B+Bs: To Stand In A Beast's World

122. The End To The Longstanding Troubles

The day my egg hatched was the day Bard came back. I was busy with my chick and made Bard wait. He had the decency to not show up to the front doorstep with any merfolk in tow, but I wasn't missing my baby bird breaking out of his shell.

We gathered around and watched anxiously. Muir was visibly fidgeting and I found myself copying him unintentionally. I tugged on my hair, expressing complete impatience. The impulse to help crack the egg, once the tiny beak poked out, had to be suppressed.

I couldn't hear the little cracking sounds over the shattering of god knows what behind me. I don't know what the girls broke now, but I don't care too much at the moment. Mitchell will clean it up and I'll deal with the rest later.

Even after the featherless chick busted a hole in the top big enough to fit through, it took its time coming out. Hours. My legs were numb from kneeling by the time the chick knocked over its egg and tumbled out.

Me, Muir, and Shuu exhaled a breath of relief as the little one tried to flip itself over.

"Phew. Congratulations to us," I whispered.

The chick breathed heavily and we let it rest. Once it was more or less rested, Shuu and I lifted him up and spoke to him.

Once I saw Muir feeding him successfully, I felt comfortable enough to leave. The two leopard boys, Chub and Pee-wee, attempted to tag along, but I stopped them. Any chance of danger meant no kid could come.

Cooper, Harvey, Mitchell, and Muir were left behind. Shuu, Winston, and Curtis came with me. Before we left the cliffside, Winston carefully handed me a wrapped bone blade. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Upas sap from the time my mates confiscated it, but Winston had processed it and coated weapons with it. Weapons that were stored somewhere the kids couldn't get to.

With the knife in my hand, I felt more prepared for what would hopefully not come to pass.

The ape king waited outside of the village and was surrounded by the guards. Winston, Shuu, and I approached while Curtis hung back. We didn't know what the range for the ape king's illusions was so we played it safe.

"Bard," I greeted.

"Grace, it is good to see you are healthy."

I couldn't say the same about the ape king. He did not look well at all. I got to the point quickly. Dragging this on would do no one any favors.

Bard gave an abridged version of what went down and waited for a response.

I kept from sighing and sent word back via a flyer. The question was for Qin. Was King to be spared? Chased away? Killed on sight? He was her mate and it was her responsibility to deal with this.

If Qin made me decide, I wouldn't be merciful to the one who would keep his spouse caged. To the guy who essentially determined which merfolk could breed with Qin. The more I thought about it, the more lovely violence sounded.

The eagle came back with Jason and Qin in tow. I frowned but shrugged it off in the end. It was Qin's choice to settle this herself. It was risky sure, but I understood the feeling of wanting to settle things for good.

I sent Qin a hopefully encouraging smile and took a step back. Bard had gotten emotional and essentially threw himself at Qin's feet. I felt like I was peeping. To give them space, I called half the guards and set out to find the detestable merfolk. He was where the ape king said he'd be.

"You're King?" I asked cooly.

King did not know the female that appeared in front of him, but he was wary of the beasts that followed her. "I am."