Fledging

Chapter 16

AN:  Hey there!  So here's another chapter! This one shouldn't have a cliff hanger so that's good right?  I have a good idea of where I'm going for the next one or two chapters so it might be kind of quick... but then again I'm going to be starting my job soon (not sure when though) so we'll see how that all turns out.  Vote and tell me what you think! 

Chapter 16

                Tafari stared at me for a moment, a calculating look in her eyes before nodding.

                “He is in his hut, probably still sleeping, I will have somebody fetch him for us.”  She got up and walked out of the room to talk to someone just outside the door.  I glanced over at Alida once the Skavlieu was gone, knowing she would return any second I wasted no time.

                “Alida,” I whispered “is there anything I need to know before we begin talking with her?  Anything about our village or the plans that you and Kenneth were making before we were taken here?”

She looked over at me and pursed her lips as she thought of what to say.  I stared at her impatiently, we only had seconds before she returned.

                “All I can say now for sure is that staying here is probably not the wisest of choices, nor am I certain that telling her our final plans is a good idea.  We should discuss as much as we can at the moment and later, the three of us will talk further on this matter, there is something strange about this entire place.”

At that moment, Tafari reentered the enclosure and walked past us to where she had been earlier.  I glanced over at Alida while the Skavlieu’s back was still turned, and caught her eye again, nodding to let her know she wasn’t alone in the thought.

                “He will be here shortly,” Tafari began, “for the meantime, answer me this, what is this half breed to you?”

I looked at her surprised, why was she asking this?

                “What are you trying to say?” I asked cautiously.

                “I am only wondering what your thoughts are on him, especially now that you know his story.  After all, he did buy you as a slave and was attempting to use you as some sort of bargaining tool, you for his acceptance.”

My eyes narrowed slightly as I retorted in a cool voice, “He saved me from that place.  No matter what his intentions were, I am grateful for what he did for Alida and I.”  The knowledge that he could possibly have taken me only for a bartering item unnerved me, but I wasn’t about to tell that to Tafari.  I wonder what he would have done had he found out I hadn’t been the lost hatchling.  I pushed aside the troubling thought, reminding myself that it didn’t matter and that I had long since stopped caring for the Aardelan… or half Aardelan I supposed now.

                “Of course, so I suppose you will still have him around with you depending on what it is you decide to do next?”

                “I have planned to keep his company around, yes.  Besides, I wouldn’t know how to get rid of him, he seems keen on staying with us for the moment and I as of yet have no qualms about that.  And where would he go?”

                 “If he is a pest, there are certain ways of… shall we say alleviating the problem?” Tafari said silkily.

Does she mean kill him? I thought suddenly.  My eyes narrowed involuntarily.

                “That sounded like something an Aardelan would say, I hope you don’t mean murder simply because he is a half breed.”