Bird of a Flock (Bow 2)

Chapter 7

"And this," Nel'os declared as he opened two large double doors. "Is where you will be staying for the foreseeable future," he said cheerfully. Tai'ray and Dyn'ad were stuck doing official duties so Nel'os had taken the chance to escape and show Ryraso and Eyeri their new rooms.

The doors opened into a large common room with a large fire pit in the centre of the room and large windows opening to an impressive view of the city. Vines were growing around the window frames and flowers sprouted from them. In front of the fire pit was a nest of pillows and blankets, though Eyeri got the idea that they were more for casual conversations than as possible sleeping nest. There were many doors around the room, Eyeri moved forward and opened one to find a decent sized bedroom. It was decorated in a rich red colour and detailed in gold.

"Are all the doors bedrooms?" Eyeri asked, counting ten doors in the room. One was clearly Aw'endo's room as Aw'endo walked straight in and dumped his bag of clothes down.

"Most of them," Nel'os nodded cheerfully, ruffling his hair. "This is the consort wing. Or at least the last remaining one. This was the favourite's wing. The past Winglord enjoyed sleeping with many people. Plus they didn't just make lovers consorts. The consort position has also long been used as a way to protect people in the past," he explained.

"This was one of the wings?" Eyeri said sounding surprised as Ryraso opened the different rooms and looked at the bedrooms. "How many wings were there? The Winglord was only one person wasn't he?"

"Yes, but they were nobles and it wasn't unusual for each noble clan to offer a tribute to the Winglord. Which meant big harems. I didn't like the idea so the tributes were allowed to either return to their clans or make their own lives. We still have a few living in the other wings but in general they are used for other purposes now," Nel'os explained. "Plus, the mates of the Winglord were allowed their own lovers and one of the former Winglords let his bonded have a wing each."

"That is a lot of sex," Eyeri said in disbelief.

"Welcome to Navat," Ryraso said dryly. "The nobles think different to the normal k'nairi. I am very grateful that you three went down a more normal route. Though I suspect Nel'os wouldn't mind his own wing of lovers," he said half teasingly, kissing Nel'os' cheek.

"Hey!" Nel'os pouted.

"Oh please," Aw'endo snorted. "You'd love that," he said as Eyeri hid his laughter at Nel'os' reaction. Ryraso too was smirking at the look on Nel'os' face. The man was a noble through and through, and while his mates put up with it, that did not mean they weren't going to tease him about it.

"Hush you," Nel'os scolded lightly. "Which bedroom would you like Ry?" Nel'os asked curiously, trying to change the subject."Eyeri, you should choose one too," he added, wrapping an arm around Eyeri's shoulders for a brief hug.

Eyeri nodded slowly and pulled away to look at the rooms. He barely glanced in most of them but instead looked more slowly at the ones either side of Aw'endo's room. Ryraso leant against Nel'os as he watched his son pick a room. Clearly waiting for Eyeri to pick a room before selecting one for himself.

"I'm not going to sleep with random people while we're courting you," Nel'os promised softly, his cheeks a little red.

"Good. Don't strain yourself too much though," Ryraso nudged with a grin on his face. Trying not to show how relieved he was by that. He hasn't really processed the idea of Nel'os sleeping with others while courting him. Ryraso honestly wasn't sure he could be as ok with Nel'os sleeping around as Tai'ray and Dyn'ad were. It made his stomach twist a little. Actually, the idea that they were going to try and have sex with him made his stomach twist uncomfortably too now he thought about it. He mentally froze. He was nervous about them trying to get him into bed?