The Queen of Moths

Chapter Four- Ada

Chapter Four

Ada

I get back to the palace. I walk up to my room and open the door. As I'm going over to the bed and placing my bags down, Something in the corner catches my eye. On the table, next to the window, there is a tray with food. I walk over and pick up the note.

Have you eaten yet, Adalyin?

-Asalana

I smile at the note. In front of me is a sourdough sandwich with turkey, tomato, avocado, and lettuce. Next to it are some strawberries. I take a bite, and no doubt it's one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I lean back in my chair and eat the food. I haven't had good food in a long while. Things at the academy were hard. We had barely any food.

I pick up my tray and leave my room. I decided it was a good opportunity to explore the castle. I hold on to the plate and silverware as I fly down from the large mezzanine and land in the main room. I stop a maid. "Hello, do you know where the kitchen is?" I ask her. She nods and points over to a door. "Thank you." I say bowing my head. I open the doors and walk to the sink to start cleaning.

"I see you liked the food?" A voice says. I look back and see Queen Asalana.
"Yes, my queen. It was lovely, thank you." I give a big smile and turn back to the plate and tray.

"Good! I have to ask, how does everything work at the academy? You seem very happy just for food."

"Pardon?"
"I mean, how do they treat you? How much sleep and food do you get?"

"Ma'am, it's all fine there."

"Tell me the truth, Adalyin."

I sigh. "Well, everyone wakes up at exactly 5:30 and must be in the dining hall by 6:30. If you slept in... you would be punished. Once counted we then are sent straight to training."

"At 6 in the morning?" She says.

"Yes. We then train for 4 hours in a row. No breaks. No food." I take a deep breath. It was a struggle only being 13 having to do this. With both mother and father dead I had no choice but to do this. I needed a job. I needed to support my brother and I. " That would leave us at 10am. We would then go to the lecturing halls to be taught our world history, different species, how to kill, ect."

"When did you ever eat?" She says. She has obviously never been revealed the reality of becoming a guard or soldier.

"We eat at 12. Everyone gets fed a small bowl of soup, some bread, and some milk. That's the only food we get for the day. And, the punishments... Greats, someone died once."

Asalana looks shocked. Poor woman. She lowers her head. "How were we never informed?" She asks. I want to tell her but it would be useless. They didn't tell anyone because he was a nobody. No one would care if he died, and they would probably have been shut down. I look back at the Queen. I'm starting to feel nauseous.

" It was my brother." I take a deep breath and continue. " I was very ill about 2 years ago. He said I needed to take a break and stop training so much." I push a laugh out. "You see, the food we were given was never enough and I would probably die if I wasn't given more." I look over my wings back at the Queen. She's standing there listening. "For me, he stole food.And uhm.." I put down the sponge and grasped the counter edge. "The teachers found out and decided the best choice was to make him starve." I still remember it very clearly. I never want to remember but it's a recurring nightmare. That's why I never sleep. I can't bear to experience it again.

"You're too ill. You need more food." He said. I was laying on my bed. He held my hand as he laid next to me. It was our birthday today. "Man, it is terrible being sick on our birthday." I laugh softly. I open my eyes and look over to him. He squeezes my hand. "Are you going to die?" He says with a shaky voice. He's about to cry. I push myself up on my elbows and wrap my arms around him. " I can't have you leave too. You're all I have left." He breaks. His forehead is laid on my shoulder and he's crying. "I would never leave you, Caline." I say, wrapping my wings around him. "It will be okay." I rub his back as he continues balling. We fall asleep like that.

The memory flashes in my mind. A tear falls down my cheek. "I decided that I would become 1st. I would avenge him. I would be as strong as he is... was. One week from today he and I will be 19." I drop my head. I take in a breath as Asalana stands there. She grabs my shoulder.

Oh Greats, I'm humiliated. I back up, wiping my tears away. "I- I'm sorry about that." I laugh. She's staring at me with a sad smile. "I'm going to.. Uhm-" I pick the dishes up and put them away. "Thank you, for the food." I say, bowing my head and walking out the door. I get into the main room and fly up and down the halls to my room. I walk in my room and lay on my bed. I decided to take a nap. A long, 2 hour nap.

I'm in the training dome. I found a bow, arrows, and a rope. I look behind myself and tie up my wings. If I were ever to lose them in a fight I would need to know how to fight without. I take a deep breath and start shooting and swinging my sword.

I finished my training. I've been training for about 5 hours. It's about 9:45pm. I'm exhausted. I haven't slept that long and I need it. I grab my gun and sword. I open the glass door and step onto the path. I take a deep breath. I haven't been out during the night in years. I close my eyes, and I listen. The tree leaves rustle, the grasshoppers chirp. The frogs croak as they sit along the fish pond. The wind blows by making me chilly. I look up to the sky. The stars are truly beautiful. They shine like gems. My eyes flutter shut as I smell the air. I exhale long breaths. "You stabbed me~" A voice hissed behind me. I spin around and swing my sword. I hit something. I am breathing heavily as I back away. There is nothing there.

I am running inside with my sword. I get to the ball room as I gather my thoughts. I'm standing, staring at the glass door leading out to the garden. I look behind me. There is a woman standing right behind me, breathing down my neck. I scream and pull my gun out from my thigh holster. She's gone again. I carefully back out of the room with my gun in my hands and my iron sword in my scabbard.

I look over and see the thrones. I take a deep breath knowing I'm probably close to Asalana's and Lakenna's room. That's when she appears again. I shoot my gun. It hits right where the figure was. "WHERE ARE YOU?" I scream out. I run towards the main room. That's when I'm knocked over. It can't be anyone but Queen Ele. That's all I can think of right now. I dropped my gun as I fell again from her swooping right above me. I scramble to grab my gun. I fly up into the air to face her. Nothing but iron hurts fairies. And, I left my iron bullets in my room. I drop the gun, seeing that it will do absolutely nothing. I grasp my sword as I fly straight ahead at her. She screams when I swing at her. Ele flies down and grabs a sword from a Knight armor stand. I swing at her and our swords collide. She flies back and a bunch of moths start swarming again. "FACE ME YOU COWARD!" I scream. That's when all the moths clear. She flies up high and I follow. I start swinging my sword at her. She comes right back at me and her sword pierces through my leg. I holler as I fly back. "I swear.. I will KILL YOU!" I scream as I charge at her. I manage to cut off one of her arms. She screams. The black blood oozing from her open wound. She swoops under me and cuts. But, she doesn't cut an arm or a leg. She cuts my wing. I collapse to the ground. I scream in excruciating pain as I look back to my wing. At the core the stem is half cut. The cut is a clean slice and blood starts dripping down my back. My leg is bent, in a way it is certainly not supposed to be.

I feel tears welling in my eyes as I rise from my spot on the ground. Ele lands on the ground. She runs at me again, swinging her sword. She swipes and it hits my eye. I scream. As I grasp my sword as a figure comes flying down collapsing on top of her. Ele screams as her sword falls out of her hands and lands at least 6 feet from her outreached hand. I look up and see Lakenna on top of the fairy. My vision becomes blurry. "I... My wings." I weep, as I collapse to the ground. I black out.