The Eyes of Prophecy

Chapter Seven

"Ah there you are darling!" Taproot exclaimed as Terracotta quietly shut her room door behind her. She gave a halfhearted smile to her father, but she could see he was staring at her bracelets, already worried about what Tualang would say. "I shall be alright, yes," she said reassuringly to him, patting his wing gently. There's no way on Pyrrhia I'm taking these off tonight, Terracotta thought, feeling her forearm gingerly. The bruises and cuts underneath the bangles were still fresh, and the ones that had healed over already looked ghastly.

Taproot returned Terracotta's smile, tenting his warm wing around her small, thin body. "I suppose you're right," he beamed. "Anyway, you're mother is very exited about this...promotion. Tonight's very special for her. Needless to say, I don't want you getting in her way or drawing too much attention, okay?" Terracotta nodded quickly, not trusting herself to speak. I'd just say something stupid anyways, she thought bitterly. Mother's going to kill me if I say a single word at that party—

"TERRACOTTA!" Tualang shouted from the other room, causing Terra to jump with fright and smack her father's wing against her head. "S-sorry, sorry," she said apologetically, scrambling into her mother's bedroom. "Y-yes yes Mother?" she said shyly.

Tualang turned around, and Terracotta's breath caught in her throat. Her mother looked like a queen, or some kind of radiant goddess. Her scales were a light, sky-blue, with swirls of black and teal strategically twirling through her wings and horns. She wore a delicate gold chain around her neck, and her posture expelled 'high-rank' with breathless ease. Her amber brown eyes pierced through the room as if she were here to sentence Terracotta to the worst fate imaginable with a flick of her royal blue talon.

"Come here, and put this around my neck," Tualang snapped, jolting Terracotta out of her reverie. She handed another gold necklace to her, that matched the one she was already wearing. "I'm having some trouble fastening it."

Terracotta ducked her head and did as she was told. As her mother's smooth scales scraped against her own, she squeezed her eyes shut with fear. She felt as if, at any moment, Tualang would whip around and grab her wings to give her a good hard smack, or that she'd rake her bracelets off her arm and discover the puncture wounds. Terra shivered. Who knew what the punishment would be for such 'harmful behavior.'

Terracotta finished clasping and winding the chain around her mother's scales, and stepped back hastily. Tualang turned towards her, her eyes narrowing. "What's this?" she asked, eyeing Terra's bracelets and bangles.

"I-I-I decided I should like more of the decor then just one or two gracing my appearance. I quite favor the way it l-looks, yes yes. Altogether m-m-more more dignified."

Tualang let out a harsh bark of laughter. "I could not imagine you 'dignified' for all the gold in the world." She grabbed a scarf from her rack of jewelry and looped it around Terracotta's head, yanking it tightly against her neck. Terra held her breath, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as Tualang tied the scarf and dropped her talons. "There," she said, not unkindly. "That's more...presentable."

Terra and Tualang stared at each other for a moment, and then the silence was, of course, broken by Tualang's sharp snarl. "Go!" she barked. "You're in my way. We'll never get there in time if you...insist on tripping over your clumsy talons."

Terracotta swallowed, drawing her eyes away from Tualang. She hustled out of the door and past her father, climbing up on the balcony to gaze at the trees below her. "Where are you Twitter?" she called softly to the trees, tears leaking from her eyes.

Suddenly she heard the soft mourning of a bird of paradise, and she smiled. It gave her courage, and the feeling that she wasn't alone. "Thank you," she whispered.