Bird of a Nest - Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Ryraso woke up facing Dyn'ad. The k'nairi was still asleep with his arms holding Ryraso close and their legs tangled together. Dyn'ad's face was tense and unhappy even in sleep. Ryraso felt oddly numb for the moment. In mere hours he was going to be branded and whipped in front of the entire court. Every High Guardian, first bonded and nosy busybody was in court now. He wasn't scared. Nervous but not scared. He had known this was coming but when Nel'os had told him the previous day, an icy feeling had overcome it.
Tai'ray hadn't looked at him when he had gotten back from court. He had only spoken to Ryraso tell him that the branding would be today in a formal tone. The boys had been quiet too, leaving Nel'os and Dyn'ad to fill the quiet tension with something else. It hadn't quite worked.
He sat up and looked outside. The sun was starting to lower. The countdown was coming to an end. Ryraso's heartbeat starting to increase and he forced himself to count to ten. He could do this. He would do this with his heart high. He had nothing to be ashamed off here. He had left for a good reason and he had fought with one too. Closing his eyes, Ryraso steeled himself before moving to get out of the best. Dyn'ad moaned loudly in complain and holding him tighter to stop him escaping.
"Dyn'ad," Ryraso coaxed softly, running a hand through Dyn'ad's hair as he leaned on one arm. "I need to have a shower at least before the ceremony," he commented softly. He wasn't going into this anything less than perfect.
"No!" Dyn'ad replied in a rather childish tone. "Don't go. Warm. Soft. Safe."
"Sticky," Ryraso added, to the one-word comment with a large smile on his face. "Come on," he tugged at the arms. "You know if I'm not in perfect condition the nobles will talk for months," he pointed out reasonably. Not that he cared much about what the nobles thought typically but it matters to Nel'os and to a less degree with Tai'ray. Ryraso was their intended and he needed to be viewed with respect.
"They always talk," Dyn'ad grumbled, having little patience for it all. It was amazing to the commoner born that Tai'ray was able to deal with all the maniacs who resided in the court. Dyn'ad preferred dealing with the Generals and Commanders. At least they had conversations he could understand. Nel'os found it amusing and endearing, able to keep up and enjoy court gossip. But he was born noble.
"Better for them to say good things, rather than bad," Ryraso replied, his fingers stroking Dyn'ad hair softly. It was rare Dyn'ad reverted to being like this. Ryraso knew part of the reason would be Dyn'ad wasn't really awake yet and had momentarily forgotten the seriousness of the situation. But the awareness would return soon. It was also why he was humouring the man. It was nice. A touch of normalcy in an otherwise stressful day.
The Royals hadn't tried to play with him that night. Not that Ryraso had been in the mood either but there had been no flirting. He had gotten barely a kiss on the forehead from Tai'ray. It would have stung, only Nel'os had clung onto him with such ferocity that Ryraso knew he was still desired. Tai'ray didn't want this ceremony to happen any more than Ryraso did. Only, there was no other way. Not now.
Dyn'ad groaned unhappily, pressing his face into Ryraso's thighs before his limbs tensed. His memory finally kicking in. He looked up slowly at Ryraso, who gave him a sad smile, cupping Dyn'ad face. He leaned down and kissed him softly. Dyn'ad blushed slightly.
"Don't you hate me at the moment?" Dyn'ad said both looking and sounding hopelessly confused. They had fallen to sleep together after having a discussion about what had happened between him and Tai'ray all those years ago. It hadn't been too tense until Cai'ress had been brought up. Dyn'ad had pointed out he hadn't forced Cai'ress on Tai'ray, and he could have. After that, things had got a little more pointed.
Ryraso's first reaction to the comment was to hit him over the head, but he held back. "Stupid birdbrain," he commented softly. Dyn'ad shot him a light glare on instinct but it quickly faded into wariness "I told you didn't I?" Ryraso said gently.
"Told me?" Dyn'ad said little grumpy but more confused than anything else. He didn't like being insulted. Ryraso had gotten away with it more times than he cared to admit but Ryraso was special. He reached up to cup Ryraso's face too. There was a strange moment of shifting before they were flipped.  Ryraso on his back surrounded by pillows and Dyn'ad above, looking down.
"I am angry at you," Ryraso's voice was oddly calm but truthful "I am hurt by what you did and why you did it. But I do not hate you, Dyn'ad. I couldn't hate you for betraying me, I couldn't hate you for this," he promised, wrapping his legs around Dyn'ad waist.
"If you had been k'nairi..." Dyn'ad trailed off, one hand moving to cup Ryraso's hip to support him.
"I'm not, I'm human. Do you really think I care about you that little?" Ryraso asked gently. "Now let me up?" he teased with another wriggle of his hips. "I do need that shower," he said with a tone of regret. He would have liked to have some fun but time was moving.
"Can I join you?" Dyn'ad said, a playful look glittering in his eyes. His hand moved from being supporting to groping as he got a good handful of Ryraso's ass. Ryraso moaned lowly, rolling his hips again Dyn'ad and biting his lip. Slightly playing it up as he enjoyed the looks that crossed Dyn'ad's face at the sounds. The man was fun to tease.
"If you can hold yourself back from molesting me," Ryraso shrugged, letting a mischievous look cross his face.  "I'm sure we can arrange something," he purred
"I think I can manage... If you can," Dyn'ad smirked, his eyes lighting up. Hope filled them and not just hope that Ryraso would fun. Hope for something far more than that. Dyn'ad leant down and kissed Ryraso on the lips. It took them a little longer than planned to get to the shower.
-----x-----
"Need help?" Yerir'o asked, his head peeking into the bedroom. "Eyeri has Aw'endo buzzing around him," he chuckled, as he walked further in, dressed in his General dress uniform. It suited him well.
The room Fetmar had been given was a pale green colour. As with all of the consort rooms, there was a large bed in the centre of the room, this one with a red blanket on it that Fetmar was currently lying on, glaring at a piece of elaborately patterned fabric like it had bitten him. "Not with the trousers but the robe," Femar grumbled, throwing the fabric at Yerir'o before collapsing on the bed. "I have no clue how to put it on," he muttered, looking at the ceiling unhappily.
"You have to remember it was designed for people with wings," Yerir'o said amused, catching the cloth and shaking it out to get a better look at it.  It was a green colour, that having been finally decided upon in court much to Tai'ray's delight. Several patterns covered it, including the sign of the k'nairi goddess. The robes had clearly been designed to look important despite the newest of the situation. New, but the traditional robes were to be used instead of a human-based design as a point.
They were k'nairi now, not human.
"Why am I wearing the robes by the way?" Fetmar asked, looking over at Yerir'o tiredly. "Seems like a waste of time given they will be coming off." For a hot iron brand to press against his skin. Part of Fetmar felt he should fight, only. He had made a deal with Tai'ray. He'd taken the brand, the sparrows and Zaro wouldn't. He'd pay the price for bringing them here, they would not. Not that Tai'ray was going to let them go, but some time had been given to allow them to take the oath freely rather than at the point of a branding iron.
"Something about trying to make it about less scary for the fledgelings when they were facing it too. The robes were supposed to help make it feel like a ceremonial thing that hurt but wasn't scary," Yerir'o shrugged, holding the robe over one arm. "I doubt it would have worked but the sentiment was in the right place."
"Fledgelings?" Fetmar asked, sitting up and swinging his legs against the side of the bed.
"Humans who were either born here or grew up here because their parents worked for the k'nairi," Yerir'o explained dutifully. "Humans gain a link normally between 2 and 5 if they are here from birth. The older you are when you come here, the longer it takes to be accepted into the link."
"They are being brought back too because they are apart of the link, even if they didn't choose to be," Fetmar murmured understanding the situation straight away. "Must be scary. Some must be very young if they could gain the link so young. They are being chased by people they may not fully remember."
"At least now, it shouldn't be as scary," Yerir'o commented softly, as he pulled Fetmar's top off him. Fetmar complied, shivering slightly not from the cold but from the act itself. "Assuming the Winglord has declared to them they won't be branded," he thought suddenly. "I'll have to ask tomorrow. Stand up," he ordered gently, offering an arm for Fetmar to hold. He was still a little shaky on his legs after being injured.
Fetmar pushed the arm away and stood, letting Yerir'o put the robe on him silently. Yerir'o quickly making some adjustments to get it to sit right and smoothed them down. Fetmar endured the process feeling distinctly out of his depth. The clothes he was wearing were alien to him in more ways than one. He was about to go into a hostile environment to be punished wearing clothes he could never have afforded in his lifetime and he had no idea what to do or what to say.
"Fetmar, are you ok in here?" Tai'ray commented as he walked in the room with the confidant of someone who was allowed too. "We're going to be late," he murmured, lifting an eyebrow at the sight of Yerir'o in the room with him.
"Fetmar's just struggling with the outfit," Yerir'o bowed his head respectfully, unwittingly switching to k'nairi tongue. Really as someone who was going to be courting Fetmar, he wasn't meant to be in the same room as him alone. Not for a couple more weeks at least. "These robes are hard to put on the first time," he commented lightly.
"That so?" Tai'ray drawled, slightly blushed as Fetmar looked over at Yerir'o confused by the language change. Tai'ray resisted the urge to smirk, instead choosing to play stoic guardian. The last thing Fetmar needed was to be considered easy. For commoners, these things didn't matter, but Fetmar had been catapulted into the noble level of k'nairi society. Tai'ray needed to protect the young man from things he had no idea existed.
"There, all done," Yerir'o declared with one last tug of material.
"Thank you," Fetmar smiled weakly at Yerir'o as he looked down at the outfit.
"You both look very handsome," Tai'ray praised, offering his arm for Fetmar to take. "Now it is time to go," he said firmly as Fetmar shied away from the arm. Fetmar paused, hesitation in his eyes but he obediently took it. Tai'ray gently led him out of the room, making sure to support him. Fetmar's cheeks went a shade darker but he didn't complain about the treatment. Tai'ray smiled softly.
This wasn't going to be fun.