Bird of a Nest - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Fast drugs were not as instant as stories made them seem. Even if this drug was fast-acting, it would take a while before the effects started to show. Ryraso clenched and unclenched his fists, reaching out and yanking Cai'ress close to him as Om'hat drank his tea. Cai'ress didn't fight the move, and the hands didn't appear to stop him. Cai'ress clutched to his clothes with shaking hands, himself almost naked at this point. Ryraso rarely had the desire to tear a man apart. Right now, facing Om'hat, the image was extremely appealing.
"On the face of it, you have a lot of good qualities. In general, people want to see if you can be tamed rather than removed," Om'hat noted, his eyes watching as Ryraso took off his jacket and placed it over Cai'ress. "The problems lies in that the qualities of a good mate and a good royal are different. You are not equal in their relationship. You are below them."
"They prefer me on top in general,"
Om'hat clicked, Cai'ress flinching violently. He might have moved, but Ryraso's grip on the man was bruising at this point. He was not going to let Cai'ress leave his side until he had no choice. "Crudeness is not a good quality in any mate,"
"You haven't spent much time around warriors, have you?" Ryraso sniffed. How was he going to get out of here? With the magic blocking the link, hopefully, the others had noticed and were looking for him. He couldn't attack or fight here. Not with so many guards ready to pin him. The only weapon at his disposal was the still burning knife that Om'hat had used to scar Cai'ress. "You don't get their respect by being polite. The royals are warriors now, or have you forgotten?"
"Equal mates are different," Om'hat waved his hand in a dismissive nature. The way he was talking about equal and submissive mates, Om'hat was a faithful follower of the old ways. Tai'ray and Dyn'ad were 'equal' because they were both dominants. Nel' os as first bonded was also an 'equal' by respect for his position. Everyone else was not equal. "You are a submissive mate. Even if that is not your nature. Their time as warriors has not spoiled their tongues, nor should you allow yours to be so either."
Ryraso scowled at him. Om'hat wasn't wrong in that statement. Ryraso knew that, but he saw no reason to put on his palace face when he was being threatened by a pimp. "You're not wrong in that I am not submissive by nature."
"Which is not necessarily a bad thing," Om'hat allowed. "Even former Winglords would struggle to know what to do with your profession. A healer," There was a pause as the man found the right words. "A healer can not throw away their gifts so easily. It is a respectable position. However, it requires a level of attitude that a submissive mate should not show. By all rights, you should resign from that job and retire to the courtrooms. The rumours are that you were Goddess blessed?"
"You are referring to the wings I healed?"
"So you are," Om'hat hummed, his talons tapping on the table. "Makes things so much more difficult. You can not act above your station, nor is it permittable for you to give up your powers. To insult the Goddess like that is beyond reproach. It would be best for the Winglord to keep you as a consort, not a mate."
"Many share that view. Sadly for you all, Dyn'ad and Nel'os love me too. When all parties love the person, the bond is bound to occur eventually," Ryraso shrugged. "As you have pointed out, I'm a little loud to be hidden away. An open secret is impossible. The link sang when I returned. It was dizzying."
"Hiding you away is not an option," Om'hat agreed. "If you must have a job, it must be something to be proud of. No, this is all going to have to be behavioural."
"Somehow I think this is not going to be acceptable at court," Ryraso sniffed, gesturing to the cowering buddle at his feet.
"No." Om'hat clicked.
Someone tapped his lower back. It was not a hard hit, it shouldn't have hurt. Only fire burned. Ryraso doubled over as the unexpected pain shot through him. He trembled. Eyes on the floor as Cai'ress supported him. "Damn you," he hissed. No wonder harming him and the results of doing so had not concerned Om'hat. He didn't need to. They had given him something that was making him hypersensitive.
"Oh, good. Some of the effects are starting,"
"Ryraso."
"Some?" Ryraso hissed, narrowing his eyes and ignoring Cai'ress at the moment. Heat was beginning to burn from his fingertip. His chest was tightening, and it was becoming hard to think straight. His powers reached out instinctively to find what was wrong, but they couldn't find it. There was no injury or wound to fix. They couldn't heal a poison. He shifted, trying to stand but hands pushed him down to his knees. Fingers were pressing into him, and he was having trouble not yelling out.
"Don't "
A slap ripped through the room, followed by a broken sob. Ryraso's mind sank into black tar. Trying to protest but a whimper escaped instead. Talons scrapped over his forearm, slicing him to pieces.
"You have no right to speak, pet,"
A hand cupped his chin, retching his head upwards. A cruel smile met him; Sharp teeth glinted in the light, hungry yellow eyes drowned his senses, making it impossible to turn away. A tongue darted out, pointed and long, licking the creature's lips. This monster wanted to kill him. To sink those teeth into his neck and tear the skin from it.
"Oh, this look suits you so much more," it crooned. Sparks followed his fingers as he traced over his face. "So much prettier."
"Fuck you," he spat. Hatred was filling him at the sight of this person. Even if he could not remember why. His hands twitched, and he tried to push forward. A solid force stopped him. Gripping at his shoulders and legs. A tentacle of hands clutching him with an unforgiving grip that rooted his soul.
"Oh, we will be doing that," agreed the monster, dropping his chin. "I need your silence after all," he noted. "For now,"
The click.
A rain of daggers bit into him. Blood flooded his mouth. A trail grazed over his back, rough and scraping the skin away. He spat the blood out. A hand slapped his face. The slap jarred him for a moment, unable to see straight as the sting spread through his face.
"Disgusting creature."
The rain continued. A baton battered against him. His arms still restrained by claws. Eventually, they stopped. It was hard to tell how long it had been. He looked blurry eyes up at the creature. The thing was grinning. He didn't spit again but blood from still dripping from his chin. Everything was aching or burning.
"Now, let's discuss behaviour, shall we?" the creature started, licking the blood of his talons. "Spitting is not acceptable," he noted. "Nor is doubting the word of the Winglord."
"Yet you doubt his choice in me?" the words escaped from his lips.
"The flesh chooses you, not the rule. You doubt the position. You change laws older than your bloodline. You argued to change things which have been baked into this since the first Winglord. You make the Winglord question. You make him weak," the last word was but an animalistic growl. Eyes black and wings spread wide. An unforgivable word, it seemed. "We need to fix that. You must never think it is your place to question such things again."
The still aware and sane part of Ryraso laughed hysterically. It bubbled out of his mouth and spread into the room. The look in response was one Ryraso was sure a normal man would plead forgiveness from. "You know nothing," he let himself smile.
Fury was not strong enough for what was in the creature's eyes were now.
Somehow that made it more amusing. The laughter spilt from him like wine over a table. Unstoppable and tainting everything it touched. The grip on him dropped, and he tumbled to the ground, unable to keep himself up. Goddess-blessed? He was far more than that, not that he knew why. Why? His mind cried out for an answer into the silent abyss. The link was still locked away behind a forest of thorns. The mark on his arm was ice cold. She would not help him here.
"Maybe it would be easier to eradicate him. He may be too far gone."
"Fuck and dump? Make it look like a meet up gone wrong?"
"Likely best, he's useless."
"You can't," a weak voice yelled. "You can't!"
A click. Ryraso's body spasmed from the sound. Twitching as pain pulsed through him. He was starting to expect it now. No real pain came. Ignoring where his body was sore from being struck before. A gasp and scream came from near him, revealing who the click had been for.
"What did I tell you, pet?"
"You can't," rasped someone. "I. Won't. Let. You,"
For one moment, Ryraso felt nothing. Then it slammed into him. Excruciating pain. The link opened. His vision went white. Blood gushed from his throbbing abdomen. He didn't scream. He opened his eyes. Time changed. Things stopped moving, instead only flashes of awareness came over him. Cai'ress was holding the knife. Nel' os appeared. Slapped Cai'ress to the ground. Then. There was nothing.