Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)

Chapter 23

Inai was silent for a few moments after Ryraso finished, thinking over what Ryraso had told him. "I think I understand the point you were trying to get at," Inai said slowly, his voice thoughtful. 'Dominants take insults very personally, but if keeping a grudge runs the risk of harming the other person, they will set aside their pride to ensure the other's survival.'

"Yes," Ryraso nodded, "If someone is considered weak but useful, they often protected them like they are made of glass. It is incredibly frustrating but the point remains that the K'nairi will do anything to ensure the safety of the people they deem valuable, or indeed the people they care about. To have a K'nairi protect you is seen as a great honour by the K'nairi. It means you are considered useful, that you are considered a part of the community but the truth from the human side of things is that you have to be careful not to let your protector get too close," he explained, his hand still rubbing the scar on his forearm.

"Because they are possessive. If you let one get too close, you run the risk of them trying to claim you into their nest," Inai said, working out the implication out loud to ensure he didn't miss it. Ryraso nodded and there was a strange look in Inai's eyes as a new understanding of the race flowed through him.

"Yes, if a K'nairi you are close to begins to protect you or become overprotective of you, chances are, they either want to or are courting you," Ryraso admitted softly.

Inai gave Ryraso a strange look, not missing what he was rubbing. "Has the Winglord ever protected you?" he asked gently.

Ryraso froze. The look on his face would best be described as nervousness and concern, his eyes looking at the ground. "Many times," he admitted. "Both when I worked for them and not, as you know," he breathed, his hand moving from the scar. Inai remembered the incident. It was only by the Winglord and his men's grace that more people didn't die that day. A lot of people owed the K'nairi their lives from that battlefield, on both sides. "I did not notice it at the time, but I...I should have realised how he felt. Somehow even when he declared he was coming to get me personally, I did not realise. I thought it was because I was close to him. Not because I was someone he viewed as a potential mate," Ryraso murmured, his hands clenching into fists at his side, gathering up the sheets in his hands.

Inai sat back a moment, his eyes closed and he took in everything he knew and had just learned about the K'nairi. "If he caught you. If he catches you, are you in any danger of being tortured or seriously harmed?" he asked.

Ryraso flinched at the question, his instinct was to yell, 'No' at his leader, when it clicked how his leader had worded the question. This wasn't as simple as Inai looking for information on the k'nairi. Inai wanted to know if he would need to assemble a squad to try and attack Navat to retrieve him. Something they did not have the manpower for, Ryraso realised in horror. Inai was having to decide here and now if he would have no choice but to risk a suicide mission to 'save' Ryraso and the other caw from Tai'ray and his men.

"No. No Caw is in any danger of those three things. The k'nairi occasionally force people into sex, but not to the point where you would be able to justify sending men to Navat," Ryraso confessed.

"And the D'mar?" Inai asked, standing up from the bed he had been sitting on, not looking at Ryraso.

"The deal the Winglord has with Warlord Loror, is that anyone who falls under the link is under the Winglord's rule and therefore protected from the troops. None will be allowed to even touch a caw," Ryraso explained, having known that from the start of the war.

"So what does happen then? To the caw?" Inai asked, his shoulders slumped as he turned back around to face Ryraso. Ryraso knew the man was slowly coming to terms with the fact he was unable to rescue his men at this point in time. Ryraso debated hiding some aspects, it would not do for the man to react too badly to what he had to say. "No lies!" Inai ordered, seeing a look he didn't like in Ryraso's eyes.