Flight and Fantasy Read online

  Her wings were being examined by two men. One had wings, one didn’t. The woman that she had caught was in earnest conversation with the queen.

  Annanya approached timidly, she waited until the women stopped speaking before she came forward. “Are you all right?”

  The woman turned and met her with a face that was an aged mirror of her own. “Yes, thanks to you. If there is anything I can ever do for you, I would be honoured.”

  Annanya removed the visor, hood and shook her hair out. The woman’s face went from grateful to shocked. “Thank you, madam. I…you are the first wingless woman I have ever seen.”

  “Drayson! Stop fiddling with those wings and get over here.” There were tears in the woman’s eyes.

  “What is it Tehshia?” He frowned down at his wife before turning his gaze to Annanya.

  Anna stared into eyes that were the same deep brown as her own with the bronze rings around the pupils that she thought were hers alone.

  “Who are you?”

  “Annanya Fennor. Who are you?” Between the woman’s white blonde hair and the male’s eyes, she was feeling a little lightheaded.

  Denaric cupped her elbow and made the introductions. “Annanya, this is Queen Tehshia and King Drayson Norfil of the Orion Rift consortium. They are one of our greatest trading partners and the supporters of many of these inventors.”

  Queen Tehshia grabbed Anna’s hand. “How old are you?”

  She didn’t fight, she could feel an acknowledgment of kinship with these two. “Twenty-five. Papa says I was just a baby when he found me.”

  Tears started in both their eyes as they clung to each other. Anna moved to stop them. “Wait. I think I know what you are thinking, but isn’t there some kind of test to confirm this before we all get teary and blubber?”

  Tears were pricking her own eyes and Denaric wrapped his arm around her waist.

  Tehshia smiled. “So logical. Yes. We will run some tests. Our medical bay on our orbiting ship is quite well-equipped. May I have a hug in case we don’t meet again? We knew she was lost, but never thought to look for her here. How could someone hide a wingless girl among a winged population?”

  “Apparently, it worked, but I did get a good family and sisters and parents who love me, even if someone left me in the path of a tractor.”

  They flinched in unison.

  “Your majesties, I know where to find Miss Fennor after the exhibition. You don’t need to worry about anything. She isn’t going anywhere.” His squeeze was proprietary and Anna looked at him in surprise. After their night together, she thought he would be done with her. The look he gave her communicated many things and she couldn’t figure them out.

  King Drayson was frowning at Denaric, the familiar eyes narrowed with a gaze that took in the prince’s hand on her waist as well as the position of his fingers under her breast. If it was Vorlar’s gaze, she would have said it was fatherly.

  Bemused, she turned her attention to the comings and goings outside. Concerned crowds were forming around the outer edge of the platform. The nobles who had been trapped on the rocking contraption were making their way to the fairgrounds as the wind up above continued to rock those foolish enough to fly.

  The queen grabbed her hand, startling her out of her consideration of the botched flights. “Come and have dinner with us, Annanya. Whether the tests are positive or not, I want to know you better. How did you come up with the idea for that suit?”

  The woman eased her away from Denaric and Anna smirked as Drayson kept him from following. Anna explained growing up flightless in a winged family and the problems inherent in the common designs.

  Tehshia asked intelligent questions and explained that she had a background in mechanics. It was why she had been chosen to be on the King’s assessment team and how she had met her husband all those years ago.

  “You lost your daughter?” It had to be asked.

  “I did. We were away at an exhibition of this type and we had left her with her nanny. There was a break in and her caretaker was murdered. My daughter was taken and we never saw her again.” The tones were calm, but the emotion that Tehshia was radiating was incredibly sad.

  “And there were no clues as to where she was taken?”

  “The conspirators died during a shuttle crash. They left no clues as to what they had done with my daughter.”

  “You had no other children?” Anna found herself clinging to the queen’s hand.

  “No. We tried, but no other children survived birth.” The woman shrugged. Years of pain were unspoken.

  They fell into a soft silence that was broken when Denaric handed her her wings and asked her to meet him for dinner.

  “I really would like to, but this is all I have clothing-wise. I was not expecting any events like this.” She shrugged. “It will have to wait until the next exhibition, I suppose.”

  His surprise didn’t faze her, but his words did. “I will have something appropriate brought to you. The guard will accompany you and I will see you at seven.”

  Tehshia was smiling behind her hand. “I look forward to seeing you again before you leave, Annanya. Make sure that you don’t forget.”

  Anna wasn’t pleased, but she bowed as gracefully as she could in her flight suit. She picked up her wings, bowed again to Grayson and Denaric’s mother and left the platform.

  She stopped when applause broke out and quickly made her way through the crowd and back to the invention storage facility. Her coveralls were where she had left them and when a throat was cleared behind her, she realized that the prince had made good on the threat to assign her a guard.

  It was the same guard who had flown her to the party the night before. “I have been assigned to keep you safe, Princess.”

  She shushed him. “There have been no tests. Nothing has been proven, so call me Anna and turn your back. I have to change back into my coveralls. This suit gets too much attention.”

  He turned his back and flared his wings, giving her a feathered curtain to change behind.

  Getting out of the suit was harder than going in, but in five minutes, she was slithering back into her coveralls and sighing with relief.

  The wings of her suit went back on the wagon, as did the pack. The bodysuit was rolled and tucked under one arm. “Okay, let’s get some grounder accommodation. You can wait out front. No sense in you sullying your wings with such a low association.” She snorted and led the way to the rest tents.

  He trailed behind her without saying a word. He hung back when she entered the tent and paid her fee for a quiet cot in the depths of the long tent. She ordered a bath to be brought for later and used her thumbprint to pay for that as well. The tiny fabric cubicle was blessedly quiet, the noises of the exhibition were far away.

  She snuggled down on the cot and tried not to think.

  Her guard showed up as she was drying from her bath. A grudging respect was in his gaze as he handed her a stack of boxes. “Thank you for saving the queen and the others.”

  “It was my pleasure.” She put the boxes down on her cot and smiled determinedly at him until he left her to get dressed.

  The gown she was given was made of a multitude of layers of silk. It was beautiful and had matching shoes covered with delicate beadwork.

  The corset that was provided was covered with gems and as she laced herself into it, Anna felt like a mouse in a treasure chest, surrounded by luxury but not part of it.

  The final box had a note from Denaric. Wear these. D.

  The tiara fit to her head with combs and the necklace and bracelets made her glitter in the dimming light. Without a mirror, she could only guess at how she looked, but the guard snapped to attention as she emerged from the tent.

  She was still clutching her suit. “I need this somewhere safe.”

  “Carry it and there will be someone to guard it when we arrive.” He stepped toward her and a voice made him pause.

  “Annanya, what the hell are you wearing?” Nasha’s striden
t tones cut across the space between them.

  “I am wearing a gown provided by the royal family of Orion Rift.” She didn’t mention the gems she was covered in. Let her sister think what she wanted.

  “Where are you going?” Her eagerness to approach made the guard shift nervously.

  “I have a dinner invitation. Where is Father?”

  “Enjoying his success. He won his category today. I see you didn’t.”

  In all the fuss, Anna hadn’t given it any thought. “I suppose I didn’t, but I made some new friends. Now if you will excuse me, I have to meet someone for dinner.”

  Her nod to the guard had her up in his arms and with a powerful shove, they were gliding away from her open-mouthed sister still on the ground.

  “She is hungry for power.” The guard’s unsolicited words startled her.

  “Yes. Power, position, family connections, she wants it all.” They were heading toward the aerie, a stone edifice that Anna had never imagined setting foot in.

  Guards snapped to attention as they arrived and saluted her formally as she was set on her feet and walked in to the royal home. A guard spoke to one of the household servants, and the grey winged man extended his arms for the folded suit. “I will take good care of it, Princess.”

  Anna sighed. “Thank you, but I am not a princess.”

  The man grinned and simply took the suit from her. “We will see, welcome to the aerie, mistress.”

  Unencumbered, she wove her fingers together and followed her guard through the halls. Paintings covered every available space and a few held wingless women with their winged men. That sight gave her a measure of hope.

  Denaric greeted her in the entry of the formal dining room. Vorlar Fennor, her father, was waiting inside with a pensive look on his face.

  “You are stunning, Annanya. You should dress like this every day.” He kissed her in front of all assembled, causing gasps and murmurs in the nobles waiting in the room.

  She rose up on her toes to keep his lips on hers until he moved out of her reach. His eyes sparkled and he led her into the room where a very nervous looking King Drayson and Queen Tehshia stood next to Queen Amaraic.

  Amaraic raised her hands and silence fell. “It is my distinct pleasure to announce the engagement of my son, Denaric, to Princess Annanya Melshia of the Orion Rift. With the joining of our two houses, may prosperity touch both our worlds.”

  Anna froze and stared at the man she had known as father. He nodded and came to speak to her. “I love you, your mother loves you, but they loved you before I knew you. Let them learn about the amazing woman you have become and know that my pride is overflowing at everything you have accomplished.”

  He kissed her on each cheek and pressed knuckles to her forehead. Normally he would have ruffled her hair, but with the tiara in place, it was inappropriate.

  “You will always be my Papa. And my sisters will always be those of the Fennor family.” Tears pricked his eyes and he bowed to the prince before returning to the other side of the room.

  The rulers of Orion Rift came toward her. Tehshia took her hands and smiled. “The test was positive, you are our daughter and we have decided to agree to Denaric’s proposal so that you will not have to leave your home.”

  “Where did you get the sample? I don’t remember giving you one.”

  While Drayson’s face darkened, Denaric whispered in her ear, “I gave them the sheet that we were on last night. It moved things along with satisfying speed.”

  Anna paled and swayed as she almost fainted. The sheet stained with her virgin blood had provided the sample. No wonder she was engaged to him already. Wait. Engaged?

  “You proposed to me and I wasn’t even there?” Her whisper was more of a hiss.

  “It is the way of royalty. I promise to make it up to you in strange and unusual ways.” His words were not whispered and while Drayson frowned, he was also amused. Tehshia covered her mouth with her hands and laughed.

  Surrounded by family past, present and future, Annanya realised that, despite the strange start to her life, the rough portions of her memories, she was surrounded by those who accepted her for who she was.

  She smiled and embraced her mother and father. The Fennors would never fade in her mind, but there was more than enough room in her life for those who birthed her.

  Being wingless shifted in that moment into a mark of honour and with Denaric at her side, she had her own wings when she needed them.

  Life was looking up.

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.