Dark Angel by Lisa Tuter (reading in the dark .txt) 📖

Chapter One
The Beginning


“Come out, come out, where ever you are!” my little brother, Enish yelled as he ran into the antechamber to my parents room. I climbed out of my hiding spot underneath their bed, opened one of the many hidden doorways in the palace and slipped in, the door closing silently behind me. From my new hiding spot I watched from a small hole in the wall as my little brother came into the room, looking for me. “Ceci, are you in here? Mother sent me to find you and tell you that Lani‘s home” he said as he crept from place to place around the large room looking for me. After looking underneath the bed (a good thing I left that hiding place!) and behind the tapestries, he left the room to go look someplace else. I waited for a few more minutes, just in case he’d decided to come back. When I was sure he wasn’t going to, I opened the hidden doorway and climbed back out of the passage.
Lani’s home, I thought to myself. I hadn’t seen her in at least a year. Alanisah, my older sister, had left last year for her fostering. On special occasions she was allowed to come back for a visit, I guessed my birthday counted as a special occasion. As I hurried to the gardens, where I’d guessed she might be, I paused to check myself in a large mirror in one of the corridors for anything that might give away the place I’d just left. After making sure that there was no dust or dirt on my clothes, I continued to the gardens.

As soon as she saw me, Lani jumped up, ran to me and hugged me tightly. This was her first year of fostering, so it had been hard on her. As I hugged my sister, I looked over her shoulder at our mother. In her late hundreds, she was still as beautiful as she was when she was twenty, or so our father always said, with long, silver hair reaching past her hips, eyes of a soft lavender flecked with silver, long, slender arms and legs, wings dark as midnight. But then again, that was not all that surprising. People of our race quit physically aging at the age of twenty. But her soft looks could be deceiving. My mother and father, along with every other Dark Angel, were seasoned warriors. I had never seen them in actual battle, but I had watched them sparring with each other. If I hadn’t known they were only sparring, I would have sworn they were trying to kill each other.

Lani and I released each other and sat down on opposite sides of our mother. “So…,” I asked my sister, “how is your fostering going so far?” As I sat back listening to my sister tell of her first year of fostering, I studied her. She was twelve years old now, and I could tell that, though she must have missed us all terribly, her fostering was agreeing with her. I could tell already that she was losing some of the pale, softness that comes from living indoors. Even though before she’d left she didn’t spend all of her time inside, she was still pale and soft, as was I. But after living, on a farm I believe, for a year she was replacing that pale, softness for a tan and was developing muscles. Slowly, I tuned back to what Lani was saying excitedly, “Oh, and I’ve been given a horse and am learning how to train it!”
“Really?,” I asked surprised, “you’re already learning how to train horses and such?”
“Yes,’’ she replied, “and I’ve already made friends with some of the children in the village.”
“Well, I’m glad,” my mother said, “that you’re making friends, dear. Ceci, Lani just arrived and I think we should give her some time to rest. Besides, you and I are needed to oversee the decorations for your birthday in the banquet hall.”
Mother and I left Lani to go to her rooms and get some rest. On the way to the banquet hall, we passed by the gardens where Mother pulled me into a little niche.
"Ceciliana," she said sitting down beside me on a little ice veined marble bench," in two days time you will be twelve, which means you will be well on your way to becoming an adult." As she said this, she put her arm around me and hugged me, lingering for a moment as though hesitant to let go, I thought this strange but figured it was due to the fact that she saw me as growing up too fast, as all parents do. "Life will not be kind to you, dear. There will be many hardships, some may come sooner or later than you think. Your fostering will prepare you for this. But enough of that now. You are not yet grown so go find your brother, and take him to play with your friends."
"Yeshta, Mama," I said as I hugged her and then turned to go into the palace. Turning back at the door, I noticed she went to the Seers tower, probably seeing how the weather would be for the next few days. As I went in and up the grand stair case to the floor housing the Royal quarters, I noticed the door to my parents chambers was ajar. Going closer, I heard two people in the room, I knew it would not be Lani or Enish, as he was out watching Father in the training grounds. I listened as a man and a woman searched for something, I could tell they were because they were becoming very, very iritated and were snapping at each other.
"Would you hurry?" the woman snapped," I want to find it before the queen or king, or one of their brats catches us!"
"Hold yer horses!" the man growled out," we'll find it, jest hold yer damned horses!"
I guessed I must have made some noise or another, because the woman paused, "SHh!! Did you hear that?"
"How could I hear anything over yer naggin!" the man replied," It was probably just a rat or one of them damned dogs!"
"Even so, I think we'd better leave before someone comes in here and finds us." the woman said. After that I heard a soft click as she opened one of the passage ways.

I rushed into the room, but they had already entered and closed the door to the passage way. The room was clean, but I thought it wise to tell Mama or Papa. Quickly as I could I ran, my wings still have yet to develop, to the training area because I knew it was wiser to interrupt Papa while he is training than to interrupt Mama when she is with the Seers. The midday sun beat down on my head as I hurried, but it did not bother me because I am used to it. Looking round the arena, I spotted my father with a group of teenage boys instructing them on the long bow.

"Papa!" I said as I hurried over to the group, "I need to talk to you, please?"
"Of course, child," he said kneeling so that he could look me in the eye. Whenever my parents speak to my siblings and I, they always treat what we have to say with utmost importance. "What is it, Ceci?"
"I was on my way to my room to change so that Enish and I could go play in the village and I heard someone in your rooms. I went closer, because I knew that neither you or Mama were in there and neither Enish or Lani were in there, so I was seeing who it WAS. It was a man and a woman. The woman sounded frustrated. They were looking for something, and when they heard me coming, they disappeared through one of the secret passage ways. Who could it have been, Papa?"
After I told him that, Papa was very quiet for a few minutes, then he spoke again "I want you to tell this to no one, Ceci, other than you're mother. She and I have something we need to discuss with you and Lani later on. But for the time being, go change into your play clothes and take your brother to play with the village children, yeshta?"
"Yeshta, Papa" I replied. Hurrying I hugged him and then ran back to the palace once again to change, hopefully this time I would be able to!"
After changing into a dark brown leather tunic embroidered with green hearth leaves, brown leather trousers, and calf-high leather boots I went to look for Enish. Once again, I found him in the training grounds with Papa and the other boys. “Enish, wanna go play with me and the village kids?” I asked. He looked at me for a moment, then back at Papa and the others and shook his head, “I wanna stay here and train like a man.” “ Alright little brother,” I said grinning, “I’ll see you in a bit.” At that I turned and hurried to the village.
As I got to the outskirts someone called to me, “Hey, Ceci! Over hear!” I turned and looked and saw my friend Alanah sitting over by a small creek with a large basket, so I walked over. “Still don’t have your wings, huh?” she asked as she thrust her hand in the creek in hopes of catching one of the silvery, slippery roze fish. “Not yet, but hopefully they’ll come before I go to my fostering.” I said, sighing as I sat down by her and stuck my hands in the warm, crystal clear water. We sat there in comfortable silence for a bit, hands darting in and out of the water catching, and missing, fish. Finally she stood up, picking up the now full basket, and asked “Wanna come with me to take these to the fishwife?” Wiping my hands on my tunic I stood up. “Sure,” I said,” do you have anything else to do after you sell those?”

“Other than going out to the Felcan forest for some herbs for Mother, no,” she said, “anything in mind?” Grinning I handed her a date slice, which she popped in her mouth, and I popped one in mine, “Well I was thinking we could go out to Birch creek for some fusciah fish..”
“That sounds good to me,” She said eagerly. We hurried to the fishwifes’ so Alanah could sell the fish then we headed out to the forest. We found the herbs we were searching for in no time and quickly put them in the basket-pouch, a few sprigs of mynth, some wild onions, and spark leaf. We were climbing trees before we took the herbs back to her mother, and I was pretty high up, when I felt something push me. “Aaahhh!!!!!!”, I screamed as I fell, the forest floor getting closer and closer, until I heard a ripping sound and my free fall suddenly stopped. “Woww….”Alanah said, coming closer,” that was amazing! You were falling, and your wings just APPEARED!” “My..my what?” I asked, shocked. “Your wings,” she