Feathers

Imperfect Match

"Do you think you like her, though? She is beautiful, that much I see, and smaller than I imagined she might be. But do you think you will be compatible?"

Bain sighed and sipped his drink. "Defiant little thing, full of tricks and venom. I think we will keep one another entertained, but a union between a Peregrine and a Feral is never a perfect match. We steal them by landing in a random place in the forest and catching whichever one we can get ahold of. My brother was lucky. He happened to find his true mate and loved her until his dying breath. Most Peregrines do not care for their Feral wives any more than as the mother of their children. Outside of their marriage, they are blatantly unfaithful, as if such behavior is encouraged."

"Will you be susceptible to the seductive behaviors of the Psittacus females, desperate in their desires to climb the social ladder to its highest point?" Asio took a drink as if to drown away such a disgusting thought. He did not like the ladies all flocking to his quarters, complaining of lightheadedness and anxiety. If they would loosen their corsets and their aspirations for Asio to introduce them to a Peregrine, they would find that they might be otherwise content with their status.

Bain smiled. "I am a male, Asio. I have needs just like any other. I also have responsibility and duty. They must come before my personal desires at all times. When I am married, I will be faithful to my wife and my city. To betray one would destroy the other. How can I expect thousands of Avians to trust me if she cannot, and she is the one who will bear my children?"

"You will be a good king, Bain. You are smart, but, more than that, you do what is right. It is hard to find a king who does not follow some sort of greed. Kings lust for power, for wealth, for territory, for women...and even if you do not, someone out there will crave what you have and try to take it from you," Asio said, without giving a name to Bain's least favorite.

Bain took a drink, letting the rum linger in his mouth before he swallowed it, feeling its bite. "Then I will have to kill them. I mean to protect this city and her. I nearly killed her trying to catch her. I do not intend to lose her. For everything I have put her through, I am obligated to give her the best life I can. I am sure you will do the same when you find your own female."

"Ah," Asio smiled. "If only that could happen! What female would want a half-blind, Grounded, Feral doctor as their mate? Unfortunately, I cannot go out and catch myself a Feral either. I would probably crash into the gates before I even got out of the city and then imagine how ugly I would be."

Bain shook his head. "You underestimate yourself, my friend. Love is like the wind; it touches even those who don't deserve it. Inevitably, you will feel it, no matter how you try to hide."

"The day I go to meet it, will be the day I fall to my death," he chuckled. Bain knew he was afraid to fly. His vision was too poor to safely navigate and he had been in a terrible accident because of it and mangled his leg so that it had difficulty bending and one wing. Though he spoke of flying jokingly, it was only to conceal his true feelings.

Bain drummed his fingers against his glass. "We will see. But you may be right, after all, I am about to marry a girl I captured. She doesn't love me, nor I her. Sure, I do not want to see her dead or even in pain, and I like when she gets mischievous, but I do not feel what Victor did for his wife."

"At least not yet," Asio said, downing the remainder of his rum. He stared at Bain for a moment. "You must forgive yourself, Bain. This was an accident. The guilt is all over your face and if you don't move past it, you will succumb to it. If word does get around that you intentionally wounded this Feral during capture, everyone will falter in their loyalty. If you portray confidence because you truly believe it was an accident, because it was, they will follow your lead."