Page 71 of Fated or Knot

He stopped before an ornate pair of doors with no visible handles. There was a pattern in raised gold swirls and lettering written across it, though it was cut through by a circle over both doors that was several feet long. The pattern was shifted upside-down inside of the circle.

Kauz set me on my feet and supported me with a wing around my back as he started making gestures with both hands. Essence wove though his fingers and into the circle, which jerked with the squeal of metal brushing metal. It stuck, and he cursed under his breath, jabbing his right hand forward.

The circle jerked again before righting itself with the ticking of rotating gears. A heavy lock slid open, and the double doors parted for us. Kauz shifted, peeling the cloak from his wings and offering it to me. I wrapped it around my body with an appreciative smile, and it only grew when he picked me up again and we slid together into the room he’d opened.

He closed it behind him with a kick of his heel, and the lock reengaged with a brief squeal. “He never remembers to oil that thing,” he muttered.

I was too busy gaping at our surroundings to reply. The room was an observatory of some kind, dominated by a giant telescope in the center of everything. It was two stories at least, built withan open concept. Painted canvases covered most of the wall space, some faded with age. There were several balconies lining the walls too and tools and items scatteredeverywhere.

“Who’s there?” a male called from somewhere above us in Serian.

Kauz called his name back, and a face leaned over the side of one of the top balconies. “Kauzden!” he echoed with a big smile.

He took a leap down to us, spreading a huge pair of bat wings at the last minute to break his fall with a few careless flaps. The markings on the inside of his wings were unique, black where Kauz wore silver, a jumble of abstract lines that looked like they were designed by a distracted mind.

He was a little taller and slimmer than the prince holding me, with a heavy pair of glasses hanging on a chain around his neck, forgotten or dropped from his face. Though his clothes were dark and nondescript, if he wasn’t Kauz’s father and one of the kings, I’d be shocked. His pack mark was similar to that of Pack Sorles, painted over with small, ornate details. He also had starry night eyes and carried the same type of calming presence with him. His face was a little older, with smile lines starting to make their mark, and while he was clean-shaven like Kauz, he kept his white hair long and drawn back in a thin tail.

“Dad, this is my mate, Lark,” Kauz said in Theli.

The king glanced at me, and his excited expression faded to concern. He cleared his throat and switched languages too, though his was marked by an accent nearly as thick as Tormund’s. “I’m not supposed to meet her until later. Though.” He smiled and dipped his head. “Don’t get me wrong. I am glad to make your acquaintance. Call me Thalas.”

I managed a pinched smile, while Kauz held me to him a little tighter. “It’s an emergency,” he stated.

“It is?” I murmured.

He squeezed me but didn’t answer. They switched languages again, and Thalas gestured for Kauz to follow. He unfurled his wings and took flight with a leap and heavy flap, heading for one of the larger balconies overhead. Kauz waited until he’d landed before crouching. My heart lurched at the weightless feeling that followed as he carried me into the air.

I’d never gotten around to asking whether Kauz could fly. With the size of his wings and the strength of his upper body, at some point, I figured it was a stupid question. He powered through the observatory with ease to take me to the balcony his father had picked out. It had an extra-large upholstered chair built for a winged dreamlander and a table covered with various tools and implements, none of which I recognized. The tiled floor was a maze of more tools, and many of them looked sharp.

Kauz picked his way through them with care and set me in the chair with a brush of his lips over my forehead. “What’s the emergency?” I asked.

He replied with only a look, tightened lips, and eyes more night than stars. He wasn’t going to tell me. I just had to trust him, even though I was becoming increasingly nervous.

Thalas rummaged through the things on the table, muttering under his breath. He’d donned his glasses, magnifying and blurring the stars in his eyes, and eventually picked out what he was looking for. It looked like a wooden stick, which he held out to me. “Put this under your tongue,” he said.

I loosened Kauz’s cloak and took the stick, turning it over.

“It’s an essence meter. I just want a quick reading,” he explained.

I took in his encouraging smile and echoed it shyly. The stick had a flattened end, which I pushed under my tongue. Symbols and lines lit up its length, which he read upside-down with a concerned hum.

“All right, then. A couple more tests while I confer with my son. Nothing to worry about,” he said, patting my shoulder and plucking the stick out of my mouth. He handed it to Kauz, the two of them chatting away in Serian. Just like earlier, with the queen…they naturally spoke too quickly for me to follow.

And trying to remember what’d happened earlier today was bringing my headache back to full blast. I bit my lip to suppress a whine.

The king’s next test involved getting a different reading by tying a leather strap around my wrist. He’d produced a sheaf of loose paper and a clipboard from somewhere in the clutter of items on the floor and noted down the reading the strap took.

“Did you know butterfly wings have scales?” he asked me while searching for a third tool. “They are wee flecks of color to our eyes, but they help the little bugs stay dry and fly properly.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said, wondering why he mentioned it.

“Did you know your wings have the same property? Though pixies are much larger than butterflies, so your scales are also bigger and mostly made of essence.”

Oh, that was interesting. “Is that what pixie dust is?” I asked.

“That’s right. We’re going to inspect your wings to find a loose scale for a test.”

“I don’t really shed dust,” I said, feeling an embarrassed blush coming on when he looked up and tilted his head. He was writing with one hand and handing Kauz a magnifying glass with the other.

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