8) Conversations

I come back to consciousness slowly. The first thing I notice is the pain. Burning pain that makes breathing hard and concentrating just as difficult. I force myself to stay completely still and relaxed.

 

The next thing my pain-numbed mind notices are the voices. There are two of them, a man and a woman, and the man sounds worried and familiar.

 

“Lady Carmon,” says the man. He must be the one that helped me stand after the raven's talons had ripped my back, “I don't think Lord Grayson will like this one bit.”

 

“I know he won't like this,” says the soft, sing-song voice of the woman. She must be Carmon. “Had me that healing cream and bandages, Mark, then hold her up. I need to redress her wounds.”

 

I hear some shuffling and hands carefully lift me. I am moved from laying on my stomach to sitting up, leaning against a hard chest. My head falls on his shoulder and I fell my shirt lifted.

 

“What do you think he will do when he finds out?” Mark asks.

 

“He'll probably try strangling someone.” Soft, gentle hands start to carefully remove the bandages wrapped around my torso. “He won't be happy at all that his obsession was so gravely injured.”

 

I feel a tremble run through Mark's body. They mush be talking about Grendel, the raven betrothed of Lord Grayson. I must have burned her entire left side. Of course the Lord of Birds would be furious that his future wife is half a fried chicken.

 

“Who is going to tell him?” Mark ask, his voice and body trembling.

 

“Don't you start!” Carmon snaps. “You shaking her. Do you want her wounds to get worse?” The man takes a deep breath and calms himself. “That's better.” The soft hands start to spread a cool something on my back. There is a sharp pain and first, but it quickly fades away. “Jink and Gab are going to tell Gray. Between the two of them they'll be able to keep Gray from ripping anyone apart.”

 

“The Lord of Beasts is at Crow's Tower?”

 

“And Sebastia and Edward are on their way.” The new bandages in place around my upper body, the woman pulls my shirt gentlly back into place. “Her neck, now.”

 

I am shifted and the soft hands go to work on my neck wounds.

 

“The Lady of Fish and a Dersonus are coming, too?” Mark asks in amazement. “Why?”

 

“The Amilas Lordship need to discuss what they should do about that toad of an emperor. Edward always comes to those meetings to act as a sort of buffer. We are also all worried about Gray.” She sighs. “I hope he doesn't kill Grendel for this.”

 

That confuses me. Why would he kill his betrothed?

 

“No, I think he should. She deliberately ignored his orders. He said to not, under any circumstances, attack the red haired knight called Mirina and the ship she was on. Grendel went looking for trouble.”

 

“But living would be worse,” Carmon counters. “She will never be able to fly again and Grayson will one day marry. It would destroy her to see her ridiculous dream dashed.”

 

“You have a point. She does deserve to suffer. Look at those holes.” He gently helps spread the cool gel. “They are deep and well take a long time to heal. This little lady shouldn't be hurt.”

 

“Yea, she shouldn't.” The sing-song voice is soft and sad. “We should have moved faster. I've never spied on a person as sweet as this one. Grayson will take care of her when we get to Crow's Tower.”

 

“Why would he? Why would he even be so interested in her, anyway?”

 

“His gift tells him she'll be a good friend.” I fell the bandages wrap around my neck. “His gift led him to Jink and I. His gift led him to Gab, Seb, and Ed. If has never been wrong before and I don't think it will ever be wrong in the future. Besides, she has one of his pen feathers. Grayson wouldn't give one of his feathers to just anyone.”

 

“Yea.” Mark gently lays me back down on my stomach. “Are you going to stay here with her?”

 

“Yes. Go check on Arim. He got ripped up pretty bad.”

 

“Yes, Lady Carmon.” I hear footsteps and the slap of a closing tent flap. I then realize that the bed I am laying on is not rolling like it should be. Even a docked boat rocks. Why is the ground under my bed not moving?

 

“You can stop pretending your asleep,” Carmon's voice says softly. “I know you're up.”

 

“Guess I'm not good at pretending.” I turn my head to look at the woman. Her yellow-green eyes smile at me from her soft, round face. Her blond hair is in a tight ponytail and her yellow wings are totally relaxed. “How bad is it?”

 

“You'll be fine,” she says. “It'll take some time before you are back to normal, but in a few days you should be able to move around by yourself for a short while. As soon as we get to Crow's Tower you'll be able to rest in peace.”

 

“What happened to the boat?” I look around the tent. My things are in a corner, my scythe among them. The bad is the only furniture and a bed roll nearby means that someone sleeps here, too.

 

"I doubt the Palmen sailors would have liked us staying with them.” Carmon smiles. “After I took command of Grendel's troupes I ordered the cats and you moved to the nearest island and your thing s gathered. We manages to get away before the men realized we had left. We are now an hour's flight away from the area where we left the ship.”

 

“How's Arim and the twins? I saw them fighting with those hawks. Are they okay?”

 

“Their fine. Arim got some pretty bad wounds trying to get to you, but he'll be up and about in an hour or so.” The small woman puts a hand on my shoulder. “The twins have a few nicks, that's all. Amilas are better at fight Amilas than Palmen are. The three are very worried about you.”

 

“Well, I'm fine.” I start to push myself up. A stabbing pain rips through me and my arms give out. “Okay, maybe not as fine as I thought.”

 

“Don't do that!” the blond woman snaps. She checks the bandages over my back. “ You could reopen your wounds. There are nine slashes in your back and four holes in you neck. You're injured enough as it is. Don't make it worse.”

 

I let myself relax. After a few minutes I ask Carmon the questions that have been bugging me. “Why would my injuries make the Lord of Birds want to strangle someone?”

 

Carmon sighs. “Grayson wouldn't want any of his friends hurt. You have one of his feathers. He would never give one of his feathers to someone who was not a friend.”

 

“You also said he's obsessed with me and something about his gift. What did you mean?”

 

“You don't miss a thing, do you?” She giggles. “For a week before you left the Palmen palace Grayson had been edgy, moody, and distracted. The last time he'd been so off track had been before his father died. He can sense things that will severely affect him long before they happen or he is about to meet someone who will be a great friend to him. The day you went into the Wis Amilas tribe's village Mark arrived at Crow's Tower to report on the oddity he had been following.”

 

“Mark was following me?” I ask.

 

“Yes. Grayson's agitation was given a focus and his unwavering attention can only be discribed as obsession. He sent me, his left hand, best female friend, and head of his spy network, to gather information about you. Mark has been delivering my reports.”

 

“So that makes you bird nobility, right?”

 

“Yup. My brother is the king of an eastern tribe. I met Grayson when we were five. When he saw me he tugged on his father's pants, pointed to me, and said, 'She is going to be one of my best friends, Father.'”

 

I smile. “That sounds like a wonderful thing.”

 

“It normally is,” she agrees, “but when one is consumed by thoughts of one thing it is not wonderful. Mark says Gray isn't looking too good.”

 

Worry frowns my brow and my hand goes to where my feather always hangs around my neck. My eyes widen in panic when I realize it is gone.

 

Carmon sees my distress and picks up something from the ground next to her. She places my feather on my pillow in front of my face. I sigh in relief and cover it with my hand. “I'll go get you some food,” she says as she stands.

 

“After that we need to set out. I want to reach the Tower by tomorrow morning. The sooner I get you there the sooner Gray will calm down a bit.”

 

She leaves and I lay pondering, stroking my feather. The Lord of Birds is obsessed with me, cares about my wellbeing. A little voice in the back of my mind whispers that it sounds like he loves me, but I throw that away. How can you love someone you don't know?

 

I remember the kind boy who held me when I found out my mother had died. Even faced with that horror of death, I have never felt as safe and protected as I did at that moment.

 

I sigh and decide to stop picking at it. I'll know when I see him again.

Author's Note

Weeeeeeeee!