Bird of a Nest - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Nel'os slipped into Cai'ress' room quietly. Ryraso sat on the bed, reading a book peacefully as Cai'ress dreamed on.  They all knew Cai'ress wasn't waking up today, but Ryraso was reluctant to leave him alone for longer than a few hours at a time. Nel'os understood the instinct. The look he got was curious if not suspicious. "Nel?"
"Hows he's doing?" Nel'os sat at the end of the bed, eyes on the wingless back.
"His fever is down," Ryraso shrugged, a hand moving to ruffle Cai'ress' hair. "His back is healing well.  Now we have the drugs out of his system. He is sleeping too. At this rate, it should only be a few days until we can try to bring him out of the coma."
"That's good," Nel'os offered weakly.
"Is it?"
Their eyes met, and for one terrible moment, Nel'os through Ryraso was going to hit him. He looked back to Cai'ress' back. The tension remained, but Ryraso didn't move to punch him. "Do you think it's better to wait for him to see Oh'mat die, or stop him breathing faster?" Fetmar questions were swimming in Nel'os now. Were they delaying the bastards execution for no good reason or was there an excellent reason indeed?
"I think only Cai'ress can answer that."
Nel'os flinched, feeling like Ryraso had slapped him after all. He was right. Of course, he was. Nel'os stood up, nodding. Before he could leave, Ryraso's finger caught his arm and tugged him firmly over to him. Nel'os stumbled and found himself on his knees. A warm hand cupped his face. It was almost impossible to resist leaning into it, his hand coming up to cup Ryraso's hand. The kiss was not deep but loving. Nel'os was able to meet Ryraso's eyes.  Ryraso pressed another kiss to his forehead.
"Now, I assume you didn't come here to see how sore the wound is?"
"No," Nel'os shook his head, racking his brain for why he had come here. "Just to inform you your secondary charge is being as troublesome as your primary," he smirked slightly, showing it was more of a tease than a serious complaint.
"Fetmar's in trouble?" Ryraso's eyebrows lifted. That was not what he was expecting at all.
"Na, he's good. Too good, we'll have to get him into therapy too once Pol'ar has found someone he trusts. I'm talking about Zaro. Who you could have mentioned is from Klosa when we were asking about him! We didn't need to change any laws; he is already ours. As is Tiew, thinking about it." Nel'os tilted his head. "That's a weird thought that the High Priest Inai's second is k'nairi by birthright, even without the link."
"Honestly, it didn't even cross my mind until I noticed he was speaking fluently. Now, focus. What did Zaro do?"
"He left the palace to go get properly introduced to his lover's bonded."
"Fuck," Ryraso sat up straight. "Is he ok? You haven't..."
"He's fine. Enjoyed himself up to the point where he got caught sneaking back in. I dealt with it, and no, I haven't put him in a cage. I had him flogged with his lovers by Captain Par'nast. A normal number of hits too, not the ridiculous number that is written in the punishment. I have sent a warning to the others in the palace reminding them of the punishment as well to avoid a repeat. Zaro's in my circle, the rest of them would be facing Per'ild's wrath!"
"Nel'os,"
"He's a warrior and is most likely going to be in the guard once he's allowed a job. Flogging is on the list of punishments he may have to endure if he breaks the rules."
"I get that. I don't like it, but I understand it," Ryraso smiled, shaking his head. "Are we sure it's safe for him to keep having sex with the guards? It sounds like it is getting him into far more trouble than its worth."
Nel'os grimaced and shrugged. "I don't have an answer for that. He seems rather taken with them. The bonded was very sweet to him after the flogging. As long as they don't do this a second time, or rather before we brand Zaro, it should be fine. Captain Par'nast sat down with him and Fetmar to talk about relationship contracts. Zaro needs to draft one with that nest before things get too complicated."
"That ship may have sailed," Ryraso shook his head. "Zaro was heartbroken, sent on this mission to distract him..." Ryraso trailed off. "Zaro was sent on this mission."
"Something pinging?"
"Tiew planned for this to happen," Ryraso closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He had wondered why Tiew would send his beloved brother on a mission with a high failure rate. The k'nairi claimed the Sparrows because they could fly. Fetmar because he was Eyeri's brother. They should have claimed Zarobecause he was from Klosa, a human born onto their lands but not into the link. The Royals had said it a dozen times trying to reassure him of Eyeri's fate. Navat was the safest place in the war. "He planned for Zaro to get trapped here."
"Why would he..." Nel'os frowned and looked down. The answer was obvious; Tiew was a tactician. He would know better than most the statistics of the Namya winning without the warship. There was no way to replicate that technology, not for a long time. Even if the people who knew that technology were still alive, the materials weren't available. Nel'os had his click as another fact made itself known. "Tiew doesn't think the Namya are going to win the war."
"Shouldn't that be a good thing for you?" Ryraso mused, not missing how despite it being a favourable outcome for the man, Nel'os voice was concerned.
"Ry," Nel'os pushed himself onto the bed and pulled Ryraso in for a kiss. "The war ending will be good for all of us. My concern is how the D'mar win. If Tiew sent Zaro here to be safe, he doesn't think it will be peaceful. We both know most of the elite on both sides will fight until their last breathe before they willingly surrender."
"So I should prepare for all my former comrades to die."
Nel'os tapped his fingers on the bed, looking out of the window. This was always going to be an issue. They had four months left until Loror expected them to return to the frontline too. Things were only going to get harder. "We can save Tiew now we know his connection to us. We can orchestrate a kidnapping. He's not going to come willingly but we can try. We'll hunt down the Zaman brothers. We could probably sneak Isst and Wiljam in the borders and get them trapped too."
Ryraso snorted. "Good luck with that," he shook his head. Isst would not leave Inai's side until both of them were dead and in the ground. Wiljam would fight under the one who razed their valley was dead. "We don't tell Zaro this. He doesn't need to know. None of them do."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Zaro wasn't a fool. He'd figure it out eventually. Their Namya captives would have to learn of their fractions defeat living in peace. Likely after their friends had died. There was no easy way out here. "We have set a date for the branding," Nel'os offered softly. "Next week, on Friday. After that, we can get Zaro settled more. We moved him into the concubine wing. Tai'hon and Mos'it were happy to help him move given he helped them."
"Not Ang?"
"He was busy," Nel'os grimaced. "He's been the one doing my job while we were away."
"And with us all creating drama, he is still the person doing much of it while you are busy," Ryraso pulled a face himself. The noble submissives were a hard lot to deal with and they did not like Ang'as. Ryraso knew Nel'os gave the job to Ang'as originally to try to help the tension between them all. Sadly, it hadn't worked. "I can't imagine its any fun."
"Especially with his helper injured," Nel'os looked at Cai'ress.
"Oh?" Ryraso hadn't thought about Cai'ress' role in court. Being a lover was enough but logically with the Royals at war, it made sense he had a job. "Well, I suppose he could drag Tai'hon along while she's not got a lover."
"Because anyone wants that job," Nel'os laughed. "No, but one of the younglings page boys is about to go through navdia. He's not a good warrior but doesn't want to be mated off as soon as it's over. I was thinking of offering him the job. Wouldn't be the first time. Ang'as is very good at watching out for people who would betray us. Unless you're willing to change career paths?"
Ryraso gave him a look that gave a clear answer to that idea.