Guardians of Ga'Hoole 13 - The River of Wind

owl.”
    “Believe me,” Twilight said. “If I had seen a blue owl with such long tail feathers I would have said something by now.”
    “Well, she’s a bit upset. This is not an emotion that she is used to, nor one that these owls handle well.”
    “Oh, Great Glaux,” Gylfie whispered as they approached a throne made of purple chunks of amethyst on which a huge owl with a mixture of cobalt blue and lighter turquoise feathers was perched. Behind her, a special frame held her tail feathers, and to each side were additional frames on which her wings rested. Even her facial-disk feathers were so long that they fell like a screen, veiling her eyes. On her talons, which appeared shriveled and dull, she wore several rings. Her body heaved with sobs.
    “Tengshu, he’s left! He’s left! What will this do to our phonqua?” Otulissa was trying her best to translate this for the rest of the Chaw of Chaws. The empress then turned to the owls. The movement of her feathers caused a wind to stir through the hollow.
    “She wants to know if you have seen this owl,” Tengshu translated.
    “We certainly would have noticed,” Coryn said. “Tell her we have not.”
    Tengshu turned again to her and spoke rapidly, then translated the exchange. “It seems that this owl, Orlando,managed to secretly stop plucking his undertail coverts. A servant was bribed to keep the secret, and then after he had stopped new growth he managed one night to chop off a great quantity of his long tail feathers. A pile was discovered in the Hollow of the Eternal Feathers; this act is considered the gravest of insults. Of course, little can be done now.”
    “But how could he fly with so little experience?” Ruby asked.
    “Poorly, I would imagine,” Tengshu said drily. “But if he found the reverse current of the River of Wind…”
    “And what about that phonqua?” Digger asked. “This…this notion of fate and consequences?”
    Tengshu looked at him darkly. He began to speak and then hesitated. “I…I don’t think that one dragon owl’s actions could disturb the phonqua of our entire kingdom. It would not seem fair, would it?” He spoke with a forced cheerfulness.
    Digger blinked and waited to speak. “Nor would it seem fair for it to disturb the phonqua of our five kingdoms. But some say that the flutterings of one butterfly can disturb the universe.”
    “Yes, it’s a part of weather theory,” Otulissa began, “discovered by a very distinguished relative of mine, the renowned weathertrix, Strix Emerilla.”
    “I was speaking of this, Otulissa, in a more philosophical sense,” Digger interrupted. “The notion that the smallest variations of what philosophers call the initial condition might produce large variations in the longterm behavior of the system.”
    The Dowager Empress was poking at Tengshu with her scepter while she studied Digger. It was obvious that she wanted to know what he was saying.
    “This will indeed disturb the empress unnecessarily, I fear,” Tengshu said, and then turned to the empress and spoke some Jouzhen that none of them understood. But they did hear the word “phonqua.” From the manner in which she settled back on her throne, they assumed that Tengshu had assuaged her fears concerning phonqua and the fate of the owls of the Dragon Court. But there were others who were not so relieved, in particular Digger and Mrs. Plithiver.
    No words needed to be spoken between the Burrowing Owl and the blind snake. They both sensed that something greater was at stake than the peace of mind of the empress.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Butterfly that Disturbs
    M rs. P.,” Digger started suddenly. He had been in deep thought in the crystal cocoonlike cavity that he had been shown to in the Panqua Palace.
    “I didn’t mean to disturb you, dear.”
    “I couldn’t sleep. Don’t worry about it.”
    “I know,” Mrs. Plithiver replied.
    Digger blinked. “You do?”
    “Well, I know that something is disturbing you and that sleep would be hard to come by.”
    At that moment, Gylfie flew in from a connecting cave. “You can’t sleep, either?” Digger asked.
    “No.” She shook her head. “I think Martin is up, too.” Within two minutes, all eight owls had crammed into the cavity with Digger. They all seemed agitated.
    “It’s this phonqua business, isn’t it?” Mrs. P. said.
    “It’s very weird—the phonqua, this whole place,” Martin said.
    “And it’s not just that,” Soren added. “I’m worried