The Forgotten Light

21. Fairlight

She had no strength left, and yet the day was just about to begin.

All night she had been sorting and arranging the scattered papers so that they made sense, which was an even more complicated job for her, since she understood absolutely nothing of them. At first she was glad, because after all, picking up pieces of paper from the floor couldn't be such a hard task. She would quickly deal with them and go back to sleep. But she soon realized that she wouldn't just spend a few minutes there.

The written sheets were easy to arrange because they were numbered. The rest, on the other hand, showed single lines, circles and patterns in three different colors that she couldn't comprehend. She was sure she had to sort the colors, and then tried to combine the pages so that the scribbles would form some kind of picture, but nothing sensible came out of it.

The black-haired guard, who dragged her out of bed shortly after she was awakened by a distant bang, stood at attention at the door all night, refusing to let her leave until she was finished. A few times she would fall asleep sitting up, and then he would wake her with a stick that was sure to leave streaks on her back.

The first ray of sunlight came through the window. Fairlight shielded her eyes with the pieces of paper she happened to be holding in her hand and glanced surreptitiously at the guard. Until now, she hadn't wondered if Invicta ever slept at all. Maybe they didn't have to?

She sighed tiredly and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. It looked like she would never get out of there. She closed her eyelids as she saw only the very lines and crooked patterns she had been staring at all night. 

The guard slammed a stick warningly against the floor, to which Fairlight immediately opened her eyes. Her gaze fell directly on the sheets of paper she was holding against the sun.

She straightened up, which she instantly regretted, because her back hurt from the impacts.

She picked up the rest of the papers from the huge desk, stacking them one under the other, then stretched out in front of her toward the sun and began to turn the pages so that the lines came together.

After a few minutes, she lowered her hands, exposing her face to the warm, pleasant rays coming through the window.

Finally, she succeeded.

She lifted the papers again and looked closely at the drawing that appeared. It was a design, a framework of some kind of vehicle. Judging by the parts it was to be composed of, it was meant to be used for flying. At first glance, it seemed complicated, but Fairlight spent an entire night on the notes about it. One could say that she knew every part of it.

In the same way, she organized the following sketches, which consisted of sheets with red and blue lines.

Soon she had designs for a land and water vehicle in front of her. Fairlight had never seen anything like that. And what do Beings need three types of such sophisticated means of transportation for?

The heavy door stood open and a huge man in a gold satin shirt and a navy blue robe embroidered with gold thread entered the huge hall. His long dark hair was pulled back and fastened with a gold buckle in the shape of a crown. His skin was unusually pale, making his black eyes stand out prominently, attracting, tempting to look and get lost in their depths.

Fairlight took an unaware step back, instinctively looking around for an escape route, but the only door was in front of her, and the only window was too high to be able to jump out through it. There was nothing in the room but ceiling-high bookcases of books, papers and boxes. A large wooden desk stood in the middle of the room, and so did she. But she didn't think it was because of this that the Invicta King stared at her with such a predator's eye. They moved closer to her. Only now up close could she see the ugly scar on the guard's temple.