Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 46

Aeria's friends arrived within the hour, although none of the women approached me as they played some sort of game on the table. It reminded me somewhat of chess, but allowed all four to play at once.

Aeria visited with her friends while I lay under the heat lamp. It was distinctly odd to not have Taureen nearby when other Kymari were around. Now that I think about it, it has never happened since I broke my wing.

I glanced over as I heard my name, but they were talking amongst themselves. It didn't surprise me really; all they had talked about since coming was myself, Taureen, and various other Kymari. I didn't realize how much they compared the various males and their numerous qualities. Kymari didn't take marriage lightly and ensured that they took the time to decide who would be the best mate out there.

I got the 'luxury' of hearing them discuss the pros and cons of various males at great length. I was faintly amused that Taureen had far more pros than cons. As I had suspected, his rank as a bond animal handler impressed them. It was a rank of honor and showed he was highly responsible. Our bond was also the biggest problem.

The one lady shook her head. "It will be rough when she dies. Lazarath took decades to even somewhat recover from the loss of Kadrid. He never could be around another feonid either; the memories were just too painful."

"At least you know that he is willing to open up his heart. Some men never truly let anyone into their hearts."

The one lady glanced at me. "I am surprised that he trusted you enough to look after Tasha. You haven't been seeing each other for long."

Aeria also looked at me. "Apparently, I was the only other person she let touch her. He wasn't happy about having to leave her though."

"Can you blame him? It isn't supposed to happen. Tasha hasn't come over yet though."

Aeria left the room for a moment before returning with a small bowl. She took her seat and held out a sunburst berry. "Tasha, come see what I have."

I blinked slowly at her soft voice. It is to her grace that the way she talks is more like asking as opposed to commanding. After a few moments, I got up and hopped down to the floor before slowly walking over to take the berry. Taureen normally fed me tidbits all day long to keep hunger at bay until supper came, and I hadn't had anything since breakfast.

Aeria petted me a bit while feeding me bits of fruit. One of the other ladies leaned over, commenting, "Her scales look so soft."

She slowly reached out her hand, and I turned my head to face her while pinning my ear tufts. I gave her a low growl and walked a few steps further away. The lady pulled her hand back. "Well, I guess she doesn't want anything to do with me."

I shook myself and went out to the garden. I was feeling out of sorts, and it grated on me like an itch I couldn't scratch. Maybe some exercise will help. I started flying as fast as I could around the inside of the fence.

Fifteen minutes later, I landed with tired wings; I hadn't flown that hard and fast for that long in a very long time. The exercise hadn't really helped settle me down any.

This is ridiculous. Until about eight months ago, I hadn't even seen Taureen before. How can I possibly be missing him so badly? Yet, here I was; he had been gone only about four hours, and I was restless because he wasn't around.

I lived in the wild for seven years with mostly just voices in my head for company. However, it didn't matter. Sure, every day I sang with the flock and lounged around with the others, but it hadn't been the truly interactive stuff that Taureen and I did.