Chapter 4

I hugged my grandpa as everyone got ready to leave. "Goodbye. I'll miss you."

"Bye, Hailey. Be safe. Your guards are all specially picked for your security, so please do as they say. Also, try to make sure your friends don't do anything stupid," he whispered. "Especially the hyper one with the red wings." He led me to Grey, who was now my own peryton -yes, there definitely were perks of being the king's only granddaughter. "See you in two weeks!"

"See you soon!" I waved.

At the leader's signal, everyone took off in a great flurry of colorful feathers. Autumn and I were the only ones on peryton-back, although other peryton were used to carry supplies.

"I miss Mr. Potato," Aiden, flying to my right, told me.

Autumn, who had overheard him, laughed and petted Juno affectionately. Chase was closing the rear with some other guards, and I couldn't help thinking that his uniform fit him pretty well. Autumn and I were stuck in the center of the group, for safety. As for Aiden, he and the other archers needed to take turn scanning the area for possible threats.

While I was leaning in on Grey's neck to avoid the wind flying into my face, Autumn casually turned around in her saddle and rested her back on Juno neck while she looked through a bunch of papers. She looked as comfortable as if she was sitting in a car, or perhaps a plane, though I had never been in one.

I got used to the rocking motion of my peryton and was about to fall asleep when our leader called for a halt. Everyone ascended smoothly, except for a group of archers who stayed aloft until we were safely on the ground. At a signal from the leader, they all dived down to join us. Although we had been flying for two hours, no one seemed particularly tired. Still used to seeing people running on land, I found this quite impressive.

"Air currents and thermals." Autumn smiled, guessing my thoughts. "And good military training."

"Still. Two hours." I lifted my eyebrows.

Around us, water and food was being distributed to Winged and peryton alike. A few guys were joking around with Aiden, and Chase was conversing seriously with the leader and his lieutenant, a young woman with peach wings.

Only Autumn and I, the only non-military of the group, were a bit out of the loop. We were treated more like important but fragile cargo than comrades.

The leader came up to me. "Good morning, Princess. We haven't had the time to be formally introduced yet. My name is Grant, and I am the leader of the squadron assigned to escort you. I hope your flight so far has been comfortable. I have called a halt for a quick rest and water. If you desire anything, please let me know, and I shall take care of it personally."

"Uh, wow. Thank you." I sent Autumn a look for help.

"The princess is pleased to make your acquaintance and very grateful for your offer," she rescued me. "However, she does wish to be treated less formally on this trip, if you don't mind. It would make it more relaxing for everyone involved, don't you think?"

Grant nodded. "If that is what you wish, Princess Hailey."

"Yes," I said eloquently.

When he left, Autumn burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh, shush." I smiled. "It's weird to have an adult talk to you like that."

"I hope you never get used to it. It's probably just as unsettling to him to talk that way to a teenager."

"True." I hopped off Grey. "I'm just going to stretch my legs a bit."

"Good idea. Juno needs to drink a bit, too. Don't you, June?" She cooed. Her reddish peryton nuzzled her neck in agreement.

***

The day was filled with flying punctuated with a few breaks here and there. Finally we landed for the last time of the day.

"Princess," Grant told me, "I have men putting up your tent as we speak. Will you wish for your dinner to be served there or will you eat outside with us?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like you eat with you guys." I sent Autumn a questioning look, and she gave me a discreet thumbs up.

"Very well. Please let someone know if you need anything."

"Thank you."

A man came to take care of the peryton for us. Autumn politely declined, saying she would do it herself, but I gave Grey a kiss on the forehead, caressing her velvety ears, and thanked the man for his help.

"Hey." Chase came up and drew me into his arms.

I rested my head against his shoulder. "Are you tired? You guys flew a lot today."

"I think I'll fall asleep pretty fast tonight, but I'm fine." He smiled.

"Guys," Aiden landed next to us. "Did you hear it? We have to wait two hours for dinner!"

"That's horrible," Chase teased.

"This is no laughing matter, Chase. Thankfully, I brought cookies."

"What?" I frowned.

Aiden pulled a cookie out of his pocket and bit into it. "Now that I think about it, I should have taken more."

"Aiden," some guy I didn't know called him. "Come on, the camp isn't going to set itself."

"Duty calls." He swallowed his cookie and ran off.

"Liking the Senior Troops so far?" I asked Chase. I knew he planned on going there as soon as his Junior Troop training was completed.

"Yeah. It's actually pretty similar to Sol, just with more experienced people, I guess. Want to help me set up a tent?"

"If you'll teach me," I agreed, taking his offered hand.

***

Sunlight shone through the fabric of the tent, waking me. I sat up slowly. Autumn's hammock was empty. We had been supposed to leave early. Why hadn't anyone woken me up?

I got dressed quickly and stepped out of the tent. The sun was well up in the sky, making me estimate the time to ten in the morning. However, the camp was still up, and the peryton weren't even ready yet.

I spotted Grant, his lieutenant, Chase, and a few others all sitting around the remnants of yesterday's fire.

They looked up as I joined them. "What's wrong? Why aren't we leaving?" I asked.

Instead of answering, Grant pointed to a spot on the map. "We are here." Then he pointed to a spot a bit northwest of there. "This is the Lilac Citadel. If we had left as planned, we would have gotten there for lunch. We were supposed to resupply there, then some of our group would accompany you to Peraz forest."

"Yes, I know," I interrupted. "To your camp at the edge of Peraz, before we went in any deeper. The king told me. But why haven't we left for the Lilac Citadel yet?"

"Our station at Peraz sent report of sightings of enemy scouting parties. They told the citadel, who notified the king. While we believe we'll be able to dissuade the enemy army from passing through the forest, the king decided he didn't want to risk you being in any danger. He sends his apologies and promises you'll be able to go back once everything has calmed down."

Everyone was waiting for my reaction, but I was too disappointed to say anything. I was so close. Everything seemed to be going so well, but once again, my mother was still as far from my reach as she had ever been.

I wanted to argue, beg them take me there anyway, but I knew it would do no good. I nodded.

"Part of our group will be carrying on towards the citadel as planned, but the other will accompany you back to Sol," Grant concluded.

Just like that, the adventure was over before it had even started.

"I'll go get my things," I said, quieter than I had meant.

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Oh no! Any guesses on what will happen next?

Amazing cover on the top is by @AtticEmma ! The chapter is dedicated to her :)

Have a great weekend and week, and see you next Friday!