Bird of a Flock (Bow 2) - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Aw'endo's room was a mess. Eyeri couldn't help but feel his fingers itching to clean and tidy but that wouldn't be right. It was Aw'endo's room. Aw'endo was not his master, thankfully. Aw'endo was his brother and despite their different status', brothers didn't like it when one acted like a slave. Still years of being taught to keep a house tidy and clean, followed by being trained by Ryraso to keep a clinic in good order meant all he wanted to do at that moment was tidy.
"I'm running out of clothes your size," Aw'endo mused. "Most I threw out once I outgrew them," he admitted sheepishly as he rumbled through some drawers.
"I won't be this size forever," Eyeri murmured as he picked up some of the clothes which had been thrown away and discarded, unable to hold all his instincts in. He folded them neatly and put them to the side.
"No. All of your brothers are taller," Aw'endo mused. "Still, I hope you don't grow quite as tall as them," he teased, with a wink. "Here," he added, passing some pants and a plain shirt over. "These should fit you," he commented cheerfully as he began to strip off and pull his own clothes on.
"Just because you're not tall, doesn't mean I can't be," Eyeri chuckled, changing himself. "But, I doubt I'll be as tall as the others..." he added almost as an afterthought, the dark edges of his nightmare still weighing in his mind. Five years of being fed the bare minimum to survive, even with three years of having his weight monitored there was going to be some side effects. "I'm later than them to my growth spurt," he explained as Aw'endo looked at him vaguely confused at that statement.
"Ah," Aw'endo nodded, accepting the answer easily. "Come on. Matron will be annoyed if we muck about much longer," he chuckled, straightening up his outfit. It didn't look like a Prince's outfit to Eyeri's eyes, but then, they had spoken of training. Even a prince didn't train in his best clothes.
Eyeri nodded and followed him out, laughing as Aw'endo almost tripped over nothing. Aw'endo glared and punched his shoulder, Eyeri punching back lightly and ruffling Aw'endo's fluffy hair. Aw'endo scowled for a moment before a mischievous look appeared in his eyes. Eyeri blinked twice before dodging as his brother tried to grab him in a headlock. Three years of living with older brothers and warriors who liked to tease the weakest of their flock had trained Eyeri well in avoiding such moves.
"Catch me if you can," Eyeri chuckled, dodging again, hiding behind Ryraso as he walked out of his room.
"Stop that now," Ryraso smiled warmly, wrapping an arm around Eyeri's shoulders and kissing his cheek. Clearly amused by his son's behaviour. "K'nairi like to chase, it's never a good idea to taunt them into one unless you're planning to get caught," he warned with his own mischievous twinkle in his eyes. A memory, Eyeri assumed. Still, he groaned mockingly at the image. The implication there still not one he was entirely comfortable picturing in his own mind.
"Ry!" Aw'endo moaned at the implication himself before receiving his own kiss on the cheek. Ryraso pushing him ahead, while gripping a firm grip on Eyeri. Eyeri held himself back from complaining. Ryraso was worried about him, with good reason.
"Lead the way Aw'en," Ryraso chuckled, his hands running through Eyeri's hair and combing it better into place. Eyeri moaning in complaint at the action and trying to get Ryraso to let go of him. "We need to get you a comb," he mused as they walked, ignoring the looks of the passing k'nairi as they descended into the public levels and into the dining hall.
Eyeri couldn't ignore the looks so easily. The guards were clearly well trained to be neutral but even their eyes seemed to be following them. The servants and nobles alike were outright gawking at them. Eyeri found himself pressing closer to his father despite only moments before being irritated by Ryraso holding on to him. He didn't like this at all.
"Ryraso!" a voice called before they could enter the hall. Aw'endo pausing himself as a k'nairi hurried over with a big beam on his face. He was big and broad with black hair skirting around his shoulders. Eyeri tried not to inhale too quickly as he saw who was coming towards them. Or rather the man's wings. Grey and half molted. It was clear something bad had happened to them. "You're back!"
"S'onon," Ryraso grinned back, stepping over and embracing the other man. Broken wings wrapping around him and leaving Eyeri and Aw'endo to the side. The hug was only for a moment before Ryraso pulled back and looked over him. Eyeri didn't miss the brief look of sadness in Ryraso's eyes as he looked at the wings. "You're working in the palace now?" he asked, reaching back to pull his sons closer again.
"Yes," S'onon nodded, speaking in human tongue as he looked over Eyeri. Eyeri felt the gaze painfully, keeping his back straight and his eyes low. Two sets of instincts now clashing as someone appraised him. "I assume this is your rumoured apprentice?" he commented gently enough.
"Yes. This is Eyeri," Ryraso nodded, rubbing Eyeri's shoulders. "Eyeri, this is S'onon. He's an old friend. And also the reason the crew found out about my connection to the k'nairi." he added with a dose of amusement, thinking back to that incident in the clinic.
"Oh," Eyeri said softly, remembering the story. He had been told it when he had joined the ship, among many others to give examples of why to respect Ryraso. The man who could tame even the k'nairi. "You're that S'onon. Tiew mentioned you once. Nice to meet you," he smiled shyly through his eyelashes, doing his best not to appear too meek in front of Ryraso's friend. S'onon wasn't a master either, not really.
"Nice to meet you too youngling," S'onon smiled at Eyeri reassuringly.
"Eyeri, Aw'en, why don't you go join the others?" Ryraso commented, patting Eyeri's shoulders. Eyeri nodded and happily escaped with a polite word and slight bow which was stiffly stopped as Ryraso coughed. Flushing Eyeri followed Aw'endo into the dining hall, wondering idly just what had happened to S'onon's wings.
Ryraso watched his sons go, his heart feeling a little heavy. When he had seen his boys playing and playing, he had hoped that whatever was wrong with Eyeri had been a fleeting thing. It appeared not. The slight bow, the shy smile and polite tone. It was all part of Eyeri's defensive mechanism. Look meek and unthreatening, while acknowledging someone else as being of higher status than him.
"Your youngling is very pretty. You're going to have to train him out of bowing so easily. He's too pretty to do that without offers of more being made," S'onon said rather bluntly, having seen the bow too.
"We haven't seen each other in four years and that's what you have to say to me?" Ryraso said dryly, but understood the intent. A gentle warning from a good place. Pretty and useful. Good qualities in a slave and in a subordinate mate, even if the k'nairi were against the former and Eyeri was too young for the latter. Instinct was instinct and Eyeri would make the wrong person a pretty little doll. Ryraso was going to have his work cut out protecting him.
"I..." S'onon shrugged. "You look well," he settled on. "The link is rejoicing in your return." He added slightly too formally for Ryraso's liking.
"You don't," Ryraso commented softly, reaching out to run his hand down S'onon's wing. Trying again not to think about the meaning of the last statement. "Was I too late to save them?" he asked sadly. At the time he might have acted a little coldly towards S'onon's fate but there had been other factors at play. He didn't want his friend to lose his ability to fly but it seemed by how bad the wings were at the moment that he might have been too late. They weren't even S'onon's natural colour anymore. The dark brown now a dusky grey which looked ill.
S'onon pulled it back out of his reach but a feather still fell from the wing and to the ground. "It's better than it was," S'onon admitted. "If you hadn't had sent me back, I probably would have no feathers at all. It's healing at the moment. I had a resurgence last year which is why they look like this at the moment but they will recover again," he said almost like it was a promise.
"I see," Ryraso's hand dropping to his side. Resurgence wasn't too unusual with S'onon's illness. It was why sufferers were bound to stay in one city and exempt from the war effort. "How is..." Ryraso trailed off. He had been about to ask about S'onon's nest but he didn't know if they had stuck by him during this. Sometimes, bond or not, the strain from having a flightless mate was too much.
"They are well. They are still with me," S'onon reassured. "They live with me. I won't lie, it's been hard but we have managed so far. They work at a clinic actually." he commented, chuckling at the look Ryraso gave him. "Not healers obviously but I help out as an orderly occasionally too. It's good work," he admitted, rubbing his shoulders. "So. How are you doing Ry?" S'onon asked almost awkwardly himself, his hand landing on Ryraso's shoulder.
Ryraso half smiled, his eyes darting behind him to the door where his sons had escaped to. "I don't really have an answer for that right now," he said, finding himself rubbing the scar on his arm again.
S'onon's eyes flashed down at the action and frowned. "That scar..." he murmured, reaching down and gently pulling Ryraso's arm so he could see it better. "I heard about the fight..."
"It's nothing, S'onon," Ryraso said tensely, still not ready to think about that day. "Just a bad memory," he said softly, pulling his arm back. "I rub it when I'm nervous. It can be dealt with later when I don't have another thousand things to deal with," he sighed.
The k'nairi frowned and glanced over his shoulder at some of the people who were openly watching them. S'onon gently grabbed Ryraso's arm again and pulled him into a more secluded corner, muttering a chant to block anyone from listening in. "Ryraso, that doesn't sound good," he commented seriously.
"S'onon, you were expecting me to feel like things were good?" Ryraso asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or is the links happiness I'm back overwhelming the obvious facts of the situation?"
"It may be overwhelming slightly," S'onon acknowledged. "Ry, I'm your friend. What am I missing? You're back. You're home and safe. Your children are here and safe too. The Winglord has finally acknowledged his feelings for you and you have acknowledged them back. Right?" S'onon suddenly frowned. "Or is that the link?" he asked.
"Privately, sort of. Publically, not yet," Ryraso stated firmly. "And are my children safe here? Eyeri..." Ryraso cut himself off. S'onon was a friend, an old friend, but he was not a priest or the royals. Secrets would leak out from him. It was different with k'nairi from a border village but in the heart of Navat, secrets had to be kept close to your chest. He closed his eyes and looked up at S'onon. "Eyeri is not caw. He doesn't deserve what the link has planned for him. I promised to protect him S'onon and I've condemned him."
"Condemned? He's going to live in peace.... After he's been branded," S'onon exhaled with a clear air of sudden understanding. "You son is scared of the brand."
"The brand means he will never be able to go home, S'onon. Even if Navat is to become his home, Eyeri has a family. Family who are Namya. As many of my friends. Or have you forgotten that in the 'joy' of me being back too?" Ryraso asked darkly.