Tie It With a Ribbon

“I can’t thank you enough for what you said,” I told him as we roamed the outskirts of the Nest in search of Chastity.

“And I meant every word of it; hopefully you will believe me, unlike those infuriating birds.” He bit back his annoyance. “But they are my birds now, I suppose. And you are my personal bird,” he purred in my ear, nibbling on the lobe rather strangely.

“You told me you would behave,” I reminded him, taking in a deep breath as I pushed him away. “Besides, I don’t want anyone thinking you’re stripping me of my bird-ness and replacing me with a lion, what with all this affection. I feel like they’re just waiting for a reason to impeach me.”

“You’re fine. And if I stripped you of anything, it’d be—right, no nudity talk. God, this is a lot harder than I thought.” He laughed softly. “And that is another joke in itself, but I digress, because I am being the Aquilan gentleman and because there is absolutely no way they ever even consider the idea of making love! It is so scandalous!” He groaned. “Alena, I’m annoyed again.”

“Please try to understand. You don’t know our customs, and my people cannot possibly comprehend yours. Our way of life makes sense to us—most of us. But I’m not your normal Aquilan lady,” I muttered, smiling as I saw Chastity waiting in front of a modest home.

“Chastity!” Zanzibar cried happily, abandoning my side as took his usual long strides rather than the short ones with which I could keep up. “Finally, a bird I can understand.”

“Hey, it’s Alena, the one you left in your dust,” I mumbled, making a face towards him.

He smiled. “I am tempted to hold your hand right now, but I don’t want anyone to see us having sex on the ground right here, because we might as well be if I dare consider touching you!” He growled again, looking to Chastity to calm his nerves. “I apologize, for I am a little wound-up.”

“Which is understandable!” she told him, taking both of our hands. “Please, do come inside. I feel as if people are staring.”

“They have been staring all day,” Zanzibar muttered as we were pulled into her home without proper invitation. “Did you hear about the scene I caused a few days ago?”

She smiled, nodding happily. “And I must say it was the funniest outburst I have ever seen, my King. Though you looked very much like an Aquilan man. However did you do that?”

“It’s just smoke and mirrors. Chastity, you study Leonian culture, do you not?”

“I dabble,” she admitted, glancing over to me, “and I know enough to know you’ve made an excellent choice, my Queen.”

I smiled, taking Zanzibar’s hand. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently, not passing up the opportunity to watch me with that intensity, though it lasted only a second before he dropped my hand.

“Do you happen to know about me particularly?” he asked curiously, glancing around the quaint area, which served as a cozy kitchen.

She smiled. “I do, though I am glad I do not have to act as a spy any longer. It felt so horribly wrong.” She paused, glancing to me. “Oh, are you feeling alright?”

I gaped. My mother had never said anything about us having spies on Leonian territory! “How—When—Chastity?” I stuttered hopelessly, looking back and forth between my husband and friend.

He smiled. “It’s been awhile, but I used to see this bird trying to linger among my crowds unnoticed. I actually made a point to get to know her, because it seemed funny that the birds thought they could sneak up on feral cats.”

Chastity smiled, shrugging. “I couldn’t keep spying when I discovered what a great man he was, it just didn’t seem right, so I resigned. I can’t say how happy I am that you two, my favorite people in the world, are happy together. I know that Monica tore you up, but—Oh.”

I glanced over to Zanzibar, my eyes narrowed, as he waved frantically in an effort to get her to stop talking. He groaned nearly inaudibly, biting his lip before he dared to look at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Who is Monica, Zanzibar?” I asked, tilting my head slightly, my face scrunched up in obvious anger.

“Alena, wait. Don’t do this—” he begged, trying to catch my arm.

“Don’t touch me!” I snapped, turning a cold, Aquilan shoulder to him. “If what you wanted was to get me to hate you, then you succeeded, you damn lion.”

It was bad enough that he had never mentioned her, but it was now obvious that he never planned on telling me, and that he truly didn’t want me to know anything about her. What did he have to hide?

I shook my head, pulling myself away from him and hurrying out of the small cottage. I did not hear him chasing after me, but then again I did not leave him much time to react or catch up to me. I crossed my arms over my chest as a breeze tugged at my dress, reminding me that I needed to change before something became of my delicate gift.

My people watched me carefully, but I was too irritated to be bothered as I sprouted eagle’s wings and shot straight to my balcony, aware that the Leonian guard had presumably returned home. I sighed, closing the curtains and stepping to my trunk to pick out an outfit at random. I messed with the dress for a minute before groaning as I recalled the difficulty associated with taking off the intricate gown.

“Of course,” I muttered under my breath, pacing the floor for a moment.

“Need help?” he asked gently, causing me to forget my anger for a moment.

“If you could, it would be appreciated.” He stepped towards me as I looked to the balcony. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Alex.”

I froze, taking in a sharp, painful breath as I turned around quickly to see the Leonian spy grinning cruelly.

“Alex,” I said firmly, taking a step back as he stepped closer. “Please stop!”

“Lena, we had some good, good times, didn’t we?” he asked absentmindedly, twirling a Leonian dagger in his hand. “But you just had to let that goddamn lion into your life! I told you that he was bad news, but you went ahead and ruined everything, didn’t you?” He shook his head remorsefully. “I could have been your King, Alena. We could have killed all of the Leonians until we were the only race left, but you just had to ruin it! There’s only one way to restore balance.”

I shook my head, panicking as my back ran into the wall. “No,” I begged, my voice giving out halfway through the word.

“Yes, Alena,” he said with mock sadness. “I’m afraid I have to kill you.” He looked down to his knife before pressing the blade to my neck.

I swallowed, causing myself to wince as blood dripped down. But then something happened. I reached out to steady myself, and Alexandros laughed.

“Is something the matter, my poor little birdie? Are you dizzy? That’s an effect of the blood, my Queen,” he spat, pressing it even harder to my neck as I tried to remain perfectly still even as my vision became blurry. “Leonian blood is poisonous to birds, though I find it hard to believe you did not know that. What’s great is that it can kill so many birds without harming a single Leonian. I’m sure this is more than enough to take down a poor, defenseless little princess like you.”

“Alex, don’t do this,” I whispered, reaching up to hold his wrist. I bit back tears as my life flashed before my eyes. “I’m sorry about everything that happened between us, I just didn’t think you liked me like I liked you.”

“And I didn’t,” he reminded me, watching my shaking hand.

“I know that, but I was in love with you,” I murmured, biting my lip. “And you ignored me! Is it so strange that I ran to a man that actually gave me attention?”

“It’s too bad that man was a fucking lion!” he hissed, smacking my hand away and backing up for a moment. “And you had to get me discharged and sent to that hellhole!”

I watched him carefully, willing my body to sink into the wall. He shook his head furiously, his eyes full of seething rage. I shook my head as the world started spinning even more, and I fell into him, gaining a slit in my stomach. I screamed as I fell, writhing in pain on the floor as the poison spilled into the wound. I managed to get back onto my feet only to be slammed into the wall again, and the knife sliced into my arm as I screamed yet again, causing him to slap a hand over my mouth. I bit down as hard I could, trying to scream for help as he tried to slit my throat, missing only narrowly.

“Alex,” I spit out, the world one big blur. “I hate you.”

He smiled, pulling the dagger back for one final plunge as I lost feeling in my arms and stood entirely motionless, waiting for my legs to give out.

“Get the hell away from her!” someone screamed, tackling my attacker to the ground and fighting over the dagger.

I tried to keep my eyes open as my mouth hung and my body swayed as my legs started to become paralyzed. The blood dripping to the floor only made me dizzier as I watched Zanzibar scream as the dagger, to my horror, plunged into his stomach. Alexandros panicked at the last second, scrambling to get away as guards surely heard the lion roar.

Zanzibar coughed up blood as he jerked it out, wincing as he tossed it to the ground and blood formed a pool on his shirt. He looked to me, looking so tormented. He stumbled up to me, but my legs gave out just before he was in reach, and I heard a sickening snap as I crashed to the floor, so paralyzed that I was unable to scream.

I tried desperately to tell him that I loved him, but my lips just wouldn’t move. I only remained conscious long enough to see Zanzibar crash to the floor beside me, out cold before his head cracked.