Maeby

“Bolero, wait!” Maeby lifted her dress and ran after the hawk, feathers pricking at her flesh.

“Wait! By the Eagle…Bolero! Bolero, come back!”

His trail of embers faded as the sky swallowed him. She moved to shift anyway, but a hand wrapped around her arm.

“Let go of me!” She shouted, shooting a glare at whoever held her back. Upon seeing her pair bond, she sighed and relaxed her muscles. Even if she shifted, there was no catching up to the firehawk at this rate.

Barn owls weren’t meant to fly to the Nithra, nor hunt there. It was too dangerous. Secrets dwelled within those towering canopies of oak and yew- both Sidhe and Eyrie. The forest held memories, shadows of warring clans, a sky that bled red at sunset.

Badru shook his head, lips pressed into a frown.

Maeby’s heart fell. She felt silly, in her ostentatious dress and bejeweled pale hair.

I should have seen something like this coming. For weeks, Bolero’s behavior had been becoming stranger. Time spent in the Nithra, sneaking away from the rest of the hunting party on expeditions. It was as if the great forest and what lay beyond was beseeching him to come closer, to explore something further.

Maeby had initially assumed it had to do with her upcoming pair bonding ceremony. It had kept her up at night recently, distracted her from her work- but mere stress would not make a hawk faint.

And that's exactly what Bolero had done, his face pale, a look of shocked confusion contorting his features. He’d fainted, and then broken long standing Eyrie tradition and protocol by leaving the Kettle during a lure dancing ceremony.

She grasped Badru’s arm for support as her knees threatened to give out, heart pounding in her chest, mind racing. There had to be a solution, a way to fix this. Could they send one of the tiercels to fetch him? Perhaps a male peregrine like Ameril Godbolt?

The lure dancers on the Kettle floor all froze, uncertain of what to do, eyes on a goshawk who had ceased her flight and quickly shifted into her skin.

Nadine’s crimson eyes, betraying the godhawk that was her second form, narrowed. Her lips, a pale rose color,were pursed. The Haggard, one of the leaders of the Eyrie, clearly strained to keep her expression neutral in front of the other dancers and ceremony attendants. She reached a hand out, a silent command, and a nearby dancer- a lovely eagle owl wreathed in a flowered tunic- handed her a robe. Nadine’s hair, silver and white, was piled on top of her head in braids, held in place with a ruby headdress. Only shifters of high rank wore rubies.

Leaving a ceremony, flying in the direction of an area forbidden to go to without a hunting party- such strange behavior would possibly be considered treason by the Haggards. Maeby’s heart ached, as she considered her options. Chasing after Bolero would do nothing but get her killed. Perhaps even eaten by a rogue harbinger.

Badru moved his arm down to grasp Maeby’s hands tightly, turning her to face him. His hazel eyes sparkled with a questioning gaze. He lowered his face to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. She tried to smile, but could only manage a sort of grimace instead. It was the best she could do right now, considering the circumstances.

Azura stood beside them, flawless face creased in worry. Maeby could see tears streaking down her face, and moaned inwardly. How many times could Bolero make that poor falcon cry in one day?

Nadine gestured to Maeby and Badru as she left the stage. She felt Badru’s grip on her tighten further, and ice settled itself in her gut. Being summoned to Haggard’s Hall was one of two things- an honor, or a sign of a punishment to come. With how close she was to Bolero, she could only assume she was in trouble. She lifted the skirts of her ceremonial gown, and moved to follow the goshawk, Badru following several steps behind.

The spiral staircase at the heart of the Eyrie walls have never felt so strenuous. Or so hot, as if they were near the mythical hot springs of the South-East.

The three- Badru, Maeby, and Nadine, descended, silent except for the rhythmic clicking of boots. Maeby didn’t know what she would say, what she would do, once they arrived at Haggard's Hall. The Hall itself was an intimidating structure, carved out of the cliff side, made from a natural cavern almost directly behind the waterfall that cascaded down the Eyrie.

The few times she had been summoned there, she had been mesmerized by the torchlight that flickered off of the smooth Hall walls, and the large statues that lined the dais where the Haggards sat during a Summons. The statues were memorials to Haggards who had left to join the Celestial Eagle Adiamora in the heavens, or to temple eagles who had done the same. Carved with painstaking detail, Maeby found that they made her uncomfortable. As if those gemstone eyes were always watching.

Perhaps that was the point, however, as Haggard’s Hall was built to intimidate.

Quartz crystals were nestled in the curved ceilings, whether for amplification of their magic, or simply for show, she wasn’t certain.

The stairs opened up to the main Eyrie hall. Immediately the heavy silence was broken by the hustle and bustle of the hawkers lining it. The day after a pair bonding ceremony was perfect for a market day, as vendors took advantage of the birds that would be attending the lure dancing and following feast. The smell of spices, fresh baked goods and meat on skewers enveloped her as they stepped carefully through the crowds.

With Nadine in the lead, most parted to let the three of them through without a pause. Maeby avoided eye contact with several owls she’d known as eyasses, and nodded in thanks to several others who congratulated her and Badru on their pair bonding. They passed stalls with fresh game carcasses hanging, racks of dried and salted meats that made her mouth water. The vendors smiled at her as she passed, bowed slightly to Nadine and Badru.

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She’d been so nervous this morning that she had forgotten to eat, she remembered as her stomach growled.

The sun was at its zenith- the feast would be beginning soon, sans the mated pair it was held in honor of, by the time they reached Haggard’s Hall.

Immediately, the jolly atmosphere of the Eyrie halls vanished, replaced by an almost-deafening silence and the heavy presence of magic in the air.

Haggards possessed a unique magic- though still elemental, there was an extra power within them- an invisible hand that gave lesser birds an innate need to obey their commands. Maeby was certain that if Nadine so much as looked at her and told her to jump off of the cliff without her feathers, she would have no choice but to obey.

Nadine led them to the dais, to the statues lining the stage, and took a seat in one of five small thrones beside the other Haggards. Maeby and Badru followed tradition, removing their boots and bowing before kneeling on sigil-embroidered cushions placed before them.

The Haggards’ dais was flanked by two armored guards- temple guardians, both golden eagles. She knew these eagles- had known them as an eyass, seen them perched in the Chamber before. Their presence had not roused such panic in her then, but the armor…

The carved symbols, wards, shone with protective magic. She knew that one wrong move towards the Haggards, towards the throne-lined dais, would bring their finely-sharpened claymores upon her. Now, she wasn’t so certain she would ever be comfortable in the same halls as them again. Beneath their golden-brown hair, their saffron eyes gleamed, rested upon her and her mate before them.

Maeby’s heart thundered in her chest as Haroun , a powerful Bubo- an eagle owl, stood from his seat. He raised his hand, which visibly buzzed with static electricity, a sign that he was about to speak. Haroun’s short brown hair was flecked with black and white feathers, his large eyes an intense orange.

“Maeby. Badru,” His strong, curved nose crinkled as he spoke, his booming voice demanding respect. His lightning magic was incredibly powerful, able to call bolts out of the heavens. Maeby had been woken up by the resulting thunder many a night as an eyass.

Maeby and Badru bowed, lowered themselves until their chins touched the ground before them.

“You have been summoned here because of a fire buzzard,” Maeby noted his use of the slang for a hawk with an affinity for the fire element, a term that Bolero vehemently despised. She remained prostate as he continued to speak, despite the pinprick of anger that blossomed in her chest at the use of what was effectively a slur.

It was known that there was a strange history between the Flameweavers and Haggards, mostly that Bolero’s mother Anqa had once been a member of the council. After her disappearance along with her pair bond’s, however…

Bolero had been mostly on his own. Always watched at a distance by the Haggards, as if they expected something from him.

“Your close friend has flown towards forbidden lands,” Haroun continued, “Witnesses state that Bolero, a fire magic adept and highly regarded hunter, was behaving strangely for weeks prior to this…betrayal of our customs.”

Maeby straightened her body- Badru mimicked her movements, his eyes darting to her. His body was tense, as if he was readying to shift.

This isn’t fair to him, she thought, watching her mate’s jaw muscles feather. All he wanted was a pleasant, Eagle-blessed ceremony. And now, they were in this musty, incense-laced room.

Both remained quiet, cross-legged on sigil-laced pillows. They were beautiful cushions. Jewel-toned, consisting of deep turquoise and amethyst swirls, stitched impeccably. Maeby hid her hands behind her back, trying to staunch the violent shaking. She stared at the cushion, tracing the patterns and counting her breaths.

Her mouth was bone dry as chills ran up her neck. She felt the eagle owl’s orange gaze upon her, though she didn’t dare to meet it.

Haroun continued to list Bolero’s violations.

Abandonment of duty.

Blasphemy

Plans to converse with an enemy of the Eyrie

“I’m sorry,” Maeby spoke before she could stop herself, trying to staunch the tremor in her voice, “but blasphemy?”

How could leaving her lure dancing ceremony count as such an extreme accusation?

Charge, she reminded herself. The Haggards didn’t typically bother with “accusations.” Rather, like the shifters’ raptorial counterparts in the wild, the Haggards preferred their justice doled out swiftly.

By the curved tip of their talons, and by the Eagle’s grace.

“All I was told, as his close friend, is that Bolero was having trouble sleeping, because of,” She glanced at Badru beside her, who nodded encouragingly. “Hearing strange…voices…at night. And he described an unusual magical weaving.”

The Haggards on the dais erupted into a cacophony of murmurs as she pressed on. Haroun’s feathers prickled with electricity. The intrusion of static in the air was palpable. Maeby could feel her hair as it stood on end.

She fought the urge to reach over and touch Badru and shock him.

Usually he’d laugh at such a thing, like he did when we were children, but… Now was not the time for eyass games.

“Please continue,” The eagle owl’s voice boomed.

In her periphery, Maeby saw her mate jump. A wave of despair washed over her. The poor tailor. He was not suited for battle, nor politics.

“This morning- when he fainted. He asked if any of us heard voices.”

Badru stared at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

Haroun’s face had paled. Lightning gathered in his palms, flickering up to his plumage then back, clearly perturbed by something. The atmosphere in the room stirred, growing turbulent, as if a storm were on the horizon.

She inhaled deeply, willing herself to cease shaking.

Nadine stood, then, and motioned for Haroun to take his seat. With a huff and a final jolt of power, he turned and sat in the carved wooden chair behind him.

“Calm your storms, Haroun,” She began, her voice cold and even. Her eyes narrowed, the color of a brilliant ruby. “Now, Maeby- Badru-”

“-Nadine, I would like permission to investigate this further.” A voice -light and musical, called from the entrance to the Hall.