Bird of a Flock (Bow 2) - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Ryraso sat in a shrine quietly, having said some morning prayers and now was uncertain what to do. In some ways, there was nothing to do until the afternoon, until Eyeri's ceremony. By divine order, he could not fight the coming events and by order of the Winglord, he was not allowed to see his misbehaving sons. Aw'endo had been kidnapped by his tutors again, with Iss'tine promising he would be back for the ceremony and Ryraso did not want to be with the Royals at the moment.
There was always another option. He lived by this mantra, but currently, most of the options led to more pain and suffering. He rose and left the room, refusing to acknowledge the looks which were being shot his way. People were curious about why Ryraso was being allowed free reign to move about when his son had tried to leave.
It wasn't known yet that he could not escape now. Ryraso had no desire to allow the knowledge out into the world until he had to. He paused before turning a corner, suddenly realising he was in the 'noble' rooms of the palace. A place where many of the submissive nobles socialised with each other and waited for their powerful mates to return from work. He frowned, looking around slightly confused as to why his feet had led him here of all places. This was not his home nor would it ever be. He was a healer, not a noble.
"Now Healer  Ryraso is back, they will drop you soon enough," a voice hissed darkly in k'nairi. "I'd start flashing that ass of yours around if I were you. Your days in the hearts of the royals are numbered."
Ryraso blinked before narrowing his eyes and looking at his arm. He shifted so he wasn't standing in the middle of the corridor and shamelessly listened more. If this was what he thought it was, it was a good chance to get some information on the current politics of the nobles and even if it was about him, he couldn't pass up the chance. It was very quickly confirmed that he was listening to some nobles gaining up on one Cai'ress and not because they liked Ryraso, but because they disliked Cai'ress.
"Just because you only gained half a glance doesn't meant they are going to drop me so easily," a young but cultured voice said back calmly. "They could have dropped me when Ryraso came back into their lives and they did not."
"Back into their lives but not into their beds, their nest. Face it Cai," the unknown speaker drew out the name slowly in a mock-friendly way that still had daggers in the voice. "You should have taken your clan's offer of marrying you off to Lord Fin'at. Few others are going to want the Winglord's leftovers."
There was some more taunting and Ryraso found himself frowning deeper and deeper. Cai'ress, it seemed, had really gained some animosity by being able to stay the regular lover of the royals for longer than a year. For five years, to be exact. Longer than any other person had been in a courtship with the triad. Five years without the Winglord, the only royal whose heart and desires meant something to the nobles, making any offers to make it permanent. In the eyes of the nobles, this was a failed courtship that the submissive was clinging onto in false hopes.
The words and feeling had some real bite to them that Ryraso didn't like. He didn't know how to feel about Cai'ress' existence. He didn't know if Tai'ray would ever look at Cair'ess or if Ryraso would feel something for the man but at that moment, he didn't like the implication that it was impossible either. That implied that Nel'os and Dyn'ad had strung a man along for five years with the intention of dumping him and Ryraso did not like the idea of that being in their personalities.
He found himself smiling as Cai'ress declared that even if the Winglord and Ryraso never accepted him, if Nel'os and Dyn'ad wished to keep him as their lover, he would remain by their sides. The others laughed at the idea that Cai'ress loved the Bondeds of the Winglord and didn't want the heart of the Winglord himself.
Ryraso smiled again softly, leaning on the wall. Something he had gained by accident it seemed. Something much desired by the nobles of Navat and he had it.
"Have they even bothered to introduce you yet?"
"Not yet, no. But things are complicated at the moment..."
There was a wave of cruel laughter. "You are kidding yourself Cai'ress. You have been nothing to them but a toy!"
Something dark flared in Ryraso's chest. A dim part of him wondered just who the goddess had been protecting when she had shown him Nel'os kissing Cai'ress. Himself or the k'nairi? Before more seeds of doubt about the Royals intentions for him could be planted into the currently loyal seeming man, Ryraso took a step forward and into the room, fully intending on ending this conversation now.  The reaction filled Ryraso with the urge to laugh.
The room hushed like teenagers and the nobles all looked at him with almost comic shock on their expressions. Ryraso never came to the rooms they socialised in. Ryraso resisted the urge to smirk and simply lifted an eyebrow, looking directly past them all to Cai'ress.
"Sorry to disturb. I was wondering if you had some free time, Cai'ress?" he asked, refusing to be cowed by the gawking nobles.  Nel'os and Dyn'ad had opened their hearts to his sons. Maybe he could do the same for their lover. Even if it was simply saving him from this conversation.
===s===
Tai'ray was lost in his own thoughts, watching the clouds shift in the sky and enjoying a rare moment of peace as the time ticked on. He looked down at the letter he had written to Loror about Zaro and his new decree. A similar one written to Inai was underneath it, with a promise to take care of the men of his who had stolen away. The war was quiet for a moment, the two sides seemingly having once again settled into a stalemate. It felt so far away and yet it was impossible not to acknowledge its existence.
"Tai'ray?" a shaky but familiar voice called softly into his study. He looked over at the door to find Eyeri standing there, looking nervous and unsure of himself, biting his lip and half hiding behind the doorframe.
"How did you get out?" Tai'ray frowned, unhappy Eyeri was on his own. He stood and gestured for the boy to enter the room. Eyeri moved in willingly, shutting the door behind him and walking gracefully over. He was wearing blue robes that had a lot of intricate detail in them, embroidered in golden thread.
"Nel'os left the door unlocked," Eyeri admitted sheepishly. "I was wondering if we could talk?" he asked, his voice almost shaking, clearly very nervous to actually ask such a thing. His eyes were on the floor and his voice was soft.
"Of course, come," Tai'ray replied, surprised the boy was even talking to him now. He opened his arms in a gesture of come closer, rather than stand by the door and Eyeri looked up at him with watery eyes. For a brief second Tai'ray feared the boy was about to lose whatever steel he had clearly built up for this confrontation. He lowered his arms a  fraction and something heartbreaking passed over Eyeri's face. Then suddenly, he had his arms full of a crying child, Eyeri burying his face in his chest and clinging on tightly.
Slightly touched by the action, Tai'ray instinctively wrapped his arms and wings around Eyeri, protecting the young man from whatever could harm him outside of their little bubble. "Hey, I have you," Tai'ray murmured softly as he nuzzled the boy's hair. Already knowing the main cause of the boy's distress and having nothing he could say that would make this any better. All he could do was give the comfort that Eyeri so clearly wanted. There was a mumbling from his chest, but even his k'nairi ears couldn't pick up what Eyeri was saying. He gently pulled Eyeri away from his chest and looked at the boy's red face. "Eyeri?" he gently coaxed, hands still on the boy's shoulders.
"Don't hate me," Eyeri whispered, the words earnest but also confusing to Tai'ray.
"Hate you?" Tai'ray frowned. "For what reason would I have to hate you?"
"For running away..." Eyeri said, his eyes moving downwards again and he shuffled unhappily.
"Oh, little one," Tai'ray exhaled, pulling Eyeri close again, cradling the boy to his chest. "I should be begging you not to hate me, not the other way around," he said sadly. He was the one bringing Eyeri's worst fears to life after all. The one making the boy's nightmares come to life.
"But I..." Eyeri tried to pull away but Tai'ray held on and looked him in the eyes again.
"But nothing! Eyeri, I get it. I really do. You're scared and lonely. You're trapped with people who you have been brought up to believe are your enemies, facing a fate which is your worst nightmare. Of course, you would take a chance to escape and this one was safer than your first. You're human! A little meek perhaps, but far from broken," Tai'ray kept his eyes locked onto Eyeri, refusing to let the human look away from him. "Never ever think that I hate you for being who you are. I care for you dearly and if there was any way to protect you from this fate, I would. But it is too late."
"Why?" Eyeri demanded, his voice breaking slightly, "The brand has not burned my skin yet, why is it too late?"
"My people demand it Eyeri. If I deny them that justice..." Tai'ray trailed off, "I only hold as much power as they give me, Eyeri. To change the law is impossible unless enough people have changed their minds. The law was already changed but a month ago."
"Can't you try?" Eyeri pleaded, knowing he was walking on thin ice but risking it. That alone made Tai'ray answer. A child who had been as broken as Eyeri had been but could still argue and question. Those questions were important. Things the boy needed to know more than the trained in quietness when dealing with a master he had angered.
"I did, Eyeri," Tai'ray reminded. "The brand was not the original punishment but rather a compromise. To those who wished to protect, and those who wished to harm. I am truly sorry Eyeri, there is nothing more I can do."
"I dread to think what it was originally," Eyeri joked weakly, but sensed truth in the Winglord's words. Tai'ray choked back a laugh before pulling him close and burying his nose in the boy's hair.
"I'm so sorry," whispered Tai'ray, Eyeri just clinging to him. A man half mad because of both the voices missing from his mind and those inside it. A boy scarred by his experiences and expecting to become a slave once more. Both in their own ways broken by fate, but maybe together, there would be enough pieces to fix each other.