Fledging

Chapter 7

*Warning, there is a short, slightly graphic scene in here so be warned.  Tell me what you think of the chapter!! :D

Chapter 7

   Numbness.  That was the only feeling I had.  Nothing could penetrate the fog that had shrouded my mind that night.  I couldn’t feel anything, be it emotional or physical.  My mind was whirling from all that had happened.  Every time I tried to think of it, a searing pain in my head and heart would wipe all thought from me.

I was curled up on my mat shivering, the chills however were not from the cool night air; they were of a different origin than physical cold.

My tears were gone.  I had already used up all of them in the past few hours.  My throat was sore from the screaming I had done not so long ago.  My body had its pains as well.  I had gotten off easy though.  The twelve lashes I received were a blessing.

All because of her.  The thought swirled through my muddled brain.  The searing pain was back.  All I could do was curl up into a tighter ball and wait for it to pass.

                Morning came all too soon.  The familiar sound of my fellow prison mates waking up for the day barely reached my ears.  I stayed in my curled up position, my wings shielding me from the world around me.  I heard the door to my cage rattle as the human slave went around letting us out for the day.  Still I did not move.  If we ever wanted breakfast, we needed to get up early before we moved on to our chores for the day.  Normally I would leap up at the thought of any meager amount of the much needed food, but today, the thought of eating made me sick.

                “Kyra, time to get up,” a gentle voice cooed from my door.  I didn’t move.  “Honey, you can’t stay in here all day, you’ll make the master mad.”

                Let him be mad, I thought bitterly.  Let him be angry.  There’s not much else he can do to me.  He could kill you.  A voice seemed to remind me, the only scrap of sanity that still remained.

Let him kill me, death would be more kind than this life anyway.

                “If you don’t want to eat that’s fine, just make sure you’re up in time for work.”  In answer I moved my wing up to cover my body as much as it could with the shackles around them.  I heard the woman at my door sigh and walk away, her own clipped talons scraping against the stones beneath.  Once she had left, I allowed my mind to return to the events that had taken place the previous day.

                The master was beyond furious because of the stampede of horses that had trampled through the party, injuring a few of the guests.  There hadn’t been any serious injuries but the party had ended there in panic as everyone, already shaken by the earthquake, was put through more with the storm of horses that had descended upon them.

He had found Auriel and me walking back from the stables and demanded to know what was going on.  Auriel had tried to blame it on herself but the Master saw through her lie.  Besides, I wouldn’t have let her take all of the blame.  However Auriel was insistent on somehow lessening my punishment, saying that it was because of her that I had accidently let the horses out.  I tried to silence her but she wouldn’t have it.  She became angry at me and suddenly her aqua colored eyes began to brighten almost to a glow.  Before any of us could react, droplets of water formed around her hand as she shot her arms towards the master.  The water flew at him surprisingly fast, causing him to stumble back in surprise.  Auriel didn’t react at first, her stance still as one protecting something she cared for.  Finally after a few long seconds, realization dawned on her as she looked down at her hands in wonder.