From A Kingdom's Shadow

CHAPTER TWO

Apondra stared wide eyed at the winged man in black and hugged her cloak close to her body in a pointless effort to further conceal her own wings. If his tall muscular frame was not frightening enough, his fanned out wings blocked the sun cast her in the cold darkness of his shadow.
His dark eyes, were they brown or black she could not tell, swept over her briefly before he hefted a bag over his shoulder with a grunt, hidden by his massive wings, and started off towards a small alchemy shop that was preparing to close for the night.
Apondra watched the winged man for as long as he was in sight, her heart pounding in her ears. Angels did not normally travel in the dark. Most, Barri had taught her, were healers or tradesmen, and none of them had black wings. Was it a defect like Barri's ears? Barri… he would be waiting for her. Apondra shook her attention from the empty road and raced for home.

Apondra tried to hide her fear as she barred the shop door behind her, but she could feel herself still shaking. She sighed when she heard Barri curse colorfully from the kitchen. He must be making supper she thought as she shrugged off her cloak and followed the aroma of cooking meat to the dining table.
Barri grumbled and cursed as he paced the kitchen, his hand wrapped in an old rag.
She could smell the blood, and coughed to make sure he knew she was there.
He turned to her for a moment, looked her up and down, and put his attention to cleaning the blood that had dripped from his thumb on the table next to a small pile of potatoes.
"Barri…" Apondra popped her tooth covers off, her canines getting irritated, and tried to get his attention, grimacing at the burn in her throat. It was not uncommon for slightly wealthy families to have covers for any unsightly teeth, so Barri had commissioned silver ones for her. They were resized as best they could by the local blacksmith, but they still hurt her teeth every once in a while, especially when the new moon rose and the bleeding began.
Barri set the knife in the wash bucket and his frustrated, rough tone made Apondra freeze in her still lingering fear, "Barri knows… supper is late. Customer gave Barri no time to close up!"
Her eyes burned with tears, trying to contain herself as she grabbed his injured hand hard enough to make his face twist in a grimace. "Barri!" she shouted at him.
He looked at her hand for a moment, "Barri should not complain… but if you could see how that customer just…" his bitter thoughts of his exhausting day halted when Barri saw the look in Apondra's eyes. He did not need her expression to know what was bothering her. Her eyes told him everything. He touched her hand, "Barri cannot get the wine with one hand," he joked, though his serious expression did not change. 
Apondra forced herself to let him go, remorse blanketing her as she watched him rub his wrist tenderly for a moment.
Barri took a glass with his strong hand and went out back quickly, and came back with a glass of clean water from their rain water barrel, normally kept for the gardening.
She watched as Barri passed by the crackling fire and casually tossed the blood covered rag into the flames where a pot boiled, probably stew tonight.
He quietly milled about for the jar of blood meal, checking cabinets and closing them again.
"Far right cabinet Barri," Apondra spoke softly, smiling when he opened the cabinet to reveal a jar with barely any dark red powder inside.
Barri laughed, his belly shaking with it as he prepared her drink, "If Barri lost his head you would know where to look!"
Apondra flashed a cheeky smile and laughed with him, thoughts of the winged man fading quickly as they ate and drank, recounting their day and joking with each other well into the night.

Barri had retired to his room early after they cleaned up together, both in better spirits and full with drink and good food, leaving Apondra to the quiet of night alone with a lit candle. She took the small poker Barri left by the fire and moved the logs and ash until only a few glowing embers remained. It was always in these few moments of nightly silence where her mind seemed to wander most, and all that came into her mind was the fear she had felt on her way home from her last delivery. Apondra shed her dress and tossed it to the floor, wincing at the bonds digging into her skin. Her mind had been so lost that she had forgotten to undo the choking wrap, and now she bit back sobs as the bonds pulled away from her skin. Did I really wrap it that tight? She berated herself silently as she slowly unwound herself, her hands shaking from the relief and pain of it. Tenderly touching her skin she realized the bindings had cut into her when her fingers came away with spots of red shining in the candlelight.
There was no relief when the bindings finally fell away, the open air only deepening the burning of the wounds. Warm tears touched her cheeks as Apondra bit her lip to keep from crying loudly, mindful of Barri’s soft snoring coming from his room. As noiselessly as she could Apondra removed her boots and gathered her dress and bindings over her arm, and took her tooth covers from the table. She carried the lit candle on tiptoe to her room. But even the comforting glow of her candle could not give her mind peace enough to sleep.