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I was afraid I would go over my 2 weeks update time, but look! Just in time!

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Chapter 12

"Chase!"

We turned around to see a middle-aged woman with light purple wings and her hair up in a tight bun hurrying towards us.

"Lynn! I was looking for you!" Chase said.

We had entered the castle through a side door, and Chase had led me through endless corridors and rooms, until I had no idea where I was. Seriously, this place was huge, bigger than it looked when we were flying above it.

Chase hadn't stopped to talk to anyone before this Lynn. In fact it had seemed to me as if he was avoiding people, but when I had asked he had smiled and said, "I'll have plenty of time to see my friends later, there are some things to take care of, first."

"Well, I have been looking for you, too! Aiden said you just got here." Lynn answered. "How did it go?"

Chase grimaced, "The first half, not so well." I assumed he was remembering the loss of his friend. "But, that's not important right now. This is Hailey." As he said my name, his usual easy smile returned, "and Hailey, this is Lynn, she mostly takes care of organizing things around here."

Lynn looked at me like she was assessing me, evaluating how good I was. I tried to ignore her gaze and said, "Nice to meet you."

"Same here. Now, Hailey, if you would come with me-"

"Actually," Chase interrupted as if he knew exactly what she was going to say next, "Hailey and I have had a pretty rough trip, and we'd both appreciate some rest."

They exchanged a look, and Lynn said reluctantly, "I understand. Well then come on, Hailey, I'll show you to your new room. Just follow me."

Chase and I stepped in after her, and she turned around looking at Chase slightly output. "You... You're coming, too?"

"Yes, why not?"

"Oh, I don't know... I guess I just wasn't expecting... Anyway, just follow me."

Lynn led us to a door of dark wood, which she opened with a key she fished out from one of the pockets of her dress. She then handed me the key.

"So, here's your room!"

The walls of the room were a pale green color. Next to a large window was a big hammock filled with blue and green pillows. I couldn't wait to sleep in it. In one corner of the room were a simple desk and an almost empty bookshelf; in another corner stood a big wardrobe.

"Well, I hope you like it," Lynn said. She walked over to a door. "This here is the bathroom."

There was an awkward silence, until Chase said, "Well, Lynn, I'm sure you have many other things to do, so we won't keep you here any longer."

"Oh, right. Well, then, see you around, Hailey."

She left, and Chase told me, "You have to excuse her, she's used to knowing everything that's going on, but she has no idea who you are, and I think she was hoping to get some information out of you."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that was a bit awkward."

"So, try to get some rest, because after that you're going to meet the king of the Winged."

I looked at him uneasily. I had never met a king before, much less a king of magical people, and I had no idea what to expect.

"Don't worry, Hailey, you'll be fine. He's really nice, and he'll love you. I'll be with you, too."

I smiled faintly at him. "Thanks."

"Just get some sleep. I'll have someone bring you lunch later on. If you need me, just step outside and ask someone for me, say that the king put you under my care. They should come find me. If you see Lance avoid him, though. I think you've realized we're not exactly friends."

Chase left, and although the hammock was calling my name, I decided to take a shower first. There were some clothes in the wardrobe, including a pair of jeans that fit rather well and a couple of t-shirts which all had a cut-out in the back for my wings.

After I had changed, I curled up in the hammock and fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up feeling more refreshed than I have been in days. The hammock and the pillows cushioned my wings nicely, and I didn't have the ache in my wings that I usually got from sleeping on my back.

I just laid there, staring at the ceiling and enjoying a moment of peace after the extraordinary trip I had taken. I wondered what my dad was doing now. I hope he wasn't too sad, although I'm sure he would have taken my disappearance hard. And Allison, was she going to school alone, now? Out of everything I had left behind, I missed the two of them the most. I hoped I would be able to see them again soon.

A soft knock on the door shook me out of my daydreaming.

"Yes?" I asked, sitting up and running a hand through my tangled hair.

The door opened slightly and a girl my age peeked into the room.

"Hey, hope I didn't wake you. I brought some food for you."

"No, it's fine." I answered, hopping out of the hammock. I told her to come inside and thanked her for the food.

"My name's Autumn, by the way," She said with a quiet smile.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hailey."

"I brought my lunch up here, too. I hope you don't mind, but I figured you would like some company."

I smiled. "Yes, that would be nice."

Autumn put down the tray she was carrying on the floor and sat next to it. I followed suit and she handed me a plate.

"Hotdogs, chips, and ice cream." She declared. "Not typical Winged food, in fact the cook I got the food from looked at me very weirdly, but..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but I got the feeling she had gotten this because she knew it would be familiar. I appreciated the comfort food, and smiled in thanks.

"So," she said as we ate, "Apparently you used to live with humans, and you even thought you were one too?" She asked.

"Well, yeah," I answered, a bit confused at how she knew this. It had seemed to me like all the other Winged we had met today had no idea who I was.

"I didn't mean to pry or anything," she added quickly. "Chase just told me he brought you here from the human world and that you just got your wings. I used to live in the human world, too."

"Really?" I asked, curious. I wasn't under the impression that too many Winged lived in the human world, but maybe she was a half-Winged, like me.

"Yes, my family and a couple other Winged used to live there, but we had to move back to Aeolus because of the attacks."

"The attacks?" I repeated. So apparently I was wrong and Winged did live in the human world.

"Um, well, you see, there have been some problems lately..."

"I know that the Winged are fighting against an enemy," I interrupted her. "Although I have no idea who this enemy is..." I added as an afterthought.

"Oh, well I'm glad you know about that. And Chase will probably explain all that war stuff later. Anyway, some Winged who lived in the human world were attacked, and after that we all had to move back in Aeolus for safety."

"That must suck, having to move so quickly." After that, I realized I was one to talk, since I had made the decision to leave my home in the span of a minute, but moving with your whole family and belongings and changing home so quickly was different. Although I was far away, my home was still safe where I had left it, or so I hoped.

"It's okay. I mean, sure, I liked where we lived before better, it was quieter and less crowded, but Aeolus is nice, too."

"Yeah, a castle floating above the clouds isn't anything too fancy, but it could be worse," I joked.

Autumn laughed and pushed a lock of black hair behind her ear. "Okay, so Aeolus is pretty awesome, but you know what I mean."

"So, do you live in the castle?"

She shook her head. "No, very few Winged actually live inside the castle, most of us live in the city around it, or in surrounding towns or villages."

I nodded. It seemed that the Kingdom of Aeolus was much bigger than I had initially thought.

Someone knocked at the door, interrupting our conversation, and after I answered a man let himself into the room.

He nodded to us in greeting and looked at me. "You are Hailey, I assume?" I nodded, and he said, "Chase sent me here to tell you he'll be here in a few minutes, so you should get ready if you're not already."

"All right, thank you," I said, my earlier nervousness resurfacing at the thought of meeting the king.

The man left, and Autumn got up and said politely, "Well, sounds like it's time for me to go."

"Actually, I'd appreciate it if you'd stayed a bit, to get my mind off things..."

"Of course!" She said with a smile, which was quickly replaced with a light frown as she noticed my nervousness. "What's wrong, Hailey?"

"I don't know if Chase told you, but I have to go meet the king..."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Woah, seriously?"

I nodded. "I've never met a king before, what am I supposed to say to him?"

"Don't worry, I heard the king is a nice man. Also, I doubt you'll meet him in person. He's very busy, and he'll most likely have another high ranking official represent him." She paused and looked me over, "Now, just in case you do meet him, we should try to make you look presentable."

"Are you saying I don't look presentable?" I joked, feeling better knowing it was unlikely that I would actually meet the king.

"What I'm saying is that brushing your hair a bit wouldn't hurt," she replied with a teasing smile.

"Oh, yeah, that's probably true," I agreed, running a hand through my brown hair.

"Mind if I look for a brush?" Autumn asked, nodding towards the bathroom.

"Go right ahead, but I didn't find one earlier."

"Somehow, I kind of figured that," she joked.

I heard the sounds of drawers being opened and shut, and Autumn came out of the bathroom empty handed.

She walked over to the door of my room and stuck her head in the hallway. A few seconds went by, and I was about to ask her what she was doing, when she yelled "Miss Lynn!" and took off running.

I jumped, not expecting her to yell out like that, and quickly went out after her.

I caught up to her just as Lynn, the lady from earlier, got a small hairbrush out of her purse and handed it to Autumn.

Lynn shot me a look and hurried away. Autumn held up the brush like a trophy. "I got one!"

We laughed and went back to my room, where I was able to brush my hair. Autumn told me she would take care of giving Lynn her hairbrush back, and that she would bring me another one tomorrow.

Someone knocked on the door once again, and Chase let himself inside my room.

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What do you think will happen next?;)