When Leslyn and Koben returned to the Aerie, the boy went ahead to retrieve Valiant while the prince made sure Romo was comfortable in his apartment. When he entered the kitchen, Gunu looked up from the chair where he’d been sitting and reading a book. Valiant was lying on the coverlets by the oven, as usual.
What was unusual was the way the yellow keet’s ears lifted when he saw Leslyn, the griffin letting out a surprisingly loud peep and struggling to raise his head. The boy hurried over, a rush of joy in his throat. When he scooped up the little animal, coverlet and all, he was delighted to smell nothing but a mild hint of soap wafting from Valiant’s now quite fluffy body. With the mats combed out and the mucky, slicked-down parts of his coat washed, he looked like a completely different keet.
“Thank you,” he said to Gunu, failing to keep the sudden emotion out of his voice.
“It was my pleasure,” the Aeriemaster said with sincere warmth. “Taking that small part in Valiant’s recovery was a healing salve to some old wounds of mine.”
Nodding emphatically, Leslyn gave the keet a nice scratching under his chin, eliciting that same rattling purr as before.
“What time is it?” Gunu asked.
“Almost fifteenth, I think.”
“Just like that fool Ben to cut things so close. We’ve a meeting to attend at exactly fifteenth that he scheduled.” He sighed, his brown eyes lifting toward the ceiling. “You’d best come with me. I’m sure he’ll just head there himself and expect me to think to personally return his squire to his side, assuming as usual that we’re all mind readers attuned to his every whim and intent.”
The Aeriemaster’s sarcastic tone brought a smile to Leslyn’s face. Koben did seem to leave out key information at times, but the boy had a feeling it was deliberate. He certainly liked to tease people, or draw out the suspense before revealing his plans.
He did wonder what brought on the sudden irritation in Gunu, though. It wasn’t like the Aeriemaster to be so openly annoyed by such trivial things.
The Aeriemaster didn’t object when Leslyn went to wrap Valiant in smaller towels instead of the heavy coverlet, intending to bring his fuzzy charge along to the meeting. When that was done, they headed down to the mostly-empty canteen, where Captain Tannoran and General Xavara were already waiting at one of the tables, mugs of warm drink in their hands.
To his surprise, Gunu bade Leslyn to sit down with him at the same table as the two officials. “Since you're here, we may as well have the conversation,” the Aeriemaster said, not exactly explaining, but Leslyn strongly suspected it had something to do with Valiant.
Captain Esmor arrived not long after, and they waited a short while for Koben to join them. At one point, Gunu got up to get drinks, leaving Leslyn alone to feel unusually self-conscious under the gazes of Xavara and Tannoran, who looked at Valiant with varying degrees of curiosity and disapproval, respectively.
“I wonder…” Xavara began, but her thought was interrupted as Koben swept into the room with long, lively strides.
Gunu returned with four mugs balanced in his hands just in time to plant one on the table in front of the prince as he sat down. He proceeded to place one before Esmor, Leslyn, and at his own spot, where he sat with a somewhat distant look on his face. “The general and I have discussed your future with Valiant,” he said to Leslyn a few moments later.
The boy merely nodded, trying to ignore the unpleasant sensations that were already creeping into his stomach. The smell of the bitter black coffee in front of him wasn’t helping.
“He’s an anomaly. No wind-egg has ever been hatched, and no full-sized keet born so sickly as he was has ever survived. We’ve no idea what he might be capable of at maturity, but it is very clear he’s not going to be on par with even the next smallest of his siblings.” He picked up his mug and took a sip, letting his eyes wander to look away at nothing again. Leslyn was beginning to wonder if the Aeriemaster might be falling ill.
As if the speech had been rehearsed, General Xavara continued right on with, “Leslyn, if Valiant does not grow to our satisfaction, you will be allowed to attend basic training for the good it will do the both of you, but there will be many exercises you’ll have to sit out, and you’ll be barred from joining the Guard. There’s just too much risk that one or both of you will end up dead from an accident before your first real battle even comes.”
He’d heard much the same several times already, but now it was officially settled. Leslyn looked at Valiant, whose pale blue eyes looked right back at him with bright, innocent affection. He wondered how the little keet would feel when he was old enough to understand this measure for safety that suddenly felt an awful lot like a punishment, especially when he thought about the further negative attention it would bring to the both of them.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“The good news is,” Koben said brightly, “if it turns out that way, I’ll get to keep you as my squire instead of turning you over to Xavara. Even if you can’t fly with Valiant, he should be able to fly on his own, and Romo can still carry the two of us just fine.”
“I understand,” Leslyn said, trying not to sound as depressed as he felt. The prince’s cheerful attempt at softening the blow helped, but not very much.
“Now, about my son,” Xavara said, addressing her peers. “I want him barred as well, until he is of the proper age.”
“Out of the question,” Tannoran shot back. “We don’t want to create a precedent that fools who break the rules will be coddled for doing so.”
“It’s not coddling to—“ Esmor began.
“Are you calling my son a fool?” the general snarled over Esmor, her palm slamming down on the table as she half-rose from her seat.
Leslyn jumped, and Valiant squeaked. If there was one sore spot the general had, it was definitely Arlis.
“I’m calling you a fool, for agreeing to let him stand for Wrath.”
“You know full well that I couldn’t refuse. And what about your son? He disobeyed the Aeriemaster’s direct order to stand down, in front of the king himself. Wrath could have gutted him for that idiotic stunt."
The memory of the encounter chilled Leslyn a bit. If Kaleit hadn’t convinced Wrath of his worthiness, Leslyn would likely have been the one stuck with Zabor, and Kaleit could have been… he didn’t want to think about the ugly death that would have awaited him at the end of Wrath’s talons.
“If nothing else, he certainly would have been expelled from the Aerie, if Wrath hadn't granted him a keet in the end,” came Gunu’s sharp interruption. His gaze upon Tannoran was stern. “The boy is dear to me, but he knows I don’t make exceptions for anyone.”
The captain glared at him. “Kaleit knew exactly what he was risking, and was willing to risk it.”
“We were all there, Tannoran,” Koben said. “It was clear that Kaleit was well aware of the possible consequences for his actions, but he took his chance anyway, and thankfully, the gamble succeeded. It was equally clear that Wrath was not going to allow us to deny her choice in Arlis, whether or not Xavara gave her permission. Let's leave this be for now. We've something else to talk about. Something rather important.”
Gunu sighed and looked away. Esmor caught that, and turned a questioning look on Koben. “We aren’t going to like this ‘rather important’ something, are we?”
It was that moment that Kaleit walked into the canteen, black Zabor skittering ahead of him and pausing to stand on his hind paws and look about, as if scoping for danger. Tannoran was out of his seat in an instant, heading for his son. Kaleit turned on his heel and exited the way he’d come, moving startlingly quickly. Zabor didn’t notice at first, but when he belatedly realized that his bondmate was gone, he screeched, flailed his featherless wings, and scurried after the boy on all fours.
It was so comical that Leslyn almost laughed, despite how down he felt.
“Tannoran, this can’t wait,” Koben said in an unusually grim tone. “My contact needs an answer today.”
The captain stopped mid-stride, but didn’t immediately return. He looked after Kaleit a few moments longer, then went back to the table and sat. “This had better be worth my time,” he growled.
Oddly, Leslyn thought he sensed something deeper in the anger on Tannoran’s face. A sort of… disgust, as he glared at his prince. If it had been there, it was gone a moment later, and the boy wondered if he’d just imagined it.
“Squire, if you please—this conversation will require some privacy,” Koben said, waving Leslyn toward another table some distance away. The boy obeyed, taking both his untouched coffee and his keet with him.
The officials settled in for a quiet chat, the indistinct murmur of their voices and occasional clank of a mug on their table the only noise in the quiet canteen. Leslyn spent most of that time wondering about what had just happened between Kaleit and his father. Tension slowly began to rise at the other table, a voice raising a little here and a fist clenching there. Koben leaned forward to say something even more quietly than before, and the others naturally mimicked him, listening well.
Tannoran abruptly sat back. “This stinks of deceit,” he rumbled. “No doubt a trap.”
“I agree,” Xavara said, “but if it isn’t a trap…”
“It’s the most feckless plan he’s ever hatched,” Gunu spoke over them, “but if we let this pass by, the opportunity may be lost forever. My vote is a yes.”
Sipping his now lukewarm coffee, which tasted as terribly bitter as it smelled, Leslyn tried not to listen in, but they’d gotten quite loud.
“I’ll go, then, if we’re all agreed,” Esmor said. “I rank highly enough to be valuable, but not cripple us if anything untoward should happen.”
“Now, now, Captain, let’s not be so hasty,” Koben tutted. “As it happens, this is a task I must handle myself, or the contact will abscond. The tenuous trust we do have was difficult to build.”
“You can’t go alone, Ben,” Xavara said, using her strong, on-duty voice that brooked no argument. “You’ll take a party, or you’ll not go at all.”
“Agreed,” Tannoran snapped. “You chide Esmor for his haste, but you’re far too intent on catching your own death, Koben.”
I also agree, Leslyn thought, remembering how fearlessly and foolishly Koben had thrown himself in harm’s way several times since they’d met. He couldn’t believe it had only been a few weeks from when he’d awoken on the prince’s ship to this moment, listening to Nilvar’s leaders argue with Valiant swaddled in his arms. His life was moving so much faster now, it made his head spin.
“All right, all right.” The prince fanned his palms in a dismissive gesture. “I’ll need to bring our decision to the contact today, but there’s still a few months to go before everything will be ready to arrange the trade. You have my word, I’ll hand-pick a suitable party when the time comes.”
“Are we through with this discussion?” Tannoran asked, poised to rise from his chair.
“For the moment,” Xavara said, her stare a hard one. “We will continue the topic of my son another time.”
Tannoran turned to her so that Leslyn couldn’t see his face, but whatever he did caused the general’s stare to darken into a full-on glare. The captain stood and left the table, striding from the room on an obvious mission—some unfinished business with his son, perhaps?
Bizarrely, Leslyn felt a prick of actual concern for Kaleit.
Huh, that was odd.