Bound Beneath the Moon [ONC 2021] ✔

Chapter 17

I'm waiting in the greenhouse with Kavas and Taquib. The challenge was shorter than anyone expected. So, I requested Morven to fetch Erie and bring her here. It's about time she met my birds.

    The glass doors open. In walks Morven, and right behind her is Erie. He does a short bow and wink before closing the doors behind him.

    I want to greet Erie, but I'm more concerned about the bandages on her face. I rush over to cup her cheeks and kiss every bruise I see.

    She laughs the whole time, and when I'm done, she puts her hands on mine. "You didn't have to do that."

    I smile. "But I did. I wanted to make you feel better."

    "Well, it worked. So I'll give you that."

    She leans in for another kiss, but before she can, I hear an angry screech. Kavas shows up out of nowhere. She's clawing at Erie and trying to pull at her hair. I can't help but let out a cry and

    I can see Erie shaking. "So. You have a violent pet bird."

    I make sure my grip on Kavas is good. "I'm sorry, Kavas isn't usually like this. Sure, she's mean and kind of aggressive, but never like that."

    I rush over to put her in her night cage. Both birds have one for discipline. For when Taquib keeps stealing too much and Kavas... Is just herself.

    I walk back over to Erie, making sure kavas doesn't try to find her way out of the cage. I kiss her forehead and dust off her shoulders. "I don't know what's gotten into her.

I hear a little chirp behind us. Turning around, I see Taquib, staring directly at Erie. She's standing right on the glass table and drops the fabric bundled up in her mouth in front of her. She's using her head to push it towards Erie, smoothing her feathers out.

Erie crouches down to look at the makeshift bag of Taquib's, looking calmer than before. "Oh? What's this?"

I watch as Erie unfolds the fabrics. The dozens of crystals, bits of scrap metals, gemstones shimmer in the sunlight. As Erie shifts through the pieces in fascination, my eyes land on a chain necklace. A clear white quartz stone is wrapped up in silver wires to keep it in place, tying it to the chain. I quickly snatch the necklace in my hands before glaring at her.

"So this is where this went."

She tilts her head, but upon meeting my gaze, hops on Erie's shoulder for protection. Erie pets her head before asking, "What's that?"

"It's my father's." I tuck the necklace in one of the pockets in my dress skirt. "It was an anniversary gift from my mother to him, but for some odd reason, it disappeared. They've been looking for this for over a few years now. And just as I expected, Taquib here stole it."

Erie just giggles and takes Taquib in her arms. "So, you're a little thief, huh? Guess we have that in common."

I sit on my knees next to Erie. "Common?"

"Oh, yeah. I haven't told you about that." She blushes. "Yeah, when I was first sent away from Oxri, I got passed around a lot. Mostly between assassins, but I was so stubborn, none of them wanted me." She sighs. "Eventually I ended up as a thief's apprentice."

"What are you doing now?" I'm trying not to act bothered. A thief. Erie was a thief. What did she steal? How many wars did her stunts caused? How many lives did she put in danger? I ignore the questions and look through the stolen shiny objects. I wonder what else Taquib has been hiding over the years.

"I'm just a bartender now. Managed to run away from my mentor to get out of the whole thieving business. He wanted me to steal, like, so many artifacts. But they were all weapons, and I just thought it was stupid." She sighs. "It was a shame. He was one of the only decent men who got a hold of me."

"There were other men?"

"Yeah, they tried sexualizing me." She laughs. "I stabbed them all."

I want to ask more. Did they hurt her? Did they torture her? Is she finally safe and free from them? But before I can ask anything, Taquib buts in. Her beak picks up one of the gemstones and places it in front of me on the table.

It's a heart. Soft, translucent pink in color.

I turn back to her and Erie. She lets out a happy chirp and cuddles into Erie's chest.

It's reassuring. Taquib doesn't like people, but if she loves Erie already, I think my heart made a good choice. Kavas will take some work, though.

Kavas is just glaring at Erie from her cage. But at least she's not trying to destroy another outfit.