Chain Mail and Butterfly Wings

Angeline’s Point Of View

The next time I opened my eyes, it was very clear to me that I wasn’t dreaming, although, when I saw who was in the room with me, it felt like I was dreaming.

Duke William sat in a chair on one side of me, humming nonchalantly as he wrote on a scrap of parchment. It was a haunting melody, something I would expect to hear from a music box.

I tried once to talk, but no sound came out, so I waited a moment and tried twice more before I actually said, “Where’d you hear that song?” My voice was embarrassingly hoarse, but I tried not to pay too much attention to it.

Duke William looked up from what he was writing and smiled. “Ah, so you’ve decided to wake up.” His dark eyes almost caused me to blush the moment he set eyes on me.

“Yeah…how long was I asleep?” I asked, my voice still raspy, but it was slowly improving.

The duke set his parchment aside and leaned forward in his seat, smiling reassuringly, “Not long, considering how ill you were. You caused my cousin quite a bit of grief,” Duke William pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

I blinked rapidly four times before I remembered who his cousin was. Aiden? I wondered, remembering my dreams with a sharp jab of pain in my chest. “Aiden…where is he?” I asked, sitting up a little more and gazing about the room.

“He recently fell asleep. I had a few soldiers take him to his own room. Although I’m not sure how long he’ll stay asleep, he’s been having terrible nightmares, or so I’ve heard,” Duke William replied with a shrug and then he leaned forward a little more. “But what about you Miss Angeline? How are you feeling?” There was a small trace of reserved worry in his dark eyes.

I shook my head, then felt my forehand with one hand, my skin was cool to the touch, but not frigid. I wasn’t sweating, my head wasn’t spinning, I could breathe fine. I seemed perfectly healthy. “I’m alright, apparently,” I said with a sigh, wondering once again how long I had been asleep. “Wait, how long was I asleep?”

Duke William shrugged. “Three days, although this is the fourth…but it’s only three in the morning,” he added the last part of his sentence hastily after seeing the panic in my eyes.

“Four days?” I asked incredulously, throwing the blankets off of me. “Jesus, I’ve wasted so much time!” I scrambled around the room and found my chain mail tucked neatly away in a chest at the foot of my bed, along with an assortment of my new clothes. I stopped mid-grab as the room spun and I rocked back on my heels before toppling onto the ground. I groaned at the sudden impact the ground had with my butt and waited for the room to remain immobile before standing up again.

“Miss Angeline! Are you all right?” Duke William was at my side in moments and helped me to my feet. “You should be more careful, your body isn’t accustomed to walking at the moment, considering you haven’t moved in three days. Allow me to assist you.” The duke wrapped my arm around his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around my waist, holding me up effortlessly.

“Ah. Thanks,” I muttered embarrassedly, accepting the help with a red face.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?” Duke William asked politely, although he must have known I wouldn’t go anywhere with him holding me up.

“Um. No, that’s alright, I think I’m okay just staying here for now. I don’t want to flop around the halls like a fish out of water,” I muttered and Duke William chuckled slightly, making my heart race.

“A wise decision,” he conceded and helped me to my bed.

I laid down and bit my lower lip, as I waited for a conversation to spring out of the silence, but it never quite happened. So, I decided to do the next best thing, I did a fake yawn, half-closing my eyes and hoping he would catch the hint.

“I suppose you must be tired, from what I’ve heard you haven’t gotten a decent night of sleep since you fell ill.” Duke William stood carefully, looked like he wanted to say something else, but frowned to himself and said instead, “Get a good rest Miss Angeline.” He disappeared out my door before I could reply.

Once my door was closed I sat up, scowling at the door. What was I going to do if I couldn’t walk around without attempting to faint? I had to find, Aiden, I knew that much. I had delayed him long enough as it was.

I yelped in surprise as a small object tumbled through my window and only came to a halt when it hit the opposite wall. I sat where I was for a full thirty seconds before I got up to investigate. Carefully, I sidestepped around the small object before confirming that it wasn’t some sort of explosive rock. I crouched beside it and realized with a frown of disgust that it was a dead bird.

I barely managed to keep from screaming as the “dead” bird flopped once, chirping wildly as it attempted to take to the air again. I fell onto my butt with a quiet poof against the heavy red carpeting. I blinked rapidly as the bird continued to try and fail at flying. Finally, I gathered my wits and covered the bird’s wings while I used my other hand to scoop it up.

I had to hold it completely still for about a minute before it was too tired to continue struggling. Once it was calm and panting, its heart fluttering far faster than any humans’, I examined its wing. It was straight out and the bird couldn’t seem to bend it despite its efforts.

Maybe Aiden’s parents had herb specialists somewhere around the house, if they did, then I could just take the bird to them, they might know how to fix…I paused in mid-thought as I stared at the obviously broken wing. An herb specialist wouldn’t know what the hell to do with a broken wing, but I could do something about it.

I set the bird carefully in my lap and it flapped wildly for a minute before it got tired again and I laid my hand over its broken wing when it ceased to move. I exhaled quickly and watched as my healing traveled down my arm in the form of a pale green light, leaving a coolness in its wake before it exited through my fingertips and seeped into the bird’s broken wing. The bird went completely limp in my hand and for a moment I thought I had killed it with an overdose of magic, how ironic.

However, just as my healing came to a stop, the door flew open and I jumped, jerking my hand back as the bird leapt into the air, out of my lap, fluttered throughout the room and darted back out the window it had come through. Ungrateful, spastic, feathery, flying little shit. I leapt to my feet as I saw Aiden standing in the doorway, looking at the window that the bird had just disappeared out of.

“Aiden?” I said with a sigh, and then more sternly, “Shit, don’t you knock?” I waited for a moment as my head spun from my sudden use of energy. Considering most of my energy had been used to make me get well again, I suppose it wasn’t one of my better ideas to lend it to an injured bird.

I exhaled sharply as Aiden nearly tackled me, pulling me into a tight hug and swinging me in a full circle before setting me back on the ground. He held me away from him for a second, a large grin on his face as he examined my face, and then he pulled me into another tight hug.

“Hey, are you feeling all right?” I asked, waiting for my head to stop spinning, humph, even using simple healing like that was still difficult for me. How disappointing. Maybe I should run around healing the animals of the forest until I built up my endurance.

“Me?” Aiden asked incredulously, laughing a little hysterically. “Am I all right? Jesus Angel, I’m perfectly and completely fine, you are the one who’s been in a virtual coma for three days.” Aiden looked at my face again and couldn’t stop smiling.

I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “You seem a little off, you know, too huggy--Never mind, you’re fine,” I joked and Aiden laughed again, pulling me into another hug.

“God Angel, you have no idea how worried I was,” Aiden said quietly, his words muffled slightly by my hair. “You’re alive.” He laughed a little, his shoulders vibrating to emphasize this fact.

“Sorry,” I said instantly, dazing myself by breathing in his scent--Damn it did he always have to smell so good? “I didn’t want you to worry about me, and I didn’t mean to waste any more of your time, I know how eager you are to get to the castle.”

Aiden pulled back suddenly, blinking in confusion, then he seemed to grasp what I had meant and nodded. “Oh, yeah, right, the castle, I guess I forgot about it the last couple of days,” he said with a shrug and finally released me to stand back.

“You forgot?” I asked with raised eyebrows and he grinned sheepishly at me.

“Yeah, you know, just sort of slipped my mind…”

“The whole point of us walking this far, and you forgot?” I asked incredulously and Aiden shrugged.

“Well, you were on the verge of dying, I couldn’t think of anything else,” he said truthfully.

I blinked, touched by his words, then I rubbed the back of my neck absently. “Well, thanks, I guess…You really didn’t need to worry about me, I wouldn’t die over some dumb sickness,” I assured him, trying to lighten the suddenly sentimental moment.

“Ah, but Angel, if I didn’t worry about you who would?” he asked with a smirk and pulled me into yet another hug. “I really am glad you’re all right,” he whispered carefully, his fingers gently brushing through my hair.

I felt my face get hot, and nodded my head slightly, my cheek brushing against his chest, “So am I,” I said, giving my face time to cool down. A moment later and I drew back, reminding myself abruptly of reality of how painfully unavailable Aiden was, “We should get going, shouldn’t we? I mean, I’ve held us back three days already…” I said hastily, looking absently out the window, wondering about that stupid bird I had helped. It was probably just going to get eaten by a hawk anyway.

“You don’t think you need time to rest?” Aiden asked curiously.

I laughed ironically. “I’ve been asleep for three days, you think I need more rest? Seriously, I’ll be fine to travel,” I assured him, and then, my traitorous head began to spin, causing me to stiffen suddenly, trying to keep myself from falling.

I took a single step to the right to keep myself from plummeting to the ground and Aiden had me in his arms the next moment, shaking his head sadly as if I had just told him a bad joke.

“H-hey! Put me down!” I demanded half-heartedly, although I could not deny the fact that it was pleasant being in his arms, nor could I guarantee that I wouldn’t fall the moment he complied with my request.

“Of course,” Aiden said simply and dropped me onto my bed. “As I said, you still need time to rest, or at least recover, what ever it is that is making you dizzy should cease before we leave.” He smiled at me as I scowled at my feet. “Besides, I’d like it if you could actually enjoy my hometown for few days, rather than spend most of the time in bed.”

“No, no, I’ll be fine, really,” I argued, although I didn’t attempt to stand up again while he was hovering over me.

Aiden sighed and rolled his eyes. “Wait here.” Before I could ask where he was going he disappeared out the door.

I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest, sighed heavily and did the most childish thing I could think of. I pouted.

Aiden returned shortly with a woman following him as a brisk pace. I frowned at the woman when she looked at me, assessing me quickly.

“Is she fit to travel?” Aiden asked, waving his hand in my direction even as the woman approached me promptly and began prodding me with her fingertips, checking certain parts of my body, including my pulse and temperature--although for my temperature she simply pressed one of her meaty hands to my forehead, muttered something to herself and went back to examining me.

Finally, once the woman was finished with her prodding and poking she turned to Aiden and shook her head. “No, she should rest for two days or so before traveling.”

“What?” I asked incredulously, rising to my feet in outrage, only to have my head spin angrily at the fast movement, causing me to lean back subtly, although nothing escaped Aiden’s sharp eyes, the woman didn’t seem to notice. “We can’t waste another day!” I exclaimed, striving to ignore the feel of Aiden’s eyes on me.

The woman gave me a sharp look of annoyance which I matched with my own glare. Without looking away the woman said firmly, “You will remain here for one day, I will check your health tomorrow, if it meets my standards, you will be allowed to go. Is this acceptable?” she asked, although it didn’t look like she was going to take “no” for an answer.

“Fine,” I spat, crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest. Cranky old witch.

She nodded briskly and turned to leave the room without a second glance in my direction, “Do nothing strenuous,” she ordered just as she closed the door.

“Nothing strenuous…” I grumbled, wondering what I could do to defy this new order.

“You’re really eager to leave aren’t you?” Aiden asked, startling me into remembering he was in the room.

I twisted my torso so that I could look at him and blinked, his expression was unreadable. Gah, I hated that. Whenever he did that he was being thoughtful, which meant I had done something to disturb him in one way or another.

“What?” I frowned, and then explained, “Well, I’m not exactly eager to leave, it’s just that…” I thought about that for a minute, I couldn’t say, “I want to leave because I’m far too attached to you.” Instead I said, “I’ve been an inconvenience to you, you would have reached the castle far faster if I hadn’t been traveling with you.”

Aiden rolled his eyes and nudged me so that there was room for him on the bed and he sat. “That’s probably true,” he conceded and smirked at me when I scowled--how dare he agree! “But, I would’ve been much more bored and would have remained without a best friend, and considering I hadn’t had one throughout my childhood, I believe I’ve been deprived.”

I snorted my disbelief. “Right, the ‘best friend’ card again,” I retorted, a smile pulling at the corner of my mouth despite myself. He always had a way of making me feel strangely accepted and necessary, although I firmly believed that my necessity to his travel was thoroughly misguided.

Aiden shrugged. “It works doesn’t it?” he queried with a raised eyebrow.

I thought about that and scowled. “True.”

“Well, Angel, I’d simply love to stay here with you for the whole day,” Aiden said as he stood up and turned toward the door, sounding surprisingly sincere. “But, sadly, I’ve made plans to meet with an old friend of mine,” he explained, now opening the door.

“So you’re going to ditch me here in this giant house? So that I can relax when I don’t want to? What a wondrous friend you are,” I said sardonically, crossing my arms over my chest and for all the world appearing to be a pouting child.

With a smirk Aiden crossed the room swiftly and reached out with his hand, causing me to hesitate at the brief contact it made with my cheek before it drifted down to my chin, “Cheer up, I’ll be back later tonight to keep you company,” he assured me, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I stared at him for a moment, my thoughts locked on how beautiful his eyes were before I suddenly registered his words and jerked my chin away, “Ew! Sick-o!” I huffed, my cheeks a steady shade of pink at the innuendo.

Aiden laughed, quite amused with the reaction he had received and crossed to the door again. “Regardless, of what you dilute yourself into believing, I’ll see you later tonight,” he repeated and paused before adding, “Oh, and the guards will be aware that you aren’t allowed to leave the house, so…” he drawled and smirked again as I scowled. “Don’t bother trying to trounce around town, wreaking havoc.” With that said, he disappeared, closing the door behind him.

Great. Absolutely astounding. I had to relax for the day. There went my plans of sparring with ruffians in the street.

However, that didn’t mean I had to relax in my room. I threw my feet over the side of the bed and started toward the door determined to find something to do.

____________________________________________

Three hours of me wandering the halls and dawn began to approach and movement finally began to touch the house. Maids, servants, seamstresses, errand-runners, guards, everyone seemed to wake up at exactly the same time and began bustling through the halls, not so much as glancing at me. I quickly realized that I stuck out among the women, with my, heavy leather boots, black leggings and green tunic. I suppose it is a bit more acceptable for women to wear dresses of some kind, and I received a few odd glances, but I ignored them as I approached a large hallway that led off from the thin one I had been following. The floor dipped into an open room where I heard women talking hurriedly, yet casually.

Curious, I walked into the room shyly, peeking around the corner to see a small round table laid out in front of three chairs. Around the table were five other women, talking excited about what I assumed to be gossip. However, the only one sitting down and the only one I recognized was Aiden’s mother, Rosalyn. She was dressed in a delicate peach colored dressed with a corset bodice outlined in white lace, her small hands folded carefully in her lap.

However, all delicacy that seemed to outline her features was stripped away when she saw me. Her eyes lit up instantly and she announced loudly, “Angeline! How wonderful to see that you’re awake! Dear, I hadn’t heard a word about it, I must scold Aiden thoroughly for this…” she muttered sounding serious as she glanced momentarily at the floor and then back up to me. “Come, come, sit, I have tea--Dorris will you be a dear and pour Miss Angeline a cup?”

One of the women around her pulled out a chair for me while another poured me a cup of tea. Apparently refusal was out of the question. I sat down timidly and the women continued to chirp gossip at the older woman.

“--Duchess Welimine has been having an affair with one of the stable hands--I know! I hear her husband--”

“--there’s a girl in the market who’s just lost her whole family to bandits--So very sad--”

“--I hear a handsome young man just came into town, a drifter they say--”

Another fifteen minutes passed and I had gulped down the tea that was meant to be sipped at. Finally, Rosalyn glanced back at me and smiled. “Oh, I’m sorry Angeline, we’re boring you aren’t we? I’d forgotten you aren’t from around here,” she turned her attention suddenly to the five women around her, “Ladies? Would you mind leaving us for alone for a bit?”

With variations of affirmation, the women trekked out of the room, all heading in different directions it seemed, the harsh reality of their jobs returning to them.

“So?” Rosalyn said, leaning forward slightly in her chair, and I in turn leaned back slightly, not too keen on the idea of a literal face-to-face talk.

“I’m sorry?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“I must know more about you,” Rosalyn said bluntly, a smile pulling at her lips, “Angeline is your first name and you dress like a man, that’s all I know so far. Please, tell me more.”

I blushed slightly, I did not dress like a…okay, maybe I did, but she didn’t have to put it that way. At least I knew where Aiden got his bluntness. “Um…My last name is Terris?” I offered with a shrug.

“Terris?” Rosalyn repeated with a ghost of a smile, “Angeline Terris, that’s a wonderful name, but you know it would sound much better if your name were Angeline Stone…Yes that does have a nice ring to it.” She grinned at her own words and turned to look at me, “Tell me, what are you to my son?” she asked, that odd, mischievous look in her eyes once again.

“E-excuse me?” I spluttered, still trying to take in the twist she had put on my name. Angeline Stone, that was Aiden’s last name, which would infer that we would be married or--

“My son, Aiden,” she said a little lazily, she hadn’t even noticed the appalled look on my face, or she had chosen to ignore it, “he seems rather attached to you, surely you’ve known him for quite some time--Oh! How did you meet? I’m sure it’s a lovely story,” Rosalyn said a little dreamily.

I decided to answer her first question rather indifferently, “I’m just his friend, nothing more,” before she could comment on that, I answered her second question, “And we met when he used me as a hostage to escape a prison.” Ha, that would pull his rep down in the woman population.

Rosalyn nearly dropped her teacup and gawked at me. “A hostage?” she asked incredulously and set down her tea. “Dear lord, when I get my hands on that boy--I taught him chivalry so he could turn around and--I knew I shouldn’t have allowed his father to teach him swordplay. The male bonding obviously ate away at his manners!” she rambled angrily, looking as if she were about to jump up and find him.

“It’s all right,” I said hurriedly, trying to calm her down, I hadn’t expected her to get so riled up, “I was the one trying to keep him in the cell anyway.”

Rosalyn looked sharply at me, and said, “You could have been trying to stab him and I still wouldn’t condone his actions,” however, she seemed a little less irritated and then took a vigorous sip of her tea. I chose not to share that I would have stabbed him had I had the chance.

“Erm…So, I suppose I should thank you, for, you know, taking care of me while I was sick and giving me somewhere to stay,” I said when the conversation had died.

Rosalyn smiled at me, “Oh, don’t worry about it, I was happy to do it, I couldn’t just let you die now could I? Besides, Aiden is very attached to you, he wouldn’t have allowed you to die like that. I’m guessing that you are a bit…more, than friends?” She raised a suggestive eyebrow and I blushed slightly, causing her to grin at me.

“Ah, well, we’re best friends, if that’s what you mean by ‘more’,” I offered with a shrug and a hasty sip of tea.

With a snort of disbelief and a flap of her wrist, Rosalyn set her teacup down and said, “Oh come now, we all know how that situation works out, have you considered marrying my son?” She cocked her head curiously to the side, looking sincere.

I sat with my mouth half-forming a sentence and half-trying to snap shut. What was I going to say to that? I struggled to find the most polite words that best described my situation. “Well, I…um…not exactly,” I stammered watching Rosalyn’s unflinching eyes and I added, “Not that it matters anyway, since he’s engaged, so,” I laughed a little nervously, “I guess the decision was made for me.”

Rosalyn looked abruptly down at the table in front of her and I could sigh quietly in relief--the woman was intimidating and incredibly blunt. I could see where Aiden got his personality from. She sighed and poured herself more tea. “I really wish Aiden would have at least introduced us to this ‘Naleuh’--what sort of name is that anyway?”

I tightened my lips to keep from smiling at her deliberate mispronunciation of her name. So Aiden’s mother already didn’t like Nailah, that made me feel better, even if only slightly. “I don’t know,” I answered politely, allowing her to rant.

“The way he talks about her, you would think she was a goddess, but, I don’t know, perhaps I’m being silly.” Rosalyn took a fierce sip of tea. “It’s beautiful women that make me worry about my son, they’re the ones that need the most watching as it is. If Aiden would find himself a nice ugly woman than I would be much happier, they seem to be less devious.”

I couldn’t hold back my smile this time--what an odd way to look at life. “I know what you mean, such as Laurette.” I nodded knowingly, simply happy to hear that Rosalyn wasn’t fond of pretty women. What an interesting woman.

Laurette was a tale that was told to some children, mostly boys though. However, since my father only knew tales for boys, that was what I had received. The story of Laurette was one I knew by heart though, it was an interesting little tale, really.

“I’m sorry?” Rosalyn cocked her head to one side, looking intrigued.

“Oh.” I blinked, realizing that she didn’t actually know the story. “Nothing, just this story I heard when I was younger.” I waved my hand dismissively, but Rosalyn leaned forward looking as persistent as Aiden when he wanted a question answered. Another thing he had inherited from her, I suppose.

“Do tell Angeline, I love a good story, and I don’t believe I’ve heard that one,” She smiled good-naturedly, however there was also an expectancy in the way her eyes glimmered.

I leaned back and scratched the back of my head, suddenly unsure of where to start, I began with,

“Well…”

There once was a woman who was the daughter of a goat herder. She grew up on a farm and was raised by her father alone, since her mother had abandoned her at a young age. From a young age she learned to herd goats and helped her father with grazing them.

Despite her background and occupation however, she was as beautiful as her unknown mother, who had been rumored to be a traveling dancer. Her hair was like black silk and her eyes were so blue that even the greatest sailor could get lost in their ocean-like depths.

Her beauty stretched to every corner of the continent, and everyone seemed to know her name: Laurette. Every boy in the nearby village would volunteer to help Laurette with the simplest of chores, in hopes that they may share her bed. However, Laurette was not so easily won over. And she was very little like her father, whether her lifestyle was modest or not, Laurette herself was not in the least bit humble.

She grew to love the attention and was very aware of what the men around her wanted. Laurette would bat an eyelash and the work that had once been hers would be done by every boy within a mile. She never had to lift her hand again. Work was soon beneath her.

One day, as Laurette was flirting with one of the village boys, three men riding white stallions converged upon her farmhouse. As frightened as she was, Laurette smiled sweetly and asked what it was that the men had wanted. One of the three men told her that they had been ordered by a king in a far away land to retrieve Laurette and return her to the castle to act as one of the king’s concubines.

Horrified by the news, Laurette frowned, but showed no other emotion. Thinking quickly, she told the three knights that she would gladly go with three such handsome men, if they would but finish the chores she had left around the farm. After only a flutter of eyelashes framing blue eyes, the three knights agreed.

However, the three knights were unaware that they had been deceived, for every time they finished one chore, Laurette always had another that needed doing. For several days the knights worked without sleep on the chores Laurette had given them, unable to believe that a woman so beautiful would ever be capable of having such a devious mind.

Through their blind admiration and love of Laurette, the three knights never returned to the castle as the king had bid, instead, they worked tirelessly toward finishing Laurette’s chores. Forgetting both their original task as well as who they had once been.

“And that’s it,” I said with a shrug, noticing that Rosalyn had been rather enticed to hear the tale.

“How utterly interesting!” Rosalyn exclaimed with a smile, “I cannot believe I’ve never heard that story before, I’ll have to ask my husband about it later…” she trailed off and glanced out a nearby window. “Oh, shoot, I’m sorry Angeline, but I have certain matters to attend to at the moment.” Rosalyn rose from her chair and shook out her skirts. “Thank you once again for the tale, I hope I’ll see you later tonight though at dinner.” And Rosalyn left the room in a rush of skirts and grace.

I set my teacup aside and stood up myself, losing interest in the room very quickly. And thus, I moved through the house to attempt to find another interest to occupy my attention. Although my chances of success were slim.