← Samuel the Rogue: Where the Feathers Fall

Chapter 16 - Bittersweet Resolution

The forest floor felt weird under my bare feet after so many days in Aeolin’s nest. My hands were raw from the climb down, tiny splinters stuck in my palms, and my legs were shaking from the effort. I took a deep breath, and it smelled like wet dirt and rotting leaves. It was darker down here and muggier, and every bird and bug in the jungle screamed at me from all sides.

I turned, looking up at the massive tree that had been my home for all those days. The nest was just a dark shadow up in the leaves. I raised a hand and waved, though I wasn’t sure if Aeolin could even see me from that distance. He’d barely said a word when I left, just watched me with those green eyes as I started down. I kept my mouth shut too, because anything I said would have turned into a promise I couldn’t keep.

“Goodbye, Aeolin,” I whispered, so low I barely heard it myself.

I hitched up the small pack I’d tied together out of vines and leaves that morning, my dagger tucked in the top. It wasn’t much, but it would get me back to Willowbrook. I’d taken the first few steps when wings whooshed through the air behind me. Before I could turn, something slammed into my back, sending me sprawling face-first into the dirt.

I rolled onto my side, groping over my shoulder into the pack for my dagger, only to find Aeolin hovering above me, his wings beating steadily to keep him aloft. The morning sun came through his emerald feathers and turned his face green. He was smiling, but his eyes looked sad, which was a dirty trick to pull on a guy who was trying to leave.

“Did you really think I’d let you leave without a proper goodbye?” he asked. He landed beside me, his talons sinking into the mud, and held out a clawed hand. He had an egg in his palm, smooth and pale.

I sat up, staring at the egg. “What is that?”

“What does it look like?” Aeolin chirped. “It’s an egg, you idiot.”

I reached out, hesitant, my fingers hovering just above the shell. “Where did you...?”

“Stole it,” he said, looking smug as he placed it carefully in my hands. “From my ex. She’s a bitch. She lays them every so often, and they don’t... you know, hatch. It’s not fertilized, so it’d just go to waste.” He shrugged, and for a second I got distracted by his shoulders. “Thought it might be useful for you.”

The egg was cool in my palms. Relief hit me so hard I almost laughed.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

Aeolin made that low, rumbling sound I’d gotten stupidly fond of. “It’s fine. She won’t even miss it. Besides...” He tilted his head, looking way too pleased with himself. “I figured it was the least I could do after keeping you up all night.”

My cheeks burned, and I laughed. “Fair point,” I muttered, swinging my makeshift pack off my back and tucking the egg inside. It fit perfectly, nestled among the leaves I’d used for padding. I set the pack down beside me with both hands.

When I looked up, Aeolin was watching me, and I had no idea what was going on behind his eyes. He smiled a little, and gods, he was pretty when he did that.

“You did it,” he said, his voice almost lost under the birds and bugs. “You got what you came for.”

I nodded, because my mouth wasn’t working. I had the egg, sure, but I’d also gone and fallen for a harpy, and that was a lot more than I’d signed up for.

“I have to go,” I said finally, getting to my feet. “They’re waiting for me back in Willowbrook.”

Aeolin’s feathers drooped. “I know.” He took my hand. “I could visit,” he said, perking up. “Maybe when things settle down, I’ll fly over. See how the humans live.”

I tried to make it a joke. “They’d hunt you down,” I said. “Probably put you on a spit for the town feast.”

Neither of us said the obvious part out loud. I might never come back, and even if I did, bringing Aeolin to Willowbrook would get him killed.

“You can’t walk back to Willowbrook looking like that,” Aeolin said, reaching for a bundle I hadn’t noticed before, tucked beneath a nearby fern. He pulled out leather armor, a pair of pants, and a shirt, dropping them in a heap at my feet. “Here.”

I blinked at the clothes, then at him. “Where the hell did you get these?” I demanded, holding up the shirt. It was old and faded, and whoever had worn it before me had been skinny, about my size.

Aeolin shrugged. “Spare sets, you idiot.” He smirked, the sharp edge of his teeth glinting. “Though I have to admit, I love you naked.”

I threw the shirt at him. “You’ve had these the whole time? I’ve been running around naked for days, and you’ve just been sitting on a stash of clothes?”

He caught the shirt midair, laughing, that high, musical harpy laugh I’d first heard drifting down the tree. “You look better without them,” he said, leaning in to kiss my jaw. His teeth nipped at my ear, and my whole body broke out in goosebumps. “I love you naked,” he repeated, his voice dropping to a whisper.

I groaned, grabbing his waist and kissing him on the mouth. “You’re a dick,” I mumbled against his lips.

He broke the kiss and tossed the shirt back to me. I pulled on the pants and the shirt and buckled the leather armor over them while he sighed at every buckle.

“Oh, almost forgot,” he said, reaching into a small pouch tied to a cord around his waist. He pulled out the magical ring I’d stolen from the arena. “Take this too.”

He tossed it to me underhand without even looking, and I barely caught it. The ring was beautiful, carved all over with symbols I didn’t recognize, and it pulsed with a faint glow.

“The Mating Signet?” I asked, turning it over in my palm. “Won’t Zephyra come looking for it?”

Aeolin snorted. “Let her look. After what she pulled with Ignis...” He grinned at me. “Let’s just say I’m not feeling particularly sentimental about harpy heirlooms right now. Besides, you might actually need it. Be careful with it though. Magic can be... unpredictable.”

I slipped the ring into my pocket. “Thanks,” I said, and my voice cracked.

We stood there for a while with bugs buzzing around us, and Aeolin looked as miserable as I felt.

“Hey,” he said. He reached out and laid his hand on the leather over the healing gash on my chest. I shivered anyway.

“Hey,” I croaked.

He leaned in, barely touching his lips to mine. It was a goodbye kiss.

I didn’t want it to be a goodbye kiss.

I pushed my tongue into his mouth and hauled him against me. He let me. His feathers were warm against my neck, and his body was hot all down the front of me. I wanted more. I wanted one more taste of him, and I wanted my hands on all of him so I’d remember it.

“I have to go,” I muttered.

“I know,” he said into my mouth. “But not yet.”

His hands slid through my hair, careful and slow. “You’ll come back.”

I nodded, lying to both of us.

We kissed again, harder this time. His heart was thumping against my ribs and his feathers were ruffling as he moved, and it felt so good it pissed me off, because I was about to walk away from it.

He started tugging at the clothes he’d just given me. “These were a mistake,” he growled, his fingers working at the fastenings of my new leather armor. “I much prefer you naked.”

“Then do something about it,” I said, already breathing hard.

He did. He stripped me bare in about three seconds and flung the clothes into the ferns. The forest floor was cool against my back as he pushed me down, but I didn’t care with Aeolin’s hands all over me.

We went at it, all arms and legs and feathers, and by now we both knew what the other one liked. It was fast and sloppy, and neither of us tried to make it last. Aeolin’s wings spread wide over us as he moved above me.

When it was over, we lay in a sweaty heap in the ferns, panting. Aeolin’s head rested on my chest, his feathers tickling my skin. I ran my fingers through them, trying to remember exactly how they felt.

“Now that,” he said, still out of breath, “is how you say goodbye.”

I laughed. “I’ll never be able to look at a forest the same way again.”

He propped himself up on one elbow, serious now. “Good,” he said. “Then you’ll think of me every time you see one.”

I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. “I’ll think of you anyway,” I said.

I dug my clothes out of the ferns and got dressed again while he watched. I eased the pack onto my back so I wouldn’t crack the egg, and when I was done, Aeolin stepped back, his wings half open.

“Go,” he said. “Before I carry you back up that tree.”

My throat was too tight to answer. I turned and walked away, the egg heavy in my pack and the ring in my pocket.

I glanced back once, just once. Aeolin was still standing there in the ferns, watching me go. I turned back to the trail with a harpy egg for the Guild Master, a magic ring in my pocket, and a whole jungle between me and the prettiest thing that had ever called me an idiot. Not bad for a guy who’d walked in with a crossbow he couldn’t shoot.