WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (7 page)

           
Sarah
felt it was her job to point out the obvious; they were miles above the ground
and nobody would expect their sister to do something dangerous just to get some
money.
 
The dragon and redhead both
turned in unison and stared at her blankly.
 
Raven explained that this idea was in fact a much safer plan than going
home without the money.
 
Bryson nodded
his head in agreement so Sarah shrugged her shoulders, accepting that they
weren’t going to listen to her anyway.

           
Within
moments the airship was clearly visible even to the two girls.
 
A large, gray, oblong structure supported a
passenger deck underneath.
 
Giant twin
fans in the back provided the thrust to move, although it wasn’t nearly as fast
as a dragon.
 
Bryson flew above the
balloon and slowed to match its speed.
 
Lowering himself until they were only a foot or so above the balloon, he
waited until Raven hopped off and then climbed back into the sky.
 
Raven grabbed the nearest anchoring line and
started down.

           
Inside
the cabin, three people calmly watched the window in front of them.
 
Richard DeGuire, the head of the Protectorate
and the Prime Minister’s personal body guard, the Prime Minister herself,
Cassandra Sylvester, and the pilot.

           
“Where
are we going?”
 
The Prime Minister spoke
in a low voice.

           
“We’ve
already discussed this, Madame Sylvester.
 
You have a meeting with the mayor of Augusta later today.
 
Please have another sip of tea and
relax.”
 
Crimson lips puckered slightly
as the cup reached them, but they did not drink.
 
Instead a small smile curled the
corners.
 
“Someone is here to see us,
Richard.”

           
There
was a sharp rapping at the portside door.
 
Richard turned and saw Lady Branwyen hanging upside down, motioning him
to come over.
 
He did so, issuing a
thousand curses under his breath at having to deal with such an annoying
distraction on today of all days.
 
At
least the story of how she got up here would be interesting and if she got to
pesky he could just kill her.

           
As
he swung open the door, Raven took a good look at Richard DeGuire.
 
He was a tall man with black hair that hung
to his shoulders and a goatee that was just turning gray around the edges.
 
His leathery face could be considered
handsome if not for his eyes.
 
Black and
oily, they glittered with malice under thick brows.
 
Although they had always been polite with
each other, there was something about this man that had set Raven on edge the
first time they met.
 
Each successive
meeting only ingrained that inherent dislike deeper.

“Good morning,
Branwyen.
 
To what do we owe this most
unexpected pleasure?”

           
“Mind
if I come in?
 
It’s a mite uncomfortable
out here” Raven smiled as she struggled with her urge to destroy the ship.
 
The fact she was hanging upside down, miles
above the ground with her knees wrapped around an iron bar wasn’t too bad.
 
Having to deal with this pompous jackass was
really not the way she wanted to spend a morning though.

           
Richard
shook his head in mock sadness.
 
“I’m
afraid we’re already over our limit.
 
If
we let someone else in, we’ll be breaking the rule.”

           
“Whose
rule?”
 
The redhead asked.

           
“Mine.
 
I just made it up, but I think it’s a good
one.”

           
Raven
ignored him and twisted her body around to look inside the cabin, spying brown
hair tightly twisted into a bun.
 
“Is
that the Prime Minister?
 
Casey, how’re
you doing?”
 
The tip of a sword pressed
against her chest was the answer.

           
“Prime
Minister Sylvester has no time to be bothered with someone like you,
Branwyen.
 
I suggest you get off this
ship the same way you got on.
 
Or you can
stay and I can kill you.
 
I doubt it
would be possible to trace your death back to me after you fall from this height.”

I’m going to end
him.
 
The voice rang in Raven’s head like
a gong.
 
She shook her auburn
tresses.
 
With the smile still in place,
the upside down girl pointed behind the man with the sword, “If you kill me he
is going to be very pissed off.”

           
Richard
turned to see Bryson and Sarah flying outside the other window.
 
The pilot was stammering “sir” over and over
again but the Prime Minister sat calmly sipping her tea as if nothing were
amiss.

           
While
the head of the Protectorate was busy looking at the blonde and the dragon,
Raven took the opportunity to make a few quick motions with her hand and place
a reading spell on the Prime Minister.
 
She finished just as Richard faced her again and sheathed his
sword.
 
“It seems we’re at something of
an impasse, Lady Branwyen.”
 
The dark
haired man used her title to show that he wasn’t interested in any more
fighting.

           
“I
don’t like impasses.”
 
Raven declared in
a huff and crossed her arms.
 
“I’ve got a
better idea.
 
Why don’t you give me the
10 gullions you owe Sis, plus another five to me for a delivery fee, and I’ll
leave.”

           
Richard’s
eyes narrowed suspiciously.
 
“I give you
15 gullions and you’ll get off our ship?”

           
“Cross
my heart and hope you die.”
 
Raven traced
an x over her left breast.

           
Classy
as always, the man thought as he reached for his wallet.
 
He opened it up and handed the redhead a
twenty but Raven protested she didn’t have change.
 
Richard told her that the extra five was for
the entertainment of their conversation.
 
Happy her missions had been achieved Raven smiled wide, gave a mock
salute and simply straightened out her legs.
 
As she plummeted out of sight, Richard DeGuire silently cheered more for
gravity than any man in an airship has before or since.

           
Raven
yelled loudly, the wind tearing the sound away no sooner than it left her
lips.
 
The experience of freefalling was something
she and Sis both loved and did at least once a week.
 
The fact that she got to annoy the
Protectorate, picked up the money for Sis and managed to finish the mission
Elspeth had sent her on in the first place made this all in all a very
profitable stop.
 
She fell for another
full minute, doing flips and turns in mid-air, her red pony tail sticking
straight up against the force of the wind.
 
Suddenly a large shadow raced beneath her and she reached out at the
last moment to grab one of the bony protrusions on Bryson’s tail.
 
Swinging wildly, howling all the while, Raven
enjoyed her moment of triumph then used the spikes along the dragon’s back as
handholds to work her way back up to sit behind Sarah.
 

The trio flew on
for a while, with Raven pointing out the sights from their vantage point.
 
Sarah remained silent until she could hold
her tongue no longer.
 
She twisted
halfway around and Raven saw she was visibly shaken.

           
“Are
you completely insane?”
 
Sarah managed to
finally spit out, staring at the bewildered Raven.

           
“Yeah.
 
What, you just now figuring that part
out?”
 
Raven was still to buoyant to calm
down and missed the anger in Sarah’s words.

           
The
blonde snapped, “Do not do things like that, Lady Branwyen!
 
I’m stuck who knows how high up in the air on
a dragon I met this morning and you jump off not just the dragon but also an
airship.
 
I thought you were dead!”

           
Raven
stared, confused, into gray eyes that flashed like metal with no idea why Sarah
was so upset.
 
“Life is way to short to
be bored so I did something fun.
 
Besides, Sis and I go dragon jumping all the time.
 
I’m not gonna die from that.”

           
Trembling,
her voice filled with indignation, Sarah muttered.
 
“You should’ve told me.”
 

           
Raven
had very little experience with apologies but tried.
 
“Sorry.”
 
She said, but it sounded weak and half-hearted even to her.

CHAPTER
6: WICKED SISTERS

         
The light from the windows streamed in
brighter than ever as the redhead hummed cheerfully while counting out twenty
bills.
 
They were almost back to
Valentria and that meant she’d get to hang out with Sis.
 
Sure Elspeth would be mad because she didn’t
have anything concrete to report but since her step-mother seemed to constantly
be upset it wasn’t that much of a hassle.

           
A wisp of darkness uncoiled itself
from the shadow in the back and closed another shutter, leaving only two
windows left open but the girl barely acknowledged it.
 
A window always closed after she had to deal
with Richard or any of those Protectorate dweebs.
 
Now that she was home her problem could be
taken care of.

After another hour
of flight, Bryson announced that they were nearly home.
 
Sarah turned to the front and gasped.
 
Below them a large city shimmered like a
mirage.
 
They were approaching huge
mountains still capped in white and gleaming in the early spring sun.
 
The view, although incredibly beautiful,
wasn’t what surprised Sarah.
 
At the base
of the mountains a large castle loomed, seemingly carved out of the stone
behind it.

At the top of
three turrets, maroon flags flapped languidly in the afternoon breeze.
 
Sarah noticed there was a garden on top of
the castle.
 
Make that ‘gardens’, plural,
she corrected herself; two expansive gardens, one with white plants and one
with red, sprawled out on flat, grassy ground.
 
She couldn’t tell what the plants were from this high up, but promised
to walk through them later.
 
The dragon
suddenly let out a tremendous roar and belched fire into the sky, shaking Sarah
to the bone.
 
Raven felt her jerk and
whispered that was just his way of letting everybody know they were back.
 
Bryson hung suspended in the air for a minute
and reached his wings out to their full length.
 
Slowly he lowered himself to the grass and the two riders slid from
their seats.
 
Sarah was a little cramped
being unused to dragons as a method of transportation so she stretched before
taking a look around.

They were on the
roof of the castle-- Sarah was sure of that much since she could see the three
turrets in front of her-- but how big must the inside be if the roof was large
enough for not one but two gardens, complete with trees and a winding brook
that ran down the mountain side and pooled near the edge of the
embankments.
 
A heady fragrance wafted
from the flowers, almost intoxicating to the blacksmith who grew up in the
slums.
 
Breathlessly she wandered under a
nearby tree, speckles of green tinted sunlight filtering through its thick
plumage.
 

“Raven!”
 

Sarah jerked out
of her revelry at the unexpected scream and saw two women rushing towards them.
 
A redhead with alabaster skin ran full tilt, grinning
ear to ear.
 
The other, an olive colored
beauty with rich brown hair, trailed the energetic younger girl, but still walking
at a brisk pace.

“My sisters.”
Raven murmured before the two could reach them.
 
“Just address ‘em formally until they give you
permission not to.”
 
Sarah nodded then jumped
out of the way as the redhead leapt at Raven, wrapping her in a huge bear hug.

The two redheads
broke apart with wide grins as the other approached.
 
The brunette greeted the newly returned
sister with a warm hug of her own.
 

“Welcome home,
Raven.
 
Did you encounter any trouble?”
she asked.
 
The youngest girl gave her a
hip bump and started fussing.

“Quit being so
formal, Liz, we have important things to discuss.”
 
She faced Raven with thinly disguised
expectation and Sarah noted that the younger girl had dark brown eyes.
 
She expected them to be green, like Raven’s
since they were so matched in skin and hair.
 
“So, did you bring us any presents?”

Raven laughed, “Yes
I did, in fact.
 
The best present ever
for the best little sister ever, a new friend.”
 

Sarah watched the
three and saw that while both the other sisters were close to her height, Raven
was at least five inches taller than them.
 
She was starting to feel a little awkward but Raven introduced
everybody.
 

“You two, I want
you to meet Sarah Petty.
 
We’re going to
open up a store in that shop I bought a while back.
 
Sarah,” Raven motioned her forward; “these
are my two sweet sisters.
 
The beautiful
and very lady like one is Felicity and the cute, hyperactive one is Amanda.”

Bowing her head
graciously, Sarah said.
 
“Lady Felicity,
Lady Amanda it is a pleasure to meet you both.”

Lady Felicity
smiled and extended her hand for Sarah’s, “Please call me Liz.
 
Any friend of Raven’s is a welcome and
honored guest in our home.”

“And you can call
me Mandy!
 
Any friend of Raven’s blah,
blah.”
 
Amanda wrapped Sarah in the same
bear hug she had used to greet Raven moments earlier.
 
Sarah felt at ease with these two.

“Say,” Raven stood
apart, looking off into the red flower garden, “Where’s Sis at?
 
She was supposed to…”
 
Sarah screamed, Felicity and Amanda hopped
backwards, and Raven went tumbling head over heels as a fireball crashed into
her from behind.
 
When she came to a stop
she rolled over, slightly singed, and muttered, “Never mind, I found her.”

Sarah turned back
to the castle and saw a girl storming their way.
 
Another redhead, but this girl’s hair was
much darker than either Raven’s or Amanda’s, almost brown.
 
She had bronze colored skin, closer to
Felicity than either of the pale sisters.

“What did I tell
you before you left, brat?”
 
The newcomer
marched into the circle of grass, glaring at Raven who was still struggling to
get to her feet.

“To come see you
as soon as I got home.”
 
Raven stood
shakily.

The other girl
stopped and put her hands on her hips, “And did you?”

Raven started to
say something but another fireball raced through the air between the two but
this time the girl under attack was ready.
 
She jerked her left hand up and a block of earth ripped from the
ground.
 

The fireball
exploded into the wall loud enough for Sarah to feel the vibrations.
 
She was starting to get very worried and
looked for help but Amanda and Felicity were already sitting down with their
backs resting against Bryson’s scaly hide.
 
They motioned for her to do the same.
 
With more than a little apprehension, she nestled down to watch.

“You know how
worried I was about you?
 
Going off into
that big city all alone!
 
You could’ve been
kidnapped or killed or worse.”
 
The
darker skinned girl started moving forward and Raven matched her step for
step.
 
The four onlookers, three girls
and a dragon, switched their eyes from one combatant to the other.
 
Sarah wanted to try something to stop them
but Felicity whispered that it was best to be quite and not draw their
attention.
 
So Sarah just nodded and
settled back since nobody else seemed overly concerned.

“Sure, you were
real worried about me, which is why you came rushing out to check when I got
home.”
 
Raven threw her right palm up and
sent a fireball of her own, which her opponent easily dodged.

“Oh that’s
it.
 
First you make me sit and worry all
week long, and now you’re attacking me for expressing my sisterly
concerns.
 
I’m going to kick your ass!”

“You and what
army?”

The two were
silent, facing each other about 10 yards apart.
 
Sarah took the opportunity to wonder, very quietly, if someone shouldn’t
stop them before they got hurt.
 
Felicity
smiled and asked why anybody would want to stop them since it was obvious how
happy they were to see each other.
 
Then
magic erupted again, scorching the grass where the spells met and exploded,
making conversation impossible.
 
The
battle, which lasted a good minute by Sarah’s reckoning, was lost when Raven
failed to block a spell that hit the ground at her feet.
 
The explosion knocked her into the air and
she landed heavily on her stomach.
 
The
other girl took advantage in a flash, jumping on top and pinning Raven’s right
arm behind her back.

“Tell me you’re
sorry.”
 
She demanded and Raven muttered
something that none of the others could hear.
 
Sarah might have caught the word ‘witch’ though she couldn’t be
sure.
 
The girl gasped and smacked
Raven’s head with an open palm.
 
“Where
did you learn that kind of language?”
 

“Let me up and
I’ll tell you.”
 
Raven hissed, trying to
wiggle out from underneath her captor.
 
The other girl was having none of it and twisted the captured arm
painfully.

“I’ll let you up
when you apologize and tell me how much you love me.”
 
The victor demanded.

“Fine!”
 
The girl in lilac and plum finally submitted.
 
“I’m sorry for making you worry.
 
And I love you bunches.
 
You’re super wonderful and the bestest big
sister I could ever hope for!
 
Now let me
up!”

“Did you get my money?’

“It’s in my left
pocket.”

The sister on top
leaned over, making sure to put just a little more pressure to the strained
shoulder tendons and stuck her hand into the pocket.

“Now let me up!”
Raven started writhing and spitting.
        

The other girl
arched an eyebrow when she saw twenty gullions instead of the ten she was
expecting.
 
Pulling on Raven’s pony tail,
she asked why there was extra money.
 
“You didn’t get it from Richard, did you?
 
You forgot and you’re trying to lie to me,
aren’t you?”

The determined captive
continued squirming but found escape impossible.
 
“Would I lie to you?
 
I stopped by his airship this morning to get
it.
 
Ask Sarah.”

“Who the hell is
Sarah?”

“Probably the
blonde you’ve never seen before.”
 
That
response earned another open handed slap to the back of the head and the winner
scolded Raven for being snarky to the bestest big sister ever.
 

Then the girl
settled her eyes on Sarah.
 
“Is she
telling the truth?’

Sarah nodded
dumbly in the affirmative, to nervous to speak.
 
Finally the victor stood and dragged Raven to her feet.
 
The two faced each other with wide grins
splitting their faces and hugged tightly.

As they pulled
apart after a long moment, the girl wiped a bit of dirt off of Raven’s
cheek.
 
“I’ve missed you Sis.”

Raven wiped some
soot off of her sister’s face in response.
 
“I’ve missed you too.”
 
The two
linked arms and headed to the front doors of the castle, giggling and
whispering under their breath but pulled up short when Bryson loudly cleared
his throat.
 
They turned as one and the
older girl walked back over, with Raven in tow, to give the dragon a kiss on
the cheek.

“Thanks for
bringing her home safely.”
 
The girl told
Bryson.

“Thank you for the
trip Bryson.
 
I’ll open up the door home
for you, if you’re ready to go.”
 
The
dragon nodded and Sarah watched with great interest.
 
Raven appeared to be grabbing thin air,
twisting her arms and pulling something invisible towards her.
 
Finally satisfied, she shoved both hands away
from her body.

A large fireball,
this one silky green instead of the usual orange, burst from the caster’s
hands.
 
It exploded against nothing
twenty feet away and the air itself seemed to melt, leaving an inky black
void.
 
Bryson uncurled and everyone said
their good-byes as he walked into the portal.

When magical
doorway closed, Sarah steeled her resolve and walked up to the sister she
hadn’t met, figuring it was Rebekah.
 
She
meant to introduce herself but the two girls had already turned and started
back towards the castle.
 
Feeling snubbed,
Sarah watched them leave, unaccustomed to being treated like she was
invisible.
 
A warm arm wrapped itself
around her shoulder.