Court of Feathers

Prologue

Word Count: 726

"Hey! That's no fair!"

"Come on sis, you got it last time."

"I don't care! Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean you should get it all the time!" Chubby hands reached for the item gripped hard in the older brother's fist as he continued to laugh, jumping this way and that to prevent the shorter girl from gaining her prize.

Come on Kash, give it back!" She said, both of her hands curling into fists as she stopped chasing him, fixing him with a deadly glare instead, one that would make anyone stop in their tracks.

Kash stopped, his bangs temporarily getting into his eyes as he looked at her through his hair before swiping it away, meeting her glare with a grin of his own, lighting up his face with mischief as he jumped away from her sudden lunge, laughing.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Kash grinned, holding up his prize triumphantly to the mustachioed man who had just entered the room in the heat of the children's argument.

"What's this?" He asked, reaching up to play with the tips of his mustache as he turned the little metal ball this way and that, trying to get a clue as to what it was.

"It's a Mark sphere!" Kash beamed proudly, his sister scowled, her arms crossed, but he could still see the slight excitement glint in her eyes at the mention of the tiny metal ball.

"A Mark sphere, eh?" He chuckled, sitting down on one of the chairs that dotted the edges of the room, the center bare for activities.

"Yup!" Kash said, the joyous smile still on his face, "We want to know what color Marks we'll get!"

The mustached man smiled, "You know, you won't truly know what color they are until you get them?" He said, tapping his own Marks. "That little ball may be wrong."

"Yeah, I know," the little girl mumbled, walking up to stand beside her brother. "But I like to see what I may get instead of not knowing at all." She said, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, gods," the mustachioed man chuckled, having to look away from her captivating gaze, "you're just like your mother, aren't you?" He sighed, letting out a light chuckle, "Well then, I suppose some truth comes out of that ball, but better keep a close eye on it if it decides to change its mind." He said, smiling, he twirled it in his fingers a little more, watching the metallic sphere catch the light filtering in through the massive windows lining the circular room they were in.

"When will daddy come back?" Kash asked, his fingers reaching for the ball still clutched in the man's grasp and he reflexively gave it back to the small boy who eagerly took it back, watching in fascination as the small metal ball turned a deep shade of blue, so blue it was almost black.

"Sometime soon, I hope, your father's been very busy lately," the man paused, taking in the two kids that were slowly beginning to get bored sitting in the large room alone to their own devices, which didn't appear to be anything much.

"But in the meantime, perhaps a story will help?" He asked a handful of minutes later, after coming to a conclusion that this wouldn't do at all, a twinkle in his eyes.

Kash looked up from the ball grasped in his hands, his face lighting up. "Yeah! A story!" His sister beside him smiled, planting herself on the ground at his feet, her brother following suit.

"Very well then," he played with the ends of his mustache, looking up to the ceiling for inspiration when a thought suddenly occurred to him and he looked back down at the children again. "How about the one about a brave officer from a far-away land, and a beautiful avian princess fighting a war of her people all on her own?"

Kash cocked his head to the side, recognizing the story almost immediately. "But I thought we weren't old enough to hear that story. Daddy said we're still too young."

"Well," the man grinned, gently taking the Mark sphere from Kash's graspagain who continued to look at the man with fascination on his face, "I thinkyou're old enough to hear it now."