Rune’s claws dug into his shoulders, but he didn’t notice. As she adjusted her weight, no jingling bell accompanied her movements. Instead, her enchanted collar sat silently in his pocket. He reached up to adjust the hood of his white cloak, making sure that with all her stirring against the back of his neck, it hadn’t slipped down.

Elias had always found his cloak gaudy -- heavy and white with gold embroidery. Roy had let him make all the assumptions about bad fashion he liked, in actuality the color was for functionality. The weight of it made it less likely to blow in a slight breeze, and the white and gold matched the marble of the Avenholme buildings. Now as he balanced precariously on the ornate outcropping on the apartment building, he was at least confident that his blue wings didn’t make him a beacon. He was nearly invisible against the stonework.

Roy’s hands moved carefully, manipulating the tools between the rim of the window, gently moving the latches that held it closed. After a moment, he tucked the tools back into his breast pocket and whispered softly. “Hold on, Rune.” Her claws dug deeper into his shirt as he lifted the window a few inches, grunting softly. The glass slid in its pane with a loud creak.

He held his breath, listening carefully for any movement inside. He could hear voices from deeper within the apartment, but the rhythm of conversation was not disrupted by the noise of the window. Letting out a low breath of relief, he shifted to a better position, looking inside. The home office of Lelucas Hightalon was cluttered, but not messy. Stacks of papers and half-rolled scrolls laid on every available surface. Books were stacked haphazardly, some resting mere inches from their dedicated homes on the various shelves. Even the couch was covered in encyclopedias. But the desk itself was relatively clean. A neat ream of parchment sat next to the ink wells and quills. A wax melting spoon rested in its small stove next to a small dish of sealing wax beads. Roy felt a twinge of jealousy, the vibrant, shimmery wax was far out of his price-range. For a moment he considered liberating a few for his own use, but he shook his head. There was no way he’d be able to use them unnoticed.

Rune shifted on his shoulder again, her cheek against his, whiskers tickling his nose. He smiled. “Good girl, keep Daddy on task, eh?” She let out a tiny, chirping mew in response, her eyes fixed on the desk. Sitting there among the rest of the wax tools, was the Hightalon seal. Rune’s paws worked against Roy’s shoulder in rhythm, eager to get to work. He lowered himself to the windowsill, letting her move across and into the apartment. Without her collar, she was silent, a white, orange and black ghost in the darkened room.

The cat carefully stepped along the cluttered windowsill, her paws not making a sound, ears trained on the door. Each movement was cautious as she leapt down, freezing and listening. Watching. Quietly she darted behind a stack of books on the floor, waited. Belly to the ground, she moved to the office chair. Both cat and master glanced frequently at the open doorway.

Roy’s palms were sweating, ears straining for any noise that could signal they were caught. Rune was well trained since kittenhood and to her, this was a game. But without her collar, without any way to prevent a disastrous fall, he felt his heart pounding in his chest. He chewed his lip with worry.

But if Rune shared his concerns, she didn’t show it. She leapt lightly up onto the desk, sniffing around before looking back to Roy. She gently tapped a scroll with a paw. He waited and didn’t react. She moved on, tapping the wax spoon and looking back to him. No response. Her paw rested in the wax beads, looking at him expectantly. Sorely tempting… but he remained silent. Undeterred, she continued, tapping her paw softly on the wax seal. He let out a tiny whistle between his teeth.

The cat hopped to her feet, her multi-colored tail standing up behind her like a flag as she picked up the seal stamp in her teeth and leapt off of the table. She dropped it, picked it up again, and then looked at the door. The fur along her spine rose. Instead of moving to the window, she darted quickly under the sofa. Roy pulled away from the window, pressing himself face-first against the marble. He could hear footsteps.

“Oh, I thought I closed this thing,” Emily Hightalon said. And with a soft grunt from the woman and creak of protest from the window, he was blocked off from his feline partner. Staring at the marble wall, afraid to move for fear of being noticed, Roy’s eyes went wide. He forced himself to stay calm, counting silently in his head. After a few moments, he slowly, agonizingly slowly, moved to peek into the window.

Emily Hightalon hummed softly to herself as she tidied her husband’s office. Books went back into their places, messy stacks of papers were tapped into slightly neater stacks of papers. Her wings were tan and speckled with darker brown, perfectly sleek and smooth against her back, even relaxed. For all of Lelucas’ romanticism and poetry, it was hard not to imagine his wife as a picture of beauty rivalled only by Salia, the Goddess of Love. But in reality, she was quite average. Her hair was bleached blond from the sun, tied back in a tight braid. The skin of her face and along her arms was heavily freckled, with the exception of pale rings around her eyes where her goggles usually sat. Unlike Lelucas, she had no interest in fashion or style, but she carried herself with a confidence that made no presumptions. Slender and well-toned in her Falconwatch uniform, she would never be accidentally recognized as the wife of a High Council member. But her reputation for kindness and her husband’s boundless adoration of her made her stunning in her own right.

Roy watched her carefully, praying silently for her to hurry up and leave. As she came to the windowsill again to rearrange some of the clutter into a more decorative fashion, he held his breath. She moved along without noticing him, and finally left the office. He dropped down instantly, almost carelessly and cupped his hands on the glass to look inside. Rune watched him from under the couch, the stamp still between her teeth, her eyes wide and worried. “Hang on, baby. Hang on, I’ll get you out.”

He tugged on the windowsill, but it didn’t budge. It was latched again, but more worrying was that while the window itself didn’t move, one of the vases Emily had rested against it did.

“Oh no. Oh no no no.” He breathed. Rune leapt up onto the sill, almost startling Roy off the ledge. She set the stamp down and pushed her paws on the window. He rested his fingertips against where her pink pads met the glass. “Just hang on, I’ll figure this out. Just hang on.” She meowed at him through the window, but he couldn’t hear the sound.

“Shit. Shit just… Just wait, baby. I’m…” He gave a frustrated sigh. “I’m coming to get you. It’ll be okay.” The cat pressed her forehead against the glass and he frowned, reaching up to brush his fingers against her, feeling only cold glass instead of soft fur. “Just wait. I’ll be there soon.”

Giving her one last look, he dropped off of the ledge, spreading his wings and gliding to a lower walkway. He pulled his cloak off, folded it neatly and tucked it into his satchel before walking to the staircase back up to the higher level. His mind raced. He had to find a way into Lelucas’ apartment, but clearly they were home. As he hopped lightly up the stairs, still only using short flights on his ever-tiring wing, he glanced around the courtyard. In a small pavilion, a group of Aven his age were playing some sort of loud game. It seemed to be winding down, a Peacock girl had a lute in her lap and was lazily strumming out notes as a pair of Ravens bickered over what seemed to be ownership of a pocketwatch. A Falcon girl watched with a bored expression that suggested that this was not the first time an argument like this had erupted.

Roy caught himself watching them, a mix of curiosity and apprehension slowing his pace. One of the two Peacock boys glanced up as the path brought him closer, and raised his hand in a greeting. Roy froze for an instant, then put up his charming smile and raised a hand in return. Internally he felt a pang of fear. The Hightalon district was not somewhere he came frequently, and almost never on his own. Whenever he had been called to in the past, Elias had pulled his son closer and increased their pace. Now he was alone, and not sure how to act. Peacocks of course had a natural charm, but with that came the ability to see right through it in others. Ravens as well, to a lesser extent, but by the boy’s expression, Roy could tell they saw his nervousness, despite the calm mask.

The Peacock whispered something to his comrades, and suddenly all six were watching him. He felt exposed and anxious, but simply smiled wider. He kept his shoulders back and his chin up, even though he wanted desperately to slink away as quickly as he could and avoid the situation all together. “You’re the Redquill kid, right?” the Raven called loudly. Crap. Roy looked away, hunting for the door to Lelucas’ apartment.

When he didn’t respond, the Falcon tried instead. “Come over here! We don’t bite!”

“Thank you, but I have a previous enga--” He froze as the door to the Hightalon apartment opened, the reddish brown wings of his father slowly backing out, clearly wrapping up some conversation. On second thought, maybe a few minutes of socializing wouldn’t be the end of the world. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he crossed the walkway and hopped up onto the raised floor of the pavilion.

“Yes,” he said, keeping his tone confident and cheerful. “I’m Roy Engelbrecht, House Redquill.”

“I’m Connor Delias, these are my friends, the twins Lapis and Lazuli de Gaulle, we’re House Hightalon, of course,” the green-winged peacock said. The other two nodded in turn. Lazuli was studying Roy carefully, her fingers picking out a tune that seemed to match his anxiety. Lapis simply reached over and took back his pocketwatch from the Ravens. “Morrigan Jean of House Corvene,” the female Raven nodded as she was introduced. Roy smiled and nodded, but a strange prickling sensation made the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand. He glanced over to Lelucas’ apartment again.

Elias’ eyes bore into him, wide with surprise and disbelief. Roy felt frozen on the spot, unable to move or react. The color drained from his cheeks and the two stared at eachother for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Elias wrinkled up his nose in disgust and turned to stalk away, leaving a fluttering trail of brown feathers in his wake. Roy felt his heart sink, but jumped as the Falcon girl grabbed his hand to shake. If he had heard her name, he wasn’t able to recall it.

“Pleased to meet you!” She said eagerly. Hanging around her neck were the goggles of a Falconwatch, but she wasn’t in uniform. He opened his mouth to question it, an easy segue into taking the attention off of himself, but Connor spoke up first, his voice low and his tone conspiratorial.

“Was that your father?”

“I-- wha-- um. Yes. It’s nothing. What are you guys doing out here?”

“What happened to your eye?”

Roy shifted uncomfortably. The Peacocks could see right through any mask he put up, and it terrified him to think of what they saw. Lazuli was watching Elias leave and scowling, the tune in her lute changing again to match the annoyance evident in his stride.

“Gnolls. With great, shaggy wings,” he said, trying to grin again.

Lapis laughed, aiming to slap his knee and missing, hitting his sister’s instead. She opened her wing and whacked him in the back of the head, her eyefeathers glittering in the sun. He pushed her away, grinning. “You’re the storyteller right?”

Roy shifted again, eyes following where his father had disappeared. “It’s just a hobby, really.”

“You should come to the tavern with us some time! I have some ideas but I don’t have the talent for writing. Maybe you can give me some pointers.”

Roy felt himself blush, but smiled. “I’d like that, we’ll have to make plans,” he said, knowing full well that there was no way he’d be able to convince his father to let him go. “I’m really sorry, it was nice to meet you all, but I have to meet with Lord Hightalon.”

Connor opened his mouth as if intending to stop him, but then smiled and nodded. “Hope to see you again soon. Don’t be a stranger, we could use another for Senate.”

Roy was already moving off of the platform, but he hesitated at the invitation. There was a note of sincerity in the boy’s voice that made him pause and smile more genuinely. “I’d like that,” he said, and then hopped off of the pavilion and moved quickly to the apartment. He only hoped that Rune had kept hidden.

He had no idea what he was going to say, how he was going to get into the house. Teeth clenched in determination, he would figure it out as it unfolded. Rune was counting on him. His fist came up to knock on the door, when it suddenly swung open, Emily trying and failing to escape her husband’s grasp, suppressing giggles.

“I have to go to work, Luc!” She cried, pulled back into his embrace. His arms surrounded her, the glint of his expensive rings a contrast to the plainness of her Falconwatch uniform.

“Nooo,” he moaned. “The light is leaving my world! Darkness will overwhelm!”

“I’m on duty in ten minutes!”

His wings surrounded her, pulling her closer to him. “Darkness!” He proclaimed again. “The apartment will succumb to the cold, a temple without its Goddess.”

“Luc!” she squeaked, trying in vain to free herself.

“Oh curse, ye, Exile Stone! Why must you torment a man so! The very light of my soul, the sun that warms my heart, being stolen away never to be seen again!”

“I’ll be home at sunset!”

“Never to be seen again!”

Roy shifted, surprised and confused by the sudden display. “Is… this a bad time?”

Emily laughed, trying again to push her husband away. “Every day I leave and every day I return -- you have a guest, my darling.”

“Roy!” Lelucas cried, though not in surprise or even embarrassment, as would be proper. “Don’t let her leave! Her place is in the home where I can pamper and cuddle --”

“Darling, enough. I love you, I’ll see you tonight. Good to see you, Roy. Oh your eye looks bad…” She broke away, taking Roy’s chin in her hand to examine it for a moment. He looked away, looking for an escape. But as his gaze went past Emily, he saw Rune’s wide green eyes watching him from the hallway. So they hadn’t noticed. And the seal was still between her teeth.

As Emily left, Lelucas watched her go with a smitten sigh. “It never gets any easier. Do you have a girl in your life yet, son?”

Roy shook his head, “No, sir.”

“Oh,” Lelucas replied, stepping out of the doorway and gesturing him inside. “A boy, then?”

Roy laughed lightly, “Still no, sir. I’m afraid romance would cut terribly into my busy schedule of being a never-ending disappointment to my father.”

Lelucas closed the door behind him, Rune ducking back into the office as they came inside. “Speaking of your father, does he know you’re here? You’ve never come to call on your own.”

“No, sir. Though he did pass me on the way.” He hesitated in the entryway until Lelucas gestured him to a spot on the couch. “He was… not pleased. But I um… I need to talk to you about something.” What that ‘something’ was, he hadn’t yet determined.

Lelucas gasped, his eyes going wide with elation. “I knew it! I knew you’d come to me eventually! Wait! This calls for wine. Don’t worry lad, this is a safe place, you can tell me anything you want.”

Roy felt a sudden surge of dread. Apparently the topic had been determined for him. As Lelucas hurried into the kitchen to fetch the wine, Rune darted to her master. She dropped the seal in his hand and he hastily snuck it into his pocket, fishing out her collar and quickly slipping it around her neck. She leapt into his lap and started nuzzling against his jaw excitedly. “Good girl,” he whispered, before glancing over to where Lelucas had vanished.

“I’m so glad you decided to come to me, boy!” The older man said, returning with a pair of glasses and a bottle.

“Yes well… it’s… rather embarrassing actually. And I don’t think that my father really… understands.”

Hightalon clicked his tongue, pulling the cork and pouring them each a glass. “No, of course he doesn’t. As much as he thinks that he knows what’s best, he truly is clueless. I mean, you’re a Peacock. And there are some things that only a Peacock can teach another Peacock.” He said, pushing the glass to Roy and reaching over to pet Rune. “Oh? Where did you come from.”

“She was in my satchel, I’m sorry. If she’s not welcome, I can take her home and --” He started to rise, seeing a potential escape.

“Nonsense, nonsense!” Lelucas chuckled, settling himself in the armchair across from Roy and waving him back down. “Ah, I’ve been hoping you’d come to me ever since you were a lad. Elias tries hard, but he’s in over his head. And you’re coming of age, which means you’re going through some… Changes.”

Oh Gods. Roy opened his mouth to reply, but only awkward sputtering came.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, boy! Not at all! Your mother went through it, I went through it, and now you’re going through it.” Lelucas paused to take a sip of wine. “Your eyefeathers are starting to come in, yes? And you find yourself unable to… turn it off, as they say?”

Roy paused and blinked. “I… Actually, yes. I mean, a little. I thought it was just me.”

“Not at all, lad, it’s perfectly natural. You need to be aware of it and learn to channel it. The longer and fuller your eyefeathers become, the more strong your charm will become. And you might get urges. Urges when you aren’t getting your way.”

“What, like violence? I’m not the aggressive sort.”

“Oh no, my boy. Not violence. You might find yourself with an urge to use your wings, to focus your charm on a target. It’ll seem easy at first, if exhausting, convincing someone to do whatever you want. However as tempting as it may seem, you must always resist. There’s a hefty price, you see.”

“Aye… Father’s told me the punishment for using Peacock charm in the City.”

“I’m not talking about punishment, boy. As soon as the charm breaks, your target will know they’ve been duped. They’ll know you charmed them, they’ll know they were working against their own will. And they’ll know you were responsible. The price is trust, lad. It takes years to build and only a single charm to shatter irreparably.” Lelucas paused, studying him in silence for a moment. “Have you tried it before?”

“What! No! Never! I mean… How do you know if you’ve been charmed?”

“You know. I could charm you if you want a demonstration.”

Roy shook his head quickly. “No no, I’ll take your word for it.”

“Are you sure? They say it’s best if your first time is with someone you trust,” He said with a playful wink.

Roy blushed ferociously and shook his head. “N-no, it’s quite alright.” Hightalon simply chuckled and smiled. Roy frowned, looking down at the glass in his hands for a long moment. “...Did my mother charm my father? Is that why he hates her so much?”

It was Lelucas’ turn to be surprised and he gently set his wineglass down. “Oh my dear boy. No. What happened between your parents is…” He waved his hand in the air, searching for a word. “It really would be better if this came from Elias. However I’m afraid he still hasn’t come to terms with his own fault in the situation. By Salia you are just like her though. I’m sure she misses you both every day.”

“Then why hasn’t she come back?” Roy asked harshly, a strange anger rising in his chest. “Why did she leave us? Father is so angry he’s barely Aven anymore, and I’m…” He trailed off, biting his inner cheek to force back the wetness starting to blur his vision.

“He’s making me start in the Library,” Roy said instead, defeat sagging his shoulders. “I… It’s going to be so boring. I don’t get along with Owls, they talk in this weird circular way that I don’t understand. I’m not smart like a Raven, they won’t like me and I’ll just be more alone. I don’t belong there. They’ll think I’m different.” Rune shifted in his lap and he felt her rough tongue against his cheek. He realized suddenly that his skin was wet with tears he was helpless to stop. Instead, he focused stubbornly on his palms and went into stony silence.

Lelucas watched him quietly for a moment, then sighed, gently pulling a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and sliding it across the table to the boy. “Well… That’s because you are different. And that isn’t bad. It’s just different. My boy is a Falcon. From the day his feathers grew in, he’s wanted to race the wind. He needs speed, he needs challenge, he needs to push himself to the impossible. I don’t understand it. I cannot, and I accept that. But Emily can, and I thank the Gods every day that he has her to guide him. To understand him in ways that I cannot. Since you were a child, you’ve been a storyteller. You’ve needed to paint the world vibrant colors. You need the romance, the adventure, and if you cannot find it you will make it - literally. But your father cannot understand that. And he cannot accept that.”

He studied his glass again, politely keeping his eyes averted as the boy wiped his eyes. “He is doing the best he knows how, but without your mother to guide you – without another Peacock to understand you – you will not thrive. It’s harsh, but it’s truth. You are destined to do more than hold a sword or memorize history.”

Lelucas sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I should have stepped in sooner. I should have made your father listen to reason, and for that I am sorry. But I will make him see now.”

Roy looked up, but said nothing, his eyes rimmed red. Lelucas continued. “Let me work on him, I will get you an apprenticeship somewhere in my House. A diplomat or a bard – hell, even a merchant if you inherited your mother’s cunning art of haggling as well as her silver tongue. Give me a few days. It will mean a few days in the Library, but use it to learn some of the more forgotten parts of our history and put them into story. I’ve sat by silently long enough. Let me help you forge your own path.”

Roy sniffed again, gently pushing Rune down as she continued drying his tears with her tongue. “You would do that for me?”

Lelucas blinked and reached over to ruffle the boy’s hair, frowning slightly at the startled jump that accompanied it. “Of course. I should have stepped in much sooner. I thought Elias would find his way back on his own, but clearly that’s not the case, and his self destruction is affecting more than just him.”

Roy nodded quietly for a moment, then looked up suspiciously. “Did you charm me into telling you all that just now?”

Hightalon let out a bark of a laugh. “No, no dear boy. You just trust me, is all. That too, is natural.”

The boy took a deep breath and let himself relax. A burden had suddenly been lifted from somewhere in his chest, but somehow the seal in his pocket now felt heavier than lead.