After my meeting with the Queen, I had an hour to talk with my parents before I started my first training class, so I called my mother, figuring that Dad had left for work already.

She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hi Mom,” I said, dreading to see how she would react.

“Crystal!” she exclaimed. “Is everything worked out? Are you coming home soon?”

“Um, about that-“

“Wait wait, Dad wants to hear it too,” she interrupted, surprising me. There was a slight pause before she spoke again. “Alright can you hear us?”

“Yes, Mom, I can,” I replied. “Now, I only have an hour to talk before I have to go, so please wait to ask questions until I’m done, okay?”

“Okay,” Dad said. I began to speak, telling them the details of my new job. “So, first of all, before I do anything, even getting on a plane, I have to heal. I’ve been told that I’m not allowed to fly -whether by plane or of my own accord- until the wound in my shoulder is all the way healed, which will be at least three weeks.

“Once I'm all the way healed and cleared to fly again by Doctor McKay, that's when I'll start learning how to fight in hand-to-hand combat- including how to disarm an opponent and other techniques. Until then, I'll be learning the layout of the palace and the surrounding area.”

They didn't say anything for a bit. Then Mom asked, “Will you come home before you start work?”

“I’m going to heal and then catch the assassin that tried to kill me before I come home, Mom. She needs to be brought in.”

“Are you getting paid for your work?” Dad asked.

“Yes, Dad, I'm getting paid,” I answered. “I'm getting about 13 Ramecian dollars an hour for my services to the Queen.”

He whistled. “You're getting paid better than I am!”

I smiled. “I know, Dad.” I checked my watch. “Mom, Dad, my time is up. I love you!”

“We love you too, Crystal!” Mom said. I hung up and put my phone into my pocket, heading to my class.

~~~¥~~~

I was happy to see that Jared was going to be one of my instructors. He showed me around the palace grounds, and then gave me a tour of the palace itself. That took up the entire time before lunch, so we had lunch with the Queen and then I shadowed her for the rest of the day, following the 'guard etiquette' I had learned from books and movies- staying a couple paces behind her as she walked, staying at the door when she walked into a room, opening the door for her when she walked out and then following her, stuff like that. Until the Queen got fed up with it.

“Crystal,” she said, about halfway through the afternoon. “Yes, Your Majesty?” I responded.

“I don’t know where you learned to be deferent to me,” she continued, “but if I can’t be equal with the person who saved my life, then I am selfish indeed. For heaven’s sake, girl, walk by my side in the hallways, sit with me if I’m sitting, and please, call me Lisa!”

I flushed, embarrassed, moving so that I was alongside her, but not in front of her. “I'm sorry, y-Lisa, I didn’t realize..”

“It’s alright,” she said. “You can’t read minds.” Pause. “Well, you can, but not mine, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am, you and Jared are the only people whose minds I can’t read,” I replied, still not used to calling her by her first name.

She didn't speak for a while after that, so I left her to her thoughts. When we got to her office, she waved me into the chair across from her and sat down.

“So, Crystal, I have a question for you,” she asked. “When you were telling Jared, James, and I about your plane ride, you said it was 'force of habit’ to read the minds of everyone in the room and then anyone who comes in. What happened to make it a habit?”

I thought for a moment. “Well, when I was younger, my parents made the decision that I would hide my wings until I was out of school so that people wouldn’t bully me. I didn't figure out that I could read minds until I entered high school.”

I paused for a second, gathering my thoughts. The Queen didn't say anything, letting me think. “In my second year of high school, someone found out that I had wings by seeing  them when I changed into my chorus uniform for a concert. They started spreading rumors, and then one day I was kidnapped by two guys when I was waiting for my bus. They took me to their car and put me into the backseat. Once I was in the car, I could ‘hear' their plans for me, and I realized I could read their minds.”

I stopped again, and the Queen asked a question in the silence. “So what did you do? In the car?”

“They weren't very good kidnappers, and they forgot to take my phone away. So I dialed 911 -which is the emergency line in Ramecia- and then asked them why I was being kidnapped when the police dispatcher picked up. We shortly began to drive to wherever they were taking me. Their answer was 'we want to see if you really have wings.’ Then I said, 'you could've just asked me.’ I knew they were lying. Their actual reason was that they wanted to cut my wings off to 'make me human’ and then let me bleed out ‘til I died.”

Lisa gasped and her hand flew to her mouth at the idea, but she didn’t say anything. “I know, it's terrible,” I said, in response to her reaction. “Imagine hearing that and having to keep calm afterwards! But I did. So I asked them where we were going, so that the dispatcher could hear it if they actually said it. And they did! So the police dispatcher heard where I was being taken, but she didn't hang up the call. So I gathered more information about the guys. I marveled at the color of their car and asked them what kind of car it was, and then I asked for their names. They kept giving me all of this information about themselves, so I felt in control of the situation…until the driver turned around to look at me as we pulled into the place. He saw my phone out with the ongoing call to 911, yelled to his partner that 'she called 911!' and then reached back to take my phone. I held it away from his reach, holding it up so I could talk to the dispatcher. 'Help me!' I said. She told me that there was a unit on its way to the location and that it was about two minutes out. They parked the car and I immediately got out and began to run, freeing my wings from my shirt as I ran. I lifted off, flying high up above their heads. I then dropped from the air onto the car, crushing the hood and deploying the airbags, and lifted off again before they could do anything about it. I put my phone back to my ear and told the dispatcher that I was fine and in a safe spot, and that the two kidnappers had no way of escape. I then saw the police officers arriving and told her that they were apprehending them. I thanked her for staying with me and she thanked me for being brave and clever.”

“So what happened after that?” the Queen asked, completely engrossed in the story. “Did you go home?”

“After my kidnappers were in cuffs, I descended from the air and landed by one of the police cars, leaning against it and resting my head in my hands. I figured out how to read minds intentionally then, and so read the minds of everyone there. All of the police officers that were there were totally impressed with what I had done, and the two kidnappers were scared of what was going to happen to them. I eventually realized that the officers were quietly fighting about who would come and talk to me to get my testimony of the occasion, and they finally chose one. He walked up to me and asked me my name and what happened. I told him the truth, and I eventually got to go home. Later on, I had to speak against them in court, but that went well without any hiccups. So, this experience brought out in me my telepathic abilities, and from that time forth I always checked people's motives once I entered a room.”

Lisa was speechless for a bit. “How haven’t I heard about you yet? Wouldn't the press want to get in touch with you? Or at least talk about you?”

“I told them that I would like to keep my identity -and my wings- hidden in case something like that happened again,” I replied. “They respected my decision and didn't say anything other than that a couple boys from my school had been arrested for an attempted kidnapping and that ‘the victim was okay and no harm came to them.’”

“So when did you stop hiding your wings?” she asked. “And why?”

“To be honest, it was only because they got too big to hide easily. So, for my big reveal, I flew to my college graduation,” I answered with a smile. “My friends freaked out! They were impressed and awed at the sight of me flying in. Everyone else was secretly jealous. It was so much fun to see their faces! That was last month- I had planned this trip for a while for a break from life after I graduated.”

Lisa's eyebrows went up. “You've only been out of school for a month? And now you're in a foreign country working for a foreign sovereign. This must be quite a shock to you.”

I shrugged, then winced as my wounds ached. “I mean, not really. Well, maybe a little. I knew that once I had discovered the assassin, I would save you, and that doing so could've gotten me killed. If anything, I'm still surprised I'm not dead after that rather than being surprised about working for the woman I saved.”

~~~¥~~~

There's the edited Chapter Four! Enjoy!