~Serana⚜

The sound of claws scratching against metal pulls me out of sleep. Groaning quietly I stretch out my wing to shift Mira's off.

I'm pulled into full awareness when I don't feel her wing slide down mine or hear her grumble at being disturbed. Now that I was fully awake I noticed how much colder I was this morning. Did she already get up? I wonder rolling onto my back to see long black waves strewn across the other pillow and large white wings facing me. She didn't... My thoughts trail of as a feeling like someone was trying to carve pieces out of my chest with a dull spoon constricted my lungs.

The scratching sound that had woken me up starts again, accompanied by a low whine drawing my attention. Turning back to face the platform doors I spot Etria waiting for me to get up and open the door for her.

Ignoring the dull throb in my chest I swing my legs over the side of the bed and pad over to the eagerly waiting vyx. Opening the door, Etria bolts out into the garden. Pushing the door open further I leave it like that and turn to go back to bed.

Before I can even touch the covers, I hear the distinct click of a gryph snapping its beak shut. Sighing I glance over to the chair, and sure enough there's Ovah just waking up which meant I had to get up for the day anyway.

The gryph looked at me with bleary eyes and perked ears. Kneeling on the bed, I decide to help the poor gryph out in his daily ritual of trying to force the queen out of bed. I definitely believed her when she said sleeping was her favorite thing.

I could feel heat rising in my cheeks as the memory resurfaced and left a, not entirely unpleasant, sensation coursing through my stomach and made the tips of my fingers tingle.

Shaking it off I lean over the quietly sleeping woman. I stop my hand an inch from her shoulder when I hear something odd about her breathing. Leaning in a little closer I locate the sound coming from her chest. She's purring! I nearly squealed aloud in amusement.

Snoring in your sleep was common even growling wasn't anything unusual, but only 1 in about 300 people ever actually purred in their sleep.

I was grinning from ear to ear now as I watched her sleep for a moment longer. I'd never actually been awake while she was sleeping, because of her cuddling habit she always woke up when I did.

"Mira." I whisper in her ear shaking her shoulder. The purring paused for a second before resuming.

"Miiira?" I singsonged leaning in closer shaking her once again.

This time she grumbled and tucked her head down covering her face with the wing not pined beneath her.

Huffing I pull back and half stand on the bed. Leveling a mischievous glare at her sleeping form I let a crooked grin take over my features before dropping my whole body down on her.

"Wake up!" I yell at the same time she screams and scrambles in her half awake state.

Her scrambling ended up taking us both off the bed where we ended up in a tangled pile of limbs and blankets.

"Serana!" She screams at me when she finally twist herself around. "What in the skies are you doing?!" She nearly bellows.

"I tried waking you up nicely." I defend. With a grunt I finally get my wing loose from the covers and look down at the other woman I've landed on, once again. "Mornin' love." I add with a lopsided smirk, repeating what Nani used to say to me when I was little and looked like I'd just rolled out of a rats nest.

The scowl on her face didn't budge at my attempt to lighten the mood. "Get off me." She demands baring her teeth threateningly.

"Aw, are you gonna purr at me again?" I tease, hoping she wouldn't actually bite me. If she really wanted to hurt me she would have done it by now, I hope.

I decided I would gladly take any repercussions if it meant seeing the look on her face. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks had gone from bone white to beat red.

"Oh please tell me you didn't..." She trails off in horror.

Smirking back at her. "Oh but I did." I tease. "It was kind of cute actually." I admit watching her close her eyes in mute embarrassment.

"I hate you." She mutters glaring at me through half slitted eyes.

Chuckling at her. "I think I can live with that." I say grin still firmly in place.

"Oh can you?" She questions lifting her head off the floor.

"Mmhm." I hum bracing my arms across her chest and leaning into her incase she actually tried to lung for my throat.

A growl rumbled in her chest sending vibrations up my arm as her eyes darkened to a deep indigo.

"Mirand... Ah" I was cut off when she used her wing to throw my weight to one side and allow her to flip our positions.

She had my hands pinned above my head and her knees planted on either wing effectively trapping me beneath her. A soft growl draws my attention to the warm breath hitting my neck. "Still think you can live with it?" She ask in a low voice, the growl still prominent in her tone.

Swallowing the lump trying to form in my throat I fight to keep all my attention on just breathing. That proved to be a bad idea when the scent of honey overwhelmed my senses.

Screwing my eyes shut I clench my jaw and wait for the well of emotions trying to choke me to subside and go back down.

"Serana?" It was Mira calling my name, I knew it was. But that voice, that wasn't her voice.

"Serana, what have I told you?" My wrist were engulfed by large hands, looking up I see Vavi's silhouette standing over me.

"It's alright Kenyzah, she's more than welcome." Another voice called, I didn't know this voice. There was a gap in my memory, but I remember Vavi had taken me home away from the stranger and was mad at Nani for letting me follow him.

"Serana, look at me." My eyes flew open at the command and suddenly I'm staring at blue eyes instead of a wooden door. "Serana, what happened?" Mira whispers cupping my face with both hands.

Swallowing to try and bring saliva back into my mouth. "Wood bee honey." Is all I manage to chock out.

Her brows nit together in confusion.

"You smell like wood bee honey." I say trying to clarify and draw air into my lungs at the same time.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She questions. I could see the gears in her mind turning, trying to figure out what it was I meant.

"Lockren." I breath and I could finally feel myself drawing in a whole breath.

"Lockren?" She whispers to herself looking away for a moment.

I saw the moment my words clicked together in her mind. "Oh." She breaths looking back at me. "Smells can trigger memories." She says nodding in understanding.

"They can?" I ask my chest still heaving in air by the lungfuls.

"Aye." She confirms sitting back until her weight was resting fully on my hips instead of my wings. "Most memories are directly linked to a certain smell." She explains further. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips, and she looked down the next time she spoke. "What was it?" She ask, not lifting her eyes from my stomach.

"I'm not sure." I answer. It was true, I did really know.

"Why hasn't this happened before?" She questions looking up to meet my gaze again.

"It's usually not just you." I try, hoping that made even a little bit of sense.

It must have made enough to her. She simply hummed and continued to study my features.

Shifting my wings I tug a little until she rocks back and lifts her knees so I can sit up without pulling out a feather.

"Hey." I huff smiling lightly. "It's fine." I assure. When the pensive look doesn't leave her eyes I lean in and bury my nose in the crook of her neck. Taking a deep breath I let it out in a sharp huff making her chuckle at the feeling. "It's fine, Mirandiona." I say lowly, using her full name to get my point across.

She sighed and I knew I should pull back, I'd already made my point and I should retreat before she got mad at me for invading her space, but I couldn't. Not quite yet.

I tensed for a moment when I felt her hands graze the sides of my neck but relaxed when they moved to wrap her arms around my neck instead. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I slid my arms under her wings and buried my face into the soft flesh of her neck.

My body shook with silent chuckles when she started to purr. "Shut up." She muttered into my hair, never breaking her purr.

She nuzzled my jaw and the side of my head until I relented and purred with her. "You are insufferable." I mutter against her neck.

She chuckles in response and nips the top of my ear in retaliation.

Purring louder until I'm nearly growling in the back of my throat I pull back and look up to meet her dark blue gaze.

She stares back for a moment before breaking away. "We should get ready." She sighs pulling away from me and letting the purr die in her chest. "We'll be expected at breakfast." She adds when I don't immediately let her go.

Relenting I loosen my grip and watch her swiftly stand from my lap and let the blanket slide to the floor.

She looked almost disappointed I thought. But it was probably just wishful thinking. Letting her pull me to my feet I follow her lead and start getting ready for the day.

~💠~

I hate politics. I concluded as I listened to the delegates drone on about the same damn point the other person from a different region just said not five minutes ago.

The rebels were attacking outpost. The rebels were steeling strait from the nobles vaults. The merchants refused to travel because the rebels would attack their caravans. The guards that were meant to patrol the region would get attacked by bands of rebels. The rebels were causing unrest between the villages and the Lycan tribes. And the list went on and on and on.

After the fifteenth delegate that said the same thing and made the same point but with slightly different words I just stopped listening all together and only looked like I was paying attention so Mira didn't claw me under the table. In my head I was mentally ticking off about how many yards it would take before I couldn't shoot the one talking square in the throat.

Ah, I'd give myself 450, 500 maybe. He's got a big head, even if I missed his throat I'd probably knock out a good chunk of his jaw.

It was probably a little morbid, but glancing to Mira's other side at Fyko I had a feeling he was following a very similar thought process.

When the man speaking finally finished Avar stood up, before anymore delegates could start there own speech. "We will break for lunch. I must consult with her majesty and see what she has to say on the matters you have pointed out." The aged man states before retaking his seat at my side.

Fyko and Avar seemed to alternate randomly between being next to Mirandiona or myself. Looking at the man, I guessed his age to be somewhere above a thousand judging by the way he carried himself. No matter how hard some may try, you didn't have that kind of set to your shoulders and that way of carrying your wings unless you've lived a long life.

"Did I ever mention how much I hate nobles?" Fyko pipes up from his place next to Mira, leaning his head against the palm of his hand.

"Um Fyko?" I call glancing between the four people still remaining in the room.

I wasn't really a noble, and Mira looked more amused than anything, but Avar looked mildly annoyed and Katal just looked like she wanted to rip his throat out. Of course that was her default expression when in the same vicinity as the man, so I couldn't be sure if she actually took offense or not, but since it was Fyko I assumed she did out of pure dislike for the man.

"I've got you two. They're not gonna touch me." He replied cockily leaning back in his chair until he was balancing on two legs.

"Don't count your kills until you've made the shot." I tell him crossing my arms with a smirk.

"What's that suppos... Oh shit!" She cries trying to snag his talons in the table as his chair fell out from underneath him.

"Damn it. Why?" He turns an accusatory glare on Mira who looked about as innocent as a babbo with a bloody muzzle.

"What?" She asked feinting ignorance, as if she wasn't the one who kicked his chair out from under him.

"You really should have learned by now." I chastise trying not to snicker at the pair.

He grumbled something under his breath that sounded faintly like 'women' but I ignored him and turned my attention to the servers bringing in our lunch.

"Why do I have a bowl of mushrooms?" Katal ask the server that placed her food.

Blushing I duck my head and try to look as small as possible.

"That was my doing." Mira says taking the bowl of mushrooms from the server before he can place them before me.

Taking her own bowl she leans down and places them on the floor for Ovah.

Glancing up to look at the other occupants in the room I receive a weird look from Fyko, Katal just ignores us in favor of her plate, and Avar looks mildly surprised. "Anything you'd like to share your majesty?" Avar questions, flicking his eyes between the two of us.

"No." She answers shortly. "Now about the issue with the merchants. We may be able to entice them if we lift some of the trade restrictions enacted by my parents. And the same could be said about the hunting restrictions to ease trouble with the tribes. The last thing we need is an angry Chieftain on our back." She begins.

"It will take some time to get through the paperwork and work out a feasibility solution. But we could reasonably have a temporary lift within the next couple weeks. A more permanent solution will take much more time." He points out. It wasn't out right agreement but it was close enough.

"You might want to set up land for designation or you'll make it worse." I chime in.

I wish I hadn't when all the eyes in the room turned to me.

"Alright, what do you purpose?" Mira ask.

Glancing at her she seemed genuinely curious so I barreled on. "Well, I don't know much but I remember the reason the restrictions got placed was because a lot of people were hunting in the territories given to the Lycans. So your gonna have to be careful and make sure no one goes on their hunting grounds or you're just gonna piss them off. You'll also want a limit on how many kills they can take. If to many animals start dying they'll drive off the herds." I add looking between the four faces around me.

Avar for his part didn't look as shocked as Katal and Fyko at my insight. "That's actually not a bad idea." The man states looking to Mira for her thoughts.

"You're going to be kicking yourself later." She warns giving me a look. When I frown in response she elaborates. "You are now going to be required to sit, listen, and help read over the law and rewriting the temporary." The smile pulling at her lips was in direct opposition with the sympathy in her eyes.

"This is why I should just keep my mouth shut." I mutter glaring at my plate, angrily stuffing a piece of food in my mouth.

As they continued talking I added my input where I thought I could help. No point in holding back now, I was already pinned, might as well dive down and see what's on the other side.

We sat and talked for the rest of the day with only the occasional interruption by the staff. Ending the meeting with the mutual agreement to resume tomorrow and give our chosen course of action to the delegation.

"That. Was. Awful." I groan. I felt mentally exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

"Ah, there you are. You're not going to fall asleep without telling me again are you?" Nani's voice calls from the platform when we enter the room.

Mira groans but obediently starts trudging to the garden. "We forgot." She says as way of apology.

I grunt in agreement and try to shake the sleep fogging my mind. Putting my arms around Mira's neck I lift my wings into the spade.

A shiver ran up my spine as the cold sword hilts in her wings rested lightly against the small of my back. Cool hands slid on my hips and pulled me a fraction closer.

"Step on my feathers and you'll hear more than purring tonight." She warns in a low voice so Nani doesn't hear.

My heart leapt into my throat as my thoughts went in an entirely different direction. Whoa no, no, no bad, bad thoughts. Stop. I wanted to scream as the phantom sounds my mind conjured up started drowning out my thoughts.

Taking a steading breath I focus on her face and keep my attention on the movement of our bodies. The corner of Mira's lip was quirked hinting at an underlying emotion I couldn't quite place.

Once we've gotten through a few circles she pulls me a little closer and leans into my ear. "Or maybe you should." She whispers with a low husk to her voice.

Clenching my jaw I misstep and step on her foot. A wide grin spreads across her face as she chuckles at me.

Glaring at her I open my mouth to tell her off when her smile turns wicked and she drops down wrapping her arms around my hips and under my rear, easily lifting me up off the ground and swinging around to face the other way.

"Wrong dance your majesty." Nani chides with a noticeable smile to her voice.

"My apologies." She says just loud enough for Nani to hear. "I couldn't resist." She adds a little lower.

My lip is caught between my top fangs before I can stop it and I'm leaning into her touch as she puts me back down and resumes our dance.

What's she doing? I wonder trying to study the look playing behind her eyes.

In my distraction I step too far and catch the edge of a feather under my foot.

She pulls us to a swift stop, and levels her dark blue gaze on me. "You stepped on my feathers." She growls lowly.

"Again." Nani's voice calls.