Agartha

Chapter eighteen

I woke up facing the mattress, drooling all over and with a heavy wing over my back. I turned and saw Angel sleeping peacefully, arms, legs and wings all spread. Kiryat entered cheerfully without knocking.

“Goooood morning, guys!” Angel jumped and stud flying over the bed keeping me behind.

“Chill out, Angel. It´s our cousin Kiryat. What time is it?”

“It´s eight am. You guys have to get ready for breakfast and join everybody at the meeting, sleepy heads!”

“Thank you sweetie. I'm going to my bedroom; can you help Angel? Maybe get him some new pants?”

“No problem! He is in good hands!” Angel looked amused, so I left the kids and went upstairs (I know they are older than me, but to me they are kids)

My bath was short but relaxing. My dresses were hanging, and I picked a very comfortable one (sleeveless, golden corset, green skirt long to the ankle and a wide, light fabric). The queen hates that dress.

I went back to Angel´s room and found him and Kiryat arguing about shoes. “Kiryat, sweetie, Angel is not used to wearing shoes…”

“My dad said if he wanted to go to have breakfast with the family, he had to wear shoes and a shirt”

“And how do you propose to get him inside a shirt?”

“That´s not possible, but he can wear shoes!”

In that moment, Tera entered in her usual good mood bringing a white shirt.

“Hello your highnesses. I modified a shirt for our cousin”

I rubbed my face trying to be patient. “Again… how do you propose to get him inside a shirt, Tera?”

“This is a special shirt. It has no sleeves and the openings are at the back” It was actually a very clever design. It didn´t have any openings at the front, it had two long horizontal openings and wood buttons that could be closed up to the base of his wings. He was obviously uncomfortable but excited.

“I had never worn a shirt before!” He gave Tera a bear hug and Kiryat got a little jealous.

“I brought him pants and shoes! How come I don´t get a hug?” Angel had the cutest smile and with his wings got us closer to him in a big group hug. So, there he was, all dressed up in white, the only contrast was the golden and green of his neckless and the tip of his wings. Show time…

At the breakfast table, the whole family was expecting us.

The king welcomed us. “Good morning children. You are late, I’ll blame it on Galia as it´s her habit”. Great uncle is not happy with me…

During our meal, they all made questions to Angel, some were nice, some were a little harsh. Afterwards, we all went to the library, plus some elders summoned by the king.

A short but clear explanation was given to the elders. They examined Angel, delivered for a while and concluded that he needed to stay, since the magical bloodline runs strong in him and they told us he could be the third strongest child in our family someday, with the proper instruction.

One of the elders was very emphatic “It is necessary to protect him as much as Galia, even more. He is reckless, innocent and undisciplined like all satyrs, but powerful and connected to nature like his mother. Under any circumstance may he train like a naturalist, train him like you did to prince Erik and the twins”. The elders left and the rest of us stayed to continue with the argument.

My grandpa was the first to speak. “Brother, you heard the elders´ advice. What´s in your thoughts?”

With a very solemn expression (making us all nervous and shake to the bones) he answered, “I am wondering… how did you girls managed to get him inside a shirt?”

We all burst into loud laughter.

“It was my doing grandpa. You know how clever I am!” Tera was proud of her job.

“Well, he needs golden and green clothes now…” Angel looked confused and Tera whispered to him I’ll explain it later.

“What are we going to say about him” asked my grandpa.

“The truth, my dear brother. He will be introduced at the end-of-the-year party. He will begin his training with Galia´s private tutors tomorrow and his formal attendance to the center next year. Protocol classes are urgent, he made a mess at breakfast… We´ll have to ask the General to take him to his care too, guarding a flying child doesn´t sound like an easy task”

I found that hilarious. Ragnar is not going to like it, but it´s a good thing. We won´t have so much alone time and restraining our impulses will be easier; we have a chaperon now.

Aunt Marilin interrupted with a question nobody thought about asking “Dear nephew, do you want to stay here and accept us as your family?”

Uncle Den was surprised “My love, what are you talking about? This isn´t about choices, he is our nephew. He stays, it´s decided”

I thought it was amazingly nice of her to ask. “Uncle Den, she is right, nobody asked Angel about such a life changing matter. I had no choice when I came here but he does. Being part of this family is not easy at all, it´s a big responsibility and it´s hard. Angel?”

He spoke shyly, looking at the floor “I… I was an orphan and different from everybody else. I never belonged and never really felt like I had a home. Suddenly, I have grandparents to kiss me good night, cousins that care about my clothes, education and responsibilities. Now my differences make sense and are a good thing. I am very scared but want to stay. My wings will cause you trouble, but you still accepted me, so I promise to do my best to make you proud”

He made most of us cry. The queen wiped a tear and looked touched. “I can´t believe two of our children had to grow up away. At least Galia wasn´t alone. We are so sorry Angel, but we truly didn´t know about your existence” She hugged her husband and sobbed.

The king was serious, trying to maintain his composure, “your wings cause us no shame”. Angel´s feathers got all perky, like a happy bird, and his face lightened. “It will be a hard situation, but honestly, Galia gave us enough headaches to be prepared for anything…”

Eric followed his grandpa´s comment “Well, I'm glad there´s another guy around, all this girls are driving me crazy…” We all laughed again. “I would like to ask Angel to perform some of my responsibilities with me. I could guide him, and I would have someone to trust in entirely at my work” Angel couldn´t help himself and flew towards Eric giving him a big hug.

Tears became laughter and the king announced it was time to work.

Ragnar was summoned by one the king´s calling bubbles. The upcoming party had to be planned and he was in charge of all the security protocols. As he entered, I blushed like a tomato and my cousins annoyed me thinking I was embarrassed for being reckless and gotten kidnapped. Angel tried to help, asking me to show him again the codex about his mother so I could run away from the jokes.