“Very well.” Seidrik welcomed the distraction as he held the book up and read.
“Once upon a time in a kingdom far away lived Tollen, the son of a powerful baron.
He lived in a barony by the sea, full of wealth, as their docks brought in the finest treasures from all across the world. Treasures that Tollen wore every day, ate of every evening, and learned the song of nations far away as the traders on ships sang them bawdily.
“Tollen was, by trade, a thalmsmith, the second-born son of the land baron and an omega, one whom many males had offered their hands to.”
Sounds like Virion…Seidrik avoided laughing.
“His father spoiled him, and his older alpha brother doted on him every day. So much so that whenTollen asked, on his fifteenth nameday, they’d built him a thalmalurgical lab!
“Every day, Tollen spent hours there, reading books from his father’s library and from others. Passing tradesmen let him transcribe notes from new shipments of books going to conservatories, and all manner of wonders he discovered, his mind set on making things for the good of the people.
“His desire? To make wings so that betas may fly, too! So every day he locked himself away, designing fanciful mechanisms to wear. His first idea had been to use magic, to push thalms into betas to make them whole! Many betas volunteered, but all left saddened.
“He prayed to the moon for inspiration, as she granted her worshipers the ability to manipulate blacksteel!”
“Like the Drashili?” The little one stared up at Seidrik with wide eyes.
“Indeed.” Seidrik licked a finger and turned the page.
“‘Mother Goddess, moon above, why can I not fix the betas?’ he asked her.
“‘Son of mine, on this moonlit night, your theory is wrong, but your heart is right. Betas were not meant to fly. They cannot come to me and find love in the sky. Omega and alphas are born as two, to help the betas, to bear duties, too,’ the goddess said.”
“Though, why she has to rhyme about it, I’m uncertain.” Seidrik stared at the page and earned a huff from Tyran.
“That’s not in the story!”
“Apologies. I’ll continue.” Seidrik cleared his throat as familiar footsteps plodded down his hall, proceeded by a heavy, familiar weight sinking into the mattress.Stamel.
He said nothing, but Seidrik continued.
“‘But, Mother Goddess, moon above, holy is thy glow! I wish for them to have all the wonders that we have.’ Tollen prayed, and the goddess listened.
“‘Little omega, precious child, your heart is full of fancy. The betas have their own blessings, freedoms and thinks you can’t see.’ The moon sent down her love, and Tollen grew frustrated.
“‘Mother moon, goddess fair, would you grant me this for once? To allow a beta flight. Even if they’re blessed in other ways, I wish them to see the world as I do!’ Tollen prayed, but the goddess grew angry.
“‘Precious one, omega fair, do not question me. Do not dare. I have given my word, my meaning true. Mark my words, if you give betas wings, you will rue.’ The goddess spoke, and it was final. Betas were not meant to fly.
“But did Tollen listen?”
“Of course not. He’s got his head stuck on something and is bent on it. Never get in the way of an omega with a head full of ideas.” Seidrik snorted and earned a frustrated growl from Tyran, who slapped the page to remind him to continue reading.
“Fine, fine.” Seidrik sighed.
“And so, Tollen made wings, one pair after another. First, he made a set of wings made of the petals of a canopy flower. Their petals, each carrying a seed, could fly for miles. He put them on a beta male, and they flew from a rooftop all the way to the sea and fell in! In their haste to swim to shore, they were found by a buxom barmaid and fell in love when she rescued him. And he had no more use for wings.
“Frustrated, he built another set from paper, pasted sheets of books on wire frames. He put them on a beta woman, and she leaped from the rooftop and flew across the barony and landed in a field where she was caught by a flaxsheep farmer that made her hiswife. As she found love, she had no use for wings and never returned.
“Next, he made wings of glass, enchanted to be light as a feather. He infused salicate into crystal, melted sand and colored them like stained glass. He put them on a beta male who leaped from the clock tower and flew far into the sunset. And many weeks later, missive arrived from a neighboring kingdom that he’d found a wife in the princess of another nation! And since he’d found love, he did not need to fly. With the missive came a package, a box of shattered wing pieces.
“From blacksteel, silver, gold, and the broken glass, Tollen forged a new set of wings. He hammered into the night, crafted his finest thalms into them, and hid his work from the goddess behind closed curtains. And one day, a servant left his curtains open; by candlelight, he worked on fashioning beautiful wings, giving them gears and mechanisms to tick and flutter.
“Through the open window, the goddess saw what he’d made and cursed his forge, making the smoke of it penetrate his thalmalurgical lab! As the night wore thin into morning, he fell into a deep sleep, dreaming the dream of betas in flight.
“In the morning, his father and brother discovered their omega son asleep in his lab before the metal and glass wings.
