Ch.44 Surviver

Chapter 44

"I will talk to her," Heyder said once more as he tried to calm Maya.

"No, I'll do the talking," Maya pushed his hands off of her. "She's mental if she thinks she can get away with this."

"Sweet baby, I swear I will straighten this out," Heyder sighed, taking her hand once more and pulling her back from the portal she had opened. "Just stay here. Let me handle this, Maya."

"She's crazy!" Maya yelled. "She's using her own granddaughter to threaten her son!"

"It's not for baba," Birdie spoke up from where she sat with the dead bird in the box.

Maya and Heyder turned towards her as Hayden looked up. Nora, who sat beside her husband holding his hand, turned towards Birdie.

"She sent this for me," Birdie lifted the box. The blood from it stained her hands.

"Why..." Nora frowned. "Why would she send you a dead bird?"

"She's trying to scare your father," Maya said. "Heyder won't take her council so she's threatening you no-"

"No," Birdie shook her head. "She wants control. She no longer has control of the court or of the Sultan so she's turned towards me."

"What are you talking about?" Hayden slowly sat forward, his green eyes watching his sister.

"This bird...." Birdie felt her stomach twist. Her chest shook as the pain inside of her surfaced to her eyes. "It's a wren."

Startled by the sudden emotion in her voice, Maya moved towards her daughter.

"Birdie..." as Maya's hand reached out, Birdie looked up. Her eyes shimmered with tears as her shoulders began to shake with sobs she could no longer contain.

"Mom," Birdie cried out, holding her arms out for her mother.

Hayden and Heyder looked at each other as Birdie threw herself into Maya's arms and buried her face in her mother's hair. Nora let go of Hayden's hand and moved to sit beside the women. She reached out and took Birdie's hand and placed a small kiss upon it to let her know she was right beside her.

"Baby....what's wrong?" Maya could feel her own heart shake with fear.

She knew something was wrong. She had known it since the day Birdie had returned. Her baby was different. The light in her eyes was different. If Ira had hurt her, Maya would not spare the jinn.

"Tell me what's wrong, baby," Maya pulled back to look at her daughter.

"Mom....he.....Wren...." Birdie could barely speak through her sobs.

Somewhere beneath her skin, Maya felt her fey magic stir. She knew the ancient magic in her was always protective of her children. But the way the energy rose to the surface was new and different. It was almost as if it wanted to come out and hold Birdie. Maya's eyes fluttered up as she saw Nora check her arm beside her. The fey mark on the girl was shimmering beneath her skin too.

"Grandma keeps threatening me that she's going to tell you I did horrible things when I was in Pangea but it's not true," Birdie cried, her shoulders shaking with each sob and each word. "It wasn't like that. She's twisting the whole story."

Maya's fiery gaze snapped up towards her husband. She watched as Heyder's hands balled into fists and his eyes darkened.

"How long has this been going on?" Nora asked.

"A few weeks now," Birdie turned towards her sister in law. "Nora, I swear I didn't do anything bad. Don't believe her, she's twisting everything. Wren was helping me."

"Of course, we believe you," Heyder said. "Baby, why would you ever think we would listen to someone else's words over you?"

Birdie's eyes watered once more as she felt a wave of emotions push out of her. Breathing became difficult as she looked up into her father's kind eyes, eyes that were pleading for her to tell him what was wrong.

"Tell us what happened," Maya cupped Birdie's face and wiped away the tears. "Tell us whatever you need to and whatever it is that Ira thinks she can threaten you with."

"No," Birdie felt the darkness inside of her start to consume her insides. It was the same darkness that kept her numb for so many months. "No. You don't need to know...."

"Yes, we do," Maya said firmly. In that moment, sitting in front of her daughter, Maya began to feel as if her worst fears were coming true. "Birdie, whatever happened there wasn't your fault. You have nothing to hide from us. Tell me what happened, baby."

"Mom..." Birdie looked at her mother and moved closer to her warmth.

She wasn't going to give Ira the opportunity to have any kind of power over her. Enough was enough. The jinn needed to learn there was no place for her in Birdie's life or in her family's life.

Pushing back the darkness, Birdie spilled all her truth.

Maya, Heyder, Hayden and Nora all sat listening patiently as Birdie told them everything that had happened in Pangea. Their eyes glossed over with unshed tears as they listened to just how much their baby bird had been keeping from them. Just how much she had suffered....

Beside losing Wren, telling her parents the truth was the most painful thing Birdie had ever done. She knew Dr. Reed would be proud of her for fighting the darkness. But every time Birdie looked at family, she couldn't help but feel the need to crawl into a ball and bury herself somewhere deep into the forest. The words wouldn't form, the tears would reappear, the pain would be too much...But Birdie didn't stop.

The box with the dead bird on her lap was her reason to keep going.

"Wren..." Heyder finally said when Birdie couldn't go on any longer. "When you were unconscious...you kept calling out his name."

Birdie looked at her father, her eyes filled with the pain Heyder had felt a million times before. The pain of losing someone you did not have enough time with.

"Come here," Heyder took Birdie's cold little hand and pulled her to her feet. "It's okay, my love. It's okay...it's all over now. You're home."

"Baba, he wanted to help me," Birdie sobbed, her voice desperate. She needed them to know Wren the way she had seen him and not the way Ira was trying to make him out to be. "He didn't hurt me."

"I know, I know, baby," Heyder nodded, pulling Birdie to his chest and kissing the top of her head.

"He wasn't like the rest of them," Birdie said, her voice muffled by her father's shirt. "He wasn't cruel or heartless. He cared about his people and he would have made a great king."

"I believe you," Heyder said. "I believe your judgment."

"I never told anyone," Birdie shook her head, unable to stop her words or her tears. "Not even myself."

Heyder believed he had lost his heart many many years ago when the pain of losing Maya over and over again was too much for him to bear. Whatever he had inside of his chest now was just a shell Maya kept alive. Something she breathed life into.

But seeing the pain in Birdie's eyes set Heyder's heart on fire. It was like living through all of Maya's deaths all over again.

"I love him, baba," Birdie cried, looking up at Heyder, begging him to make the pain stop.

It wasn't a quiet sob. It was the type of sob when the pain of mourning someone was too much to handle. The kind of sob when the emotional pain turns physical and stops your heart from beating properly.

The pain in Birdie's voice brought tears to everyone's eyes. No one knew what to say as she held Heyder and cried into his chest. Maya placed a shaking hand over her mouth as her eyes watched her husband and daughter. The corner of Heyder's eyes began to glisten as he pulled Birdie closer and kissed the top of her head.

"It hurts," Birdie's knees began to grow weak. She had never allowed herself to fully mourn her loss. Months of sorrow were bubbling out of her like a volcano. "Every time I think about him....make it stop. Please, baba."

"Baby," Heyder's voice was a low whisper. "I can't...you have to feel it."

"No," Birdie shook her head, stubbornly. "You always said you will make everything better when we were younger. You're supposed to make it better!"

"I'm sorry, baby bird," Heyder couldn't bear to see his daughter in so much pain. "I'm sorry I can't fix this one."

Whatever sob that rose from within Birdie was muffled by Heyder's shirt. He held her tightly until she could no longer stand. Maya made space for her on the sofa where they all sat beside Birdie, letting her cry her heart out. Letting all the anger, frustration and fear wash out of her.

Ira is sick, Maya said to Heyder through her mind-link. How could she hold all this against Birdie?

We will handle her, Heyder assured his wife. Together.

As the evening slowly crawled into midnight, Birdie had no more tears to cry. Her eyes were dry and her heart was empty. She didn't have the strength to feel anything as Nora walked back into the house from the yard and nodded towards Hayden.

"Birdie," Hayden walked over to his sister and held out his hand. "Come with me."

Birdie looked up, her eyes filled with questions.

"Just come," Hayden said.

Birdie unfolded her legs and slowly stood up. She took Hayden's hand and let him walk her out to the yard where a small hole was dug under her favorite tree. Noor and Zuri stood with candles in their hands as the dead bird was wrapped in a piece of white cotton towel and laid down on a bed of roses.

"What is all this?" Birdie asked, her voice cracking from the dryness in her throat.

"We never met him," Hayden walked Birdie to the tree where the children stood. "But we owe everything to him. You're home because of Wren. And now Wren will be at home with us."

If Birdie could, she could have cried again. Her heart swelled up painfully as she turned towards the bird wrapped in the towel. Nora picked up the small bundle and held it out, waiting for Birdie. The family all gathered in the yard and sat down under the tree as Birdie laid the small wren down to rest and sprinkled dirt over its body. She spotted Zuri sitting beside Noor with her eyes shimmering with unshed tears as Noor held her hand firmly. The little girl held out her hand and sprinkled some dirt into the grave along with her aunt.

"It's okay," Zuri whispered to Birdie as she laid her head down on her aunt's shoulder. "He'll be okay."

Birdie nodded, "He will be....he'll be okay."

_______________________

Ira waited for her council to gather on her balcony as she gazed out into the sea below. She could see the shimmers of the boundary off in the distance with its red mist and bright white light. It sickened her to know that white light was the cause of fey magic running through her grandson's veins.

How was it even possible for him to be alive? Ira wondered. Why hadn't the madness consumed him yet?

Maybe he was mad....maybe Heyder didn't allow his son at court because he didn't want the others to see how mad his son was with the vile fey magic in his syste-

"That was quite the gift you sent last night, mother."

Ira's hand paused on the beads she had been twirling on her necklace. The corner of her mouth curved up into a smile as she looked up and turned to face Heyder.

"Sultan," Ira bowed her head. "I hope Birdie liked her little present."

"The blood stains will be a bit hard to wash off," Heyder shrugged, shifting his eyes towards the open water.

"Blood?" Ira gasped, hiding her smile. "When I sent the bird, I assure you it was very much alive."

"I bet," Heyder shifted his attention back to his mother. "Whose head was it? Azad?"

"I don't think I want to answer that question," Ira smiled.

"Yeah," Heyder nodded, growing slightly impatient with his mother's games. "Here's what's going to happen. You and your men are going to leave court tonight. I don't want to see you near my family ever again. Do not call them, do not send them presents and definitely do not try to blackmail my daughter."

"Or what?" Ira arched a brow.

"You're not even going to deny any of these accusations?" Heyder asked.

"I'm not a coward," Ira said. "I have no intention of hiding what I did or do."

"Okay, good," Heyder nodded. "I'll have Ali write up a formal complaint on you for treason."

"What are you going to do if my men and I do not leave?" Ira asked.

"The same thing I did to Maaz and Zubair," Heyder said calmly. "I don't fuck with those who fuck with my family. I've lost a lot trying to get where I am today and I will protect what's mine at all cost."

"You're a disgrace to the crown," Ira spat. "Your hands are dripping with blood."

"The pot shouldn't call the kettle black, mother," Heyder chuckled. "I know what I am. I know what I do."

"What about your daughter?" Ira arched her brow.

"What about her?" Heyder asked as if she had piqued his interest.

"Do you know your daughter?" Ira asked. "Do you know what your daughter did?"

"You mean when she was sold to the highest bidder in Pangea?" Heyder arched his brow, feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over him as he watched the hint of surprise in his mother's eyes. "Or are you talking about when they tried to rape her? No, no, you must be talking about when she slept with Wren, correct?"

Ira's eyes narrowed and her mouth twitched, "She told you."

"I didn't raise my children to get manipulated," Heyder took a step forward, stopping shoulder to shoulder with his mother. "I taught them to do whatever is necessary to survive. Because that was what kept me alive all those years ago when you left me to my brothers' mercy."

"Your brothers were better than you," Ira said through her teeth, glaring at Heyder from the corner of her eyes.

"And where did that get them?" Heyder asked. "Where are they now?"

Ira did not answer. She bit her tongue as she felt Heyder summon his strength to the surface of his palm. She knew his magic was laced with Clare's and she knew he would follow through with his words.

"Stay away from me and my family," Heyder said one last time. "Leave court and never show your face again."

My heart hurts for Birdie :(