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I shot up straight, nearly slamming my head into the roof of the chariot, my vision blurring.
"Adenael?"
Engèli's eyes went wide. He would recognize that name. After all, he and I would play many games with the hatchling, for as long as mamè would allow us, when we were younglings.
The stareagle's eyes glowed, and he shook himself, starlight bursting from his coat.
"High Prince!" Adenael sang, nearly dancing on his feet. "You remember. Yes. It's me!"
My jaw hung. Engèli is sputtered in shock. Before we could say more, an Airveiller came to the side of the chariot, sealed it shut and tight, and slapped the side. Before long, the stareagles took off, and our chariot was in flight.
"He's gotten so big!" Engèli said.
I nodded, chest constricting with insufferable emotion. Skies. I missed the stareagle.
I missed home.
"He has," I rumbled. "He's grown now. Even his horns have come in. They were hidden under the feathers."
"Wow," Engèli sighed. "All that time, huh?"
I swallowed around the lump in my throat, nodding. I coughed through the tension building in my chest, focusing on the iridescent clouds as we flew through the sky.
"All that time."
The stareagles flew through Avari's vast, cloudy landscape. I watched it all go by with deepening nostalgia. There was nowhere so glorious, so majestic, as the Avari kingdom. Her glass skyscrapers, her iridescent rivers, her ivory and lavender tipped mountains, and regal Domenent angels.
I balled my hand into a fist to help guide my breathing until the stareagles landed in one of the king's courtyards, close to the royal hangar. Through the chariot window, I looked up and stared at the Cloud Castle. The ancient structure was carved of glass, crystals, and thickened clouds. Sprawled out before us, its gargantuan size took up endless miles of land. I choked on air, staring at the grandeur of it all.
My chest squeezed. Memories came rushing back without my permission. I saw myself in cycles long ago, flying through the halls, playing pranks before I became too old for such things. Then games turned into training. Training that came in handy once I began my life of pirating.
A low whistle to my left snagged my attention. Engèli said nothing, eyes glued to the place we once thought would be our future, while Jabari looked at it incredulously.
"Sheesh, Cap. This is home? Must've been bad to leave."
It was.
I didn’t answer Jabari. Nyala watched me, intelligent eyes seeing more than I wished she would. She stayed quiet, but I knew she filed my silence away into the recesses of her mind.
An unceremonious knock on the side of the chariot snagged our attention. Tombabi poked his head in, glaring at Engèli, Nyala, and Jabari.
"You lot, find somewhere else to be." His elderly eyes fell on me. The weight of them made me feel small. Unworthy. "High Prince, welcome home. The king and queen await your return."
My crew looked at me, unmoving. They took orders from no one but me. If I didn’t say something, they wouldn’t move. I grinned, unwilling to let them see any trepidation on my face.
"I'm good. Go. Enjoy yourselves. The Shifting Shops should still be open. You've ample coin to spend. I'll find you when necessary."
They paused longer, as if they didn’t trust leaving me in my home alone. I almost laughed. Eventually, they nodded, leaving the chariot and flying off.
"Come, High Prince. You must change?—"
"I go as I am or I won't go at all. Then you can explain to King Izakaya, and his temper, why you've arrived empty-handed."
I brushed past Tombabi and the gaping Airveillers. Storming past the hangar, I marched to an archway on the side of the castle, walking like I owned the place. Which I did.
"Where are you?—"
"I know my way around," I tossed over my shoulder. "Keep up or get left behind."
