I was floating.

Darkness surrounded me, though I thought I could see the faint glimmer of stars in the distance. I had no idea where I was, but that didn’t bother me, for some reason. I was content, but uneasy because I felt I was intruding on someone else’s realm. And strangely enough, I felt like I was being watched. From all directions, as though those faint stars were eyes.

Hello again, child.

The sudden voice broke me from my thoughts. I hadn’t even realized how I had spaced out. Had I? I wasn’t quite sure.

I’ve been waiting.

For what? I wondered. Was it waiting for me? I doubted I was special enough to deserve special attention like this. And who did this voice belong to?

Time will tell you everything.

The next thing I knew, I was blinking up at a sky blanketed in clouds. Perhaps it was the darkness of the morning, but I felt like today was going to be a gloomy one.

As I sat up, I saw a vibrant bundle of feathers and remembered what had transpired the past few days. And I got an explanation for why my back hurt so much. Stars, why did the ground have to be so hard? Couldn’t it be soft like grass? But then that would probably cause problems . . .

Life was so complicated sometimes.

Unfortunately, I was the first one to wake up, and had no idea what to do.

Should I wake Elouan up? No, that would be rude, probably. I don’t want to aggravate Estel or Bláithín, they might bite me. I don’t think they would, but I also don’t know anything about birds.

Suddenly, a quiet voice entered my thoughts, interrupting them entirely.

Could you think a little quieter, please? Bláithín pouted. I’m trying to sleep. You were quite hard to chase and I’m tired.

I looked over at the fluffy mass of pink feathers next to me. A crested head was glaring out at me from the middle of her back.

“Er, sorry,” I told her. She hissed at me.

Don’t just say that out loud! You could wake the other two up and it’s much too early to be doing that. And before you ask, yes, I can read your surface thoughts. How did you think you were communicating with me?

I gulped. Ah, I’m sorry. I’m still learning, so don’t get so mad at me. She huffed at that statement.

Fine, she told me. You win this time. But only because you’re so innocent and clueless.

I practically recoiled. What do you mean by that? I’m not innocent! And I’ve never been clueless. At least, I don’t think I have. My thoughts trailed off as I tried to recall some event in my life when I had acted like that.

You are a strange one, aren’t you? Bláithín sighed, but it didn’t sound condescending. I supposed I liked it that way, though.

Thank you, I told her. For giving me a chance.

She finally uncoiled herself from her strange position. I honestly couldn’t believe she’d slept like that, but to each their own.

You carry so much sadness, don’t you? She asked me, melancholy. I flinched. That’s what I thought.

I don’t want to talk about it.

I wasn’t asking, she retorted. She spoke again, more gently this time. Just know you can talk to me if you need it. If we’re to be companions until the day you die, we might as well tolerate each other well enough.

I smiled weakly at her. I had known her for not even a full day, and she was already so much kinder than anyone else I’d met. Well, except for Elouan, but he had proved impossible to read. I had no idea what he was thinking, or if he was sick of me yet.

Still, it was nice to know that someone tolerated me so easily.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The rest of the morning passed by in a flash. Elouan and Estel woke up quickly after Bláithín and I started talking, which we did for a long time. I wasn’t quite sure how happy she was with how chaotic my thoughts were, but she didn’t mention it.

It had been funny, the way Elouan had looked at me when I didn’t say a word to him. I suppose he must have been expecting me to pester him some more, though neither of us felt like saying anything about it.

Before we headed onto the road, however, Elouan dug through his bag and pulled out a slightly wrinkled piece of paper. He handed it to me, and I warily took it, not knowing what to expect. It was covered in dark things I couldn’t make out.

“What is this?”

He looked at me, startled. “Your first song. I suggest you start making yourself familiar with it and we can practice later.”

I stared at him. He stared back.

“Well?”

I could only shake my head. “I can’t read any of this.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to know the notes. I can start teaching you those later, but that’s hard to do while traveling. Don’t worry about it.” He started walking, carefully slinging his bag over his shoulder.

I started after him, puzzling over what I should say. Bláithín flew to my shoulder before settling there, though I could practically hear her chortling in my head.

“Wait,” I told Elouan. “I told you I can’t read this.”

He stopped and turned. “You can’t read?” He asked me, confusion spreading through his face.

“No? Why would I? When would I have learned?”

Disbelieving, he stared at me. “I learned as a child. Why didn’t you?”

What was with him? “There was nobody to teach me.” I was barely keeping myself from asking him why he learned to read. He was a noble. Of course he knew how to read. I was probably just being petty, now.

He shook his head, incredulous. “Er, I’ll just teach you the song later.” He stopped for a moment, and he looked like he had questions he wanted to ask. Still, he just shrugged and we began walking again.

We walked in silence for a long time, the sky slowly getting brighter with each moment. Bláithín kept me occupied, still amused by the interaction. Finally, when the sun was almost at its peak in the sky, Elouan finally spoke again.

“So, if you can’t read, how do you have recipes?”

The question took me completely off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. How do you remember everything?”

I puzzled over this. Mother had just drilled cooking directions into my head until I could recite them all without thinking. I just often lost track of time and let things cook for too long, so she thought I was a lost cause when it came to preparing food.

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality, remembering that he was still waiting for an answer.

“Our parents just teach us.”

“But . . . how do you remember all of it?”

“I don’t know. How do you remember anything?”

He looked at a loss for words. I giggled at his baffled expression, and we lapsed into a comfortable silence. Still, I felt it was too quiet.

“How did you find Estel?”

Elouan looked over fondly at the bird on his shoulder, but then his expression darkened.

“I found her with a broken wing on my way to see the Elders the first time. She was but a hatchling, so small that I could hold her in the palm of my hand. That was . . . a long time ago, now.”

Curiously, I looked at him. I felt there was more to his story, but he didn’t look like he wanted to continue this conversation. So I switched topics.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you, anyway?” He smiled crookedly at the question.

“Nineteen,” was his short answer. Though, I supposed that was all I needed.

You’re a needy one, aren’t you? Bláithín suddenly spoke. I looked at her, confused as she began playing with my hair.

What do you mean by that?

She laughed, a few trills escaping her beak. You’re desperate for attention. Why?

I almost shrugged but she yanked on a couple of dark strands to remind me of her presence.

Apparently, she spoke slowly. You’re also quite forgetful.

I huffed. Well, I’m sorry that I got used to your presence on my shoulder. I think you’ll live, somehow. She laughed again.

Still, she repeated her question. Why do you want people to pay attention to you so much?

Quickly, I racked my brain for some other topic. But again, she caught my attention.

If you don’t want to talk, you could just say so, she told me, indignant. Don’t just try to find ways to ignore me. You really are strange.

What’s so strange about that? I retorted. I’m sure people do it all the time. Right?

She chuckled. Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not strange. You humans are so thoughtless, sometimes.

Elouan and I stayed silent the rest of the day, though I would have chattered endlessly to him if Bláithín wasn’t messing with me the entire time. Thankfully, we’d made good time despite our breaks and delays, and we made it to the next town about an hour after night fell. It was eerie, traveling in the dark. It was even worse because the stars were dim tonight.

It was strange, really, thinking about how the stars affected our behavior. I often found it very easy and comfortable to sit outside when it was a bright night. And I knew I’d heard far more horror stories about people disappearing on nights with dim stars. Perhaps it just showed how much they watched over us.

Thankfully, we still found our way to the tavern easily enough. Almost nobody knew we were here, so we found no trouble getting a room and settling in. I had no idea how much I would appreciate having a bed rather than the ground before today.

But that just made it all the easier to fall asleep.