Rowan

little murat lived in his mentor's house, and despite it having more than three rooms, he still lived in a small pantry next to the vegetables, spices, and strange jars. he slept on sacks of potatoes and covered himself with an old, heavy blanket. esteban often locked him in there at night or when he annoyed him. however, it was easy to open the latch from the inside and escape. whether esteban knew that murat could do this, he had no idea. but even if he knew, he seemed too lazy to just put a lock on the door.

one summer evening, murat got out again. he liked to go to the kitchen and sometimes steal some food from the table. but his favorite thing was to eavesdrop on esteban's various conversations with his guests. there was an obscenely large crack in one of the kitchen doors, near the pantry, which allowed him to hear better and even see something. this time, murat went to find out who had come to esteban. he really hoped it wasn't some strange skinny men that esteban usually started kissing disgustingly. he never liked watching that, and he always ran away as quickly as possible.

murat tiptoed to the door and settled down comfortably. first, he peeked through the crack. esteban was standing by the table, and a very important-looking person was sitting next to him. murat felt like he had seen him somewhere before. as he listened to the man's voice, he suddenly remembered! it was their most important crow, the one he had seen standing in the distance with his mentor during training. they had been talking for a few minutes. esteban said that their talon must be obeyed and respected. but now esteban looked too serious and sad next to him. he should be happy about the talon, murat would definitely be happy!

he began to listen more carefully to their dialogue.

"it's been a long time since i've seen you, after all." the 5th talon twirled a glass of liquor in his iron-clawed hand.

"i… i thought you weren't interested in me anymore, your grace. and therefore…" esteban couldn't gather his thoughts, he stammered.

"me? not interested in you? please, have a better opinion of yourself! you know perfectly well that you are my best."

"yes. of course."

"but i won't lie, the fact that you let such a terrible thought take root in your beautiful curly head, makes me… upset." on the last word, the glass stopped abruptly; he put his hand on top of it and looked at esteban. more precisely, he turned his head in his direction. it was not very clear where exactly he was looking.

"i'm very sorry, your grace."

"pity is not enough, you know…" he paused for a moment. "nevertheless! there's an option where you won't upset me anymore. moreover, you'll never even see me again, because i can find someone better than you. that little fledgling of yours… looks like a very good and obedient boy. i'd like to get to know him better."

esteban kept his head tilted down all this time and looked somewhere to the side, but after talon's words, he raised it, furrowed his eyebrows and widened his eyes, while he tried to keep calm.

"your grace... he's only ten…"

"i don't recall asking you any questions right now, esteban. or wait, maybe you're not training your subordinate well? he doesn't know how to talk, he doesn't know how to hold a knife in his hands, does he?"

"no, he knows. he's a very diligent boy and a quick study."

murat, after such words, smiled from ear to ear outside the door. esteban rarely praised him. the nicest things he ever heard him say during their trainings was "correct" and "good."

"that's great! i'll be happy to see his diligence in action!" the talon left the glass alone and stood up from the chair. "i'll be waiting. you know the time. and you know that i don't like waiting when the time is already set."

esteban looked at the talon in silence. his furrowed brow took on a pitiful expression, his teeth clenched harder, and his fingers, clenched into a fist behind him, scratched at his palm. he wanted to say something, but he couldn't get the words out.

"or else!" the talon shouted it so suddenly that esteban even flinched. "or else… i'm always happy to see you, esteban. but… it's been a while since i last saw you, and it makes me a little bit sad. i think you understand… but i'm even more excited about meeting your boy. choose. don't disappoint me."

"i won't, your grace," esteban said, still tensed.

the 5th talon, with a smile on his face, turned around, waved his hand and went out through the second door, straight to the street. esteban was still standing in the same place, staring into the emptiness where the talon had been standing before.

murat got up quietly and ran back to the pantry as quickly as possible, closing the door behind him. he was smiling and started packing his things. the talon himself wanted to meet murat! that was incredibly cool. if the talon wanted it so much, then esteban would definitely take murat to him. his stupid mentor will be jealous. murat didn't have many things, so he put on a vest, a belt, and his street boots. then he started rummaging through the shelf where the vegetables and a couple of his knives were kept. in the process of getting one of them, he dropped a couple of zucchini and a knife on the floor with a clatter. he was a little nervous. it's not every day that you get to see such a cool person.

then murat heard esteban's footsteps. he always stepped on the creakiest places, which murat skillfully avoided. murat quickly put the knife in his belt, put the zucchini back on the shelf and carefully sat down on the sack, with his hands on his knees. the door opened, and esteban, very displeased (as usual), looked at murat with usual displeasure.

"what was that noise? go to sleep…" esteban changed his mind about saying what he wanted to say, because he finally looked at murat. "i don't get it. where are you going?"

"ah… well… it's…" murat hesitated. what sleep? why didn't he tell him about the talon? he's not going to take him to him? then he had to think of something quickly, so that esteban wouldn't realize that murat had been eavesdropping on him. "i thought we'd go to a night training. like we did yesterday. i really want it. so i got ready in advance."

esteban frowned even more as he examined him and the pantry.

"no. not today. i've changed my mind. i'm tired of you today. go to sleep. and don't drop anything else here." esteban slammed the door in his face and left. he didn't even lock the door. strange.

murat was sad. did he misunderstand the conversation between the talon and esteban..? or did esteban decide to disobey? or on the contrary, to obey. murat realized that he hadn't really understood anything. he was a little offended by esteban, but if not, then not.

murat took off his boots, belt, and vest, and lay down on his "bed" with a blanket over his legs. eh, it's a pity that he won't get to know the talon, he would even lie to him and praise esteban. but murat hoped that at least he would dream about the talon.

...

murat woke up to the creaking of the floorboards. esteban had returned. he had slept a little, but he couldn't remember any dreams. it was a pity… he opened the door slightly and looked towards the kitchen. the hallway was dimly lit, but he could still see everything. he heard some clattering coming from the kitchen. murat was curious to watch him again. what if the talon gave esteban some kind of gift to give to murat?

murat didn't want to wait long, and tiptoed over to the door, sitting down by the crack. he saw esteban take a bottle of wine out of the cupboard and put a glass on the table. he poured some wine into the glass, exhaled, and began… drinking from the bottle. murat watched in astonishment as esteban drank the entire bottle without stopping. well, the wine can't be that good. murat didn't really like its taste. after drinking it all, esteban put the bottle on the table with all his might and sat down on a chair. murat couldn't see his face, his eyes were covered with curls. it seemed that they were wet, although there was no rain outside. but what murat could see was how esteban's hands were shaking. he strangely held his trembling palms in front of him, as if he was looking at them and thinking about something. then he folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them.

he'll probably sleep here. murat was kind of sad to look at him. it seemed to him that esteban was sad too. and he had never seen him like this before. maybe the talon scolded him? or did he beat him, like esteban beats murat when he does something wrong? maybe it was all because of him, murat thought. the 5th alon wanted to see him, but he didn't come. the talon got upset and scolded esteban. now he's upset, too. murat felt ashamed.

murat waited until esteban was completely asleep. he didn't have to wait long, the wine and fatigue put him to sleep immediately. and opening the door a crack, he quietly went into the kitchen. he came closer. esteban smelled like a freshly drunk bottle of wine, wet rags, and what seemed like raw meat. it was as if he had put clothes on his wet body. murat thought that esteban must be very cold right now. maybe that's why his hands were shaking.

esteban will probably scold him for it, but murat felt very sorry for him, so he ran to the pantry for a blanket, came back with it, and put it over esteban's broad shoulders. before leaving, he decided to pat him on the head. once, when he and esteban passed by the market, he saw a mother stroking her son's hair. it seemed to murat then that it must be very pleasant. so murat did the same thing, softly, so as not to wake him up. stroking him like a kitten, he took his hand away; it was wet because of the wet hair, but he also noticed some dark stains on his palm. murat couldn't make out their color in the dark. he thought esteban had bathed in mud somewhere. so he just rubbed his hand on his own blanket and left, leaving esteban alone.

Harding huffed and slammed her book closed in frustration, dramatically flopping her head onto the table.

"Harding? You're here in early. I thought you weren't on until later," Neve said as she walked over to check if there was a pot of coffee ready in the Wyvern 952.

"Yeah I have a few hours before I'm scheduled to work. I rode in with Taash. Plus if I work on my school work here, I get the good coffee. And pizza."

Neve nodded in agreement. "And how is school going?" She asked, eyebrows raised in a way that Harding knew she'd seen her little breakdown.

"School is great. I love the classes. Dock Town community is a lovely school and they offer evening classes."

"But?" Neve prodded. Harding furrowed her brow at her friend. Sometimes she hated how perceptive Neve was.

"It's taking forever! Thought I would have been done with my degree two years ago, and instead, I have at least two more years at the community college! Maybe longer, depending on what classes are being offered in the evenings!" She dramatically flopped back onto the table again.

Neve nodded knowingly, though Harding couldn't see her. She sipped at her coffee thoughtfully. "Do you want me to schedule you less? I've been thinking about hiring someone else to ease up the pressure on all of us."

"No. I still need to work, even with roommates. Books for these last few classes were really expensive. And I like being able to work and do school. It's nice to break things up."

"Then what's the real problem, Lace?" Neve asked, sitting down at the breakroom table with her.

She didn't lift her head. "That's it. It's just school."

"Sure. Well, if you want to talk about it, let me know," Neve said, standing to go to the main part of the store.

"Can you ask Lucanis to make more coffee?" She said, peeking out from her arms.

"Sure Lace."

Come back tomorrow for the next installment 💖

Special thanks to @blackwall-my-tiny-husband for the banner and dividers.

Sending out gentle taggies, as always no pressure and have a consensual forehead kiss either way