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Aero was filled with apprehension as she stood beside her bed staring at the empty space where the journal should have been. Her legs become weak beneath her causing her to fall to her knees. The maid hurried beside her and began tearing the blankets from her bed.

“I know I put it here. It has to be here,” she exclaimed, “It has to!”

“Someone must have taken it.” Aero forced herself to stand. Her mind swirled with horrible imaginations as she desperately tried to think clearly. “It was probably a maid. Do you have any idea who it could have been?”

“I’m not sure who was on duty, but we can check the gathering room. That’s where most people stay between duties.”

“Take me there,” Aero begged her.

They hurried down to the second floor. The gathering room was far removed from the social rooms. It had a staircase connecting it to the kitchen. The maid led the way to the back room. As they approached voices could be heard.

“We should put it back right away. If the Princess finds out it’s missing-”

“It says that it should be passed around on the first page. Didn’t you see all the messages in the back? It’s obvious that a lot of people have read it.”

“Then why was it hidden in the first place, Kiche?”

They entered the back room to see two maids in the middle of the room. One held the journal protectively in her arms as the other tried to persuade her to give her.

“Ezra,” the maid who was with Aero sighed relieved.

The maids turned to see them standing at the entrance. Their eyes grew wide with fear as they bowed down refusing to look back up.

“Please stand,” Aero instructed walking to the group. She stopped before the maid with the journal. “Your name is Ezra, right?” The maid nodded. “Thank you for protecting it for me.”

“Ah, yes ma’am. Here,” she handed back the book.

“I guess you’ve both read it already,” Aero questioned holding the book closely, “Has anyone else seen it?”

“No,” Kiche explained, “We found it in your room and brought it straight here. Everyone else is still working.”

“Then you can’t tell anyone about it. If it gets around . . . I can’t imagine what could happen.”

“I don’t think you’d be punished, princess,” Ezra told her.

“The Light doesn’t like Darkness,” Aero asked them, “Don’t the people here hate the mentioning of it?”

“Many of the elders and council members discourage talk of darkness. I think they feel the other realms will harm our peaceful way of life,” she explained.

“Those ideas trickle down to the public,” Kiche told her, “No one ever thinks of the Darkness like the child in that journal.”

“Princess,” the maid by her side urged, “we should hide it before anyone else comes. It will only prove trouble if more people see it.”

“You’re right,” Aero closed the gap leaning close to the maids, “To be safe we’ll keep the journal a secret between us. Please, where is a place that no one will find it? Is there any place that the maids don’t go?”

They all looked thoughtful for a moment as they searched their minds. One by one all of their faces turned grave.

“What? Is there a place?”

“You’ve already been there,” the maid beside her explained, “We found you there before. No one goes past those doors.”

Aero looked down as she remembered the murky room. Her parents’ room had been abandoned since they left. Everything lay untouched.

“It would be safe there,” she told them clutching the book. She felt guilty about thinking of that room as a hiding place. It almost seemed to be a tomb of their memory.

“Until you decide where to hide it I think you should keep it with you, princess,” Ezra told her sensing her distress.

“I’ll do just that,” Aero told her smiling, “I guess I’ll have to think about it some more. Tell me if you find another spot for it.”

The maids watched worriedly as Aero left. They glanced around at each other.

“Should we follow her, Beka?” Ezra asked, “Something doesn’t seem right.”

“I don’t know. She may just want to be alone for a while,” the maid who had been with Aero asked, “What do you think, Kiche?”

“Let’s go,” Kiche led the way to the door.

They followed quietly after Aero while making sure to stay out of sight. They noticed she was on her way to the Royal’s floor.

“Do you think she’s going back to her room?” Beka asked.

“I have a feeling that’s not the case,” Kiche told her peaking around the corner, “Let’s hurry.”

It wasn’t long before the large wooden doors faced the small group. They had never been permitted to open these doors. All their years of working they had avoided them out of fear. There was something about their thick dark presence that seemed ominous to them.

“Sh-should we go in?” Kiche asked as she reached out to the doors.

“Wait!” Ezra stopped her, “we’re not allowed. If the princess is in there then she must be fine with keeping the journal there. We should just go back.” Even as she spoke she couldn’t tear her eyes from the doors.

“Maybe we should peep in just to be safe,” Beka offered.

This idea appealed to all of them. Their worry and curiosity could not keep them from pushing the heavy doors open just a crack so they could peer inside. The dust from the air hurt their eyes. It was then that they realized that wind was flowing from the room. They pushed open the doors to feel the wind from the unlatched stained glass windows. Dust flowed from the furniture like snowdrifts.

“Look over there,” Beka whispered pointing to the wall.

An armoire had been pushed aside to reveal a small opening in the wall. It was just big enough for a full-grown man to crawl through if he pulled his wings in close. The maids closed the heavy doors behind them and crawled through the opening. Through the opening was a dark corridor. The air felt heavy in the oppressing darkness.

“What is this place?” Ezra asked feeling against the cold stone as she walked.

“It may be a secret escape route,” Kiche offered as she felt the low ceiling above their heads.

“Look here!” Beka called illuminating up the corridor with a soft light, “there are steps leading up.”

They climbed the stairs hoping for a sign of escape to come their way. A pale light shone through the cracks of a trap door in the ceiling. Beka dimmed her light.
“Why’d you stop?” Kiche called from below.

“I think I’ve found the exit,” she called back as pushed against the boards. The wood was thickly layered to fit with the stone floor. Beka pulled herself up and crawled onto the surprisingly warm stone. The pale light of the room met her grateful eyes. Aero stood not five feet away staring at the ceiling of the room. The dome above was that of an observatory. The thin material that made the dome was translucent. The distant sound of water could be heard mingling with the sound of wind. Ezra and Kiche crawled out of the trap door standing beside Beka.

“What is this place?” Beka asked in awe.

Aero turned to them with a face streaked with tears as she told them, “this was my parents favorite place. They used to bring me here when I was young.” Her voice was mixed with wonder and pain. “There is a path from my room as well. They told me it was a secret known only by our family, a place where you didn’t have to hide your true self. I think this is where I will hide the journal from the world, but not from me.”

The maids gazed at her wide-eyed. It had been so long since they had seen royalty stand before them. Her feathered wings seemed to radiate with light, so pale so pure, yet her tears made her so earthly at the same time. She truly seemed to be their princess.

“Your majesty,” Ezra spoke in hardly a whisper but the words floated in the acoustics of the room.

Aero looked between the three startled at their confused expressions. “Has something happened?”

“Your wings,” Kiche explained, her voice shaking with elation, “they really are the wings of the royal family.”

“What?” Her eyes grew wide as she bent them before her face. The long soft feathers seemed to gleam in the glow of the room. It seemed as if all the brown had been washed from them. She ruffled through the feathers unsure and concerned. “What has happened to them? Their color vanished.”

“All of the royal line has white wings, Princess. You have your father’s wings,” Kiche explained.

“My father’s,” her voice faded as she remembered their images more clearly, “My mother’s wings were brown.”

“She was from a noble family, the Brise family,” Beka told her, “She was very beautiful though I never met her in person. I’ve only seen her portraits.”

The others nodded having the same relationship with the previous royals.

“Is there anyone here who knew them personally?” Aero asked.

“Some of the butlers and head maids may have spoken with them, but the nobles knew them better,” Ezra offered.

“I see,” Aero answered disappointedly.

“Is something wrong?” Beka asked.

“It’s nothing really. I just feel kind of intimidated by the nobles, especially the men from the council.” Aero sighed walking over to place the journal on a small trunk at the edge of the room. “It feels as though they have a lot that they expect me to live up to. It’s much easier for me to talk to you three since I feel like you don’t expect as much from me.” She told them with a smile. A cloud passed over the room causing it to get darker for a moment. They all looked up at the sudden change. “There is still a lot I don’t know about this place. Will I really be able to fulfill my duty to my people here?”

“I think you will. You can understand people. Many of the nobles are good people, too,” Kiche suggested, “You just need to get to know them.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Aero turned to the group smiling, “I just need to give this place a second chance.”