Bird of a Nest (bow 3)

Chapter 11

Nel'os backhanded Ser'ad. Nel'os walked up to the man, backhanded him in front of the entire court and demanded why Ser'ad had punched Ang'as. No one had stopped him. Even Honuf't was rather stunned by Nel'os' actions. This wasn't the warrior who fought in the army, this was the submissive bonded of the Winglord. A noble and somehow that made the action more shocking, more potent than if Nel'os had challenged Ser'ad to a fight. This wasn't between equals, this was between a superior and an underling.  This wasn't something for anyone to get involved in. 

Ser'ad sputtered something about Ang'as being a slut and not deserving to be anywhere near his mate. Nel'os had slapped him again. The second slap this time sparking a reaction in the court. It had been Regent Un'tat who had stopped more from happening, stepping between the two and placing a hand on Nel'os' shoulders. Nel'os had growled at him but allowed it, this time addressing Honuf't.

"Guardian  Honuf't, your first bonded in banned from court until further notice. He must leave Navat today. I will not have anyone who assaults a member of the court and the inner circle with no reason here," Nel'os had declared, his lips fixed into a tight line and eyes a fierce glare. The Guardian had wisely conceded and hurried his bonded away. 

Ryraso missed it all, stuck in his bed but he heard about it from people who came to visit him. Po'lar, who came to apply herbs to his back to help it heal, saying that it was just desserts for the man. His features looking somehow sharper and more dangerous as he said so. Maybe it was being under his loving care but Ryraso was starting to notice things out of the corners of his eyes again. A flash of something underneath the skin. A glint in the eyes. It was just Po'lar but in that moment, it was somehow more obvious that Pol'ar was not human nor thought like a one. 

Ser'ad's reputation would be in shatters for years after this. It was one thing to dislike a rumoured housebreaker, another to assault him with no reason. Especially when he was connected to the Royal circle. Even if Nel'os had not been close friends with Ang'as, Ang'as was a former consort.  He had protection that others did not. 

Everyone in court was puzzled by the entire occurrence. Even Ton'neth, who was annoying him immensely by coming every day, was confused by the whole event. He was another one who seemed to be seeing beyond fifty-year-old rumours and wondering what Ang'as had done in recent years to deserve the treatment he was getting. 

"I mean, he's highborn, he's pretty and he's connected. He should have been swept up by now. He wants to be swept up," Ton'neth commented as he prepared a small altar to the Goddess in the corner of Ryraso's room. It was in a small cabinet and took up quite a bit of space but the High Priest was insistent and Ryraso hadn't the energy to refuse him on that day. The only good thing about Ton'neth's insistence visiting was that it easy to keep up his prayers to the Goddess properly. It still felt strange having the little shrine in the same room his loves tried to grope him sometimes. 

"It is strange," Ryraso acknowledged, barely listening as the High Priest went off onto a different subject. There didn't seem to be much thythm to what Ton'neth talked about but the man enjoyed talking. Ryraso guessed the man was trying to form a positive connection to Ryraso. Just a shame Ryraso didn't trust him. The angles thing didn't help either. 

Suddenly Ryraso was noticing just how much more sharp k'nairi faces were, how their fingers were long and slender with those sharp talons for nails. The way they moved, the way they talked, sometimes Nel'os would shift and for a brief moment, a predator was there and not someone who loved him. Nel'os was on edge, waiting for an attack. He, more than Tai'ray and Dyn'ad, was feeling more inhuman by the moment to Ryraso. There were moments where the man looked at Ryraso with a positively hungry look in his eyes. Hungry for blood and flesh.