It was hard being Lucy Conwing.

The windian would have admitted that to anyone right then if they had asked her, but fortunatily no one was around who would be asking her that question. Lucy continued to busy herself in the sound booth of the auditorium. Brandon was seated in one of the seats in the front row of the audience, a math book in his lap as he worked quickly at a few of the problems he had been assigned. It was currently lunch time at Windian High, and Lucy and Brandon had skipped the cafeteria to come to the auditorium instead. Well, at least Lucy had skipped lunch to come here. Brandon just followed her.

It was hard being Lucy Conwing. She had spent the past almost eleven years of her life being Lucy Conwing, and it was still not an easy job. Before those eleven years, she had been Nina Windia. That had been a hard job too.

Not as hard then as it would have been now. Lucy reminded herself. Back when she was Nina, she didn't have much of a care in the world. She was just a little girl, enjoying her days in the palace, enjoying being served and waited on, just starting to go to the Windian Elementary school as it had been suggested for her to do. Those years were fun. When she was Nina, Lucy had wished that those years would last forever.

But then, nothing lasts forever.

When Lucy had grown her wings, her long, black, feathery wings, she had been exiled out of the kingdom. It had been generations since the rise of the omen of the black wings in Windia, but yet the rumor was still alive in the city, and when a child gained her black wings at the palace, something would have to be done.

Fortunatily, however, the King hadn't taken the normal procedures for what should happen when a child of black wings was born. If he had, Lucy wouldn't be in the sound booth at this very moment busying herself with nothing and thinking about her life. Instead he had sent her off to live with one of his most trusted guards, Matt Conwing, who's only child, a son, also had black wings. That way, Lucy thought to herself with a sigh. That way no one would be suspicious.

Ever since that had happened to her, Lucy had been a changed girl. She found herself becoming less cheerful, less trusting of others. The change from Nina to Lucy had changed everything about her life. Nothing was the same anymore. She had lost a family and gained a new one. Lost her friends at the palace, and had to find new ones. Although, there is one friend I've had as Nina, and still as Lucy. Janet's face popped into the windian's mind as she ran her fingers over a few dials. Janet Meyers, the girl she had met in first grade, had been her friend for eleven years now, and Lucy wasn't sure how she would have handled her life if it hadn't been for Janet.

It was hard to be Lucy Conwing.

It was hard to keep your feelings and thoughts inside, because you never know when everything will change suddenly again.

But it was nice to have things to escape with.

Lucy had few escapes in her life. When she needed to get away from reality, when she needed to express herself freely, she had very few escapes. One of them was talking to Janet. One of them was going to the Windian Elementary and watching the children there. Lucy loved children. Another escape was Brandon Conwing, Lucy's brother. Lucy glanced out of the booth to where Brandon was still working on his math.

He didn't do much, but he did what he needed to. He was always with her, even when she didn't want him there. It was his job to protect her, but Lucy gradually began to realize that Brandon cared about more then just his job. He cared about his sister too. Lucy liked having him around her. Aside from Janet, Brandon was probably the closest friend Lucy had. Even though he didn't do much, or never said much. Even though his actions were generally predictable, Lucy felt a kind of comfort when she knew that Brandon's watchful eye was with her all day long. When Lucy needed to get away, she would tell Brandon, and he'd go with her. If she needed to be alone, he'd distance himself from her, but he was never really gone. His loyalty reminded Lucy of some of the servants back at the castle.

It was hard being Lucy Conwing. What Lucy missed most about being Nina was the people. She missed the servants that she would talk to, the gardeners that she could play tricks on, the teachers she had at the castle that she could ramble to and they would listen. Lucy missed having people she felt she could trust.

She had one more escape. She had music.

Lucy loved music. She enjoyed exotic sounds, but only learned to play instruments whose notes and sounds really caught her attention. When she was much younger, Lucy had been taught how to play the piano and the harp. On her own she had learned the flute, and during her years in Windian Elementary she had apprenticed under a music teacher who taught her the viola. Lucy also knew how to sing. Sometimes when she really needed to get away, to go someplace and think, she'd come to the auditorium and work, or sing, or play something. Brandon never bothered her when she did this, and she was grateful.

It was hard to be Lucy Conwing.

She would have admitted that to anyone who had asked her right then.