The Maiden of Air

Chapter 9

I woke to a soft knock on my door. Although I don't think I was really asleep. I Just kind of drifted on the edge of sleep all night. Every time I almost fell asleep, the cub whined or got into something she shouldn't. I felt uneasy all night. Worried about the next thing she would try to do.

Before I tried going to bed the first time, I had locked her in the bathroom. I had left her the old blanket and a bowl of water. I thought maybe she wouldn't be able to climb out of the tub. But I was wrong. The first time I woke up was to a clattering sound. I opened the door to see her under the bathroom sink playing with the cleaning supplies. I freaked out. I checked all the bottles to make sure she hadn't swallowed or been exposed to the harsh chemicals in the different bottles of cleaner. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that none of them had been open or punctured by her teeth or claws.

I decided to move her stuff out into my room and shut the bathroom door so she couldn't go back in. I set her up in the corner and at first, she seemed to settle down into her blanket. When I thought she had fell asleep, I climbed back into my bed. But was later woken by her violently tucking at my blanket. I looked down at the right corner of my bed to find my comforter scratched and torn in the area she had been tugging at. She looked up at me with playful eyes.

I slid out of bed and went over to one of the boxes my mom had sent to the palace, that I still hadn't unpacked. I took out one of the nice skirts that she bought and forced me to wear when we went out for special occasions. I dangled it in front of the cub, and she started to follow it with her eyes till it was taunting enough for her to pounce on it. We played tug of war until she tired out and nestled in my lap and fell asleep.

I smiled as I lightly stroked the top of her head with the back of my hand. I scooped the sleepy cub in my arms and cuddle in my bed with her. That was probably about the only time I got any sleep. At least for about two hours. About thirty minutes before the time Luke said I had to be up, she was wide awake again.

She licked my face to wake me up and I covered my head with the blanket. This didn't stop her though. She then started to play with my feet that were under the blanket. I nudged her with my feet to get her to stop and I had to do it a few more time before she went off to do who know what.

I was just about to drift off when I heard the knock.

I groaned very loudly before answering, purposefully filling my voice with annoyance. "What?!"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Erin. But it's almost time for breakfast." Luke timidly said from the other side of the door.

The thought of food gave a bit of energy to slide out of the warm blanket. "Alright. Give me a moment." I said with a yawn.

"Of course. We will be waiting." Luke said, and then retreated from the door.

I stretched before standing to my feet. I opened my closet to find something to wear. I didn't want to wear a dress, but it was all that I had. That and the boring clothes my mom packed for me and the dirty clothes that I wore while on the run.

I found the most casual black dress that I could find in the closet and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. The dress was made of a thick material, so it would be nice for the chilly weather. The skirt came just passed my knees and had long sleeves. I actually liked it. I might ask if I could get more dresses like it and then all the colorful dresses could go to the other Maidens if they like.

I put my hair in a ponytail, washed my face and brushed my teeth. When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw the cub playing with the skirt again. I let out a little laugh when I saw of how messed up it was. I put anything I didn't want her messing with in the closet or bathroom and refilled her water bowl.

"I will bring you some food in a little bit. Okay?" I said to her and patted her head.

I had done some research on pumas last night before bed and found that she is probably almost three months old. That's when cubs start getting weaned off their mother’s milk and start eating meat. So, I was going to have Luke or Michael grad some raw beef from the kitchen during breakfast. I figured it would be easier to find than goats milk, since cow’s milk is no good for her.

I closed my bedroom door and she began to scratch the door as if to say she didn't want to be left alone. I felt a little bad. But I to leave. I might have Michael or Luke check on her sometime later during my training.

The boys were waiting for me in the common area of our room and we left for the dining hall.

The whole way there, Luke and I were talking about names for the cub. Michael stayed silent.

"What about Trixie?" Luke suggested.

"That's a strippers name..." I said. Michael scoffed. "You got any ideas?" I asked, with a hint of annoyance.

"No. She is not my problem. She is yours. I don't want anything to do with that animal." He said as we turned a corner. We passed by a couple of maids who had fresh sheets for the young Maidens rooms.

Emily was one of them. She gave me a wink as we walked by. As if to assure me the secret was still safe.

"Well, I am your Maiden. So, if she is my problem, that automatically makes it yours too." I shot bad at him with a smirk on my face.

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again with a huff. Luke and I decided to save the name search for later tonight when we can play with her to figure out her personality.

We finally made our way to the dining hall and at least half of the other Maidens with their Guardians were already helping themselves to the breakfast buffet the cooks had prepared. It was a nice spread too. Bacon, eggs, different kinds of sausage, pancakes, waffles, various types of fruity crepes. Practically any kind of breakfast food you could think off, they had prepared for us and it was all fresh.

It looked like way too much food for just us Maidens and respective Guardians. I guess look could read my thoughts on my face because he stood next to me and said, "After all the Maidens have finished their breakfast, the Palace guards and the guards in training come for breakfast. There are hardly any leftovers."

"What about the Senior Maidens?" I asked. I was hoping that I could catch Elisabeth and have her elaborate on what she was telling me last night.

"They have their breakfast brought to them in their rooms or studies. They are very busy dealing with political affairs and now preparing to teach the young Maidens that most of them eat while they work." Luke answered while handing me a plate at the beginning of the line and then stepped aside for me to go first before him and Michael.

I took the plate and began loading my plate with greasy meat and breakfast pastries and such. "You sure know a lot about what goes on around here. I thought Guardians weren't brought to the Moon Palace until a year before their Maiden is supposed to awaken?" I questioned. Curious to get to know my Guardians, since they will be my lifelong companions. I thought I would start with Luke because he seemed more easy going. It might take me a while to chisel away at the rock named Michael.

Luke looked down at his plate of food. Staring very intensely. He was smiling, but his eyes shown a bit of sadness. Michael was in the line behind Luke, and I saw him give look at Luke, then me, then back to Luke. He knew why Luke looked sad when I asked that question. But didn't say anything.

"Luke... You don't have to tell me if it makes you... uncomfortable." I said, stumbling to find the right words. I was not good at this comforting sad people. The only person I had to so that for was Layla. But that was mostly over petty middle school/high school drama. This was different. This sadness seemed to be stemmed from something deeper than petty drama.

"No. It's okay. You are my Maiden and I am you Guardian. You should know the people you trust to keep you safe." Luke looked me in the eyes for a brief moment, then looked down to load more food on his plate. "I was brought here not long after I was born. You know that Guardians are born with their marks, right?" He asked.

I nodded. Guardians were marked at birth with the roman numeral of which Maiden they are supposed to protect. This is so that they have all their life to prepare for their role. They still get to live normal live until they have to go to the Moon Palace. But they are checked on yearly to make sure they aren't getting to trouble and such. Making sure that they are healthy and able bodied to be a Guardian.

"Well, my mother died a few months after I was born due to cancer and my father... he is in prison. The doctors told my mother that aborting was the best option for her. That if she went through with the pregnancy her chances of surviving the cancer was slim to none. But she refused. She had said that she would rather die for her child to live, than to sacrifice her child's life for her own. Or so the doctors told Elisabeth when she came to take me to the Palace." Luke paused as he was buttering his pancakes.

"My mother had broken contact with her family when she married my father. They didn't approve, and guess they had good reason to feel that way. Seeing as he is in prison. I don't know what for. All I know is he is locked up for thirty more years. So, it must have been bad."

We had made it to the end of the line when Luke had finished his story. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the gut. I felt awful. This whole time, I had both my parent, and I would constantly go on of how I hated them and of how horrible they are. Meanwhile, Luke has no parents to take care of him. He must hate me.

I feel like a complete moron. I am a spoiled, entitled b***h who doesn't think much about other’s feelings. If Luke didn't hate me, I hated myself.

I hated myself, because I began to cry. Why am I crying? I shouldn't be the one crying. Yet I couldn't help it.

"Erin? What’s wrong?" Luke asked, with the sound alarm in his voice.

"Luke.... I'm so sorry..." I said, as I realized, unsurprisingly, that I wasn't hungry anymore.