Free Breath of Air by Katie Jennings Page B

silvery figures floating up into the black hole from the right side of the room, while others seemed to float back out of it on the left side, forming some kind of weird cycle.
    The walls of the tower had a few slitted windows that let in limited sunlight, and were made of plain stone, as was the floor. More light was coming from several torches lining the walls, though even when combined with the tiny windows, the room was very dim in comparison to where the Furies worked. Centered in the room were what looked like three work stations, complete with the Fates busily working away.
    The room was completely quiet except for the sounds of working, and Capri thought it best to simply watch and not ask questions.
    If she hadn’t known better, she would say that the Fates were seamstresses, busy making clothing. But, of course, she did know better, and instead she watched with awe as the Fate named Angora and the young teenage boy with the gypsy face were busy spinning thread on a traditional looking spinning wheel, feeding what looked like wool into it as Angora pressed a pedal with her foot, thus spinning the wool into thread as it wound around a spindle. Capri noticed that when the thread reached the spindle, one of the silvery figures would descend out of the black hole and attach itself to the thread, merging with it and changing it into a glowing silver strand.
    From the spindle, the silvery thread was then winding its way down to the next station, where Morgaine sat with her daughter. They were seated at a long wooden table, and they appeared to be measuring the thread against a strange looking ruler with ancient looking symbols on it. They were marking their measurements with what looked like black chalk, and as they marked it, they would feed the thread onto another much larger spindle, nearly full, where the silvery thread was busy being unwound by Nyxa and her daughter, Nova, who were laying the thread on their own smaller table and cutting it with ancient looking metal shears. As they made each cut, the silvery glow would leave the thread and take form again as it flew back up into the black hole. The thread pieces were then discarded into a large pile on the floor.
    “I’m sure it must be pretty obvious to you what they’re doing here.” Clynn whispered quietly in her ear. She turned to him and simply nodded. “Why don’t we move on?” He whispered again, ushering her towards the door. The Fates didn’t even seem to acknowledge them leaving as they all were so intently focused on their work, and Capri figured that it was probably for the best.
    Once they were safely out onto the landing and down the stairs, Capri finally felt like she could speak.
    “I can’t believe that they are real.” She murmured, the image of the silvery thread still in her mind. “For some reason, out of all of this, they were the hardest to believe.”
    Clynn chuckled as they emerged back out into the main corridor. “The Fates are certainly unique, and their purpose is extraordinarily important. They may be rough around the edges, but you saw how hard they work. Yet they refuse to bring in reinforcements like the Furies do. The Fates prefer to do everything themselves, that’s just their way.”
    Capri stopped then, pausing midstep as she stared at her father. “Where does that black hole go to?”
    “It takes the soul where it belongs, whether it be heaven or hell.” He said simply.
    She nodded, feeling incredibly small once again.
    “By the way, you saw the boy in there? With Angora? His name is Alastor, and he is the first male Fate in over a thousand years.” Clynn smiled at her. “Needless to say, Angora and Thea were both thrilled to welcome him into the world. Male Fates tend to have powers that the female Fates don’t possess, and so they are keeping a close eye on him, waiting to see if he is unique in any way.”
    “Wow, that’s a lot of pressure to put on someone.” Capri’s eyes widened as she thought of