The following days at the sanctuary were painfully quiet. Normally, I was able to enjoy the quiet and the girls running around from lesson to lesson. Instead I found myself mulling over my next move, Daya’s next move, Sander’s motives, that letter from Fallon. Daya was desperate, that much I knew, and Sander wanted some sort of protection. Daya wanted an in at the Council. Marrying me off to him gets her just that -- provided he doesn’t catch the loophole. Fallon seemed to enjoy his position, and provided Daya the information she needed. Everything should be in order.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was wrong, though. There was simply no proof for me to say otherwise. I needed to forget about it all. If anything, I would find out more upon Daya’s return.

I was in the armory when it happened. I was wiping down my weapons, which the girls should have done when I arrived from my last assignment, and organizing all of the racks and crates for if I really would be leaving soon. It wasn’t until someone let me know that Daya had returned and would be sending for me soon that I knew she was home. They added that she did not seem to be in a good mood. I returned to my room while I waited.

By the time someone had been sent for me, I could have sworn I had worn a pathway into the floor of my room from all of my pacing. The sun had long set and I was sure the other girls had finished up their dinners, but I wasn’t certain. When I opened the door to my bedroom, it was one of the younger girls, Carine, who was under Daya’s wing. “Daya is expecting you in her office,” she said quietly, nodding her head politely and heading down the hallway.

I did my best not to rush to Daya’s office to ask what was going on and where she had been. The torches in the hallways were already lit, and they left an ominous orange glow on the double doors to Daya’s office. The light turned the golden designs on her door orange, and reflected my tense expression back on me. Breathe. Knock. Wait.

“Come in.”

I grabbed the handle of the door, and, taking one last breath, opened it up and stepped inside. Daya sat behind her desk, her hands clasped in front of her face. Her desk was along the right wall of the room, and moonlight came in from the balcony to cast a bluish tint on Daya’s face. Her office was a mess. Relics and books were torn from the shelves, and papers that were inked in a frenzy littered the floors. I didn’t know what to say, so I latched the door behind me. There was a slight chance that she knew I had rooted through her office. If that was the case, I would have to be ready for whatever punishment she was about to hand out. My only safety net now was my engagement to the Councilman.

She inhaled deeply through her nose, and ran her fingers along the shaven side of her head. “My apologies for the mess, dear. I received some rather… upsetting news while on my trip. I haven’t had the time to tidy up.” She rose from her desk, leaning forward on it with her eyes trained on one paper in particular. “I need you to do something for me one last time.”

“Will it require the Baurpei?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

I nodded quietly, stepping carefully over the tattered papers. “Would you like for me to send for the girls?”

“That liar. He betrayed me. He betrayed me!” Daya slammed her fists down onto the desk. “When you bring him here, he will burn. He will rot. He will be bled until he can say it to my face.”

I rose my eyebrows. “Strong words.”

“Strong words for a traitor. I’ve been searching for something very important to me, little bird. And this traitor ruined everything. He’ll pay for it!”

“Name?” I began picking up a few of the papers lying around me. Papers I was freshly acquainted with.

“Fallon Ere.”

I froze. “The brother.”

“He backdated his letter to me. Delivered it the day of our meeting. The day that I left.” Daya sunk into her chair, hands over her face. I moved to her desk and grabbed the paper as if it were some new form of evidence. “The letter arrived that morning, I made arrangements to leave and track the item down myself. I thought some sort of delivery mishap had occurred. How foolish…”

“What did he do? Why would he backdate a letter to you?” I paused. “I didn’t realize you had ties to the Ere’s.”

“Only Fallon. He’s easily corruptible. His brother I have had nothing to do with until Fallon gave me the idea of setting a few men on his tail. Making him paranoid.” Daya waved her hand as if it were all old news. “He needs protection, Fallon planted the seeds in his mind of the protection I could offer. He comes here, I give him you… it’s all quite easy. Fallon, though, seems to be on a mission for power all of his own. He backdated that letter. I only know because when I arrived to the town, what I was looking for was gone, and the residents I… interviewed, we shall say, let me know that some thugs had been after the same thing just a few days ago. They failed on their mission, and now what I need has run off and is somewhere in the desert….” she closed her eyes and sighed.

“Do you think he tried to impress you by sending his own men? When it didn’t work out and they fled,” I tsked, “he panicked and acted as if the letter was meant to be sent before it all happened? He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he? Either way, it’s no good.”

“Thank you, Aumee, for pointing that out.”

“I know where to find him.”

“I want him alive. He will not be given mercy.”

________________________________________________________________________

The saladassi weren’t very welcoming when I arrived at the stables. Daya’s favorite, Irati, had buried herself in a pile of sand, its eyes glowing a faint green in the darkness. In the dark, it was hard to make them out without the help of a torch. Otherwise, their smooth black scales allowed them to blend into the shadows. There were five to choose from, but only two viable options for myself. Suneba, who was my usual choice, was currently watching over a small nest of eggs, and Buro desperately needed to rest. As I passed their pen, Suneba wandered over to the gate, her tail dragging in a line through the sand.

“Not tonight, Suni,” I sighed.

I turned to the pens with the siblings: Durabi and Ditu. They were young, aggressive, and still in the process of being mastered. Just the sight of me sent them off pouncing on their gates, their small clawed feet scraping at the bottoms. Their bodies were thin and long, their snouts the same. At about half my height, they could easily take me down.

Reaching to my waist, I grabbed a bag with two dead birds. I held them up in front of the gate by their feet, and watched their eyes zero in. A thin, forked tongue slid out of their mouths and wiped across their eyes. “Back.”

They didn’t move.

“The first one of you to listen to me gets the bigger one. Now, back.”

Durabi, who was slightly older, took a few steps back in the sand, while Ditu creeped closer to the edge of his pen. I flicked the larger bird towards Durabi, which he caught in the air. While he swung it violently back and forth, I gave Ditu his and grabbed a saddle down from the post. Burabi didn’t resist as I saddled him, but as I grabbed the reins to escort him out of the stables, he began to resist.

I pulled out my last bird. “Only if you listen. Come on.”

We ventured out, leaving the stable and entering the courtyard. I swung myself atop Durabi before tossing him the final bird. I pat the pocket at my hip just to check one last time that I had what I needed. I could feel the items underneath my dark fabric. The pin for the Ring and a flower from Sander. I had grabbed them from my room before leaving. If I could leave something behind that pointed the Councilman in the right direction, perhaps he would look the other way on his unsolidified deal with Daya.

The gatekeeper of the courtyard slowly swung open the gate, and with a whip of his reins, Durabi bolted off into the alleyways of Arden.

Usually, I was given a scent by Daya to track down whoever it was she was after. Tonight was very different. I knew my target and I knew where he would be. By now, he must have know that Daya had found out. I made my way down to the entrance of the Ring that the Councilman had brought me to. I did just as Sander had done: knocked, presented the pin, and was redirected around back. I tied Durabi up to a post, and he narrowed his eyes on the man. “Be good and there will be more treats.”

I pulled my scarf up over my face and grabbed the daggers from my sash. Peeking in, I saw a dusty arena with not a soul around. Stands were empty, and there wasn’t even an echo of a sound. As I eased into the center of the Ring, my eyes caught on a flickering flame along one of the walls in the distance. A room lined the wall of the Ring, and the lights inside were still glowing. If Fallon were anywhere, he would likely be there.

As I came to the room, I could hear someone inside saying something. Their voice was not just muffled, but slurred and rhythmic. It sounded like they were singing. I edged the door of the room open, and saw a drunk Fallon Ere laying on the ground, a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He waved it around, singing, “... and we fight, fight, fight!” At the last note, he sat up and took a swig from the bottle. No one else was in the room. It seemed to be filled with journals and bags of coins, a count from winnings of the previous night, I presume. I watched as the man took another swig only to find the bottle empty. He tossed it aside, and the bottle tumbled beneath a desk.

I stepped in. “You’re enjoying yourself.”

He jumped, looking up at me with glossy eyes. He was rather handsome, with dark curls falling in front of his forehead and a sheen of sweat over his muscles. Various tattoos decorated his skin, but one looked more like a branding. “You’re late,” he slurred. He attempted to stand, but couldn’t get his legs beneath his torso.

“You were expecting me?” I twirled the dagger in my hand. “You don’t seem to have saved any drink for me.”

He chuckled, his grin brilliant but sad. “There would have been if you had come on time! I’ve been waiting for you. Go on. Let’s get this over with.” He crawled in front of me on his hands and knees, bowing his head to the ground.

“I’m not here to kill you.”

A moment of silence passed and he quickly stood up, grabbing the cloth of my robes. I rose the dagger to his neck, but had no intention of using it. Not yet. He was shaking now, his eyes wide with fear. “You have to. Please. Please! Kill me!” He pressed the knife against his own throat, drawing a drop of blood. I rammed my knee into his ribcage and pushed him away. “Please…” he began sobbing. “I can’t face her. Do you know what she’ll do to me? I… I failed her. If she won’t even kill me, I can’t imagine what she plans to do with me.” He crumpled onto the floor, the tears dripping onto the maroon rug beneath him.

I didn’t know what to do. Not only had I not been tasked with bringing many people back alive to Daya, but those that I brought back to her usually put up more of a fight. I moved over to a desk and sat down, crossing my legs together. “I can’t fight you if you’re in this state. It wouldn’t be fair. I would appreciate it if you could pull yourself together some. You know, you seem strong enough to take me on in a fight. You’d stand some chance, if that makes you feel any better. Perhaps if you fight me you can even escape,” I lied.

He laughed, bitterness seeping from his voice. “Escape. There’s no escape from Daya and her Baurpei. Or you, for that matter.”

I couldn’t help but entertain him as he mourned his own fate. “Me?”

“You don’t think I know who you are? You’re her right hand. Her little wannfota. The bird with black feet. You do everything she tells you, and you’ve never failed her. Not once. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” He rose to his feet, swaying slightly. Standing, I realized he had size as a great advantage over me. If he did decide to fight, it wouldn’t be easy. Instead, he moved closer, his shoulders slack and his eyes dripping. “No matter what I do, you’ll bring me to her. Am I wrong?”

“You aren’t.”

He smiled with closed lips and nodded. “So, wannfota, what is your true name? I assume you know mine. You tracked me down to here with no issues.” I stayed silent and he sighed. “Can I not know the name of the person bringing me to death?”

While his gaze was trained on me, I reached back with my left hand and grabbed onto a dense book. With my right hand I reached up and pulled down my scarf. “Wannfota will have to do.” Swinging the book, I nailed him on the side of the head. He fell like a piece of stone, hard and fast.

I wasn’t concerned about him waking up any time soon, so I acted fast. Not only had I brought Councilman Ere’s pin, but a flower from the bouquet he had given me. I glanced around the room, scanning for a place where my hint to the Councilman would be seen rather than mistaken for the rest of the junk on the desks and shelves. Eventually, I settled on placing the pin in the middle of the floor, the flower just beneath it. Its bright pink petals were sure to draw their attention downward whenever they came looking for him.

Perhaps that wasn’t enough. Anyone with an ‘in’ to the Ring would likely have one of these pins. I couldn’t be certain that Sander wouldn’t pursue someone else, or that he would understand the danger entirely. Sighing, I pressed the knife against the palm of my hand until a small amount of blood was drawn. Dipping my finger in it, I smeared some blood over the pin before glancing at the wall. Perhaps Daya’s little bird should have a calling card.

I stretched what blood I had drawn to paint the sandstone wall red, shaping the rough outline of a bird.

If there was one thing Councilman Ere cared about, it was keeping his little brother safe. If finding out that Fallon was not only involved with, but taken by Daya’s wannfota meant that his brother wasn’t safe, he would call off any and all deals in order to get his brother back. This way, my body stayed my own. I would still be the little bird who did Daya’s dirty work, but this was the first step in ensuring my freedom.

Fallon was still out cold, likely due to the alcohol, so I retrieved Durabi from where I had left him. He seemed to have been patiently waiting for me, and I was beginning to think he was ready to be trained. A twinge of pain shot through my chest as I remembered that I wouldn’t be here to train him if my plan didn’t go accordingly, but I waved the thought away. When we arrived to the room once more, Fallon Ere was sleeping heavily on the ground. I shoved his body into a bag and tied him to the back of the saladassi’s saddle.

Taking the less traveled alleyways back through lower Arden, I eventually found myself in front of the sanctuary once more. Upon my arrival, a few of the other girls came out and helped me take care of everything. By the time we brought Fallon down to the cells and Durabi to the stables, Daya was waiting at Fallon’s cell door and Fallon’s heavy sleep was becoming light.

“He didn’t struggle, did he?”

“No. I would hate to use the word pathetic, but…” I trailed off, watching as he slept on the ground. Whether from fear or alcohol or both, he was sweating heavily and fighting some sort of nightmare off in his mind.

“I see.” Daya stayed quiet for a while, tapping her nails against a tall black staff. It glittered in the moonlight, and I felt my heart drop.

“Is the Baurpei here for me or him?”

“Do you require it?”

“I don’t believe so.”

She nodded. “I have yet to decide his punishment.”

I didn’t say anything. Fallon had woken up. He sat up quickly, his chest rising and falling as he looked around at his surroundings. Daya picked up her staff and tossed it through the bars of the cell door. The staff dissipated into a thick black sand, swarming around Fallon before settling in as chains that held him down to the ground by the wrists.

“He’ll be your brother here after tomorrow, you know. Councilman Sander Ere, his brother, and I meet tomorrow to finish our discussion of the terms of your contract.” She reached forward, her ringed fingers pushing the door open. “Make sure you’re ready to meet him for lunch, Aumee.”

I stood in horror as I took it all in. Not only was she still planning on selling me off tomorrow, but to a Councilman of Arden. The brother of the man I had just delivered to his death. Perhaps I should have asked for the Baurpei after all. If my plan truly didn’t work, all of this would weigh on my mind for far too long.

Daya didn’t even need to look in my direction to know that I was still standing at the door. As she stared down at the Baurpei holding Fallon, she said, “Go on, little bird. I don’t want to have to deal with any bags under your eyes tomorrow when you meet the buyer.”