Fledging

Chapter 14

AN: Sooo... this might be slightly shorter, but not by much.  Even so, there are TONS of surprising revelations and stuff that happens in this one that should hold you over for a bit and make up for the half page or so of lenght that is missing (it's usually about 4 MS pages, and this one is about 3.5)  I'm super excited to hear what you have to say about this one! Please comment and vote if you enjoy it!

Chapter 14

                I laughed, I couldn’t help it.  The idea that I; Araceli, daughter of the Skavlieu of the small village of the Valkze, was actual royalty.

                “I think you’re suffering from the blow to your head, I have no royal blood.  I was born in a small village.  My parents might have been Skavlieu but they were no royalty.”

                “The royal child was stolen while still in its egg, it is entirely possible that the ones that took them masqueraded as the fledging’s true parents.”

I looked up at Tafari, expecting to see a look of amusement.  Anything other than the one that I did see.  She looked down at Kenneth with a shocked, almost horrified expression on her face.

                “Yes but I never thought…” she muttered so quietly that I barely heard her.

                “Alida?  Do you believe him?” I asked turning towards my friend.

                “His story does make sense.”

                “Hardly,” I scoffed. “I’m a falcon, not Tytonidae or any of the Strigidae for that matter.”

                “You still have not completed your fledging, you know that all look near the same until then.  Besides, look at your wings, they seem broader than most Falcon’s I know.”

                “So my wings are a bit broader than normal, maybe something happened to them over the past decade of my enslavement.”  I knew I was reaching, but for some reason her argument seemed to strike something in me, and I didn’t like it.  Looking down at Kenneth I asked, “Why are you even looking for the lost hatchling?  If you found them, what would that mean for you?”

                “Acceptance.” It was a simple word but he seemed to deflate at its utterance.

                “Acceptance for what?”

                “You asked about my family earlier, I guess I should explain.  My mother was as you know the sister to my uncle whom you have known these past few years.  My father however, was from a tribe still south of here.”

                “What humans are still in tribes, especially in the south?” I asked.

                “None, my father was not human.  He was a full blooded pavox.”

The following silence was palpable, no one spoke or moved.

                “If you think that claiming to be half pavox will help your position you are sorely mistaken.”  Tafari said in a low voice.  “Half breeds are not looked upon any higher than their non pavox parent.”

                “I am aware, and it is because of that that I search for the lost child.”

                “You hope that if you are the one to bring them back that you will be accepted?”

                “Yes.”

                “You can’t possibly be half pavox,” I blurt out. “You look pure Aardelan to me, where are your wings?  Do you have any feathers?  Talons?”