Survival

I stumbled into the dining room a few days later. My wings were folded up as much as possible in an attempt to hide them from everyone. I despised the weird looks I got from some Kasiens, especially the females. They hated me for being different and for fighting, and didn’t sympathise with me about my injury. To try and avoid the emotional distress, I had come in near the end of serving time, kept my eyes low to avoid any conflict, and just focused on getting some food. Because I was rarely fed when I was held captive, I had lost a considerable amount of weight, so now it was one of my top priorities to feed a lot and to try and put weight back on. Not to mention the more I ate, the more energy my body would have for repairing itself. I needed those feathers back.

As I slowly moved along and received my food, I noticed that Brienne wasn’t in the kitchen. Once my tray was completely ready, her wings caught my eye. She was at our special table alone. With high hopes that she was waiting for me, I strode over to the table and took a seat in front of her. Brienne’s face appeared to instantly light up.

“Hello, Marion. How are you feeling?” she asked as I glanced down at her tray. She was almost finished, but with any luck she’d stay and chat for a while.

“A bit better,” I answered shyly. I didn’t really want to talk about the terrifying experience I had recently lived. It already haunted my dreams and made me scared to go back and fight the humans, but whenever I thought I shouldn’t go, the thought of it happening to Tobias frightened me a lot as well.

“I see your feathers are beginning to grow back,” Brienne remarked with a slightly joyful tone. As I chewed some meat I briefly looked at the stumps of small feathers that were re-growing in a bald spot on my left wing. They were prickly and sore, and it was such a pain.

“Yes, I’m trying to eat more to speed up the process…” I muttered while cutting some more meat away from the bone.

“I’m sure they’ll all be back before you know it,” she beamed before sipping on her drink. “I’m really glad to see you back in one piece. When Tobias told me that you had been captured, I became as distraught as he was. I thought I’d never ever see you again.”

“Trust me, me being back here alive is a huge surprise to me too!” I said with a tiny sigh at the end. It really was unbelievable. I should be dead, but I wasn’t. It was a miracle. I put my head down and focused on my food. Yes, it was shocking news and I was the talk of the ship at the moment, but that didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it too. I just wanted to forget it all.

“So no comment about Tobias?” Brienne asked in a hushed voice. I slowly brought my head up with a confused frown.

“What? No…” I mumbled. “What am I supposed to be commenting about?”

“About how I said he was really upset when he told me what had happened…” Brienne continued, the end of her sentence lingering. I knew there was more to what she was saying, but I didn’t know what point she was trying to tell me, so I just shook my head. “Ask me to tell you more about him.”

“Tell me more, please,” I said, her childish behaviour making a small smile come onto my lips.

“Okay, here’s the gossip. Tobias was absolutely furious when he came back from that battle. He didn’t talk to anyone, and didn’t come out of his room for a few days. Sylus had to take food to him and try to coax him out, as well as filling in for him as our temporary leader,” Brienne explained quickly, keeping her voice low. “He was just so angry for letting it happen to you, and when he emerged from his room he was so spaced out. Apparently all he ever talked about was how to get you back, even though that’s against the rules and an impossible mission. But he wanted to risk others’ lives to get you.”

“That is ridiculous,” I hissed. I could barely believe what she was saying.

“It’s all true! He wouldn’t do anything that didn’t relate to rescuing you!”

“Oh wow… I… Why would he do that just for me?” I whispered, trying to figure out what exactly about our friendship was so special to him. Yes, I treasured it too, but would I have reacted that way to losing him? I wasn’t so sure.

“Me and some others have a theory…” she began. A theory? I opened my mouth to ask her what it was, but she started to hurriedly speak again. “But anyway, he came up with a risky plan and one day him, Sylus and a few other warriors left early in the morning. When they returned, they had a small female human child with them. Tobias announced this was his plan to get you back, and after taking another risk by meeting the humans, he brought you back safe and sound.”

“Well I already know the ending!” I said. “What’s the theory? Why do you think Tobias would risk so much just to get me back?” I realised I had completely forgotten about my food when Brienne took a berry, so I went back to eating as she slowed chewed.

“Okay, here it is… We suspect that Tobias really likes you…” Brienne told me slowly. I raised my eyebrows. Was she serious? That was her big idea?

“Everyone already knows that… We’re good friends…” I stated simply.

“No, not like that! As more than friends! As in… a mate…” she trailed off, her uncertainty clear in her voice.

“Don’t be absurd!” I cried out.

“Do you mind if I join you?” I spun around to my right and saw Sylus was very close to us, a tray of food in his hands. I really hoped he hadn’t heard us discussing all of that.

“Of course not,” I said.

“Not at all,” Brienne replied at the same time. We glanced at each other before looking back at Sylus who was smiling and taking a seat next to me.

“I’m so late to this meal that I missed sitting with everyone else,” Sylus chuckled merrily as he picked up his cutlery and started to dig in. “So, what are you talking about?”

“Just a theory I have,” Brienne said, her eyes wide and eagerly watching Sylus. I glared at her, but she didn’t look in my direction at all.

“Oh cool. What about?” he asked, mouth half full. I tried to use facial expressions to tell Brienne to not say anything, but she opened her mouth anyway.

“Um, just that Marion has a big admirer…” she answered, leaning forward a bit. “Do you know who it could be? Do you have any theories?”

“Well, yes, but… you say first,” Sylus replied. I rolled my eyes and continued to eat. This gossiping was just silly and immature, especially considering I was sitting with them!

“Tobias,” Brienne breathed, giving an excited look at Sylus. It finally hit me that she liked him a lot. My friend had a crush on Sylus. Why else would she be telling him this? It was extremely personal! But that look on her face showed her feelings so clearly.

“Yeah, that was who I was going to say too,” Sylus agreed, making me almost spit out my food with shock.

“What?” I breathed. Was he serious?

“Well that week you were a prisoner for… I’ve never seen him so determined, or putting so much on the line. He’s never even considered rescuing someone, no matter how much of a good fighter they are. Not to mention he was so angry… Why would you do all of that for someone that you don’t love?” he asked casually, giving a tiny shrug at the end. I looked over at Brienne, and she nodded to show her agreement. My head fell and I stared at my food. Maybe it was true… Could Toby really have romantic feelings for me?