Bird of a Nest (bow 3)

Chapter 39

Eyeri was working. He wasn't supposed to be working but it was hard to know what to do. Ryraso was sleeping, just recovering from the blood loss. They had drugged Cai'ress with enough tranziqulies to keep him dead to the world for the next week and everyone else was busy. The healers on duty had no problems giving him tasks to do. He'd already been working for long enough in the rooms that they knew his capabilities. 
 
It was the little things that kept a place running. Someone sweeping dirt out of the rooms, cleaning the tools, making sure the patients had water and food. Making sure the healers or medics had a steady supply of tea too.  Pol'ar  had not  cleared Eyeri to heal, or be a medic but he could do the little things.  
 
Ryraso slept deep, arms keeping the injured k'nairi close to his side. He woke long enough for Eyeri to pour soup down his throat and then fell back under. He was barely aware of who was tending to him but the sleep was peaceful. Eyeri kept an ear out for any nightmares. 
 
Cai'ress didn't stir unless someone brushed over his wings. Eyeri was sure what they were going to do about him. There was a smell. The medic who checked his wounds from time to time almost grimaced at the scent. An infection was growing. They drained and cleaned location but it wasn't improving. It was too set in now. Either it healed naturally or not at all. The body only accepted so much heal at once. 
 
The scars now on the man's body, Eyeri knew some of them. He had similar ones. He didn't miss how some of the fingers had talons and others didn't. They had restored some of them. Eyeri pushed the thoughts from his mind and fetched some tea for S'onon, the aid finishing his shift.    
 
As he returned, S'onon took it gratefully and sat watching the door to Ryraso's room. Hands landed on his shoulders. He jumped but the hands pulled him backward to learn on Pol'ar's chest. 
 
"I don't remember giving you permission to work today?" Pol'ar noted, his voice weary but grip strong.  
 
"I was just helping," Eyeri tried to reassure but it came out more sulky than anything else. Nowhere else would he be scolded for helping but Pol'ar seemed to be constantly judging his every move.  
 
Pol'ar lifted an eyebrow at S'onon, his hand rubbing Eyeri's shoulder lightly. A silent 'I'm sure you were.' 
 
"We didn't let him do any of the hard work. Just enough to keep his hands busy," S'onon did manage to reassure. His eyes flickering back over to the door and then to Eyeri. The language switched and Eyeri tried not to scowl as they spoke above his head. He could guess from the names what S'onon was informing him. Everyone in his family was busy, like always, and they didn't want him getting into trouble. Then a bit he did know. 
 
"Did he eat lunch?" 
 
"Yes, we made sure,"    
 
Pol'ar nodded as Eyeri slumped in on himself, cheeks burning. To be fair to Pol'ar, one of the patients had asked him to sit and chat while eating lunch. Eyeri was pretty sure the entire infirmary was aware of his eating issues now. "Go home to your mates and rest up," he ordered, hand moving down Eyeri's arm to steer him towards Pol'ar's office.  
 
S'onon nodded, and waved at Eyeri before leaving. Eyeri went where Polar pushed him, trying not to feel too much like a child. Fairly quickly he found himself shifting to help Pol'ar as the man stumbled slightly. The man waved of one of the healers as they said something concerned. The response had Eyeri smiling slightly. He didn't understand yet but tone was something universal.  
 
"Why you smiling?" Pol'ar challenged, jostling Eyeri slightly. There was a touch of warmness to it. Eyeri almost laughed. Pol'ar may act refined normally but he was still a healer and an older gentleman. If he wanted to grumble and shout, he would. 
 
"No reason," Eyeri shrugged, but the smile wouldn't leave his face. "Never try to heal a healer, right?" 
 
That sparked a snort from the head healer but the man's grip didn't shift, if anything he tugged Eyeri closer minutely. Not quite a hug but something. Eyeri wished Pol'ar wasn't the one endangering his future. He was starting to like the healer.  
 
"Right, brat, how are your letters?" Pol'ar asked, pushing Eyeri to sit in front of the low desk as he put a kettle on his stove. He waved Eyeri to sit as the teenager tried to stand up and help.  
 
"K'nairi? Er, nonexistent," Eyeri admitted, hands still ready to jump up and help as Pol'ar limped over to his chair. "Matron Iss'vine was going to talk to Mo'sit about lessons but then you put me on the trial run."      
 
"Right," Pol'ar nodded. "Write me the consonants, please," he requested, putting a pen and paper in front of Eyeri. Eyeri took the pen hesitantly, biting his lip as he looked at the paper. Pol'ar watched for barely a second before nodding. "Ok. Over there," he nodded at a bookshelf. "Bottom self, I should still have some of the beginning books from the exchange programme." 
 
Eyeri nodded and quickly went to find them. As he dug out several books, he didn't miss how Pol'ar was writing something on the paper. As he crawled back over, he found a word on the top.  
 
"Can you read it?"  
 
"It's my name," nodded Eyeri. High Priest Ton'eath wrote it once and Eyeri still had the piece of paper somewhere.  
 
"Can you break it down for me?" 
 
"Ssa-ma Ae-ri," Eyeri's finger traced over the marks, tracing over the sounds. K'nairi letters were written in two dimensions, with the symbols arranged up to down in the letter itself. They always ended in a vowel sound so his family name lost the n sound at the end of it. The za was also not a sound naturally in the language but ss seemed to be the one used to replace it.  
 
"Good," Pol'ar nodded approvingly. "Get practicing your blocks and I'll check them once I finished my own letters." 
    
Eyeri nodded and opened the book. This wasn't the worst thing to be doing. He settled and tried to focus on the learning the new strokes and circles that formed into sounds. He had to do it an after being a slave to learn human too. Those that been easier, his hand often remembering the shapes even if his mind did not. These were new. They weren't from a time he could not remember.  
 
Time blurred a bit. For the next few hours, he practiced the individual strokes until eventually he moved on to forming actual words and blocks. It was slow but there was something about the action. His shoulders lowered and his mind drifted. Grounded enough at the anxious thoughts did not sneak into his waking mind but floaty enough that the mess  surrounding him did not stress him.  
 
Pol'ar coughed from time to time. Eyeri kept his cup full of tea, aware that the man was half dozing. Ryraso got like this too. The other side of healing too much at once. Everything came with a cost.  
    
Eventually, noise drew Eyeri from the office, leaving Pol'ar dozing on his chair. Fetmar caught him and held on to him tight as guards frogmarched Aw'endo into a private room. Not Ryraso but a different one. Matron Iss'vine had a healer next to her, looking over bloody hands. A touch of magic to jump start the healing process but Eyeri saw the lines. Iss'vine met his eyes and smiled weakly, her own eyes red-rimmed in distress.  
 
"What happened?" he looked up at his older brother. Fetmar looked pale too. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen his brother look like that. Lips kissed to his forehead but Fetmar shook his head. Not now.  
 
   "What have you been up to?" Fetmar checked, looking Eyeri in the eyes. 
 
   "I helped around here and then Pol'ar had me learning how to write in k'nairi,"  
 
"Did you eat?" 
 
"Yes," Eyeri not unable to keep annoyance out his voice but Fetmar didn't seem to notice. He just patted Eyeri's back firmly before heading to the room, ducking under the arm of a guard and into the room. Eyeri stood frozen, not sure what to do. What had happened? Ice filled his chest and he felt water pooling in his eyes. His nails dug into his palms and the world moved around him for a moment as his heart fluttered with uncertainty 
 
"Eyeri," Pol'ar called, appearing next to him and pushing him out of the middle of the room. His hands pulled and pushed him into the room Aw'endo was in.  
 
Fetmar had Aw'endo between his legs. His foster brother sleeping with his wings spread wide, head on Fetmar's thigh and arms wrapped around it like a pillow tight. Fetmar sat with his back against the headboard with his hands stroking through Aw'endo's hair. Eyeri's eyes found the bandages on Aw'endo's arms. Two and two clicked together in his mind.  
 
"Oh," Eyeri whispered, hollowness expanding. A nudge had him moving towards them. He crawled onto the bed and joined them. Finding himself curling next to his brother under Aw'endo's wing. Well, this was going to be a problem. 
 
The adults were shouting outside the room but with the door now shut the words were too muffled to hear properly, even if he did understand. The light faded slightly and Fetmar just rubbed his hair. A soft song filled the room as Fetmar tried to make them both feel safer. It worked a bit, it always did as childish as it was.  
 
Eyeri tightened his grip on his brothers and let his eyes weep. Ignoring the guard in the corner of the room, they were alone. His brothers were warm and familiar.  
 
A flash and Nel'os was in the room. Looking over them with an unreadable expression. He sat on the bed but Fetmar growled. Not a k'nairi growl but a growl nonetheless. Nel'os narrowed his eyes but Fetmar jutted his chin out. I dare you to try.  
 
"Get out," Fetmar ordered, his eyes burning with anger.  
 
"You have..." 
 
   "I have. You caused this, you allowed this. Piss off," Fetmar snapped, his voice lower to not disturb Aw'endo but his tone sharp as teeth. "I told you that you all needed to get him help and you did not listen." 
 
"We," Nel'os looked at them desperately. Eyeri was certain Aw'endo was awake but keeping his eyes firmly closed and out of this argument. Eyeri held tighter, not looking at the adult. He couldn't find the words to deal with him at the moment. "We did not want this to happen." 
 
"Well, maybe next time you have a child who is being bullied, you send him only friend away and fail to notice he's struggling, you'll actually get him help. For now, they need to rest," Fetmar shifted, two sets of hands clinging to him to stop him from leaving. Fetmar exhaled. "Just go. When Aw'endo is no longer grey, we'll come and find you."  
    
Nel'os left and Fetmar settled down again, moving some cushions behind his back for comfort at his younger brother clung to his leg. An aide checking on them threw  a heavy blanket  over them.  Fetmar helped move it into place. It was time for peace and quiet. It was time for them to recover.