The Beating of a Thousand Wings

Chapter 2

We drove for about an hour before turning off the main road and onto a long paved drive that seemingly went on forever. Each side had well-manicured trees guiding the way to a large ornate gate that held a crest of fire in the center. My right eyebrow shot up in surprise. The Emberliet estate? Why are we coming here? I thought they were out of the country. They had been in France or Germany or somewhere in the past few years. I looked over at my father, whose face remained neutral as he brought the car to a halt in front of the gates. The gates clanked as they slowly swung inward revealing more manicured trees, this time all entwined with twinkling lights all leading to the massive chateau nestled deeper into the property.

A young man in a suit came over to the driver's window and my father lowered rolled it down. “Lord and Lady Cartiere along with our son and Daughter, Lord Keiren and Lady Faeyliah.” The young man nodded causing the lights to glimmer on his earpiece. “Good evening my lord and lady. Welcome to Emberleit Estate. If you proceed forward, you’ll find the parking attendant near the door. He’ll direct you to the West Garden before moving your vehicle,” he directed while gesturing with a gloved hand.

“Thank you,” Father replied and rolled up the window. He drove the car up to the chateau.

I visited Emberleit Estate a few times as a child but it always took my breath away. It looked like a countryside cottage but on a grand scale. Beautiful white bricks, a soft brown roof, with many windows to let in sunlight during the day, and lush green ivy climbing its way to the sky. It looked like a cottage straight out of Snow White, if only there were 13 dwarves and everyone got their own room.

Four men in tuxedos approached each door of the car and opened them to allow us to exit. Their gloved hands reached forward to offer assistance. I looked up and smiled at the boyishly-handsome blonde man reaching towards me.

“Thank you.” I reached and grasped his hand as I pulled myself out of the car. He seemed taken aback and quickly shifted his gaze to the ground. “My lady,” he said quietly, still looking down. I quickly moved towards the side where my mother was standing with an annoyed look.

“My Lord and Lady Cartiere, Lord Keiren and Lady Faeyliah,” a servant approached us and bowed. “Lady Faeyliah, Margaret will guide you inside. Lords and Lady, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the West Garden.”

Inside? Why am I going inside? I stole a look at my parents but neither of them seemed concerned that I was being directed inside. I turned towards the servant girl, who curtsied in response. “My Lady, please follow me.” I nodded in agreement and she turned to lead the way up the pathway into the Chateau.

Inside was just how I remembered, beautiful cobblestone floors, crisp white walls and a beautiful wooden table that held a vibrant arrangement of flowers from the garden. Margaret hurried into the sitting room to the right of the entrance, and stopped just inside. Multiple emerald green velvet couches and settees filled the room with beautiful walnut stained end tables at each corner seat. Three of the walls had matching stained shelves that reached up to the ceiling filled with books and a large fireplace was nestled in the fourth wall. Duchess Emberleit sat in the middle with her back to the door, quietly chatting with about 9 other girls my age.

“Your Grace,” Margaret announced, getting the attention of the entire room. “Lady Faeyliah Cartiere.” Ten pairs of eyes turned to look at me while I prayed that my makeup covered my red cheeks. I smiled gently and curtsied.

“Faeyliah dear! Im glad to see you,” the duchess proclaimed as she rose from her seat and made her way to me, clasping my right hand in both of hers. “Come child have a seat by me.” She guided me over to where she had been talking to the other girls.

“Faeyliah, im sure you know all the ladies here but im sure its been awhile. This is Anita, Caroline, Elizabit, Danica, Edith, Odessa, Rusnia, Sheena, and Rachel.” They all nodded politely towards me and I returned the nod. “Well now that all of you are here, i should probably inform you why you all are here.” We all looked at each other wide eyed and turned back to the duchess.

“Each one of you here are over the age of 21. Your breeding is unmatched and yet non of you are betrothed.” I sucked in a breath. Thats what this is? A mating party? I did my best to control my annoyance as the duchess continued, “Tonight, in my garden I have many eligible suitors, some you may know, some you may not. At each point during the evening, you’ll be introduced to each bachelor and if it is God’s Will, each of you will find a suitor!” Duchess Emberleit exclaimed while clapping her hands. It took everything not to roll my eyes. I quickly looked around the room to find a mixture of shock and excitement. Yay us.