Feather’s Blossom (2 page)

He grunted. “In the cockpit, but I doubt you can get in there. It took the brunt of the impact. My com unit was shattered.”

She grinned. “Give me a minute. Don’t leave without me, there are predators and you are ground bound. You need me to survive.”

He raised an arm and saluted. “I will wait. It is still too dark to move here anyway.”

“Watch the rest of the meteor shower. I will be right back.” Ty ducked into the ship, went down the hall until she wasn’t in his line of sight.

Her boots and leggings hit the ground, her pack and gown were with them a moment later, and she was less than four inches tall zipping through the wreckage of the broken ship. The beacon was under the command console. She grabbed it with her tiny hands and hauled on it. It came out of its housing, and she zipped back out, following the trail of blood that the duke left behind.

Her ability to lift far beyond her size was just one of the mysteries of her origin. Some days, she wondered who her birth parents had been, but then, she realized that they hadn’t actually been interested enough in her to try to find her.

She fluttered around and finally set the beacon down next to her clothing. It took some doing to put the clothing back on in the narrow confines of the space, but she was decently covered with the beacon in the pack when she emerged.

“That is an interesting technique for carrying cargo.”

She blushed. “It is the best thing I came up with. This way, I can manoeuvre faster. Anything else tangles me when I go out after sheep.”

“Sheep?”

“My family are farmers. This valley is isolated and our wool is prized. I learned how to weave when I was little, and I spin when we are backlogged.”

“Only then?” He smiled and loaded up the supplies and packs.

“My wings get in the way.” She verified that her load was balanced and looked to her companion. “Duke? Are you ready to start?”

“You can call me Seldrin. May I call you Tyhana?”

“Works for me. Shall we?” She waved toward the visible path down the side of the rock face, and he nodded.

“I will follow you, Tyhana.”

“Call out if you need me to stop. You have already travelled quite far today.”

“Where is our destination?”

“We have four hours of walking to the hot springs, which will help your wing heal. We will rest there.”

He nodded and that was enough for her. She turned and headed down the rock face, trying to keep her wings folded so she could approximate Seldrin’s balance. No sense in going anywhere he couldn’t follow. This wasn’t tag with her siblings.

She made the descent as fast as she could, given his condition. She didn’t want him to fall on her, but she could hear his laboured breathing as they made their final few steps to the green plain of the valley floor.

Ty fell into step beside him and directed him with light touches to his arm. “You are doing well.”

“Really? I feel like I have been trampled.”

“You probably suffered a lot of bruising. The hot springs have restorative powers. You will be sore, but it will accelerate your healing.”

“I can hardly wait. So, how many in your family have wings?”

“Oh, I am the only one. I am a foundling in case you didn’t guess.”

“Really? Did they attempt to find your family?”

“Of course. When they made it out of the valley, they filed a report of my finding with the local authorities and instructed them to contact all off worlders. No one came forward.”

She didn’t add that it was six years after her finding.

“Well, for my sake, I am very glad that you were there. If you hadn’t reset my wing, I would have gone into shock, and had I been alone, I could have been dead by now.”

She wrinkled her nose, but he wasn’t wrong.

They plodded along as the sun rose in the sky. She caught a whiff of the mineral-laden water and relief rippled through her. “We are almost there. A hot soak, a meal and some sleep. You will feel like a new man when you wake up.”

“You have been most helpful so far. Thank you for your efforts, Tyhana.”

Forty-five minutes later, she led him up a ramp and into a series of caverns. She led him through the narrow hallways and into the room lit by glowing moss.

“Do many people use this cavern?” Seldrin asked, and his voice reverberated in the room of water and stone.

“Nope. There are hot springs closer to most of the farms. I found this one during one of my flights.”

He looked up and saw the hole. “The heat created an updraft.”

“Very good. Now, drop your bags, and I will unwrap you. We need to get you soaking as quickly as possible.”

She removed her pack and set it down carefully. After she was sure how it was doing, she kicked off her boots and skinned out of her leggings.

She took the packs from him and set them to one side, using a nearby rock to get a better angle on the wraps.

She perched on the rock with her wings out and waving for balance as she undid her work. When he was free of her handiwork, she stepped back. “Did you need some help getting out of your suit?”

“I think I can manage.” He started to open his suit, wincing as his wing moved.

Shrugging at the silliness of men, Ty headed to her personal favourite. It was deep enough to soak her wing muscles and had a series of rocks on the sides for her to sit on. She opened the tie at the back of her neck and slipped her gown down her arms. With a quick push, it puddled on the floor, and she sat on the edge of the pool before turning and letting her wings dip down. She scooted to the rocks and took a seat on the smooth surface. Ty groaned and leaned back against the edge.

She heard a splash and opened her eyes.

Seldrin was easing his way into the pool, and his suit didn’t do him justice. His back was rippled with muscles, and those muscles were bruised and in pain.

Ty thanked her impulse to bring him here. He needed the soak more than she could have imagined.

His groan echoed her own as he settled down with only his chin above the water.

“How does it feel?” She came to the conclusion that he might not enjoy the soak as much as she did.

“Wonderful. You do this a lot?”

“Every month or so. Too many soaks and you lose your ability to fly in the rain.” She smiled at the image they must present. Two disembodied heads in a pool.

He groaned and with the ripple of water, she guessed that he was stretching his wings under the water.

“Do you always bathe with the opposite sex?” His tone was casual.

“No. I am usually alone.”

“Why?”

“I told you, I am the only one who can fly. This is one of my little moments of privacy when I can escape my siblings and just enjoy the dimness and the quiet.”

“Do you have many?”

“Six. My parents say that I must have been the hint that they needed to start reproducing. My eldest brother is twenty-one. He was born two years after my arrival.”

“So, you are twenty-four?”

“More or less.” She shrugged. “We don’t really know. How old are you?”

“I am a wise and ancient thirty-two.” He opened his blue eyes and stared at her. “Why? Has my bruised torso captured your attention?”

She blushed. “No, you are simply the only one of my kind that I have ever seen.”

He sat up with a slosh, and he leaned toward her. “Of course. I am sorry. Do you have questions?”

She laughed. “Sit back and relax. What are the wing colours that are customary for our people?”

“Well, the royal families generally have black or white wings. The population at large has grey and brown. There are no true hard and fast rules, but the colouration seems to fall along bloodlines.”

“Have you ever met something that could change its size?”

“No, but I have heard of a race that could do it. They are called the Swiits.”

“Sweets?”

He spelled it out. “Swiits. They are shape changers who have been known to compress themselves. They also have wings, but they usually manifest into more of an insect form of wing. Some even have it in their normal form, mimicking fairies of ancient myth.”

“Swiits. Okay, I will write that down.” She raised her hands and splashed. “Somewhere.”

He laughed. “You have a funny way about you.”

“I have to. I am the only one of my kind and most of my conversations are held with sheep. Having a new adult to play with is a wonderful opportunity, even if your back is in agony.”

“Actually, it feels much better.”

“Good. Another ten minutes and then it will be time for lunch. After that, I want you to sleep. I can rig a bed for you out of moss covered with blankets.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“I can sleep on my wings. They will be stiff, but I don’t need them for flying right now.”

“We will deal with that later. For now, I am enjoying this soak. These waters are truly working magic.”

Ty leaned back and closed her eyes. Her internal mental clock was depending not only on itself, but also on her fingers and their tendency to get all pruney. It was her most reliable method of telling how long she had been soaking.

She pushed herself out of the water and splashed inches from Seldrin. It took some doing to climb out of the water with dripping wings. They weighed ten times more than they did while dry.

She couldn’t put her dress on, so she picked it up and pattered across to the packs that were safe and dry. She flipped open the camp stove and heated one of the ration packs. His supplies were really thorough; they even included drinkable water.

When the food was hot, she went to the pool and reached in to shake his shoulder. “Seldrin, wake up. You need to eat.”

He blinked awake and sat up straight. “Right. Food.”

“Come on out, I heated your rations for you.”

He nodded and hoisted himself out of the pool, using an impressive display of muscle.

She sighed and returned to the food, prepping another pack for him before she gathered moss from an adjoining cavern and stuffed it under her blanket. It was a comfortable pallet, she knew from experience.

He stumbled to the ration packs, rubbing his eyes and dripping everywhere. The heat and humidity in the air would keep his muscles from seizing again. It was a good thing; they didn’t need the workout.

Having never seen a member of her own species before, she had the urge to touch and explore him, but she was guessing that it would break the bonds of propriety, and they were already bending them by both being unclothed.

He hadn’t asked about it, and she wasn’t going to hurry him back into his ship suit. Let him think that nudity wasn’t worth commenting on. She wasn’t complaining if he wasn’t.

Seldrin was mechanically eating his meal, drinking the water and consuming the second pack. When he was done, he looked up. “What next?”

“I need to bind you again. If you can remain kneeling, it would help.” She bit the inside of her lip as she did the locking figure eight on his wing base before she bound the wings flat again.

With him kneeling, she stepped around him a few times, her breasts right at his eye level, but he didn’t comment verbally. His body however, appreciated the view.

“The pallet is over there. Either sleep on your back or on your stomach, but stay flat.” She bit her lip.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“I am going to tuck myself against the wall. I should get an hour or two that way.”

“Would it offend you to share the bed with me? You can sleep on my good wing and cover me with yours.”

She couldn’t fault the logic. “I will put my dress on for propriety. You go and get yourself settled.”

She stepped into her dress and tied the closure behind her neck.

He settled himself on his back, and it was a good thing she was using his wing as a bed. There was none of the pallet left.

It took some doing, but she settled for lying on her side, curled up against his side, with one wing extended out over him as a blanket. He was asleep in moments, and she was right behind him.

* * * *

The woman asleep against his side fanned her breath across his chest. There was so much determination in such a small package; he was humbled by her ability to take action.

Tyhana had swooped in to rescue a stranger, hobbled herself to keep him safe and treated his wounds with attention to his comfort.

Seldrin had no idea what she was, but he knew that he wanted more of her undivided attention. For the last decade, his family had been throwing women in his path in an effort to gain him a life partner. Now, he was broken, damaged and naked in a cave with the one woman that he wanted in his life. How was he to go about convincing her to leave her home, her world and her family to be with him?

He didn’t believe in love at first sight, but he did believe in a strong-minded, independent woman who had no fear. A woman who trusted him to sleep in his arms the same day that he met her.

Seldrin leaned back and closed his eyes, wishing for his wings to be healed so he could fly off with her. Her hand moved slowly across his chest, and he placed his hand over hers. With their hands together, he returned to restorative sleep.

* * * *

The increase in heat woke Tyhana. She blinked and sat up, looking around the cave.

With a sigh, she folded her wings back and headed for her pack, bringing out the snacks her mother had packed and opening the canister of tea.

Seldrin sat up and moved his wings carefully. His bruising was already the yellow of healing, and he had more colour in his cheeks.

“Would you like another ration pack before we get going?”

He flexed his wings as much as he could. “Please. I can’t believe how fast this is healing.”

“Yes, it’s a miracle. Now, go put some pants on.” She flapped her hand at him and kept her gaze down. Now that he was no longer wounded, it didn’t seem prudent to incur his interest.

Ty started the tiny heating unit and put his rations on top of it.

“You aren’t eating?”

“I have my own food. I will delve into yours when I run out, or I will kill something to eat.” She shrugged. “I am used to providing and hunting. The animals around here have no instincts for watching the sky.”