CHP15

Seneya stood, hands on hips as Kael carried bundles of clothes and stowed away things from his room. She knew she’d have to scrub the floor again, just seeing what he brought from the room and the state of the floor.

“I keep telling you that you need to be resting,” Kael grumbled.

“I can’t! There’s dirt in the everywhere. This place stinks!” She announced, grumbling as she fussed with a bucket of the soda ash water. She was ashamed on his behalf for all the clothes and garbage he’d hoarded.

“’There’s dirt everywhere,’” he corrected. “You speak like you’re very old, you know?”

“Oh.” She muttered it back to herself as her eyes went wide at a pile of faded black feathers littering about on the floor.

“I molted a few weeks…months ago, so there are feathers everywhere,” He muttered as she looked into the room.

“Moulting?”

“I mean you wouldn’t usually, for a few years, but you never got to molt before, so if your feathers don’t sleek out, then you might shed in a few weeks… Just tell me if you start feeling tired and feverish,” Kael said before pausing.

“Well, more tired and feverish,” He added as he removed more things from the room. Finally, Seneya started to see floor for the first time.

“Where’s the mattress?” She asked, looking at the bed frame. She’d never seen one like it before, stretched canvas, a large frame, grommets, and anchors.

“Lay in soft beds, and you are tempted to sleep on your back, so if your wings slip, you don’t hurt them,” He grumbled. Seneya’s constant questions became less endearing, and he didn’t know if her confusion or aura irritated him more.

“Oh,” She muttered as she moved to the couch to sit and sprawl out on her front. The thought of sleep sounded good, and she liked how the couch was long enough for her to stretch out.

“Finally! Rest, and I’ll get this where you want it.”

She nodded shortly and sighed a few lingering breaths until light sleep settled over her.

Kael found himself back and forth, tossing clothes out by the washbasin, trash in a burn pile with his strewn feathers, and bedclothes in their own pile to be ‘aired out,’ she said. They needed to be washed out, aired out, washed again, beaten within an inch of their lives, and probably just tossed out. He hadn’t used a blanket in a long time, having just collapsed onto his bed and slept as is. The thought of a clean bed and organized room sounded like a good idea. He even attempted to open the grimy windows.

When he finally emptied the room, a soft breeze carried through, and she stretched out to glance over, watching Kael rest in his chair. He opened one eye, focusing on her with a toothy half-grin.

“Room empty?” She asked as she sat up to stretch. Her wings rustled, arching out at the first joint as her tail straightened and curled. Her sore wings and tail felt so natural, like second nature.

He nodded, and she stood, going off to find her cleaning supplies. She tossed the bucket of water over the floor, scrubbing the grime and detritus out of the front door of the room. Brown wash spilled out, followed by slightly less brown water. She chased the flow of it out into the living room, scrubbing the path of it outside.

A dresser in the corner of the room sat agape—drawers crooked and misaligned, empty. As drawers always do, they had grit and dirt in the bottoms that she went out to empty with a gentle smack to its frame. She had to be careful not to be too heavy-handed. She didn’t realize her own strength lately.

Kael couldn’t tell her no, not really. She got things in her mind and had to run with them. As such, cleaning became her priority, and it seemed compulsive—just as compulsive as she felt about the raw meat he brought back from the butcher.

When she nearly finished cleaning, a wicked grin crossed his face as he handed her a packet, a little bigger than the day before’s, a little thicker.

Seneya reached for it, hands shaking, stomach growling, and to her disappointment, it was not liver, but full fatty steak. She stared at it, then at him as he grinned. She raised a brow and fished in the kitchen for a knife that she shook in his direction before she sat and went about cutting her meat up, rebelling.

Kael lifted a brow before bringing his own food up to his mouth to take a satisfying rending bite.

Seneya picked apart her meat with a fork and knife, savoring the sensation. Her empty stomach ached, and she couldn’t say she’d felt anything this good in a long while.

Kael walked away, and it was so tempting to pick it up with her bare hands and feel her teeth sink into it. So she waited for a minute, staring it down as she lifted it.

“What do you say, little starling, about seeing to your fires today?” Kael asked, coming up behind her with amusement in his voice. She dropped the steak and jumped, fluffing her wings.

He twisted his lips with concern. “I’ll keep my wings out more around you. Learn by example,” he said, tilting his head a little. Seneya, curious about what he meant, turned to see him shaking his wings free.

“So, wings are like eyebrows, yes?” He stretched out one of his wings a little, moving it in synch with his hand as he gesticulated. Seneya took the motions in, looking from him to the feathered appendages.

“Tails, I cannot tell you much as we don’t have many of us with them. There’s no etiquette. Wings, though, you’re holding them too stiff. Be more expressive! When I startled you, you fluffed. Never fluff! Do not raise hackles; snap them!” Then, as if to prove a point, his wings snapped closed, making a sharp little clap that sounded genuinely indignant. She tried and found the gesture clumsy.

“Are you afraid of being seen? With your wings out?” Seneya asked.

“Nah, this whole area and the town beyond is cloaked for me. I redo the spells occasionally when my favorite asshole visits.” He waved his hand dismissively, and his wing on that side seemed to stir a little as well.

“You’ve said something about this ‘ass’ before,” She noted, going back to her steak with a knife. She was desperately hungry but still hesitated to eat it, feeling silly.

“He’s my…. Son.” Kael’s wings drooped, and she saw questioning in his eyes.

She stared at him in wait for more, but his eyes wandered, and wings drooped a little, so she didn’t press. Asking questions just irritated people. Answers often came to those who listened.

“Hurry up and eat. I want to see if you’ve sparked your fires yet, or we’re going to have to scare them from you,” he teased. Seneya stared at the steak, braced herself, and dropped the knife. Cutting it by hand didn’t work—too inefficient, and there was something utterly satisfying and rewarding about feeling her teeth sink into it before she tore.

“Yeah, definitely clipping your teeth when the ass comes,” He grumbled, watching her messy bites turn into eye-wateringly satisfying swallows. He let her be then and was thankful that she didn’t balk at the suggestion.

He’d never seen teeth like hers before, sharp canines, but nothing much else. As far as he knew, the Phoenix didn’t regularly clip their teeth because their teeth were already sharp and small. The Acerrai did because their teeth got longer, while Seneya’s were sort of a middle ground, but not like the Acerrai at all.

Seneya ate quickly, bustled out the door to wash her hands, and found Kael on his log pile once more. He enjoyed laying out in the sun. Despite the sun-kissed glint on his skin, his raven black hair bore not a note of fading.

“I’ve finished my food,” She announced.

He opened an eye and slid from his spot. “Alright then.” He held out his hand to her with his black flames aloft and a warning reminder not to touch.

“Okay, so does your skin tingle any?” His eyes trained on hers, watching as she shook her head and held up her hand like he showed her.

She waited a few minutes, flexing her hand, and focused on it. He pondered, dissipating the flames before he reached out and rested a hand on her wrist, searching for something as his brow furrowed.

She liked how direct he was with his touch, taking care not to startle her.

“I feel it. Your mana is flowing, but we just need to figure a way to get you to release it,” He hummed to himself.

She twisted her lips.

He pulled his hand away and walked, deep in thought. In a flash, he turned on his heel and reached for her as his wings flew out to his sides. They spread up over his head, his arm wrapped around her waist, and wings struck the ground as he leaped skyward.

She made a startled squeak of noise, a sharp bleat as gravity held her, and the ground disappeared.

“Aha! You chirp for me, starling! Feel anything?” He laughed as he went higher and higher still, beating his wings hard to keep up with her weight.

“Scared!”

“I can feel that. Your aura is excited!” He laughed as he angled his wings, flit his tail, and turned in a sharp swoop. She felt a lurch in her stomach, and a sudden sickening feeling as the pressure around her waist abandoned her. A floating sensation overcame her, then the lurch of a fall.

He can feel my aura and isn’t mad at me… A full feeling took over her chest, happiness. But it only lasted a moment.

Her voice, still hoarse from the days before, sharp brittle sounding, broke into a silent whimper of a scream. The ground came back into view, her wings spread, and for a moment, just a single moment, almost gliding as instinct kicked in.

She had memories of it, flying, flashing through her mind, and determined, she banked, tilted one of her wings, and it crumpled under the pressure. She had no muscle strength for this.

“KAEL!” She shouted, and she counted the seconds until death as she tumbled.

He shot down in the air, wings pinned to his back, head down. He gained on her, inch by inch, and far too close for comfort, he had her under his arm once more before a harsh landing.

“Okay, that didn’t work, but at least your wings know what to do. You have mana, you have fires, but you’ve not figured them out.”

“I… I had this flash in my mind, flying like I had done it before, but different,” She spoke quietly.

“I’m going to guess that was likely your spirit,” Kael said quietly as she stumbled to sit. Concern masked his face.

“I meant to ask you about that.”

“Your spirit is a piece of a soul. The Phoenix work with soul magic, and their nobles are inheritors of soul-fragments that help preserve the lines. Yours would have come from your mother and your grandmother before that. It’s probably one of their memories; I’d ask, but you’re not yet ready to meet your grandmother. So I tell you to keep him away because they’re a little dangerous. They come when your life is in danger, but they’re overprotective,” Kael said quietly.

“Yet?”

“You need to be strong, to be able to fly. She needs to know you’re not this weak half thing. Also, we don’t know who bound you like you were. It could very well have been her.” He looked genuinely sad about it.

She spread her wings out to her sides, panting as the muscles in them twitched and shivered. “I’ll do what I have to do to survive. If I don’t have family, I’ll make my own place.” She focused on her breath to keep herself even and awake.

“Good. You’ll be fine to stay here until you’re ready. I enjoy the company, little starling,” He chuckled.

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

“When you fell in my arms, and I moved you, you made squeaking noises. When I surprise you, you squeak. Since you insist on chirping and your wings are freckled, I shall call you little starling,” He nodded sagely.

He laughed nervously. “Now, let’s get you working on your wing strength. I won’t be able to frighten you for a while after that.”

She quirked a brow up at him.

“They come when you’re scared, stressed; it takes a trigger.” His hands and wings worked together to gesticulate, and it reminded her that her own wings were there, and she should be doing something with them.

He gestured for her to follow him, and she rolled her wing’s ‘shoulder’ to feel the muscles. It felt so familiar.

“Also, the creek is up this way. You could use a splash about yourself,” He grumbled, and she sniffed her shirt a little, agreeing with him.

“I smell like that duck oil.” She grimaced.

“How’s your ault looking?” He asked as she stood to follow him. Her bare feet trod over the soft grass, tickling her soles as she looked at her wrists.

“Itchy. Not oily yet,” she muttered.

Kael rolled his wrist, and she noticed he wore leather bands on himself for the first time.

“Sael should be bringing you some. I sent quite a list to him if he doesn’t ignore me this time.”

“Sael?” She asked.

“The asshole, my son,” Kael told her, and her head tilted curiously, that same beckoning look she gave when she wanted him to keep talking.

“I was married once, you know. Our kind doesn’t do marriage. We bind to a soulmate, a bondmate. My people decided that I was not to have that luxury and forced my union to a woman who shared my lineage and also had a seraph’s tail, so we could make ‘stronger children.’ It’s rare for a seraph to have more than one seraph child. I was not interested in that kind of relationship with her because she was manipulative and spiteful, and also she was too close to my own blood, my half-sister,” Kael said quietly.

Seneya’s lips tightened. Kael’s lip curled with disgust at the thought.

Eww.

“So, she conspired with another man to give her a child. I wouldn’t touch her then, not now, and not ever. That was her only way to get a child, and I raised him as my own.” Kael flipped his hand about, dismissing it as a thing of the past.

“Do you not like him?” Seneya had so many questions, and despite the invasive nature of the questions, he loved seeing her curiosity.

“Hah, he and I are different people. We will always be so. I love him as my son, but he flies his own way,” Kael spoke resolutely.

Seneya quieted, satisfied for the moment, as they marched on towards the creek.

She heard it before she saw it, a small thing that went about waist deep. Kael, significantly less dressed than herself in his linens and skirt-like wrap, dove into the water. She watched him for a minute before slipping in after him. She found the water cold but bearable.

“Use your wings to tread water. It’ll help you get them the right way,” Kael told her as she dipped herself down and sank her wings into the flowing cold. She did so and found it soothing, the cool water on aching muscles. He splashed himself off a bit, as promised, and she continued her tread.

He climbed out, then found a sunny spot over some rocks to lay out and dry. Seneya wished she had other pants, ones that weren’t dingy and holy.

He looked comfortable with the sun on him.

“Just keep swimming, starling,” he told her, and she did so eagerly, loping beneath the flow, watching as tiny fish swept away. Finally, her body rolled so that she faced the sky, flitting her wings to go against the water, allowing her tail to feel the flow around it.

The oil on her wings made water bead and roll off, and she grumbled at it. It still smelled bad, and water alone wasn’t going to remove it.

“Just wait for the bands. Keeping something against your skin to keep it moist for a while might stimulate them to start producing,” Kael called over.

Seneya continued to enjoy herself, regardless of the smell that wasn’t going away.

“Can I use a pair of your bands?” She asked.

“And have you smelling like me? No. Not in a thousand years, child. I won’t have people make those kinds of assumptions. Beyond necessity, we don’t touch another’s wings, and we don’t come into contact with another’s ault. That is for lovers. That is why I made you oil your own tail and will make you groom your own wings moving forward.”

By the time Kael dried himself off, he had beckoned her out of the creek and sent her off to go sun while he went back to the cabin. Seneya climbed onto the rock he’d just been occupying, sprawled out on her front, spread her wings, and groaned with contentment.