Fledging

Epilogue

Epilogue

I stood on the balcony of my room, overlooking the city with a glazed over expression. The piece of paper I held in my hands snapped and fluttered in a sudden gust of wind that blew past. A smaller air current blew in from behind me alerting me to his presence before I felt the sharp claws dig into my shoulder.

What was in the letter?

It was from Dakarai, they have announced the changing of rulers to the KA. She said that there will be a few representatives that will be attending the ceremony to show their support if I'll have them.

Will Raven be one of them?

Perhaps, you like her don't you? I asked, looking over to Amiri with a smile.

She can speak to me like you can and is very good with conversation. You should hear of her adventures, almost put ours to shame.

I'd love to hear them sometimes then.

We grew silent again as I looked out into the sky. It was a bright, windy day as per usual in Veiliegstad. The light, flowing dress I was in danced around my claws in a comforting way. The sound of light footfalls reached my ears a moment later before I felt a pair of lips caress the side of my face before Kenneth stopped on the side opposite that Amiri was perched.

"How are you feeling? You ready for this?"

"The ceremony is still a few weeks away, there has to be ample time for the last queen's soul to reach the Far Sky before I am able to step up and take her place."

"I know, I've been to all of your meetings, remember?" Kenneth looked over to the sheet of paper in my hands and took it into his own. "What's this?"

"It's from the KA. Dakarai says there are members of the KA who wish to be present for the ceremony."

"I hope she comes, her or one of the others. It's been so long since we've seen one another."

"Not since the Battle, how long has that been again?"

"I'd say close to a year now. Time sure does fly."

"So you Humans say, all your strange idioms still confuse me."

"Like the Pavox don't have their own strange sayings." Kenneth grinned as he looked down at the paper. His face fell as he scrutinized the paper further.

"What's wrong?" I asked, leaning over to see what he was looking at.

"Hang on, something's off about this paper." Kenneth turned and walked back into the room, heading straight for the brazier that helped fend of the cool air that invaded the room, so high up and in this time of the year. Holding the page a safe distance above the flames, Kenneth stood for a moment as I watched him closely from the balcony.

"Just what I thought, come over here, Araceli. Dakarai left us a secret note behind her original."

Curious, I sauntered over to Kenneth to see what he was looking at. There, on the reverse side of the note I had read, was another message, written in a different color that was a few shades darker than the parchment.

"It's a type of coding that the Skaal use, the only way to reveal the hidden message is to heat it back up with fire and then it can be read."