Bird of a Nest - Chapter 26: Chapter 26

The air was crisp and fresh in the morning. The sky was a deep blue and the weather had been good all day. Too good to stay inside and mope. So, Ryraso was surrounded by rosemary bushes and dirt, helping replant the plants from their smaller containers into the dirt. He rolled his shoulders, running his hand through the plant. It was warm in the greenhouse, the rosemary preferring a warmer climate than Navat often provided but it was popular as a medicinal herb as well as for cooking.
The smell was familiar to Ryraso, taking him back to the lessons he'd had with his local healer about the basics of making medicine. Further still to the smell of his aunt's kitchen went she cooked the mid-winter feast. When he had been younger, he could even dimly remember his mother doing the cooking but those memories were gone now. She had been unable to cook for a long time by the time he was able to remember well.
The dirt wasn't damp enough for the rosemary at the moment but that was easily fixed. If only everything else was so easy to fix. Ryraso clenched his fists in the dry dirt, willing the thoughts away. Things were better. much better than before. He wasn't feeling crowded anymore.
"You have a look on your face," Kit'z pouted, fluttering next to him and scowling darkly at Ryraso. Or at least as darkly as Kit'z could manage. The man wasn't quite able to pull off a disapproving look.
"Do I?" Ryraso said idly, taking no offence to Kit'z being blunt.  He loosened his grip and shook the dirt off his hands, sitting back on his heels. "I can't think why," he said lightly.
"Maybe you should have helped Gar'kin with re-fencing the outer gardens. Heavy work tends to help shift bad emotions," Kit'z mused, leaning on Ryraso's shoulders and bumping their heads together. "I'd lend you my amethyst necklace but Kol'bur has it at the moment. He and Gar'kin were fighting and he needed some extra help." Kit'z swallowed, his wings flapping as he admitted his mates had a fight. A fight that Ryraso could guess the subject off. It seemed Gar'kin had finally confronted Kol'bur about his attitude to Ang'as.
"Doesn't surprise me," Ryraso smiled fondly at Kit'z's belief in crystal helping emotions work through people, if not a touch sadly at the situation. Ryraso used to have a few crystals from Kit'z but when the ship had gone down he'd lost them like so many other of his trinkets. "How do you feel about that?"
Kit'z shrugged, his arms wrapping around Ryraso tighter in a clear demand for comfort. "It's hard," he breathed. "Seeing beyond the black fog that clings to Ang'as. But Gar'kin? He doesn't see it. He sees straight through to the k'nairi behind it. I can feel his love for Ang'as. I can feel it next to his feeling for the nest and it's the same. Loving Gar'kin means accepting his heart has a place for Ang'as, but then when we face him, the fog floods in and it's hard to see anything but the fog."
There was a strange moment of silence as Ryraso considered the words. It was certainly true part of loving someone meant accepting what was in their hearts. Gar'kin had loved Ang'as a long time. But the fog, that was a new analogy. "I wonder," Ryraso mused, bumping their head together again. "I don't see the fog either. Just the man who is lonely and suffers from ill rumours being spread about him. What crystal would help remove that curse?"
"Rumours? Black gems, they absorb the blow," Kit'z smiled, Ryraso feeling it against his skin. "Tourmaline or Onyz feel right. But, they would be treating a symptom rather than the cause. Labradorite would work too.
"Not sure I've heard of Labradorite," Ryraso commented, shifting in Kit'z's hold to hug him closer. Anyone else and how close they were could be a problem but Kit'z was safe to hug. Mated to a former consort, Kit'z fell in an odd place in the hierarchy of things.  He was not part of the inner royal circle, but certainly part of the outer. If Kit'z wanted a hug from a friend, Ryraso would let him indulge.
"It shields against ill will and bad intents," Kit'z mumbled. "I imagine Ang'as could do with some of that."
"Certainly," Ryraso agreed.
"I'll find something suitable," Kit'z promised. "A peace offering... A gift. Something. The last thing we need is Ang'as hating us. Kol'bur was cruel to tell him so outright that he was not welcome. If things shift, Gar'kin may have to make a decision between us and him and even bonded, I don't like those odds." Ryraso tightened his grip around Kit'z. That was an anxiety he understood well.
"A bit dark but I agree," a second voice echoed. Ves'ash, the final in Gar'kin's nest was standing with Pol'ar at his side. Ves'ash had a look of concern, standing in his working clothes, hair wrapped up tight. Ryraso meet his eyes and felt Ves'ash's mind against his. A whisper to be careful. Their nest had enough issues without going up against the Royal nest. Ryraso's lips twitched at the look. Ves'ash had nothing to worry about from him at least. Still, there was something reassuring about Ves'ash's protectiveness over his mate.
"I need to talk to Ryraso, if you'll willing to trade for your mate, Kit'z," Pol'ar offered with a touch of amusement in his tone. His voice seemed to make cold water pour over Ryraso's feelings.
Kit'z nodded and let go of Ryraso reluctantly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Ves'ash quickly swept his mate up in a big hug and started whispering reassurances in Kit'z's ear. Kit'z almost disappearing into his mate's arms. The situation was clearly upsetting be man more than he had been admitting.
Ryraso moved away, and over to Pol'ar. He didn't want to interfere with this. This was mate business. Unfortunately, that left him facing one of the men he had been avoiding for the past few days. Pol'ar met his eyes with a stern look and gestured outside. Feeling like he was a student who had broken rules, Ryraso tried to walk with his head high and his shoulders back.
Unhappily, he quickly slid out of the greenhouse and into the cooler vegetable gardens. The dim sound of training could be heard from the nearby training grounds. Ryraso could see some younglings flying over the flower garden too, near the palace walls. He pulled his jacket closer as a colder wind blew around him and he paused, waiting for Pol'ar to join him. Eyeri's verdict still hadn't been given. His week had finished and Pol'ar had said nothing to the boy about his future, only telling him that he did good work.
"The garden is more respectable than the ring at least," Pol'ar said offhand walking towards the palace, a hand dusting Ryraso's shoulders as he reached Ryraso. "Though a great deal dirtier," he teased gently.
"Depends on the person," Ryraso shrugged wiping his hands on his overalls, suddenly conscious of his dirty state. "I have no problem in either. I enjoy teaching the guards that I'm not a weakling to be ignored, but Gar'kin asked for my hands."
"Well, I suppose," Pol'ar nodded in acceptance. "Gar'kin has been playing his role well. He certainly suits being a former consort more than being one." Pol'ar was quiet for a moment, his eyes drifting back to the greenhouse where Kit'z and  Ves'ash were still embracing. "Just a shame his attachments from that time are endangering his future," he mused with a hint of disapproval.
"You saying he should give up on Ang'as?" Ryraso said, sounding surprised by that fact.
"No," Pol'ar shook his head. "Only that sometimes, we have to pick between our pasts and our presents and what is actually our future. But Ang'as and Gar'kin's nest are not who are we need to talk about today."
"My son?"
"Among other things. You train your son very well. I just wish I could wash the bad taste from my mouth with how he came to be under your tutorlege. I don't think he should be a healer, Ryraso. Something is wrong but I don't deny, he is a fine medic and he has the power. His brother," Pol'ar paused. "Fetmar is a good man. He did a good thing saving his brother from that fate. He was also very firm in the belief that Eyeri wasn't forced into this."
"He wasn't," Ryraso pointed out, unable to keep the defensiveness from his voice.
"Not by people, certainly," Pol'ar agreed, putting out his hand to calm Ryraso. "Maybe he is right. Maybe I can't judge Eyeri's decision so easily. However, Eyeri's circumstances are no longer the same. He can pick a different life here. His own path. I want him to see other paths before continuing on this one. It would be cruel to stop him on his path completely, however. He's not going on the programme. Neither of them. We'll find a different way for him to learn healing. And not from you, either."
"May I ask why?" Ryraso asked, almost demanding but holding back out of respect for who Pol'ar was. Being angry was not going to help anything and yet he could not stop the wave of fury burning in him. Eyeri's education was being taken from him.
"He's not your apprentice anymore, Ryraso. He's your son. I'm not saying you can't teach him things, I'm saying there is a conflict of interest there. You are far too protective of him. It's time your son learned from other teachers," Pol'ar settled on firmly.
"I disagree," Ryraso rumbled.
"Unfortunately for you, it's not your decision," Pol'ar said coldly.
Ryraso glared at him. "Is there anything else?" He asked tightly, his chest tightening. He wanted this conversation to be over.
"I wish there was not," Pol'ar admitted exhaling. "I bring some bad news from the war front in your regard," he commented, his stance going more formal as he looked at Ryraso. "The Namya are not doing well. They lost Lixa."
Lixa was a city in the northern plains. It was a major powerhouse for the Namya and their centre of operations. Losing it was a major blow and was sure to put them in a weaker position. Ryraso swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "We lost Lixa?" he clarified, sitting down on a stone wall as his knees suddenly turned weak. Lixa was a huge target. Maybe Ryraso has been naive, but when Loror had given Tai'ray six months to find the caw, he had assumed Loror wouldn't pull anything too big in the k'nairi's absence. That had been a very wrong assumption.
"Yes," Pol'ar nodded. "I don't know much else. The High Priest is still alive and well, as is his bodyguard. They weren't at the city when it was taken. The only names of people I have which may be of interest are Taidra and Feno. A special order was sent out and my contact saw it. So I imagine they are of some importance."
"Are they alive?" Ryraso begged. The relief that Isst was fine, along with Inai, fading at the news Pol'ar had Taidra and Feno's names. Taidra had been a close friend, his paranoia aside. Feno had been love with Taidra to an almost sickening degree. The two were glued by the hip and the thought of anything happening to either of them was hard.
"Feno, I'm not sure about. He seems to have disappeared. Taidra is alive. Crippled, but alive. Apparently, his leg was badly damaged. The order was about keeping him safe long enough for the High Priest to send him to the alchemist bunker," Pol'ar explained. "I'm sorry, I don't know anymore."
"No, it's fine. You've told me more than I knew," Ryraso murmured, that distinct hollow feeling he'd managed to avoid for a couple of weeks returning. "Thank you."