Chapter Two

Enjoy the second chapter of Ava!

Like all other structures in Fairy Grove, The Palace was built from the wood of several fallen trees. It wasn’t an overly large structure, but it did have a big enough hall to house all of Fairy Grove and several dozen rooms for various occasions, and rooms to house the staff, which included Boggs and Fiona.

As instructed by Fiona, Boggs flew to the perimeter of The Grove where four tall watch towers stood surrounding Fairy Grove. Boggs flew up to the nearest one to address the Captain of the Royal Guard and cleared his throat.

Without looking at him, the guard said, “Why aren’t you at your post?”

Boggs rolled his eyes towards the sky. “Miss Fiona whishes a favor of you.”

It was then that the guard, George, turned to look at him. “We do not take orders from a teacher.”

Boggs squared his shoulders. “I know that, but it shouldn’t matter whose giving the orders when it concerns the Princess.”

George rubbed a hand over his face. “Let me guess. She’s missing again?”

Boggs ignored his question and frowned. “Miss Fiona was summoned by the King and Queen and is unable to fetch Princess Ava herself.”

George arched a brow. “So she wants us to do it? We’re the Royal Guard, not a bunch of babysitters for a teenager who doesn’t have enough common sense to stay in one spot, particularly when it concerns her studies.”

This wasn’t the first time George had been roped into fetching Ava, wherever she was. Most times, she could be found somewhere in Fairy Grove, but there were times where she was nowhere to be found and they ended up finding her by the nearest human village.

Boggs, who was very loyal to the Royal Family and took his job very seriously, always took it personally when someone said something bad concerning the Royal Family. Some would say that Boggs was a pushover and did more than what was required of him and hardly ever said no to anyone, but when push came to shove, his eyes could turn hard as stone and his voice would become deadly calm, much as it did with the confrontation with George.

“If anything should happen to the Princess, I’ll see to it personally that you are to blame.”

George’s face paled. “You wouldn’t. You couldn’t. Princess Ava is Fiona’s responsibility if anyone should be to blame, it would be her.”

“Maybe, but who’s responsible for protecting all of Fairy Grove, including the Royal Family?”

George sighed, knowing that Boggs was right and signaled to several of his men. They had work to do.

She knew she shouldn’t do it. After all, it was going against her parents ruling, but what good were rules if they weren’t meant to be broken from time to time? Or at the very least stretched? Ava knew that interacting with humans was strictly forbidden to all in Fairy Grove and was brought up to believe that nothing was more important than keeping their existence a secret.

Ava flew high in the sky, high enough so that she wouldn’t be seen by any of the humans. When the village came into view Ava’s heart did a little leap in her chest just like it always did when the village came into view. She always chose the tallest tree closest to the town and when she was right above it, she did a nosedive into the tree and selected a branch that would be perfect for her spying and briefly hovered above her selected branch before landing lightly on her feet.

Ava was fascinated with everything that had to do with humans. The way they dressed, the way they walked, and the way they got around without having the ability to fly. Every time she came there, she was tempted to get a better look by flying to the edge, and hiding in a bush to get a better look at them. But no matter how strong the temptation was, she would never risk the wellbeing of her people. All too often, she wished to be like others of her kind, wished to be normal, but she never forgot that she was a princess and that someday the throne would be hers and she would be the one to tell her children to be mindful of the rules, just her parents were always telling her to be.

Ava lowered herself onto her stomach and inched her way along the branch until she got to the edge to get a better look on the town below. When she was in position, she propped her head on her hands and sighed. There was no doubt in her mind that life didn’t get any better than this.

Ava didn’t know how long she had been there. It could have been minutes or hours and she wouldn’t have known the difference. She was so engrossed in her watching that she didn’t hear the drum of fairy wings overhead or hear the rustling of leaves behind her and when a hand landed lightly on her shoulder, she screamed and nearly fell out of the tree and would have if the hand hadn’t clamped down on her shoulder.

Ava quickly got to her feet and spun around to see George, the Captain of the Royal Guard. “What are you doing here?” She demanded.

George ignored her question and stood at attention like he always did when being spoken to by anyone from the Royal Family and so did the other three guards with him. “Princess, your presence is required back at the Palace.”

Ava cocked her head to one side. “You didn’t answer my question. How did you know to look for me here?” She swept her arm out to indicate the tree.

The corners of George’s mouth quirked up. “Miss Fiona knows you well.” He held out a hand. “Time to go.”

Resigned, Ava slowly began walking and followed them out of the tree.

Reviews

[Hayden Bridges]

Very nice. I really enjoy your writing. It flows really well. One more chapter to go.