Fledging

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

                Back at the manor, I hurried over to the table and yet again set down the buckets of water.  I poked the water quickly to confirm that it was indeed cooler than the last time.  Relieved I turned around in time to see the new arrival that had followed me stop his mount before sliding off and looking around curiously and with satisfaction.

                “Kenneth my boy!”  A loud voice boomed from the porch.  Kenneth turned and smiled as Master Pearson came strolling down to see him.  The two embraced and when they separated Kenneth grinned at the master and said,

                “Hello Uncle.”

I stared at him in shock; this was the Nephew that everyone was expecting?  He was related to the master?  As if he felt my gaze in their direction, Master Pearson looked over and beckoned to me.

                “Kyra will be happy to take your mount won’t you honey?”

                “Of course …. Master,” I said lowering my head, uneasy about his kind façade towards me, I couldn’t be because we were in front of someone, that’s when he was even more liberal with my mistreatment, what was with this nephew of his?

                “Thank you… Kyra,” Kenneth said with a wink towards me.  I stared at him with uneasy shock before master cleared his throat, causing me to jump and walk over to his horse and take its reins to lead it to the stables.

                At the stables, the roan mare began to gorge herself on the hay I had just presented her.

                “Aren’t you hungry?” I mused out loud to the horse, “does that master of yours feed you?”  Realizing that there could be other ears listening in nearby, I glanced around only to find that I was the only two legged creature around here… for now.

                Unsure of what I was supposed to do next I decided to check on the horses stationed at the stables, prolonging my time away from the Aardelan.  Busying myself with checking the feed water of every stable that had straw on the ground for the horses’ comfort, indicating that the stall was in use, I allowed my mind to wander away from the task at hand.

                There was something about this nephew of the master’s.  When he addressed me in front of his uncle, it almost seemed like he thought we held some kind of secret together, like we were friends or at the very least acquaintances.  It was a ridiculous thought of course, no human would ever stoop so low as to consider an enslaved pavox as nothing more than that, a slave.  My brow furrowed ever deeper the longer I thought about his strange behavior.

                It must be some kind of trick on his part I thought to myself, it was the only thing that I could make sense of. I’ll have to be careful around him in the future, he must be looking for some way to cause me trouble.