All her life Tandi wanted nothing more than to become a Royal Flyer. Tandi's dream was, of course, entirely impossible. Her trouble was two-fold: one, she wasn't a royal; and two, she didn't have a pair of wings. Only royals were born with wings. Tandi was just an ordinary commoner.

Well, not exactly ordinary. Most commoners never dreamed of being anything at all, let alone something as unattainable as a Royal Flyer. It was not as if wings were waiting to be purchased from storefront windows! No, no, even if someone could magically procure a pair of wings for the girl (in a society without magic mind you), only a select few royals could hone their skills to such perfection that they might be considered for the role of Royal Flyer.

Tandi's dream was pure lunacy.

At first, everyone in the village where she grew up thought her dream was sweet. The villagers smiled and laughed good naturedly when, as a 4 year old, she came home from the annual Festival of Sky & Light in Capital City telling everyone she was going to be a Royal Flyer.

The Royal Flyers were the highlight of the festival. The best of the best of Royal Flyers were chosen each year to perform the most spectacular and dangerous acrobatic aerial feats anyone had ever seen. The flyers were practically celebrities, even among other royals. So, no one took little Tandi's determined proclamations seriously. They all knew she would come to understand when she was older that only royals could be flyers.

However, when her desire did not fade during her teen years, even with the explicit knowledge that she didn't have wings and couldn't possibly hope to fly, the villagers thought she was crazy and laughed at her openly. Her family, who desperately tried to talk some sense into her, were increasingly ashamed to be seen with her in public. By the time she was twenty years old Tandi didn't have a single solitary friend to call her own. All she had was her dream of flying with the Royal Flyers.

Consequently, she was, for all intents and purposes, the town lunatic and everyone avoided her.

♥♥♥

You might imagine everyone's shock the day they saw her don a pair of beautifully crafted metal wings while standing in the village square.

First came little gasps, then snorts of disbelief, and, finally, hysterical laughter. The villagers thought for sure that Tandi had gone quite mad and the whole town was going to be in for a real show that afternoon.

There was so much noise and so much fuss that not one villager saw the first flap of her metal wings. It wasn't until Tandi was a meter off the ground before people really took notice.

A hush, so great and so profound as to be nearly holy, fell over the entire village. Not a breath was taken, not a muscle moved and not an eye blinked while everyone watched in utter amazement as Tandi was lifted high above the village square on her hand-crafted metal wings.

The village lunatic was no lunatic after all but a bonafide genius!

♥♥♥

News of a wingless commoner taking flight spread like wildfire and word quickly reached the elevated halls of the royals living in Capital City.

The royals and the people of Capital City were in an uproar. Initially, everyone thought the reports were false; just a bit of clever story-telling to build interest in some remote village and bring tourists in.

Spies were sent from every quarter of the city to see if there was any truth at all to the mad tale. When the original report was verified by numerous independent and reliable sources, a great cry went up among the people. Royals and city-dwellers alike were outraged!

How dare a village commoner even dream of transcending her class and reaching royal heights by building herself a pair of wings! She and her hand-made wings could never hope to be anything more than a cheap imitation of the real thing, and neither the royals nor the people of Capital City would stand for it.

Well, not everyone in Capital City wanted to indict the poor woman. The Royal Flyers were very amused by the idea of metal wings.

Their Captain, who was considered by all an excellent team-leader and admired greatly for his scholarly mind, sent a royal invitation for the young woman to come and demonstrate her craftsmanship and skills at the Royal Flyer Training Grounds. The demonstration was to be a private affair.  Only Flyers, past and present, were invited to attend the demonstration.

The Flyers, old and young, were buzzing with talk of metal wings and the audacity of commoners these days. They were so sure her wings would be a failure and a sad imitation of their own brilliantly white and glistening wings that they did not feel in the least bit threatened by such ridiculous news. For them, it all sounded much more like a comedic tragedy about to be played out in their own backyard.

All the Royal Flyers were eager to witness such a play.  All except the Captain, who had high hopes the commoner would not disappoint.

♥♥♥

Tandi arrived in Capital City by train and was met almost immediately by the Captain of the Royal Flyers. She saw him from the train before it came to a full stop. He could not be missed for two obvious reasons: one, he was the only person on the platform with wings; and two, he wore the deep navy and gold uniform of a Royal Flyer.

Tandi's breath hitched in her throat at the sight of his gloriously white wings, which looked incredibly soft and much larger than she could remember. Why the Captain's wings reached above his head and swept along the ground behind him. They were the most spectacular pair of wings she had ever seen!

The thought of them, spread open in flight, was enough to make Tandi weak in the knees and a little lightheaded. It took all her strength and will power to clamp down on the super fan inside her. She tried to school her features and conduct herself like any level-headed young woman who'd been personally invited by the Captain of the Royal Flyers to come to Capital City and demonstrate how her hand-crafted metal wings worked!! Tandi's heart began to race.

Acting professionally was harder than she thought.

Stepping onto the platform Tandi adjusted the strap of her duffle bag, which she'd slung over her chest. The wings were in the duffle bag and they were quite cumbersome to transport.

The Captain wasted no time approaching her and Tandi, feeling nervous and wanting to impress, braced herself for a cool and perhaps snobbish sort of introduction.

Instead, to her great surprise, she found the Captain very warm and obliging. Before he even properly introduced himself, he was lifting the duffle bag off of her and saying in the sincerest voice, "Please, allow me to assist you Miss and carry this for you."

Tandi smiled at him with genuine pleasure. So, he wasn't just a pair of beautiful wings.

The Captain turned out to be a most gracious and considerate host. He had thought of everything Tandi could possibly want or need. He also treated her like a royal and he spent all his leisure time with her, sparing no expense, as he personally guided her through his exquisite city.

Tandi was at a loss as to how she might explain or reason away his sweet and personable treatment. She never once felt he was looking down at her or laughing at her behind her back, which was no more than she expected and exactly what she had prepared her heart for.

However, Tandi couldn't remember feeling so welcomed by anyone in a very long time - not since her youth. The Captain made her feel like she mattered - all the time.

She sighed wistfully. The Captain really was so much more than a pair of wings.

♥♥♥

When the time came to demonstrate to the Royal Flyers just how her wings worked, the Captain met her at her room. He seemed eager to be of some assistance as usual, which made Tandi smile affectionately at him. She gave him her duffle bag to carry, again.

He lifted the bag easily and lead the way to the training ground where the other Flyers were already waiting. As Tandi followed behind him, admiring the way his wings swished back and forth, she thought how dear the Captain had become to her in such a short time. Her heart swelled with all kinds of tender feelings for him and her eyes misted up momentarily.

Tandi realized then just how starved she was for kindness and kinship. She'd spent most of her life focusing on her wings and ignoring the fact that the villagers and her family had ostracized her for her dreams. Her life, until she met the Captain, was void of mutual respect, genuine friendship and so much more. She wasn't sure how she'd ever say goodbye to him.

Out on the training grounds Tandi pulled her wings on. It was time to show these Flyers what a commoner could do with a pair of hand-crafted metal wings. The Captain hovered and Tandi grinned up at him because his hovering was endearing. No one had ever fussed over her so much.

That warm feeling she got whenever he did something thoughtful was blooming again in her chest. Tandi blushed and the Captain, seeing her blush, smiled tenderly at her.

Tandi thought her heart might explode right then and there! She was seized with a mortifying terror. What if she embarrassed herself by blurting out something ridiculous like, 'I think I love you!'

Tandi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. That last thought sobered her up considerably.

It was one thing to defy her parents, her village and society by building wings when she was no more than a commoner, but it was downright blasphemous for her to fall in love with the Captain of the Royal Flyers. He could never reciprocate her feelings. He was a royal after all.

What was worse, loving her would ruin him.

Tandi could never repay him for all his many kindnesses by asking him to love her. Absolutely not!

The best thing Tandi could do for him was to never let on about her growing feelings. She swiped at a tear before the Captain could notice.

Quickly, before she lost her nerve, Tandi took a few steps back from the Captain, turned the operating system on for her wings and gave him the signal. In the next moment she shot straight up off the ground at an amazing speed. She couldn't hear the crowd of Flyers gasping in awe below her.

Tandi determined she would give them the show of her life and make every dip, dive, turn, loop, and somersault count. That's all she could do for the Captain. Anything else and she might ruin his career and reputation. This one demonstration would have to be enough for her. Her dream would end here and now before it did irreparable damage to the one person she esteemed above everyone else.

Thirty minutes later, completely exhausted, Tandi set down for the first time since she'd taken off. The Flyers were roaring with approval. Her demonstration was a huge success and she took a small measure of satisfaction in knowing that the Captain's faith in her was not misplaced.

The Captain, perhaps seeing her fatigue, rushed her off the field and back to her room. He wordlessly helped her out of her harness and rigging. When she was free of her wings, he tugged her to his chest and kissed her fervently. Tandi took one look at his love-sick eyes and knew they were both in deep trouble.

But, he was worth so much more than a pair of wings!

(Word Count: 1,998)