Bird of a Nest - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Pol'ar appeared by the speechless medic and stepped up the task, closing the door before the patients could see. Eyeri put his ruined top on the side calmly, panic still on the edges of his mind as he was now trapped in a room with two k'nairi he barely knew, with his scars on show. He reached out to take the fresh one but the other medic seemed to in shock to pass him the shirt. Eyeri exhaled. He'd forgotten how badly some people reacted to them.
"You really are a civilian medic, aren't you?" Eyeri said darkly. War medics didn't react like this. They didn't have the luxury of freezing at a couple of scars. Even ones like Eyeri's.
The man started to splutter something in k'nairi and Eyeri resisted the urge to laugh at him. Eyeri moved forward to snatch the top but, Pol'ar gently caught his wrist and twisted him around. Eyeri put it with the action through gritted teeth, knowing what the elder was doing. Pol'ar was looking for the slave mark. The thing that would have made him a slave officially. His chest tightened and for one moment, the burning smell in his nose was back and the harsh rub of the sand against his skin. It faded and Eyeri was staying perfectly still as Pol'ar studied his scars.
"I am not slave-marked. May I please put the shirt on?" Eyeri growled lowly, trying to be respectful but desperately wanting out of that room. He could feel his throat tightening, the muscles rigid. It was rather small with three people inside, two with wings.
"Yes, of course," Pol'ar nodded, the other medic passed it over. Eyeri pulled it on, trying not to look too rushed as he did so. He was aware of the look on Pol'ar's face. It was one of someone joining the dots of information together. Eyeri clicked his neck and rolled his shoulders trying to get the muscles to stop being so tense, rubbing his left shoulder. A sinking feeling in his stomach that sparked the simmering anger in his chest into ablaze.
"Use this against me and I will do everything in my power to make your life hell," Eyeri threatened, glaring at the two older men. He already had a few ideas.
"It's going to be a factor, Eyeri," Pol'ar said softly, but his eyes were guarded. There was a touch of bewilderment in his stance. The other medic too was looking at Eyeri like he had suddenly grown a second head. This was the first time they had ever seen Eyeri like this. It was a big change to his meek, helpful demeanour. "It's why Ryraso said to teach you, is it not?"
"Not at all. The reason the circumstances were the way they were, but not the reason why," Eyeri challenged. "I asked him. He did not offer. He taught me because I asked to be taught so I could do something to help the people looking after me. He taught me medic skills, not healing. That started because he realised I had been using healing magic instinctively. It has nothing to do with my past other than the reason I was on the ship," Eyeri defended, the anger in his voice loud and clear. The idea that Ryraso would take him on to heal how to heal just because he was a slave was beyond insulting. He'd had to fight Ryraso on the very matter. Ryraso hadn't wanted to. Eyeri had refused to let that stop him then and he refused to do so now. "This was a path I choose to follow," he said passionately.
Something flared in Pol'ar eyes. "And yet you doubted," Pol'ar said softly.
Eyeri just glared at him, his hands curled. There was nothing he could say to that without sounding like a child or bitter. "We have patients still, unless I'm mistaken?" Eyeri said coldly, his tone demanding.
"We do," Pol'ar acknowledged, the strange look in his eyes still there. He opened the door and let the other medic out, the man practically fleeing. As Eyeri moved to push past him, Pol'ar caught his arm again. Eyeri looked him dead in the eyes, back straight and shoulders squared. "We will need to discuss this, Eyeri," Pol'ar warned. "I need more than promises you choose this path for the wrong reasons."
"Because my word is not enough?" Eyeri scowled.
"If that's the reason you choose to believe," Pol'ar stated before letting go of Eyeri's arm and rested a hand on Eyeri's shoulder lightly. "Cool your anger, youngling. Regardless of how you feel about this, if you want to this job, you cannot let this show," he warned, before turning and leaving himself.
Eyeri gritted his teeth again, taking a moment to breathe deeply and strode back out into the room. Ignoring the curious eyes. Ignoring the unsettling feeling inside of him. Ignoring how some of the other medics tried to make him talk. Tried not to flinch as feathers breathed over him and Pol'ar occasionally gave an order. Sand burned against his skin. A whip on his back. Slumping was for ugly people, but slaves kept their heads bowed. The world felt like it was too bright, too loud. Too real.
When his shift was over, he left and walked. Almost breaking out into a run when he heard Pol'ar call after him, but Eyeri was already out of sight. He wasn't ready to face this yet. Not his family either. Not like this. He couldn't let them know he had disappointed them so badly. He'd let out his biggest secret. He'd slipped up.
Like before, barely anyone paid him any mind. He strode through the palace easily, the people letting him through with ease. Eventually, he ended up in the gardens, a mist of rain covering him. He closed his eyes and did his breathing exercises again, feeling the dampness on his face and seeping into his clothes. They didn't work. The anger was fading leaving anxiety and panic in its place. He moved forward and found a more secluded spot before sitting down and leaning against a wall. He wasn't completely hidden. He knew the guards would be about. They always were. Curling into a ball, he closed his eyes again and tried to calm down. He was safe here. No one was going to hurt him.
Ryraso was still his father, for now. Ryraso promised he would still be his father even if Eyeri wasn't a healer. He wasn't going to lose this family. Just the only thing he had ever been any good at.
There was movement ahead of him. Eyeri didn't look up. Still breathing deeply and counting the seconds. He was fine. This was not good but he was still mostly in control. It was fine. He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled the tie out of it, letting his hair fall like a curtain around him. The footsteps walked closer. "Youngling?" a voice called softly. "Do you want me to get your father?" The voices were fluid but there was a slight touch of uncertainty.
"No, thank you," Eyeri replied, his voice steady, though he remained with his eyes clamped shut curled into a ball. He wasn't sure he could Ryraso right now. If he just had a moment to calm down it would get better.
"How about your older brother?" The voice offered as an alternative. "Or Nel'os?"
That oddly made Eyeri look at who was talking to him. The man crouched down near him was not a guard as Eyeri had first assumed. He could see one or two guards standing nearby with unreadable expressions on their faces but the man was smiling at him gently. His clothes were muddy and clearly meant for heavy work. His hair was dusky grey as were his wings but they looked healthy, unlike other k'nairi that he had seen with grey wings. Certainly not someone who looked on the surface to be able to call Nel'os without his title.
Eyeri shook his head. "I just need a moment alone," he said gently, hoping he sounded more put together than how he felt.
The man hummed and crawled over, sitting next to him and leaning against the wall too. He didn't sit too close but Eyeri could smell fresh-cut greenery over the man. One of the man's wings twisted upwards above Eyeri to keep the rain off him "In which case, I'll stay with you until you're ready. Can't leave a youngling looking as distressed as you do alone. Your watchers were concerned," the man said calmly, winking at Eyeri. "They asked me to check on you."
Flushing Eyeri ducked his head again. At least the guards hadn't contacted the others straight off. "That's very kind of them," he murmured, feeling heat fill his cheeks. "May I ask who you are to be tasked with such a thing?"
"My name is Gar'kin," the man rumbled amused. "You met my mates?"
"Oh," Eyeri said quietly. "You're Ang'as's friend," he murmured, remembering suddenly a conversation. Ang'as had been a regular face in the rooms over the week or so. Eyeri liked the man. Nel'os and Ang'as had a good friendship and Nel'os was clearly close to the man. He wasn't as abrasive as the warriors that Dyn'ad hung out with. Gar'kin had been mentioned a couple of times.
"Of a kind," Gar'kin chuckled. "I hear you enjoyed gardening?"
"Yes, very much so. Sadly this week I haven't had much time to do so again," Eyeri admitted, uncurling slightly so his legs were no longer pulled tight to his chest. He could answer this stuff. It wasn't about his world ending. "The flowers here are beautiful. The herbs smell nice. I enjoy waking up to their scent. I don't remember being in a place like this before. It's one of the nicer surprises about moving here."
"I'm very happy to hear that. I worked hard to cultivate it," Gar'kin beamed, clearly very pleased by this answer. "Not many pay much attention to the gardens. We have always grown flowers for the nobles but I thought herbs would be a good addition."
"Of course, you're the head gardener," Eyeri nodded to himself. He ran a hand through his hair, gripping it in the bottom of it and twisting it in front of him as his eyes watered but not crying. "You're safe, right? Former consort, it means you follow a weird mix of noble and consort rules?" he asked clarifying what pieces he had collected about Ang'as and how he had to act. No one had fully explained the consort rules to him but apparently most of them related to adults who were sleeping with the Royals as opposed to younglings being protected by them.
"In a manner of speaking, why?" Gar'kin asked curiously.
"I think, I need some advice from someone who isn't my family and is safe. So are you safe?" Eyeri asked, twisting again so he was looking at Gar'kin dead on.
"Yes, if you are looking for advice I am certainly safer than any other nobles. One of the rules of being a former consort, as you put it, is that I cannot reveal any secrets from the Winglord's circle," Gar'kin promised, sounding confident in this fact. "You definitely count as that."
Eyeri swallowed and nodded.