Winged men! Women below!

[LifeAsALittleSister]

"My name is Elizabeth...Elizabeth Hart and I am pleased to announce that I am ten weeks sober..."

As the young woman raised her glass, all the women applauded, chuckling.

Elizabeth Hart was the first and only child of Jessica Hart, a billionaire! She preforms as an actor and a singer as well as publishing the New York's best seller, The Hart within the Song, over 14 billion copies were sold just within that state alone, soon the book became International and the Hart's became even more richer and powerful.

The drinking joke, it had always humored the rich and fancy audience, a bunch of brats with their noses in the air...the kind of jerks that wouldn't bother to even help anyone unless there was something in it for them.
Mathias Hart was of course their father that died from drug overdose, apparently since every male can fly they think they have become invincible when really they are just a bunch of idiots drunk on power.

It is true though, all men have the ability to fly...apparently there was a miscarriage within the Y chromosome somewhere within the genetics of males that rendered them to fly, leaving all the females bolted to the ground.
Not much has really changed, except for how to win a lover the traditional way; which is a man asking a woman out or the fancy way which would render a man to swoop down and pick a female of his choosing...then he would have the parents approval before marriage within the family which is more of a political thing and rarely love...rich men wanting to make themselves even richer by hooking up with a fancy broad...

Elizabeth couldn't count how many times men would try and swoop her up...she also couldn't count how many times she would have to run into the castle or beat them off with a broom.

As the women talked among themselves, Elizabeth took another sip of her wine...she hated being rich more than anything because she was suppose to behave a certain way, she was never to be free, and as she watched the children playing among the dirt she envied them...for they had something priceless, freedom.

 

[The Returner]

Alistair was one of those rare kinds of men who gave little importance to worldly pleasures and possessions. He would walk around the city, his wings hidden from sight. It seemed to have become quite a trend amongst the male population to show off how grand and colourful their wings could be. What did it say about them? That they were turning into peacocks. Soon they would start marking their territories and attack anyone on sight. Alistair did not want to be part of that. Not only because he found that trend utterly childish and stupid, but also because he could buy himself every single one of the betterments that all of them possessed with fraction of his riches. It was a paradox of being gifted with wealth, but having lost interest in spending it. Some even said he was hoarding, that he was to stingy to share with anyone. Apparently, he was too snobbish and too obsessed with his own well-being, otherwise he would have already tried to swoop a girl off her feet.

What no one knew, or seemed to have forgotten, was that he already had his eyes on one girl, but she was not that easy to persuade. He tried a long time ago to whisk her up towards the skies, only to be rejected in the most humiliating manner possible. It was partially the reason why he left the city for couple years, to recompose himself, even reinvent himself. But mainly, he left to come back here and finally win what he perceived to be rightfully his. As the word of mouth would phrase it, he was just after a trophy to put on top of the heap of his treasures, a woman he could show off like a valuable piece of gold decorated with rare gem stones. Yet to him, she was nothing like that.

Under the disguise of his new appearance, Alistair leaned against the wall of one of the houses that surrounded the small square. There were children playing in the dirt. It felt quite nostalgic to his senses and so he averted his eyes, and as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes began swooping around the buildings on the opposite side. He was searching.

 

[LifeAsALittleSister]

The young woman looked back at her mother and her flock of gobbling hens as she then looked back at the children, without realizing it she was standing up and when she had snapped out of it, everyone was looking at her.

"Elizabeth, dear..." her mother began, staring at her with worry in her eyes, "are you alright..."

"Yes..." Elizabeth spoke softly, still staring at the children, who's freedom she envied, she then looked down pausing and collecting her thoughts.

The women glanced at each other as she stood there, biting her lip softly; the pause was finally broken when the young princess spoke again.

"You-you know what?" she hesitated, "actually, I am not feeling that well..."

Everyone watched as she pushed her chair away from her legs and scooted the chair back, "I think I might lie down a bit...the wine...is making me a bit light headed"

"Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?" The mother began but before she could say another word, the daughter spoke.

"No, no don't be silly...you have wonderful guests to attend to," she said, giving her mom a quick reassuring smile before she left through the corridors and up the highest part of the castle.

The fresh spring wind blew through the room softly as the princess slowly opened the gates, this was always her favorite part...
Taking a deep breath, the young woman breathed in the amazingly fresh air...it was like the wind was calling to her, teasing her and within each time that it entered the room, encouraging her to step outside as mother natures hand ran through her hair.
The children looked up, and making sure their vision wasn't failing them they pointed to the maiden, who had walked out of her room and on to the balcony of the tallest tower of the most beautiful castle.

"I can't stay locked up forever mother..." Elizabeth whispered to herself as she leaned against the railing, "I want to live..."
Clenching onto the bars she took another deep breath, it was already hard enough that she had to be caged like an animal but having nature tease her everyday like this was unbearable...she was going to sneak out and nobody was going to stop her...just for today and nobody will know...

Packing a small satchel was involved, followed by blending in by wearing commoners clothing that was taken from one of the maids...clothing of course that they would wear to after work, a dark red dress.
After that was a long green cloak that had a hoodie so she wouldn't be recognizable...

A rope fell all the way down to the castle grounds, Elizabeth made sure that the rope was secure before she had climbed down, which was a exhausting and annoying job by itself...however it was worth it.

The young and now free princess hesitated...looking at fresh green grass that she had always dreamed of feeling, but when the time came, she was so afraid.
Deciding that nothing was going to stop her, especially now that she was this far she placed one foot down then gasped, placing her other foot down.
The first thing she had done was roll around in the grass, trying her best not to giggle or squeal given the fact that guards were around.
Next was the children that secretly called to her without them knowing, the little filth goblins watched as this, unknown weird lady ran around the fountain and cupped the water, throwing it in the air without a care in the world, that's when she had decided to giggle as much as she'd like!
Before the kids decided to walk away the woman was the first to leave, she had run into a beautiful garden and dance around the flowers, finally pooped...she sat under an apple tree and smelled the flowers.

 

[The Returner]

He saw her even before the children were all 'ooooh' and 'aaaah', pointing at the princess. It was more a jolt of excitement than an actual attempt on trying to see her features, but he straightened up, taking a step forward, narrowing his eyes. But the pins and needles in his back almost persuaded him that he found her. She was too far for him to see, however. Too far for him to take that one more step and to up to the skies. Uncertainty gripped on his heart as he contemplated whether to take his chances, or just watch her from the safety of the shadows cast by the house.

"I want to be like princess Elizabeth one day. She is sooo pretty!" Said one of the small girls who played in the dirt, twirling around, pretending to be dressed in a breath-taking gown. Her other girl friends joined in and their laughter filled the air. For Alistair, that was all the persuasion he needed. But as he was about to take a leap of faith and bring himself out of the shadows, he saw the girl of interest already on her way down from the tower. Perhaps, there was more to her than met the eye, even though he could not see her well before. She acted as if she hasn't been outside for a long time, which surprised Alistair in a way, but then he also heard all the stories of men trying to sweep her of her feet, and failing. Following her silently, he finally got a chance to look at Elizabeth properly as she sat down below the tree.

He admitted to himself that she has grown to be quite a woman. He approached her, seemingly nonchalant, his eyes were studying her feature that were partially hidden below the cape. "I heard the children say that you were beautiful." He said simply, his voice was a soothing baritone with husky hints. "So if you pardon my intrusion, I had to see it for myself." It certainly was not the voice of the teenage boy he once used to be, with breaking tones and sounds that were almost equal to yodelling. In fact, he was nothing like the boy the city and everyone once knew. He was different, and he planned on keeping it that way.

 

[LifeAsALittleSister]

Elizabeth hummed a tune, right before she jumped.
"Really?" The girl smiled as the strange man told her about the little girl and what she said.
Blushing, she had taken another look at herself...was she really pretty? She had never stopped to look before, she thought she matured but that was about it.
Not having much experience with men being kind to her she slowly grabbed a branch from off the ground.
"I am just a normal girl," Elizabeth said, averting her eyes, "but thank you for the information..."

 

[The Returner]

"A normal girl that lives in the castle and has a title of a princess," he replied, hinting that he knew her secret, but there was no malevolence in his voice, just a kind offer to keep her secret. Leaning on the trunk to Elizabeth's side, Alistair looked up, seeing a winged figure through the branches circling the sky.

"I heard stories about you," he said suddenly, still looking up. "Men trying to swoop you of your feet but you always reject them. Why? If I may ask?" There was curiosity in the tone, but no intrusion. If anything, he could have been talking about the weather.

 

[LifeAsALittleSister]

She looked down and blushed when he had hinted the fact that she was a princess. Had he seen her sneak out of the castle? Was it too late to keep lying to him? Most importantly though, was he going to send her back?
The wind blew a little, causing the grass to flow with it, along with the flowers.

"It's....it's because I am already engaged to a man I am not in love with..." she began sadly, deciding that telling this man the truth would do her no harm.
"I am in an arranged marriage, a toy....a product for my mother's amusement along with her pestering friends..."
The young princess looked like she was about to cry, "everyone who isn't royalty wishes for it to be true...but they have no idea about the consequences behind it" she took a deep breath before continuing, "his name is Raphael Lacardio...a prince of the southern Isle's..."

Hoping that this man didn't see her face, she looked down...her hood covering most of her face naturally.

 

[The Returner]

His gaze swiftly left the sky and looked down at her. There was shock in his eyes, almost bordering with disbelief but it was met with averted face of the princess. Enagaged? How long? If she was engaged when he tried his luck, that would explain the rejection, but back then such news would be spread all over the kingdom like fire in a haystack. No, this must have been something recent, which only made it worse, as to Alistair it seemed he might have come too late to the table.

"So what are the consequences?" His own expression shifted to a thoughtful one. He has heard stories about Raphael Lacardio, but Alistair taught himself not to believe everything he heard, and Elizabeth, quite frankly, was probably the only source that could shed light into the darkness of ignorance.

 

[LifeAsALittleSister]

"Probably a lifetime locked up while that idiot of a man spends all of his time drunk with a blonde and a brunette on each arm...that's why..." she thought for a moment. Did she want a life of being caged? What about her mother, oh yes...that drunk of a woman who hardly cared for her until it came to picking out a man for her...
"That's why i've decided to run away, tonight...I will just..." she looked around, "live out in the forest...for the rest of my days, better a free bird..." she chuckled softly then looked at him, with a twinkle in her eyes.

 

[The Returner]

An understanding nod swayed his head forward. So the stories were true. It only reminded him of why he left the city all those years ago. Suddenly, however, Alistair got an idea. Bringing himself down into a squat, in level with Elizabeth's head, the expression in his eyes was far from reflecting the same as in hers. It was pensive, but serious.

"What if, instead of living in the woods, I could help you and claim you for myself?" It was a crazy idea. After all, he was no longer the man she once knew, or knew off. If anything, he probably appeared as a stranger to her, but even that could have been perceived as an advantage in certain situations.

"There is enough wealth to keep you safe, but most importantly, that wealth is no a golden cage. You'd be free to do whatever you want."