Bird of a Nest (bow 3)

Chapter 29

They weren't alone as Om'hat led them through the maze. Ryraso spotted their guards pretty quickly. For one thing, everyone else refused to look at them. There were markings here, on the trees and on the skin of the whores about. It was most likely Om'hat's clan symbol. Assuming Om'hat called what collection of fallen k'nairi a clan and didn't just admit what this was. A gang running a brothel.  The few whores they came across knelt as he passed, heads bowed low. Those who were not selling themselves also kept their heads low and their backs to the wall to let them pass.

Ryraso was painfully aware they were heading deeper into the maze. They had possibly even doubled back and were now heading into the poor district. Ryraso wouldn't put it passed them to try and make them go round in circles so Ryraso was truly lost as to his whereabouts.  The lights were certainly gone, making it harder to see. The streets were less scented with flowers and perfume and more with filth. 

Cai'ness gripped on tightly to Ryraso. The smaller man was trembling in under his arm. Om'hat seemed content to let Ryraso and Cai'ress stick together and Cai'ress was terrified. Ryraso breathed slowly, trying to say calm. Cai'ness hands had been declawed. He hadn't noticed at first but now with the man's hands holding on to him so tightly. 

It should have hurt. Talons should be digging into his soft skin, possibly even piercing through it. K'nairi talons were not like human nails. They needed cutting from time to time like nails but they were always sharp. They only thing Ryraso could feel against his skin was Cai'ress's fingertips. He had been de-clawed by these people or possibly by his house. Ryraso wasn't sure which. De-clawing was not unheard of for a submissive noble, but it was very old fashioned. It might have been a punishment before being sold. Or Om'hat's people might have done it to torture Cai'ress.

Without talons, he couldn't really fight people who were bigger than him after all. Ryraso's chest hurt. He was going to rip Tai'ray and Nel'os to pieces for this. Both of them should have known better than to abandon a former lover as they did. Tai'ray had basically made Cai'ress useless to his family all for the crime of having fallen in love with Nel'os and having that love returned. Tai'ray had been angry but Nel'os should have done something more than mope. He should have gone out and made sure Cai'ress was ok and not suffering. Instead, all he'd done was lay about wishing for his lover to reappear. 

A spike of doubt bloomed in Ryraso's chest. Nel'os loved Cai'ress. He knew this. He'd felt it. He'd felt next to Tai'ray's irrational dislike of the man. Dyn'ad had loved Cai'ress too. Yet they had left him to his fate with little more than a complaint. Would they do it to Ryraso too?

"Here we are," Om'hat said as curtains pulled away to reveal a wooden door. They were pulled into the tree and stone structure. It was miserable. Ryraso could hear crying from somewhere in the building, a child weeping pitifully. The corridor they were in was dusty and almost completely dark. There was damp on the ceiling and Ryraso could smell body fluids. The floorboards creaked with every step and Ryraso was almost scared that he was going to plummet though them. "Sorry about this entrance. We don't usually bring guests through the back," he said cheerfully. "At least, not ones we are planning to keep alive."

A cold draft rolled down Ryraso's neck. Was that a promise or a threat? He chose to ignore it, his fists clenching as the urge to fight rolled through him. Cai'ress gripped tighter to his arm, wings wrapping around Ryraso's back. "You should have run," he whispered, sounding around to burst into tears. "I'm not worth anything compared to your safety."