Chapter 10: Lord Mourning

FREYA

The morning came all too soon.

Lonan was up with a cheery look on his face as he helped Gwylan to get comfortable in the family room. The guards were coming to help them move.

Gwylan appeared out of sorts in the midst of a near-empty home as she slumped half asleep in her seat.

Six soldiers of the guard arrived shortly after sunrise. Being tasked with moving the new Council member appeared to be a great honor for them. They took care with everything they handled, and Freya noticed the honorifics with which they used when speaking to her father.

“Councilman Lonan.” Or “Lord Mourning.”

That was what they called him now.

Freya frowned as she sat at her mother’s side, holding her hand.

By noon, the nest Freya had known all her life was empty. She was alone in her room, waiting for a soldier to come back to take her to the mountain.

The window was open, and she fought back more tears thinking of her last night looking out at the stars with her sister. That was the night they had talked about how Raga had fallen in love. That night seemed like it had been years ago.

In the silence, Freya heard something in the distance. A low keening howl echoed in the far-off forest. An animalistic sound like nothing she’d heard before.

Panic began to swell in her chest instinctively.

A knock on her bedroom door made Freya leap to her feet. Had she remembered to take the ladder up? No, the ladder was packed and moved already. She was the only person who used the ladder.

She hadn’t heard anyone arrive, so they must have just landed softly. Would Aurik know to find her here? Who could this be?

Her shaking hand opened the door. It was just one of the soldiers.

“You ready, miss?” He took a step back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he drawled in a polite tone.

“Sorry. I suppose I’m just lost in thought today.” Freya tried to give him a real smile.

“It’s a big move. No one would blame you for being distracted.” The soldier stated with a grin. He was a young soldier with a broad stature and kind enough face.

“Thank you.”

On the landing, he spread his massive white and black wings. It made sense to Freya they’d have a member of the Albatross family assigned to her. Sons of the Albatross line were specially trained soldiers for carrying large loads and wielding massive weapons in battle due to their impressive wingspans.

She put her arms around his neck. Being carried was for those who were ill, or children, or too old to fly. She hoped nobody would look up and see her.

He carried Freya with ease, soaring over the treetops. In the distance, Freya could see the wide, smooth surface of the mountain reaching into the clouds ahead. Down below, Freya knew that tree nests would be larger and closer together as they reached the location of the market and passed over where the wealthier families lived.

The closer they got to the mountain, the more dread she felt. Now she had no home to go back to. She had to keep moving forward.

The clouds began to clear.

Freya could just make out the outline of the gargantuan stone castle built atop the plateau as they neared. Built into the smooth and vertical surface of the gray stones were tall columns marking the entrances to the mansions of the most noble of families. One of those now being her own.

The view took her breath away. The craftsmanship in the carved mountain was more beautiful than anything she’d seen in the nests carved of their home trees.

Each manse had a balcony carved in the stone with little gardens filled to the brim with a myriad of flowers. Long vines curved up along the columns reaching toward the sunlight shining down with the heat of the day.

Freya was feeling a new sense of excitement. This might be a change for the better in life.

The soldier aimed for one of the homes set lower in the mountain face closer to the forest floor than the others. They landed on the expanse of solid stone.

Her family now lived higher up than the home they just left, and the forest floor loomed far below. The small garden at the base of the columns needed tending to. This home must have been empty for a while. Freya wondered if her mother would ever be up for the task.

At her back was the massively tall door to the mansion. It was a dark, almost black wood with a simple yet elegant design.

Freya lingered outside as the soldier left. She wasn’t ready to go in yet. A mix of nerves and excitement overwhelmed her senses.

Her father opened the doors.

“Freya! Your belongings have already been moved into your new room. I’ll task you with unpacking and settling in before dinner.” Lonan wrapped his daughter in his arms with a warm hug.

“Oh, I haven’t thought about what to make for dinner yet.”

“You won’t have to, dear. Our house will be assigned a few servants from now on. A few to assist with cleaning, cooking, and helping to care for your mother. There will be a physician coming daily to check on her now, and you as well every so often.”

“Me? Why do I need a physician?” Freya chirped in surprise.

“Just to make sure your condition isn’t affecting you in any adverse way. There’s no other Adaryn like you, and it’s been brought to my attention to keep an eye on your health, especially with what’s going on with your mother.” He gently patted one of Freya’s shoulders reassuringly.

She didn’t like the thought of someone else gawking at her up close. What was a doctor going to do for her? Who would a doctor talk to about her?

Lonan motioned for Freya to enter their new home with an eager grin on his face. He’d already been here most of the day helping to get their belongings situated in their new places.

They hadn’t brought much of their furniture. That was probably a good thing. It wouldn’t fit here.

Freya ran her hands along the smooth and cool stone of the walls, already missing the comfort and familiarity of warm wooden walls.

Toward the back of the lofty main living space was a curved staircase leading to an extensive second floor. The hall of the second floor was as large as the family room in their prior home and lined with doors made of more dark wood. She followed her father’s directions to the room picked for her and gingerly pushed it open.

This new room had to be several times larger than the one she grew up in with her sister. Her old bed had been replaced with a new larger one with a higher platform. The small chest with her meager belongings had been set next to a new dresser. Freya found it filled with new clothing made of the silks and fine fabrics commonly worn by the wealthy.

There was a standing mirror in the back corner of the room that brought a smile to Freya’s face. They’d only had an old, small handheld mirror growing up.

In this clean and clear reflection, Freya was able to see herself in a way she never had before. Head to heel, her clothing was worn and stained with years of wear and climbing the forest’s ancient trees. Plain cottons made up her usual attire. Freya looked like a peasant from the edge of the colony, and she wasn’t sure fancy new clothes would change that.

She shut the door. She had an idea for something she could do with a mirror. She’d never had access to a mirror this big before.

After she’d taken off her clothes, Freya turned to look at her back in the mirror. Pale grayish-blue down ran from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine, connecting the entire span of her back. The same color was spread across her shoulders as well. Her feathers she inherited from her mother’s family, nothing like the reddish-brown her father had.

The feathers hid her scars better than she expected. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and closed her eyes while taking a deep breath.

~Now’s not the time to be sad about the past~, she told herself.

Ignoring all the new items in the dresser, Freya dug out her usual sleep shift from her chest of belongings. Her father could eat alone. She didn’t have the stomach to go back downstairs and eat a dinner cooked by new servants.

Everything felt wrong against her skin. Even the silk of her sheets was too much. After pulling her old comforter out of the chest, Freya rolled up in it at the foot of her new bed. The familiar comfort of her blanket and the dwindling fire in the hearth at the opposite wall had Freya asleep almost instantly.

Freya dreamed of the dark beast again.