Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)

Chapter 22

Autumn in Navat was a beautiful time of year, as brief as it was. Navat was stunning all year round but there was something about that time of year Ryraso really enjoyed. The bright colours of the leaves, the smells of fires burning at time, it all reminded him vaguely of home but at the same time was distantly Navat. Navat's climate meant that it was the time of year where the days were still warm but the cold was beginning to settle in during the nights.

The chill hadn't quite set in that evening but Ryraso was wearing a heavy cloak which made him slightly too warm as he headed to work. The previous night he hadn't taken it and had ended up cuddling with some of the injured submissives who had basically guilt tripped him into sharing their warmth.

He was volunteering at a clinic as several of the human healers had recently left Navat and the current intake of trainees were occupying most of the K'nairi healers time. The shortage of hands meant much to the Winglord's chagrin, Ryraso was working as more than just his personal physician. Something Ryraso was pretty sure was making half of Navat love him and the nobles hate him. The shortage also meant there were only two others working with him, and neither, despite having passes, could control the k'nairi like Ryraso. Ryraso felt like he spent more time playing peacekeeper than anything else.

"Evening," Ryraso greeted the on duty healer as he walked into the office, pulling the cloak off his shoulders and letting it drop onto a chair. "How many people have we got staying overnight?" he asked as he poured himself some tea.

"Evening," the other doctor said dryly, giving Ryraso a clap on the back with an almost evil grin on his face. The man was called Tasmosi, a part fini human with light tawny skin and dark brown eyes, a rarity in Navat. Even the dark skin toned k'nairi still had yellow or orange eyes. "You have two. You're going to have so much fun," he said sarcastically, clearly glad he was not the only one on duty for that night shift. "One's a dom and one's a sub."

"Great," Ryraso groaned. "Who are they and please tell me they are mated to people who aren't each other?" That and only that was a good situation to be in when you were dealing with a dom and a sub. The worst situation was if a Dom had already started a nest and the sub was unattached. If the sub was unmated, the dom would spend all night trying to make moves on the sub. If the sub was mated to someone who was not the dom, they would leave each other alone and Ryraso would have a hopefully peaceful night.

"Well... the Dom has a partner, but the sub is free," Tasmosi dutifully informed Ryraso, a look of glee on the man's face as Ryraso groaned. "Don't worry, it gets better," Tasmosi commented, Ryraso giving him a look which plainly disagreed. "The dom is S'onon..."

"That pain in the ass got himself injured again?" Ryraso muttered, "I think I need to check his wings over again properly. I'm sure you can't have this many accident over nothing," he growled.

"Possibly but this time it wasn't his fault. A branch broke as a kid was climbing and he happened to be underneath. Good thing too or the kid might not have walked away with just scratches. I've already put a message thought to the Winglord's office asking them to recheck the branches on the lower levels, don't worry," Tasmosi commented, passing Ryraso the medical report on S'onon. "He's in overnight to make sure the bones in his wrist set right. I'm not risking it like last time."

"Good!" Ryraso nodded, shivering at the memory of last time. "Breaking a warrior's wrist to set it right is a nightmare on its own," Ryraso sighed, pinching the top of his nose and closing his eyes. Last time he had been forced to call in the Winglord and his mates in order to be able to do it safely. Ryraso understood why S'onon had reacted so badly to them attempting to do it of course. To a warrior, letting someone break their bones, even if the bones were healing the wrong way, went against every instinct in their bodies.