Bird of a Flock (Bow 2)

Chapter 37

Nel'os was cuddly. Eyeri didn't mind too much that night;  in fact, he rather appreciated it. It kept his mind from the bars which surrounded him. Nel'os curled around him and his white wings blocked the view of the cage. Eyeri shivered and curled his hands in Nel'os' sleeping top and held on, trying not to think too hard on the fact he was trembling. He didn't want to fall to sleep. He didn't want to dream. He didn't want to think about the guilt in his chest or the shame running through his mind. 

Guilt that he had failed to escape and he now had endangered his brother. The shame being that not only had he failed to escape, he didn't mind too much. It wasn't like before. Eyeri wasn't sure how to feel anymore. He just felt numb inside, his chest hollowed out and yet when emotions did hit, they seemed to slam into him and make his eyes water.

Feathers moved over him and arms tightened for a moment as Eyeri shifted closer, hiding his face in Nel'os. Surrounded by the k'nairi's scent as much as anything else. The Royals had opened their arms to him, that much was clear to him now. The threat to his life,  the kidnapping, the brand, to the Royals these were simply things that had happened. Even if they did want a slave, they wanted him whole. There were far worse ways to spend a life than in service to the Royals. 

Eyeri drifted in and out of sleep until eventually it was twilight and yellow eyes met his own. Nel'os kissed his forehead and sat up, patting the pillow and gesturing for Eyeri to do the same. Slowly, he did so, Nel'os pulling him close to his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders tightly. 

A spark of something shifted in the room and vines moved on the wall opposite them. A window appearing, almost blooming the way the vines shifted. It was of the gardens, but also of the eastern side of the castle. The sun was rising and for a few simple moments, the two sat and watched the sun rise over the forest city. Reds and oranges coloured the clouds as it did so and the dim, gloomy shadows faded lightly. The morning light glinted off the golden cage bars and birds took flight in the distance. 

Nel'os said no words, but he started to sing gently. A song in k'nairi that in the moment of beauty they were witnessing, seemed to sooth something in Eyeri's soul. Slowly the reds and oranges faded into a light blue and the sun shifted up. Eyeri closed his eyes and listened to Nel'os sing, unwittingly slipping back to sleep and this time into a much more restful slumber. Nel'os gently tucked him in and closed the windows again, so the light wouldn't wake the teenager up, looking sadly at the child. He kept singing until he could no longer remember the words he had been taught a lifetime ago.

A while later, Eyeri woke up slowly. This time, he was alone but the window was open again. Not completely like when they had been watching the sunrise, but open. The sky was a deep blue and Eyeri could tell it was considerably later than the first time he had woken up. His chest still felt hollow but his shoulders felt lighter and he looked around the room he was in. 

The cage door was open. Eyeri swallowed. Slowly, he crawled over, eyes on the doors to the room. That door was also slightly open and he wasn't sure if the cage had been left open by accident or as an invitation. He couldn't afford to anger the Winglord much more at the moment. Every bit of mercy was needed now. Eyeri's plan for making the man love him had well and truly failed. Eyeri curled his knees to his chest and waited for a few moments, hoping for a sign when he heard noises beyond the sanctum door. 

Carefully, he let himself drop out of the cage. The drop was no bigger than the normal one from a human style bed to the ground but he was trying to be careful not to be heard. The floor was cold beneath his bare feet as Eyeri crept towards the door and listened carefully.

"Is Eyeri awake?" Dyn'ad asked in human tongue gently. 

"Not yet. I don't think he slept much at all last night," Nel'os said sympathetically. "He didn't have any visible nightmares but we already know he sometimes keeps them to himself," he sighed. "He doesn't need to be awake until the feast."