Bird of a Flock (Bow 2) - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

"So, gardening?" Nel'os grinned at Eyeri who was covered from head to toe with mud as he and Ryraso walked back into the common rooms. "Looks like you were doing more than that," he chuckled, rolling his shoulders and leaning back elegantly on the cushions and blankets. Nel'os was not one for getting dirty in the fields, in the sparing ring sure but not in the mud.
"He took a tumble or two," Ryraso smirked, a bit of mud swiped across his own face. "Not used to dirt and mud, are you kid?" He teased, ruffling Eyeri's hair fondly.
"It was slippery," Eyeri flushed looking away with the clear air of an embarrassed teenager. "It was fun," he added, stomping over to his room, his limbs looking a little loose somehow. Like they were a fraction too long for him to be able to use properly.
"Zamen to the core," Ryraso smiled proudly. "Told you, they get clumsy," he chuckled. Eyeri made a noise of displeasure and closed his bedroom door. A servant had already put a bowl of water in it so Eyeri could clean himself down. The servants, profession to the core, knew when their charges needed things. Ryraso laughed and moved over to his own door to quickly wash himself down. "Is Aw'endo already at training?" he called as he washed his hands and arms.
"He got dragged away about half an hour again," Dyn'ad called as he got dressed for the day, the servants had also brought the Royals their clothes for the day. "Seems his time off the warship reduced his skills," he added.
"Isst did offer to help him train," Ryraso chuckled, "But Aw'en wasn't having it."
"Yes well, Isst is a scary man," Nel'os said dryly. "How anyone who's young can willingly train with him is beyond me."
"Isst is fine," Eyeri called into the conversation. "He's like a big, giant teddy bear. Plus usually, people don't get a choice to train with him," he added with an amused chuckle. "If he doesn't think you will survive in the field, he just grabs you by the scruff of your neck and drags you to the sparring ring."
"Do you speak from experience there?" Tai'ray said with a big grin on his face.
Eyeri snorted. "Please, he was scared of hurting me too much to train me. My brothers were the ones who trained me so I wasn't completely defenceless. Shame I always freeze when it comes to the moment." He ended with a sigh and a splash of water.
"You should have seen it when Eyeri first came on board," Ryraso smiled, thinking back on the memories. "Isst and half of the warriors would run away from him if he got too close. No one wanted to be the ones to hurt the ship's baby."
"Still look about to break at a strong gust of wind," Dyn'ad commented. There was a yell from Eyeri as Dyn'ad most likely opened the door and swept him up in the air. "All bones and skin you are, my boy. Maybe we should put you in training too. Get some muscles on you." Eyeri laughed loudly and Ryraso smiled at the sound. He could see the image that Nel'os was projecting of Dyn'ad tickling Eyeri. Eyeri curled in a half ball and had a big grin on his face.
"No, thank you. I prefer the gardening," Eyeri managed to say through his giggles.
"Let Eyeri get ready," Ryraso beamed, pulling on some clean clothes. He projected warm feelings towards Dyn'ad, who sent a feeling of love back. Eyeri really was starting to relax with them now and with the day not starting with a nightmare, Eyeri was free to be himself. He watched through Nel'os' eyes as Eyeri hugged Dyn'ad's shoulders before pulling away. Dyn'ad grabbed the cloth and wiped a spot Eyeri had missed, making the boy whine slightly.
"Don't forget to wipe your own face," Nel'os teased, sending an image of Ryraso's face with mud on it through the link.
"Cheers," Ryraso commented cheerfully as he grabbed a cloth and scrubbed his face clean. "What are your plans today?" he asked, idly wondering what he should do. Until the ceremony happened, Po'lar wasn't going to let him work as a healer so he had no job at the moment. Which just left dodging Ton'enth all day.
"I got court all day," Tai'ray grumbled unhappily, still curled in the nest, reluctant to get up. "Nobles are insisting I deal with their concerns this instant. Most of which seem to be the length of the robes to be worn at the ceremonies. Kil'an' wants them to be shorter. Gour'tk thinks any shorter is immoral and the priests don't actually care," he complained. "Leaving me to be the one to decide."
"Poor baby," Ryraso teased, walking out of his room. "However will you survive the Nobles?" he fluttered his eyes with a mock face of horror.
"Tease and I'll drag you to it," Tai'ray warned.
"Maybe preferable to what I do have to do today," Ryraso commented, kissing Nel'os on the cheek as the man hugged him. Nel'os rested his chin on Ryraso's shoulder and Ryraso wrapped an arm around Nel'os waist. "Priest dodging," he grimaced.
"You're going to have to talk to them eventually," Tai'ray commented, finally sitting up in the nest. "They have already started asking that I order you to do so," he admitted.
"What did you say?" Ryraso asked calmly.
"That they should have treated you better when you lived here before and it's not my business if their presence makes you want to hide," Tai'ray said calmly. "I'm not ordering you to talk to those buffoons if you don't want to."
"Thank you," Ryraso grinned. "Now to see if I avoid them," he said with a hint of being excited about the challenge. "How about you, Nel?"
"I'm playing the submissive mate game and hanging out with some of the nobles who are too scared of breaking protocol to talk to Tai'ray directly," Nel'os said with a distinctly resigned tone. "We will be doing flower arranging and possibly discuss the pros and cons on the latest fashions. I will spend about ten minutes being told I'm so brave for being on the frontline's with my mates." There was an edge of disgust and frustration at this.
"And then an hour in the spar grounds proving you are a more than able fighter," Dyn'ad grinned, walking out of Eyeri's room with the boy in tow. "Sometimes with blood decorating you."
"They always seem to forget," Nel'os growled unhappily.
"The joys of being born noble," Dyn'ad teased. "I, on the other hand, will be waiting for the final general to arrive so we can have a war meeting. Mar'keth is dreaming up ways that we can round up the different caw as fast as we can. He's got a thing for an unmated caw in the plains, I think," he mused, moving over to claim his own kiss from Ryraso.
"That so?" Tai'ray hummed thoughtfully. "Would explain how he always seems to end up back there."
"He has pulled in a fair few favours to remain in the plains," Dyn'ad agreed. "I've asked some of the more watchful warriors to try to get a name. Mar'keth insists that there is no one but," Dyn'ad shrugged.
"What am I doing today?" Eyeri asked cautiously.
"Sticking with me for now," Ryraso smiled. "I have a few people to visit and then we should properly start on a language lesson."
"If the priests do manage to nab Ryraso just ask a guard to bring you to one of us. I can't promise any of our jobs will be entertaining to watch but it will be better than enduring the priests," Tai'ray told Eyeri with a smile.
"Will do," Eyeri smiled shyly.
Dyn'ad walked down to the training grounds, the corridors leading down to it too small to fly through. Mostly on purpose so it was easier to control the flow of people but it was occasionally strange not to fly. There were also areas of the palace where only the Royals were permitted to fly, ignoring guards on duty. It was still raining outside, the steady sound making Dyn'ad feel almost relaxed. It was a joy to be home in the palace rather than on the frontlines.
"Royal Bonded!" a voice called. "Lord Dyn'ad!"
It was one of the messengers. Despite the link, it wasn't like everyone could send a mental message to whoever they wanted, so they still needed messengers to relay messages. Dyn'ad paused letting the young one catch up. He was one of the boys who had been brought to the palace so Aw'endo had people his own age around. Though the idea had mostly failed as Aw'endo didn't actually get along with any of them.
"Yes?" Dyn'ad said seriously.
"General Yerir'o has been delayed due to people on his watch list disappearing. He should be here sometime this afternoon," saluted the teenager with a serious expression. "The meeting has been delayed until then." he declared with a measure of confidence.
"On whose authority?" Dyn'ad asked frowning. He was technically the one responsible for those decisions and yet it sounded like someone had gone above him. Or at the very least had not bothered to consider to consult him first.
The teenager froze. "Err. I'm not sure, Sir. I just got told to find all of the General and inform them," he admitted with a slight blush.
"I see," Dyn'ad sighed, resigning himself to waiting a while longer. Yerir'o was one of his most trusted Generals and if he thought something was off, Dyn'ad could not fault him for checking it out first. "You're dismissed," he added, waving the teenager away. "Wait," he called before the teenager could get too far. "Where is Prince Aw'endo at the moment?" he asked, wondering if he should go spend some time with his youngling.
"Prince Aw'endo?" The teenager frowned. "He should be with the librarian learning war history. He didn't do his test because he ran off."
"Understood, thank you," Dyn'ad sighed. He couldn't interfere with that. Aw'endo was already in enough trouble with his tutors without Dyn'ad adding to it. He turned and continued to the training ground trying to think about what he could do. As he arrived he was disappointed to see no one he could spar with there. The desire to find Ryraso moved through him but Dyn'ad didn't want the man to think he was being overprotective. He sighed unhappily and sat down, wondering about what he should do.
"Lord Dyn'ad! Morning," a cheerful voice called.
"Herymi," Dyn'ad grinned widely, pleased to see a person he could have some fun with. Herymi's smile faltered and he looked at Dyn'ad with distrust.
"What do you want?" Herymi asked warily, stepping backwards from where he had greeted the man.
"Just another sparring session," Dyn'ad smiled innocently. "Nothing scary about that," he grinned, standing up and walking over to Herymi with a kind of swagger.
"I may not have time," Herymi said cautiously, still aching from the day before. While he was happy to go another round with Dyn'ad, the smile on the royal's face promised nothing but trouble. The gleam in Dyn'ad's eyes was almost sadistic. "Captain Par'nast wanted to talk to me," he warned.
"I'm sure the Captain can wait until you are done with me," Dyn'ad chuckled darkly. The Captain was the head of the home guard and very much answered to Dyn'ad. If Dyn'ad wanted to spar with a man for a while, the Captain would be unable to complain. Even if it was a little childish of Dyn'ad to do so.
"I'd rather spar afterwards. I don't want to get on the Captain's bad side," Herymi added, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "He is the one who makes the guards rota after all," he said almost like an explanation.
"The only person you have to worry about getting on their bad side is me but fine. Go talk with Par'nest," Dyn'ad exhaled disappointedly, slumping his shoulders.
"Lord Dyn'ad, if you are bored, why don't you help train up some more of the guard?" Herymi asked softly. "You said yourself Warlord Loror has given you six months off to capture the caw," he pointed out.
"Because I have no idea what the plan is currently. I'm waiting for a meeting but it keeps getting delayed," Dyn'ad explained, picking up a training pole from a rack and testing its weight. "Apparently some people on the watch list are up to something," Dyn'ad rolled his eyes, spinning the pole in one hand.
"That is frustrating," allowed Herymi. He paused and shifted his feet slightly. "I don't suppose the Winglord has mentioned when he is going to do the branding ceremonies yet?" Herymi asked softly, not quite looking at Dyn'ad at that moment.
"Ah," Dyn'ad tilted his head and sent Tai'ray the question. "The current plan is in three days," Dyn'ad said out loud. "He hasn't got a date yet for when you can go home but he has the court in favour of it," he said with a slight sympathy. He could understand it wasn't fun to have something like this swinging over your head without a real timeline.
"That is slightly reassuring," Herymi smiled weakly. It was a strange thing to have to ask when your punishment was going to be but once it was over, he could go home.
"We'll get you back to Fl'ex soon," Dyn'ad promised. "Until then, spar?"
Herymi gave him a look and Dyn'ad laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Just teasing," Dyn'ad grinned.
"With that, I shall intercept," a voice commented. It was Captain Par'nest, looking vaguely amused. "Royal Bonded," he greeted with a slight bow. "I'm afraid I need Herymi's help inspecting the caw wing. You are welcome to come with us?" he offered, clapping Herymi's shoulder. Herymi grimaced but said nothing. The caw wing was one of the repurposed consort wings. It was to be a holding pen for the caw before being branded. They were also in the process of making others for after the brand had been given. Still, Herymi wasn't entirely happy with helping on this matter.
"Brand or not, I'm always working," Herymi said dryly.
"Your father would be proud," Par'nast chuckled. "Fl'ex has always tried to instil hard working as a trait in his sons."
"An excellent trait," agreed Dyn'ad. "I'll stick here and run through some drills. Nel'os is likely going to appear at some point to burn off some steam."
"In which case, let's go Herymi," Par'nast grinned, with an edge of joy in his eyes. Par'nast was more than happy to take advantage of any resource he had. Including a caw who was also trained as a bodyguard. Not all the caw were going to have happy reunions and the precautions were more about keeping the caw safe than stopping them escaping. For the human caw, once they were in Navat, they weren't going anywhere.