Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)

Chapter 43

"Lord Dyn'ad?" A hesitant voice came from the doorway, interrupting Dyn'ad and Nel'os from where they were resting on the soft skins. Both had been waiting for their mate and hopeful to come back from explaining things to their little one. They had no idea how things were going because Tai'ray had blocked them early on as things had grown tense. Sometimes the Winglord needed to concentrate on the people in front of him without their commentary and suggestions.

Dyn'ad had given Herymi permission to stay with his suitors overnight, with a serious reminder of the rules. The nest needed Herymi a little longer. As for Aw'endo, some of the younglings around his age had invited him to play, leaving just the two of them waiting.

Shifting from where he had been dozing, Dyn'ad narrowed his eyes at Jak holding a very shaken and upset looking Eyeri. "Eyeri?" Dyn'ad said softly, the boy's eyes met his for a moment, panic and fear clear in blue eyes. Something had definitely gone wrong.

Nel'os moved first, sweeping the boy up and out of the other human's arms, cooing and clicking over the boy as Eyeri trembled, tears still rolling down his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Eyeri was almost chanting quietly under his breath, Nel'os nuzzling him gently, unsure of what the boy was sorry about but certain it was nothing which would deserve this amount of fear. The brand was one thing but the youngling had no reason to be sorry about that.

'What happened?' demanded Dyn'ad, using his powers as consort to link to Jak. He did not want the young human to hear them discussing him. Dyn'ad shifted to the side of the nest as Nel'os pulled Eyeri to the centre of the nest, surrounding the trembling boy with his wings as he hugged him.

Jak didn't use words but instead offered his memories of the event. Jak's own emotions clouded the circumstances slightly but the gist was still clear to see. Dyn'ad cursed softly as he saw his hopeful and mate fight. Jak shot him a look of pity and knelt at the end of the nest quietly.

Tai'ray losing his temper was an ugly thing. Despite being Winglord and the strongest of the K'nairi, Tai'ray's natural nature was more like a submissive. That is typically bitchy and damn right evil when scorned. Ryraso was no different, human as he was. The two had very similar personalities, stubborn and incredibly frustrating.

Dyn'ad was also very disappointed with how Tai'ray had let Ryraso just walk off, ignoring the fact Tai'ray had been ordering Dyn'ad to stop. Ryraso wasn't collared yet, he could still potentially run away and with how angry Ryraso had been, that wasn't entirely out of the cards, even with Eyeri currently with them. The look which had been on Ryraso's face was one Dyn'ad remembered well. It was the look Ryraso had when he had been holding back his anger and now it was out. Seven years ago, Dyn'ad would have run damage control, but now... Now he wasn't sure what to do.

"Should I go find your intended?" offered Jak, both of them knowing Ryraso wouldn't exactly be welcoming anyone with wings at the moment.

"No," Dyn'ad shook his head, pinching the top of his nose and trusting the link and his instincts to guide him. "Leave him be. You may go, we will look after the little one," he finished waving his hand.

Jak paused as he rose hesitant to leave so soon. 'My lord? Can I have a word regarding Eyeri?' he asked through the link. The boy had quietened slightly, Nel'os singing a gentle song Dyn'ad remembered from when Nel'os had comforted Aw'endo through losing his parent nest. It made Dyn'ad's heartache. Their boys had suffered through very different traumas so young and at least for Eyeri, they were not helping matters in the least.

'I'm guessing this has something to do with why he was apologising so much?' Dyn'ad mused and Jak smiled at him weakly in confirmation.

'The argument started because Tai'ray was trying to assure him that he would be safe. Badly, I might add. He is a troubled young man with self-esteem problems...' Jak let his thoughts trail with emotions and flashes of being a teenager from his own experience. Giving Dyn'ad some more human information to go off.

'He is blaming himself' Dyn'ad sighed. 'We will deal with it. Not like either Ryraso or Tai'ray will want us around at the moment'.

Rather boldly, Jak patted the warrior's shoulder in sympathy. Helplessness was not a good feeling on the winged creatures who used their ego as a battering ram through any problems they had. Jak bowed slightly before leaving. Jak didn't like the look of how things were going, but possibly he was just being pessimistic. It wasn't a hard thing to be in the current times. Jak sighed as he felt the dampness in the air. He wanted to go home.

Not even stopping to watch the human leave, Dyn'ad moved over to his next problem. He pulled Eyeri from Nel'os who had failed to calm the boy completely and dragged him up to the head of the bed so Dyn'ad could lean against the wall. Tilting Eyeri's head, Dyn'ad looked into his eyes.

"Hey, Eyeri," Dyn'ad said gently. Eyeri met his eyes and whimpered. "What happened between Tai'ray and Ryraso was not your fault," he declared firmly.

"But!" the boy went to argue, lifting his arms only to find his hands caught and forced down to his sides.

"Quiet!" Dyn'ad ordered sternly, ignoring his mate as Nel'os murmured his name to get him to go a little easier on the boy. He was only to make it perfectly clear right now who was the boss. "You were not and are not at fault for what happened. Ryraso knows better than to make those types of comments with Tai'ray and Tai'ray knows that Ryraso doesn't want us," Dyn'ad felt pain shoot though him and through Nel'os as he said that line. They didn't know if it was true or not, but it certainly felt like that at the moment. "They were both looking for a fight. Or else Tai'ray wouldn't have rose up to it. This was always going to happen," Dyn'ad reassured.

Eyeri sobbing calmed slightly and he sniffed looking back up at Dyn'ad. Soft blue eyes looking into yellow serious ones. "I don't think that's true," Eyeri sniffed, rubbing his eye. "Ryraso does care about you," he said sadly.

Dyn'ad went to say something to reassure Eyeri it wasn't his fault when the words actually sunk in. A strange noise came from his mouth instead, Eyeri looking at him strangely.

"What makes you say that?" Nel'os asked gently, hitting his mate over the head. Dyn'ad flushed embarrassed for a moment at his reaction. So much for being the one in control and in charge.

"If he didn't, he wouldn't have talked about you back on the ship," Eyeri pointed out, "I don't know a lot about the k'nairi, but he spoke a lot about Navat and about the people he met there. He misses it you know? Navat. So, no. I don't think he doesn't care, I think he does. He just gets, you know..."

"Angry," Dyn'ad smiled gently at Eyeri. Hope bloomed in the bond between Dyn'ad and Nel'os. Ryraso missed Navat, he cared about them. Dyn'ad hugged him close. "Thank you for telling us that little one. That means a lot to us. It still doesn't change the fact that the argument was long overdue and the two of them both said things they will regret when they calm down."

"Really?" Eyeri said, there was a disbelieving tone in the boy's voice, but somehow hopeful at the same time.

"I promise. Now it is late," Dyn'ad said running his hand through Eyeri's hair. Dyn'ad chuckled as he heard Eyeri groan a little. Little one knew what was coming. "Bedtime," Dyn'ad said.

Eyeri slumped in his hold. "What about Tai'ray and Dad?" he asked softly.

"They need some time to work things out," Nel'os shrugged. "No good chasing after them until they are ready to be found."

"And Aw'endo?" Eyeri added with a more whining tone and a pout as Dyn'ad shifted him so he was lying down, firmly pressed against one side of Dyn'ad. Nel'os joining him on the other. It felt strange being with these two and not anyone else of his family.

"Has not had a stressful day. Anyway, he's with Tai'ray," Nel'os said with a slight uplift in his tone as he realised that Tai'ray was lowering the block slightly. Aw'endo had found him as he stewed. "They'll be fine."

Grumbling, Eyeri shifted so he was more comfortable and closed his eyes. He didn't fall asleep though and suspected the two k'nairi adults knew that. Unease and fear still rolled in his stomach and the tears were still close to the surface. Nothing was good at the moment.