Bird of a Nest - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Tai'ray closed his eyes at those words. Standing outside Pol'ar's office with a hand raised to knock. Fuck. Ryraso wanted to leave them. Ryraso didn't trust them anymore after this.
"Ryraso," Pol'ar's voice was gentle and coaxing. "Don't speak like that. We don't know what has happened yet. You love them; you know you do. You are just a little hurt and shaken at the moment. There is no need for such dramatic actions."
"They left him to die. What would they do to me if the nobles who created this find another way to try to dispose of me? If they make it look like I betrayed them?" Ryraso challenged.
Tai'ray looked to the side, shame rising in him that his love could think that but unable to think of anything in say at that moment to counter it. He walked away from the door. He didn't want to listen to any more. It wasn't meant for his ears, regardless. It wasn't like the feelings weren't bouncing through the link loud and clear. It was like the Goddess was taunting them, not letting them connect to Ryraso but letting them feel the emotions that he was drowning in. Doubt, guilt and horror.
"Cai'ress deserved it," Nel'os declared, the image of the blood gushing from Ryraso still very firm in his mind. The smell of blood, the greyness of his skin and the fading light in his eyes; all of them would be having nightmares for years after.
"I doubt that," Tai'ray replied gently, knowing Dyn'ad was too busy to join in with them. Tai'ray rubbed his arm. He didn't know how to feel about this. The link was calling for Cai'ress' blood but this. This was different. Ryraso wanted Cai'ress safe. The attempted murderer of a Royal was severe. Not death sentence worthy, a prolonged grounding in all honesty based on previous such things.
But Ryraso was right. It was their fault this had happened. To be exact, it was his fault. He had thrown the man out of court, determined to get the threat to his nest out of there. Now that action was serving the same danger.
Fault or not, the actions had still been taken. If Cai'ress was still alive, he would have to face the consequences for the attempted murder. Tai'ray clenched his fists as Nel'os muttered about that being obvious with a dark and dangerous edge to his tone.
"Nel'os," Tai'ray scolded. "We did this,"
"No, we didn't," Nel'os disagreed. "We did not put that knife in Cai'ress' hands. Cai'ress choose to that. He can rot in the gutters."
The tone was cold and was as sharp as the knife Cai'ress had used to stab Ryraso. Their bond ruined the cold and uncaring image, revealing Nel'os' true feelings. Ryraso was wrong. Nel'os had feelings about Cai'ress. That was the problem; he wanted to hate him. The person he had trusted had tried to kill someone he loved. How had he read Cai'ress' nature so wrong? How could any of them want anything to do with the man after this? It was wrong. It was unforgivable. No excuse could make this better or acceptable.
There was no arguing with Nel'os when he was like this. Tai'ray knew from experience. He was more concerned with Ryraso doubting he loved them. What more could they do to prove their feeling? He sat in his office, looking at the scrolls and parchment on the table. A message from Loror was waiting saying he was going to come to visit soon to meet Ryraso. At this point, that was the least of his problems.
The moment Dyn'ad found Cai'ress was tangible. It stabbed sharp. Dyn'ad roared. The bond shuddered with the force of his rage and horror. A sick ooze flooded Tai'ray, and he felt the empty void in his mind grow. Tentacles pulled from it, catching him soul and tugging. His heart tightened. For a moment, he could not breathe.
Well, he wasn't dead. Yet.
-x-
Dyn'ad arrived in a rush of feathers. His eyes blank from berserker rage, teeth snarling and clutching the bundle of bones in his arms protectively—a broken body. Still breathing but mangled beyond recognition. Dyn'ad wings spread in warning. He snapped as the aids tried to get closer, ready to attack them to protect it. The same rush of the adrenaline that had let him get there fast was now stopping him from giving up the bundle he was protecting.
Pol'ar took it from him. Walking straight up to him and snarling back, sweeping the body out of his arms and placing it on the bed. There were no screams of pain, just growling from Dyn'ad as he took up guard. Pol'ar yelled orders. People rushed around. Aids kicked any non-healers and medics out of the room. This was going to take all of them to fix them.
Ryraso pressed a hand to Dyn'ad arm, stopping him from swiping at one of the assistants as they rushed past with supplies. It was too hard to look at the body. Dyn'ad's cheek brushed against his. The berserker's talons twitched the moment others came close but didn't move. Ryraso was his love. Dyn'ad wouldn't hurt him like this.
Stumps. Ryraso finally worked up the encourage to look at Cai'ress, and he wasn't sure how he wasn't throwing up. Half his wings were gone. Some of his limbs were gone. The damage was too much.
Magic flowed through him, and everything stopped. He stepped forward and joined the circle forming. Pol'ar and the other healers in the room were gathering their energy together for this. The ring accepted him and magic flooded, fixing as much as they were able. Cuts and bruises, the damage to Cai'ress' skull, it was easy compared to what was next.
The body could only accept so much magic.
Pol'ar chant shifted, and Ryraso felt the magic of the Goddess join them. She pressed a kiss of greeting to his forehead. It started small. A few of the fingers of his left hand reformed first. It wasn't like with the wings in Tawayge. Ryraso had been mostly unaware of what his magic had been doing. The process was slow and thoughtful; each piece considered, prioritised and placed carefully, trying to trick the body into accepting more of the magic.
Muscles reconnected to bones and flesh as they reformed. A whisper of thought moved through them, a choice. The monsters had severed his legs like his wings, halfway down. It was the wings or the legs.
"Are prosthetics an option?"
"No. Where they did it, it isn't impossible, but it will be hard,"
Wings would be useless without legs. The circle mourned. Without legs, he would not be able to take off or land. They would be a mockery of being able. Able to leg in the air, but unable to do anything else. They healed his legs.
Darkness surrounded them as the body refused more magic. A whisper of congratulations from the Goddess entered their minds as the magic faded. An almost whole Cai'ress was in front of them. Blood and gore covered Cai'ress. The magic didn't clean him, but he was no longer covered in cuts and with parts missing. Dyn'ad was still there, no longer in a berserker rage but ready to attack anyone who came too close.
His strong arms caught Ryraso as he fell. Ryraso's grip on him was light, but he didn't fight it. S'onon had caught Pol'ar and helped him into a chair as the healers all looked at what they had achieved.
"How long?" Pol'ar asked, his voice hoarse.
"Half a day,"
"Damn," Ryraso closed his eyes and clutched onto Dyn'ad. Exhaustion filled him. Cai'ress wouldn't wake up for a while yet. How he's survived as long as he had was almost inconceivable. What it suggested was not something he wanted to consider right now. He shifted. "Dyn'ad,"
"Yes,"
"Did Captain Par'nast get who did this?"
"Yes," Dyn'ad nodded, Ryraso feeling it against his head. "They have them locked up in the dungeon. Tai'ray has also imprisoned Cai'ress' house." The words were cold, undisguised hatred filling them. Something in Ryraso's mind settled. Some of the panic from earlier calming. He kissed Dyn'ad chin. The man's hand trembled and held him closer for a moment.
"I want them executed for this," Ryraso stated, not worried about anyone overhearing this. He wasn't going to change his mind about this. "They took pleasure from this, Dyn'ad. They planned and calculated this. They wanted him to suffer. We can't reform or trust them."
"I agree," Dyn'ad nodded again, "However, there is a process we have to follow first." His wings flicked unhappily, and Ryraso could feel the man restraining himself.
"You loved him too," Ryraso noted, shifting so while he was still sitting on Dyn'ad's thighs, he could see the man's face.
"I do," Dyn'ad looked at Cai'ress with a look Ryraso could not read. "If I was not a royal, I'd be tearing them apart. But like many things, I have to hold back." His eyes meet Ryraso's for a moment, and a wave of conflicting emotions hit him.
Do your duty, was what Ryraso had ordered him to do. Doing his commitment to the crown was being behaved perfectly in a situation where he wanted nothing to do with the sensibilities of polite society. Doing his duty to his nest was somehow more complicated. Tai'ray and Nel'os came first. He couldn't let people know Tai'ray was not the head. That meant if Tai'ray said 'no', he had to accept it. He could not force Tai'ray to accept more than he had already done. He took the man's agency from him once, and he did not want to do it again.
Except that had meant abandoning someone he had put into his heart and his responsibilities. Twice, first Ryraso when he left, second when Tai'ray had exiled Cai'ress. And now, this was happening and Dyn'ad could not stop it, could not shield his loves from it and could not fix the cracks in the bond.
Ryraso looked at Cai'ress, unable to take the weight of Dyn'ad's struggles with his own. Pol'ar looked at him. He had already ordered the other healers to go rest. S'onon was bringing over a tray of tea. The grey-winged k'nairi looking at him too. His friend was not missing how he was standing. There were things Ryraso wanted to say, wanted to do but not in public. It would have to wait.
"I'm staying here," Ryraso declared, his voice soft. He leant against Dyn'ad, feeling the man tense at those words. "I'm staying here until Cai'ress wakes up."
"I'll have S'onon set up a cot," Pol'ar nodded, taking his cup of tea and drinking deep.
Ryraso accepted his cup with shaking hands. Dyn'ad helped him. Large hands cupping his hands and lips kissed the side of his head. Ryraso drank the tea gladly. He went to unblock the bond and found nothing. He couldn't feel the Royals at the moment. How long had he no longer been in the pseudo-bond?
"Where is Tai'ray?"
"Dealing with the house. He is sorting the guilty from the innocent. Making sure their hatchlings and younglings are safe. Captain Par'nast is hunting down any other exiled members and mated ones to ensure they are safe."
"And the boys?"
"Fetmar is looking after them. Gar'kin has them all with his nest. They are well guarded and protected. Zaro is with them." They weren't letting any of theirs out of their sight after this.
"And Nel'os?" The one Ryraso was most concerned about how his attitude had been. Dyn'ad was distressed and regretful for his part in this. Ryraso would have to judge from his actions over the next few days to see, but this was a good start at least. Tai'ray was doing his part too, though Ryraso would need to see him to decide further. Nel'os was the wild card.
Dyn'ad looked away from him. "With Ang'as,"
"Ok," Ryraso nodded, his emotions almost numb at that, not angry or sad, just empty.