Displaced (Wingless: Book Two)

1. The Banishment

            But when I turned my head, I saw bright brown eyes staring quizzically into mine. "Hey," Dethany said, tugging on my shoulder until I was fully facing her. "How'd it go in there?"

            I shrugged and nodded, trying to swallow the bitter disappointment I wouldn't allow myself to feel. Dethany  rubbed my shoulder affectionately; it was weird to know she felt that way for me. But she was real, and she was here.

            She'd become a lot more docile since our first date. She hardly ever bit back with a sarcastic comment, or lightly insulted me. I kind of missed it, but I found that when I brought it up she would square her jaw like she was headed for battle and do this scary laser-glare thing that I couldn't take.

            "Want to grab some coffee?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light as if she could read my mind. I nodded, feeling guilty for thinking that and taking her hand in mine. She smiled, probably glad that I was acting more like a boyfriend, and whispered to me, "If one more nurse tells me I can't smoke in here, I'm using her cleavage as an ash tray."

            Her eyes were hopeful and a bit desperate. I realized that I should have said something like 'And that is why I love you.'        But I panicked.

            I snorted out an awkward laugh that I hoped sounded like an agreement and followed Dethany to her car. It was new and pretty shiny except for the spots of bird crap on it. It was a green Hyundai, and it was just small enough to fit Dethany while somehow being just big enough to not be laughable. It was hot outside and not much better in the car.             Thankfully, Dethany cranked up the air conditioning immediately before rolling down her window and lighting up a cigarette. She started to ramble about the ridiculous heat.

Soon, the hum of the engine became lulling background music, and I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the window and tried not to dream of anything.

Kol

                Tane. The traitor. She was standing so close to me. My body hummed with an electric anticipation. Her sash was drawn tight around her eyes, almost mercilessly. Though I had no color sight, I knew that the sash was no longer red for Prestigious Listener. It was the color of the banished. It was black.

            She was led by two Flares; one in front of her, one behind, and me on her left side. The wall on her right side closed her in more solidly, but she did not look confined. It seemed as if she was walking to a beautiful garden, and we were lucky enough to come along.

            Her bottom lip quivered infrequently, and her hands remained at her side. Her hair was manic, as she had not been afforded the Cleansing before her banishment. As if that weren't enough, there were cuts, scrapes, and bruises marring her pale skin. Wounds she could not, or would not, heal. It was a pathetic sight, and most unusual for someone returning from Earth. Most were bathed and healed immediately, if they sustained any injuries at all. Revered, and treated like Septars for a day, Earth survivors were amongst the lucky ones, with this one exception.

            This little thing had been on all accounts corrupted. Fismuth was abuzz with the new scandal. The only scandal. She had wished against her Prestigious birth. She had brought a human back from his otherwise certain death. And she had acted out in malice against the first of the new generation of Prestigious. She deserved to be sent to Abannon.

            I did not want to see her go.

            It seemed wrong somehow. I knew my orders, I knew the proper procedures, and I knew the reasons for her banishment. But the decision settled so uniquely in the back of my mind that I also knew it wasn't a sound one. It nagged at me from numerous sides during my day. I had never been bothered by my own thoughts before.