THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[49.1] RAVENS AND A THUNDERBIRD

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"Do you enjoy wingless butterflies, Tala?"

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I SAT ON the ground, plucking at the grass as I stared silently out into the King's Courts. the day was quite peaceful, especially under the spot I had chosen. I was sitting right under the tree Claire, Lira, and I had been when the oranges were playing their games right before getting busted by Rangi and Lwangi.

The sun shone brighter than ever, indicating the fact that it was midday and that I was missing lunch, but who cared? I knew I wouldn't be able to put anything down with this feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I just wanted some peace and there he was, just sitting in my room with those stupid eyes of his and that chilling tone. I felt myself shiver at the thought shaking my head before taking in the sweet fresh air once more.

'What am I going to do with you?'

Those words echoed at the back of my head and I could feel my fingers shake. He was not going to let me be, was he? He finally knew that I was mute-well at least this is when I assumed he had figured it out although he didn't look that surprised when Daya practically announced it to the whole world.

He didn't, right?

Shoot, I didn't truly know that because I wasn't looking at him when that happened. I had been staring at Daya. He never said a word, all he did was hum.

I felt sick and an oozy feeling deep in my gut as I looked out on the sparely populated Kings Court. I figured most people were in the lunch queue trying to get some food in their mouths, as I should probably be doing at this moment, but I was not in the mood to eat.

When would I finally be like them? Their biggest problem was the lunch line which was a normal problem for normal people. But the universe forbids I will be like them, heavens no, my life was specially designed to frustrate the daylights out of me.

I was given a rare opportunity. It may be a little strange but I was one of the few people in the world who had been given a chance to be what they wanted to be the most.

Not a princess with a kingdom to rule one day but just a normal person, around normal people. Well, as normal as it gets for Converts. And yet I couldn't even pull that off. I had been on Kingsland for barely a week, one week, and in those short days, I had managed to put a target on my back.

I sighed into my hands, burying my face whole as I groaned.

Maybe I just had to talk to him, I reasoned. Beg a little, let him know that I was a harmless little pigeon and I wasn't going to tell anyone at all.

Why would I even want to?

How the heck would that benefit me in any way? I was already scared to the bone of him, why the heck would I want to be the fuse to that bomb inside him I just knew was waiting to explode?

He had such a calm exterior and yet whenever I was around him, I always felt like there was a fire burning way too close to me.

Like, I couldn't begin to fathom what kind of convert he was. The strange part about it all is that I didn't think Claire felt what I felt when it came to him. She didn't seem to feel the raw danger. Maybe she was still blinded by whatever feelings had made her so attracted to him.

I couldn't blame her though, he was attractive, but the fear he drew in me whenever he took charge of my body was enough to make me realize his beauty was the least of his attributes.