening ears. The punishment for mentioning the Great Rebellion was something worse than death. He was rightly afraid.
Aren flapped her hand dismissively. “There’s no one to hear, but I’ll stop. I don’t want you to get your wings clipped, or have mine done for that matter.” She shuddered once and grew serious at that thought. “I’m going to miss you, Gyre. Earth won’t feel as safe as I had anticipated without you to watch my wings.”
He smiled at her compliment, though still uneasy about their earlier topic. It wasn’t often that she showed such emotion or favoritism.
“It has been my honor,” he said with a small bow of his dark blond head.
Aren returned with a small smile to her packing, and tried to edge out the growing feeling of unease in her stomach. She hoped she was making the right choice, but really, what other choice did she have? She didn’t feel at home anywhere, so why should Earth be any different? At least it would be away from the more powerful reminders of her past.
“Maybe I can find some peace at last,” she thought as she watched Gyre leave to return to his duties for perhaps the last time as her Guardian. “Is that too much to ask?”
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