7. WOUNDED LITTLE BIRD.
Chapter seven
WOUNDED LITTLE BIRD.
Princess Aekeira stood in front of the cave, dawn breaking around her, staring into the yawning black. "Are you sure he’s in there?"
Yaz gave a solemn nod. "He’s been here for months. It’s unlikely he left during my absence."
"You said you have never been inside? Not even once?"
"Yes. He forbade it. Threatened to rip apart anyone who dared." A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Lord Vladya doesn't want to be seen like this. He came here to die, Your Highness."
Aekeira flushed. "Why do you call me that?"
"That's what you are, is it not?"
"It is." She glanced back at the cave entrance. "But you always called me ‘Slave.’ Hearing you address me differently now feels… strange. Please, call me Aekeira.”
Yaz seemed to consider this as she ventured into the cave. Jagged rocks jutted from the ground and walls. The deeper she went, the narrower the path became.
Aekeira glanced down at her extravagant attire, wishing she had worn something simpler for this. But the few clothes she possessed were all equally elaborate.
She lifted the heavy hem of her dress as she climbed over the rocks, her mind already picturing how awkward this was going to get. Perhaps Lord Ottai will supply simpler ones once she and Emeriel settle in.
The cave stretched on, vast and empty.
The echoes of her footsteps the only sound accompanying her. Maybe he really did leave.
Then she heard it. A low growl from the far side of the cave.
Aekeira hastily erected a mental barrier against the spike of fear shooting through her. You didn’t come here to cower.
Squaring her shoulders, she followed the sound.
"You should not be here, whoever you are.”
His voice…
She stilled, swallowing the sob that rose in her throat. Whipping her head around, she searched for the source, but the echoing walls made it impossible to pinpoint its location.
She squinted into the darkness, but saw no one.
"Go explore another cave… Wait." Sniff, sniff. Pause. A much louder sniff . "Wretched youngling. How dare you smell like… smell like…"
"A certain human who should be halfway across the world right now?" Aekeira offered, still scanning the shadows.
Silence.
A sudden gust of wind stirred at her back. His warmth enveloped her from behind, his heat like a protective blanket. He’s right behind me.
She didn't move, staring ahead, resisting the urge to turn. "I do not have a right to smell like her, do I?"
"A-Aekeira?"
He recognized me.
Relief crashed into Aekeira, tears burning her eyes. "Who e-else would it be?" she choked out.
She felt the brush of his nose against her neck, and tilted her head to the side, giving him better access.
A long, slow inhale.
"This feels like a dream," he growled.
"It’s not. I’m here, in Urai." Unable to hold back any longer, she spun around and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "I’m here."
He stilled.
Then he was hugging her back. His arms encircling her waist, crushing her to him. One was a hand, the other a large, furred paw with sharp, elongated claws.
Aekeira didn’t flinch. She didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was here… and he remembered her.
"Aekeira…" He breathed.
She had never heard so many emotions wrapped into a single word.
"My Aekeira."
That sob tore from her throat.
She clung to him tighter, burying her face in his neck. His scent, clean and familiar, filled her senses.
And for the first time in years, she felt relaxed. Grounded.
Finally, after what felt like eternity, she pulled back, sniffling. "How did you recognize me?"
***
Grand Lord Ottai's study door burst open with a force that rattled the shelves. "You brought them back here without even thinking to consult me!?"
Ottai paused mid-scribble, his quill hovering above the parchment, and glanced up calmly. The male was livid.
Ottai half-expected to see smoke rising from Zaiper’s ears.
"The last time I checked, I am also a grand lord,” Ottai said evenly. "I don’t need your permission to do anything."
"You should have told me!" Zaiper barked, fists clenched at his sides.
Ottai folded the scroll with care, setting it aside. "How many decisions have you made over the years without consulting me?"
"Those two were set free. They were sent home! They are not needed here again!"
"I disagree.” Ottai was unbothered by his anger. “In fact, the people disagree as well. You should have seen the way they were welcomed. Our people are happy for the breath of hope in these miserable times."
"What do you hope to achieve with this?"
Ottai raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was obvious. Daemonikai and Vladya need their females back."
"This is no place for them," Zaiper snapped, advancing a step. "Send them back home. Now."
Ottai snorted. It had been a long time since he’d seen Zaiper this riled up, and it was satisfying. Very satisfying.
"You told me to do what I do while you do yours. This is what I do." He picked up the scroll and returned it to its place on the shelf.
Then turned to face Zaiper. "And don’t even think about taking matters into your own hands, Second Ruler. Yaz and Wegai are now responsible for their protection. They will protect those two with their lives. Any move against them will be met with retaliation."
Ottai hadn't thought it possible for Zaiper to look even more enraged, but the male was full of surprises this morning.
"Maybe it’s time we discussed this in court. How you really feel about the grand king and Vladya. How much you’d prefer they never recover." Ottai mused. "It would make for an interesting topic when everyone learns how much you delight in their struggles. I can already imagine the uproar.”
"You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Zaiper's voice thundered. “Of course I want them to recover!"
Ottai snorted again. "Could have fooled me."
Zaiper finally seemed to rein himself in. Trying to suppress his anger.
"Perhaps the people will have a thing or two to say about all this. How worked up you are over the return of two humans. Tell me, Zaiper." Ottai settled back into his chair and leaned back, eyeing him intently. "Why does it get to you so much? They are, after all, merely harmless humans."
"Why should they affect me?” Zaiper sneered. “Weak, powerless humans, not worth the sand on my feet!"
"Yet, you seem to fear these two females."
"I FEAR NO HUMAN!" he threw his hands up. "I could crush them in my fist and scatter their remains across the desert before I’d ever fear them."
"Except you will do no such thing." Ottai rose and walked closer to him. His voice hardened. "Let me make myself clear. You do not have jurisdiction over them. They are not in Greyrock; they are in Blackstone and Frostfall. Anything you do, under any pretense of exerting the law, will be considered illegal and will be brought up in court."
"Did you just threaten me?" Zaiper growled.
"Our people are hopeful again, and they are out for blood,” Ottai stated. “If any harm comes to those two, I will sing like a canary about how much you relish Daemonikai and Vladya’s suffering. One single harm.”
Ottai strode past Zaiper, out of his study, throwing a final command over his shoulder. "Close the door after you when you leave, Lord Zaiper."
***
Grand Lord Vladya gently wiped the tears from Aekeira’s face with his good hand, drinking her in.
Greedily devouring the sight of her.
Every emotion, both familiar, long buried, and unfamiliar, swamped him.
He had been dead these past few years. Or at least, he felt that way.
When Aekeira left Urai, she had taken every atom of life in his body.
If losing his soul had made him feel empty before, it was nothing compared to the void her absence had left.
Vladya thought he could endure it. He had been so sure.
But he hadn’t counted on the suffering. The constant, grueling pain that came with glancing around and never seeing her.
He hadn’t expected the endless searching. Always looking for her in a room she no longer occupied.
As the days bled into weeks and months, it felt as if his own heart had been ripped out and handed back to him.
Broken, mangled, and bleeding.
Coupled with the madness creeping in, Vladya was so lost.
He had not counted on missing her as much as he did.
Hadn’t counted on so many things.
His gaze continued to rake over her. This wasn’t the slave he had known. This was the princess he hadn’t.
Now she looked every bit the part. From her elegantly styled hair and simple yet exquisite jewelry, to the fine fabric of her gown.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
And she was real.
Vladya hated the part of him whispering that this might be just another one of his numerous illusions and dreams. Those torturous ones he’d had wishing for her return.
"Lord Vladya?"
Yes, this is real.
She sounded far better than she had in any of his countless, countless illusions.
"Do you wish…" he cleared his throat, the sound rusty from disuse, "Do you wish to go further, to my dwelling?"
Her eyes, still wet with unshed tears, searched his face. What does she see?
Did she see a half-mad male?
A washed-up grand lord hiding away in a cave?
Or the one who broke her heart?
Probably all three.
"Okay," she whispered.
He led her deeper into the cave, to the heart of his self-imposed exile.
Here, time had no meaning. The outside world was distant, exactly as Vladya had intended.
"Sit here." He gestured to a small cushion. "Do you want tea?"
Aekeira looked around the space, clearly surprised, as she scanned the room. "This is not what I expected.”
"I know." A small smile touched his lips. She expected to see an empty place, perhaps littered with skulls and dried blood of his victims. Not a warm, cozy, home. "As one waits for the inevitable, let’s just say, one has a lot of time on their hands. I go scavenging sometimes. Something to do while… waiting."
"To go mad," she finished for him, quietly.
Vladya turned towards the rickety table, busying himself with brewing the tea. "Madness is not something to fear. It can be fought, the symptoms slowed down, but in the end, it cannot be avoided."
His gaze drifted to his hand. The one that had been a paw for months now, unchanged.
"In human terms, it’s more like managing an incurable disease for as long as possible before it claims you." He handed Aekeira the steaming cup of tea.
Aekeira brought it to her lips.
As usual, Vladya’s eyes followed her every move. He couldn't tear his gaze away.
It was as though the years had never passed. She looked the same as she had the day she left.
He clenched his hands together, fighting the urge to reach for her. The desire to touch her, to feel her skin against his, was almost unbearable .
"How have you been, Aekeira?"
"I’ve been… fine."
He noticed the slight tremble in her hands around the warm cup as she took another sip.
Her eyes lifted to meet his. "How are you so… aware?"
Vladya shrugged. "I have my good days and bad days." He settled into the seat opposite her. "Good days are like this. When I’m aware of the world and all it entails. But the bad days…" All that is left is the destruction.
"That’s why you left the fortress." She set the cup on the nearby table.
"I became a real danger to them. I had to leave."
Aekeira’s eyes darted anywhere but him, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve.
She was avoiding him. Putting distance between them.
Seated right in front of him, yet far away.
“Aekeira,” his voice dropped an octave.
"Mmm?"
"Look at me."
A shaky breath. "I am."
"You are a terrible liar, my little bird."
Her eyes snapped up to his. “Don’t call me that.” Tears brimmed in her eyes once more. But unlike before, when they had been tears of joy, this time, they were filled with stark pain. And anger.
She abruptly sprang up from her seat. “I c-can’t do this. I need to leave.”
***
Everywhere hurts.
For Aekeira, seeing him again hurt, like tearing open an old wound.
Seeing his incredibly handsome face, reliving the past, remembering the pain, it was excruciating.
Knowing she was still going to lose him again soon, that she would have to go through that same pain all over again… was ten times excruciating.
She was already losing him, bit by bit.
One of his hands was now a paw, and Aekeira dreaded to imagine where the shift ended beneath his robes. I can’t do this again.
She thought she could handle it. She thought she was ready to face the past again. But now, standing before him, she realized how unprepared she was.
She wasn't ready .
Lord Vladya rose too. “ Don’t leave, Aekeira.” He took a step towards her.
Aekeira shook her head. "Please don't."
She had to leave, because even though she wasn’t ready to face this all over again, she still wanted him. Pathetic, isn't it?
She still craved to see his face.
Yearned to be in his arms.
Listen to his voice all day.
Stay by his side and make do with the moment.
The longing she had spent years burying had awoken with a jerk… rising… about to swallow her whole.
"I have to leave!" Her voice was desperate now.
"No, Aekeira." Another step forward.
Aekeira whirled around and bolted for the entrance.
She didn’t get far.
Lord Vladya was upon her in an instant, pressing her against the wall.
Sobbing echoed off the rocks and it took her a moment to realize it was her.
Her emotions were spilling over. Feelings she had buried deep for years now, bursting free.
"Let me go!" she screamed, blindly beating at his chest with her fists. "Let me go, please!"
"Young princess, I am so sorry." His voice was the softest she had ever heard it.
"You hurt me. That morning, in your bed… I thought we were finally getting somewhere. But you threw me away like I meant nothing!" she sobbed, her words tumbling out. "Did I mean so little to you? You avoided me for a week, then you tossed me aside!”
“Please, forgive me, dearling.”
“Two years! Two years felt like twenty! Every day I breathed, yet I have never felt so dead. You broke my heart! " she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You broke me !"
He kissed her.
Aekeira struggled, her fists pounding frantically against his chest. But his hands gently restrained hers.
She fought. Fought hard.
Not to feel that kiss.
Not to feel him again.
To deny the sensations.
But it was a lost cause.
His lips on hers, his tongue in her mouth. The kiss seeped deep into her soul. Soothing the pain. Calming the storm.
Like a serum, it relieved the scathing pain from the wounds she had carried for so long.
Her struggles ceased, and Aekeira sobbed against his lips. Crying uncontrollably, her tears mixing with the kiss.
Yet, he didn’t stop.
He kissed her, and kissed her, and kissed her.
Time fell away.
The world around them disappeared.
An eternity later, he broke the kiss, licking away her tears with such rare tenderness. "I apologize with everything in me for hurting you this way.”
The raw truth, the deep regret in his voice, made her open her eyes.
His face was a mirror of her own pain. "I'm so sorry, my little bird,"
"You hurt me," she cried helplessly, her breath hitching as the tears continued to flow. "You h-hurt me."
"It was never my intention. Giving you your freedom was the only decision I could make then. Letting whatever we had between us continue… it was ill-advised for so many reasons." His tone was overflowing with remorse.
"I’m soulless, Aekeira. That alone made it impossible. I’m also on a highway to madness, another reason. And you… you are human. You are not Syren. Even if I had my soul, it's not possible for a bond to take place between us. When Daemon offered to set you free, I thought it was best."
Hearing it laid out like that, Aekeira understood.
Frankly, she had thought all this herself over the years. She could understand why he did what he did.
Yet, understanding didn't lessen the pain.
“And now?” she whispered. “What about now?”
“Now, I regret that decision more than anything. I sent you away so you would not see me go feral, but when it came down to it, you were all I wanted by my side. As I battled against it, I found myself hoping—praying—that I would recover enough to cross into the human world and bring you back here, Aekeira, to where you truly belong."
He looked her in the eyes. "I wish I’d never let you go."