Feathers of Bravery

Jess

"No!" I shouted.

"Jess please, let me explain." she tried to reason.

"I don't have to let you do anything. You my dear Aihla are indeed my princess and soon queen. You may command me but I am your letahr. Which means that if I feel that your safety and life is being compromised then I have full power and right to overrule any of your commands. I will use all my magick and skill to tie you down."

Not once have I ever raised my voice to her like I am doing now. But I never had to. It's one thing to go against customs and help her train behind the king and queen's back but to allow her to travel heavens knows how far to unknown danger is something that I cannot do.

"Jess I know what you're thinking." Oh does she know?

"Please by all means your majesty, tell me. What am I thinking?" I sneer.

Ok, perhaps I am overstepping my bounds with the attitude that I am responding to her with. I can tell by how she exhales deeply trying to calm herself so she doesn't raise her voice.

"I know the code of the letahr. Yes you may overrule my command that is correct. It is also correct that you wouldn't be doing your duty if you let me do whatever I want that resulted in me getting hurt. No, we don't know the distance that we would have to fly or what dangers we would face, but is that not what we are already doing?

What is the difference between us flying from one town to the next helping out strangers not knowing exactly where we are going and what we will face? Heavens amica, our first five minutes out here and we had to fight a Kijod." she pointed out.

That's fair, but I can easily find the difference straight away.

"I can name one right now. Meylo and I will not be with you! Aihla in Riverira you passed out in the sky and if it wasn't for the catch, you would've crashed to the ground. Since we were taken, you have performed three new spells without have ever even practiced them. Oh yes, I know you did another spell besides the mist so don't even try to deny it."

"I won't deny anything! But if you were truly only wanting to due your duty then we wouldn't be here. We three agreed with each other that we would help other instead of going home. If all you care about is being a letahr then you would have dragged me by my feathers the second we killed the Kijod. Yet you didn't!

It wasn't because you don't take your charge seriously but because you trusted me. You trusted and knew that we were doing the right thing. Please Jess, trust in me now. This is not being reckless or trying to prove that I'm not a spoiled little princess. This is me doing what I've been doing. Fighting to protect others and do the right thing. You know that taking out the base is the right thing."

Before I get a chance to speak she adds another point.

"Besides it's more than that as well. These other birds believe and know about magick but they do not possess the skill to perform it. Nor do they know it's signs. Meylo just barely became a believer. We could tell him that we know how to create and summon humans and the poor crow would have to believe us. He wouldn't know what to look for either. Deep down I know that magick has something to do with everything that is going on. That is why I need to go." she pleaded.

I hate it when she makes sense to do something dangerous. There's no doubt that magick is written in all the actions that have taken place since we were taken from Neros. The bandits having an altrika, these pirates suddenly going mad with rage. Us being taken the way we were, including Meylo. I just didn't like not being able to protect her if she needs me.

I sigh defeated. "Aihla, just promise me one thing please?"

She nods right away. "Anything, name it!"

Heaven forgive my cruelty. "If anything bad happens, if there's no way out, promise you will do whatever it takes to return. Even if it means leaving the others behind. Swear it!"

It was unfair to give her the condition of something I knew she wasn't capable of. I knew Aihla could never leave anyone behind to die. She would fight at all costs to protect. I admired that about her, loved her for it. Right now though, it's something that I wish she wouldn't have that quality.

By the afternoon I'm back in the infirmary we had constructed the night before. Meylo had come to talk to me briefly before he had to leave to make sure his section was ready for tonight. He didn't say anything I didn't already know or try to change my mind or anything. I think he was more or less trying to calm himself knowing that tonight Aihla wouldn't be with us. Not for one second would I judge him since our unneeded talk helped me with my nerves as well.

Four hours before the impending raid was supposed to start, Aihla nodded to us before she and the group of soldiers took off from the pier. I watched as she flew away until there was nothing left to see but sky. When I turned to pick up the boxes of food rations I saw that Meylo was also looking in the direction that she had gone.

Night rolled in and it was ten minutes until seven. I had the ones that were still healing and some nurses with me. Like the last night, we huddled together, hugging one another trying to feel less afraid. Despite words of encouragement, countless stories and embraces, with every passing minute that ticked after seven our anxiety grew.

The silence that surrounded us from outside became too much that despite the others pleading for me to stay I walked to the doors and opened them. Though I stepped outside I made sure to keep the warding of the building up just incase there was an ambush.

Barely making it across the street I saw Meylo walking towards me. He must've felt uneasy too. If we didn't already know where the soldiers and injured were we would like we were in a deserted town. It was that empty and silent.

Meylo spoke first but in a whisper. "Am I mistaken or is it nearly midnight already? Not that I wish for them to come or anything but shouldn't they have been here already?"

"Yeah this is really freaking me out. Everyone said that they were always on time as if it was a obsession. There's no way that they wouldn't be here by now unless..." I cut myself midsentence when we both looked at each other.

One look and we both knew what had stopped them. Our little Aihla.