Starlight (Book 1)

Chapter Nine

     Ro was happy to be working in the aviary again. Rosa instructed her to clean two of the eagle cages. They were much bigger than the hawks' that she had cleaned the day before. Rosa explained that the eagles were free lofted and required more space than the hawks that were tied to their perches. Ro was thankful that she wasn't the only one in the aviary this time. It would have taken her more than the day to clean both of the cages by herself. She didn't need to be alone this time. Helga's salve had worked wonders. Ro didn't wake up in pain. She didn't have a mirror to look into but the areas she could see weren't swollen and her bruises had disappeared overnight. It was like magic and it was, she reminded herself. The realm was full of magic.

Bryce was a native-born that she had met earlier in the day. He was middle aged and very kind to her. He was of Irish decent and had a lot to say about his parents that were from the green isle. Ro enjoyed spending her day talking with him, but it also made her upset to talk about Ireland because her grandmother was eventually brought up. She was able to get through the conversation without shedding any tears. She told herself that she had done enough of that the night before. When she told Bryce that she had been new to the realm he quickly changed the subject to something work related.

"You are a hard worker." He said to her.

"It takes my mind off other things." Ro said scrubbing down a perch.

Bryce flashed her a concerned smile, "Miss Rosa respects hard work and so do I."

"How long have you been working with the birds?"

"I was born a falconer. I grew up with birds. Always been around them." He told her.

"It's nice that the Fairies allowed you to stay with them."

Bryce's eyes were kind as he looked at her, "Not all of them are bad love."

"I haven't met a nice one." Ro stated. She shuttered thinking about Natalie's leg.

Bryce picked up a rake and began to shift through the gravel that lined the cage. "You have only been here a wee bit."

Ro stopped cleaning the perch and reached for a rake to start helping Bryce. "I know it's just hard to believe that there could be any good in those monsters."

Bryce wiped his brow, "You have not seen a true monster."

Ro stopped raking, "What do you mean?"

"The Fairies have another side the likes of which you have not seen."

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"A beast like that is only needed in times of war." Bryce rested a callused hand on his hip, "Only seen it once me self."

Ro opened her mouth to ask what the Fairies looked like in their other form when a voice interrupted her. "Bryce! Shift's over!" Ro looked over to see Logan standing by the doorway. She had met him in passing, but didn't get a chance to work with him. He was in charge of managing the owls.

"Right you be." Bryce called back to him. "Finish up quick." He said to Ro.

Ro and Bryce raked the last of what they needed to and set the tools outside the cage. Bryce gave her a smile and a kind goodbye before he left to go to the baths. Ro was putting her coat on when she heard the snow crunching outside. She had a feeling that the Fairies were coming back with the eagles which meant that Arik would be there. She released a heavy breath and walked towards the doorway. The Fairies were outside talking to one another. Two of the Fairies held the eagles on their leather covered forearms while Arik stood across from them with his arms crossed. They were speaking in the Fairy language that Ro didn't understand and walked passed them without attempting to ease drop.