A Whisper of Wings Read Free Page A

and whirred in delirious abandon.
    “No, no, no! Stop it! I said stop it!”
    Javïra shrieked in indignation. Dancers braked, tumbling in confusion as they broke apart their dance. Shadarii banked frantically to avoid a milling group of fliers.
    “It’s ruined! That scheming little skreg*** has ruined everything!”
    Javïra tore at her hair, prancing up and down in a magnificent tantrum. Mistress Traveesha swooped down from her perch, her jaw firmly set in disapproval.
    “Javïra! Whatever is the matter with you?”
    “That-that useless lump of lard!” One white hand pointed in accusation at Shadarii. “She deliberately destroyed my solo!”
    “Now Javïra…”
    “She jumped her cue! That little lardball jumped her cue!”
    One by one the dancing girls fluttered to the ground, and Javïra became the centre of a fussing cloud of sympathy. The girl swiftly wreathed herself with tears.
    “Did you hear the cue? Did you? No! It was her. She’s ruined it again!” The white furred girl hissed in spite, and Shadarii quailed, feeling opinion firmly turn against her. She slowly tried to back away, torn to ribbons by the others’ scorn.
    It wasn’t fair! She had been right! Javïra had been ruining everything. The others had seen it, felt it… why wouldn’t they just come out and say it?
    Butterflies scattered from the dark swirl of ïsha in the air. Mistress Traveesha coldly folded up her arms, and Shadarii felt the displeasure of her regal gaze.
    “Shadarii, come with me if you please.”
    Her tail dragging, the little Kashra allowed herself to be led away. Shadarii’s eyes burned with hidden tears as the Dance Mistress stood glaring at her from above.
    “Shadarii, why did you disrupt the dance?”
    Shadarii slowly closed her eyes. Her fingers flew in the formal symbols used in dancing as she pointed at Javïra, making the sign for ruin and catastrophe. The Dancing Mistress barely bothered to pay the girl attention.
    “Well yes! Of course you ruined it! Dear Mother Rain, Javïra’s nerves are in tatters. Have you no shame?”
    Shadarii furiously waved her hands, then flung up her fingers and tried again. Traveesha lost patience with the whole wretched exercise.
    “What’s that? Ruining? Ruining what, girl? You mean Javïra was ruining the dance?”
    Shadarii nodded, defeated by a simple sentence. Mistress Traveesha mulled her next words patiently before she spoke.
    “Now Shadarii, I want you to listen very carefully to me. I am aware of your talents as a dancer. I am also aware of your antipathy towards our poor Javïra. We are Past-Holders! Here art utterly rules our lives. Talent, not ambition! Harmony and never conflict. Each of us has her proper place, each working as one small piece of a greater whole. This is how society must function. One sour note in the music can ruin the work of all.”
    High overhead, a zephyr spirit drifted aross the glade, sculpting elegant curls into the ïsha flow. Not caring to notice the passing Ka, the Dancing mistress gazed loftily down at Shadarii.
    “Shadarii, jealousy does not become you. You are a fine dancer, one of my best, but your wilfulness has pushed my patience to the limit. We have tried to work around your disability, but we cannot pity you forever! Now either learn to cooperate with the other girls, or find yourself another lifepath. Do I make myself absolutely clear?”
    Shadarii nodded miserably; she was defeated, trapped by her need to belong - even to belong where she was unwanted.
    They walked back into sunlight. The other girls swapped venomous whispers back and forth behind their hands, and Shadarii tried to close her ears, knowing full well that they meant her to overhear.
    Mistress Traveesha strode between the girls and clapped her hands with brisk authority.
    “Well now! A small disruption, but I think the breathing space has done us all a world of good! Shadarii, why don’t you take station in the second flight of fliers. Javïra dear, do go and