Bird of a Nest - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Fetmar corrected the stance of one of the students and moved with him as he moved through the stance, helping him move the right way. The kid groaned as he got it wrong again. Fetmar smiled went through it again. He was an older one who had fallen into bad habits. His eyes flickered up as Nel'os appeared with Aw'endo, the two looking sheepish and oddly dripping wet.
"Good to see you," Fetmar called over them, bemused. He patted his student's shoulder as his arm moved wrong again. Another groan and they moved again. Fetmar watched him get it right before smiling at him and moving over to Aw'endo. He caught the younglings as he dived into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I assumed you weren't coming today," he murmured into Aw'endo damp hair, kissing his forehead. During sessions, he treated Aw'endo the same as the rest of them but this moment was different.
"I wasn't but Eyeri's here?" Aw'endo asked.
"Yes, he is," Fetmar agreed, "He's over with Zaro practising his daggers, so be careful," he butted their heads together and gestured over to where they were.
Aw'endo nodded and flittered over, but Fetmar didn't miss how he moved passed a few other younglings to greet them silently. Wings brushed over each other and one who was stretching out a pull yanked Aw'endo for a brief hug. The look of surprise on Aw'endo's face hurt Fetmar's chest. Friends, Aw'endo was sure he didn't have them, Fetmar was growing increasingly certain that he had people who liked him but struggled to help him with the bullies.
"Fetmar..."
"Royal Bonded Nel'os?" Fetmar asked, turning back to the Royal. "I see you spent time with him as least. Did this expand to an actual conversation or just play?" He signalled to the younglings to finish for the day. Half of which collapsed on the ground. A few chased after Aw'endo to watch Eyeri use his blades.
Nel'os paused, expression unreadable. They were in public, Fetmar noted. Fetmar calling him by full title was a clear indication of how Fetmar felt about Nel'os at the moment. "Fetmar," Nel'os repeated tone shifting. He did not approve of Fetmar suggesting he was not a good guardian in a public place with curious ears about. "This is not the time nor the place."
"There is a ring, right there," Fetmar gestured over to it. "I told you before, I think the idea you can't let your frustrations out while sparing is ridiculous. You're a more skilful warrior than most in this room. This is the perfect place."
"It is not proper," Nel'os reminded, walking with Fetmar to the side where the children were less likely to be trying to understand them. His wings flapped before setting down again. "Fetmar."
"Do you have something to say to me or are you just going to keep saying my name?" He pushed himself up to sit on a ledge. He grabbed his waterskin and took a drink. "I'd offer this to you but you look like you've had enough water."
"We played more than talked," Nel'os leaned next to him, looking back over the training grounds. To the far side, the guards were going exercises. Some of the younglings were trying to mimic their moments. Fetmar knew which ones were likely to take that path and which would be going to joining the D'mar. It was rather easy to tell. Anyone who didn't agree, or whose family didn't agree, with the D'mar joined the home guard instead. It made things easier for Fetmar to know who to trust.
The problem arose when the D'mar bound younglings wanted him to teach them how to fight not how to defend. He sent them away to the guards who were supposed to teach them offensive stuff. He was defence and basics, not attacking. He was not going to train them to kill his comrades.
"He ..." Nel'os went to say something but stopped. There were too many ears here. Nel'os and Fetmar's relationship was not brilliant. Tai'ray seemed to have gained Fetmar's respect somehow. Dyn'ad spared regularly with the young human. Nel'os wasn't sure how to open friendship with this warrior when he could not act as such. He'd also managed to slap away any attempts from Fetmar too. "Thank you, for looking after him."
Fetmar looked over almost surprised by the sincerity in his tone. "He is my brother. It is my duty."
"You adopted him as your brother very fast," Nel'os noted.
"I accepted Ryraso as a foster father rather fast too, along with Isst as a weird uncle," Fetmar snorted. "Maybe it's the small-town boy in me. Dad had me well trained to be friendly and welcoming to anyone passing through. Everyone was to be treated like family. So a lost brat who has attached himself to my brother is no problem at all. His add-ons, they are a little more tricky." He smirked at Nel'os reaching over to pluck a feather from his hair. "And even more strangely, if I understood the age to maturity explanation correctly, you're not that much older than me."
Nel'os opened his mouth before pausing as he clearly did the math. "That's probably truer than we'd like," Nel'os exhaled, taking the feather and looking at it idly. It was a normal bird's feather. It must have got in his hair when he'd dived in the lake.  "Winglord's don't typically have children of their own. We are only supposed to use the eggs of the Winglady. It's very rare for her age and the Winglord's ages to match up appropriately. We won't get the chance to have a hatchling for another hundred years." He paused. "None of us particularly minded that."
"The Winglady's in her third century?"
"Just, yes. She's 310ish," acknowledged Nel'os. "So, most children of the Winglord are either adopted or come with a bonded." He looked over at where Aw'endo was with a strange look. "We weren't ready for a youngling but we thought Ryraso would be here and he's naturally very good with younglings."
Fetmar's lips twitched. "Oddly. He had a reputation for being," Fetmar paused and tilted his head. "Aggressive? He could keep Isst and the twins in line and they are powerful personalities. The first time I saw him with Eyeri, I was rather surprised by how gentle he was with him. Somehow Eyeri ended up being like a duckling with Ryraso. It was very sweet to watch Ryraso get flustered as Eyeri was at his elbow almost every moment of the day. But enough reminiscing. Nel'os whether you planned to or not, you are Aw'endo guardian. That involved hard conversations, especially when they involve things you created."
"I know," Nel'os nodded. "But things are too fragile at the moment. He needs a little more time. I tried to talk to him about Cai'ress, but he didn't respond well. Like Ryraso, I fear those issues are not going to be possible to move forward on until Cai'ress is out of danger." His wings fluttered again, before pulling in tight.
"That is not the only issue," Fetmar reminded, but stopped talking as Aw'endo and Eyeri moved over to them, their friends staying a way back. "Yes, boys?" Fetmar lifted an eyebrow.
"Nice hair, Eyeri," Nel'os smiled at the boy. Fetmar agreed it rather suited him. After being dressed down, Zaro had combed Eyeri's hair and braided it into a warrior style. It certainly gave the boy an extra edge to his normal look. His eyes were sparkling and he looked much better than in the morning.
"Zaro did it. Can't train with my hair in my eyes," Eyeri closed the distance between them and hugged Nel'os, taking no notice of him being damp. Nel'os hugged back tightly.
"Good for Zaro,"
"Oh, yeah. We need to talk to you about Zaro," Fetmar lifted his head. "Where is he?" he frowned, noting he had not appeared with his brothers. Herymi was on-duty guarding Ryraso but Par'nast had ordered Zaro to stay within the training grounds until they had dealt with his infraction.
"With Par'nast," Eyeri singsonged happily. "Zaro cut himself accidentally when pulling the daggers out of the targets. I'm offered to deal with it but Par'nast wanted to see someone else patch Zaro up. Something about first aid training?" Eyeri shrugged. "Can we go have lunch with the others today?"
"Sure," Fetmar nodded, relief filling him at the request. This was the first time they had asked to spend time with the other younglings. It was a good sign. "As long as you both eat a full plate." Both boys pulled faces but Fetmar lifted an eyebrow. "I can come with you to check if you want?"
"No, we'll eat," promises came quickly at the idea of Fetmar tagging along, Aw'endo wings flapping slightly.
Fetmar's face hurt from his grin and he waved them off "See you later then." The two fluttered off back to the group. There was still some hesitation between them all. New bonds forming and working out how things worked. It was sweet, seeing the shy smiles and gentle laughs as they relaxed around each other. The group moved on and Fetmar felt Nel'os lean against him, one wing batted against his side. "One good sign," he offered to the noble.
"Indeed," Nel'os breathed. "Now," there was a visible change as he pulled himself together again. "What's this about Zaro?"
"Many, many things. Two things I'd rather you have an answer for him when he asks: when are you going to brand him, and when are you going to move him out of the dungeons?" Fetmar said unable to keep the exasperation from his voice. "I realise he's in a nice cell but it is a cell nonetheless."
Nel'os blinked twice. "I thought he had been moved to a different wing?" he furrowed his eyebrows. He knew Zaro had not been branded yet but he hadn't realised he was still in the dungeons.
"If he has, no one has told him or stopped him using the cell as his room."
"Noted," Nel'os had a look in his eyes. One Fetmar was fast learning meant he was talking to the other Royals through their bond. "It seems the paperwork must have been lost in the chaos of everything else happening. I'll have him moved to the concubine wing. There are still a few rooms free, even reserving one for Cai'ress and for Gar'kin."
"Does Gar'kin need one?" Fetmar thought back to Eyeri saying the man had been arguing that morning. And the other arguments Fetmar had seen or heard off. Reserving a room was either being prepared or possibly allowing Gar'kin to fight with his nest. If he had somewhere to go, he had no reason to stay if things got too hard. Fetmar doubted things were too hard, however. The expression on Nel'os suggested he agreed with Fetmar. "Fine. He likes the former consorts. What about the brand?"
"We need to arrange them for a fair few people who have been returned," Nel'os nodded. "Next week. The nobles are arguing over the day. Tai'ray would have preferred this week but, this week will be the trial for the house. He doesn't want the two things happening near to each other. Its bad luck."
"And for the pimp?"
Nel'os looked over towards were Captain Par'nast was striding towards them, Zaro in tow. "We can either hang him this week, or the week after the branding is done. The question is, whether we wait for Cai'ress to be awake or not for it. There is something to be said for seeing yourself that your nightmare is dead. However the longer we wait, the longer he breathes." Something in his tone was off. An iced off feeling that Fetmar didn't understand fully. The anger towards what the monster had done was almost physical but the ice? There was something else under that. Fetmar said nothing, as the Captain arrived.
"Good Afternoon, Royal Bonded Nel'os," Captain Par'nast bowed his head politely. "I need to talk to you about this one." He pulled Zaro in front of him. "He broke a few rules and we need a judgement from you before the Quartermaster gets involved."
"He can be rather zealous. Which rule did you break?"
Par'nast nudged Zaro. Zaro looked at him pleadingly but the Captain took no notice. Zaro flushed and explained. Nel'os laughed. A proper, full-body laugh that had Zaro looking about to flee and Par'nast smiling at the sight. Fetmar only felt a little confused at why Nel'os seemed to find the situation so funny. Nel'os arms wrapped around Zaro and held him close to stop him running away as Zaro started to edge to the side. "Oh, I needed a good laugh. I can certainly protect you from being punished harshly for that," he giggled.