26. Xeros

26

XEROS

S omething's not right.

I sit by myself in the dining room, trying to stomach the cold eggs.

I had hoped for a better reunion with Evangeline. Instead, immediately upon greeting her, she was whisked away by a strange woman and taken to an unknown location.

I can feel her agitation as I tap my talons nervously into the wood, feeling an unknowable sense of dread.

And that tells me that she isn't okay.

They haven't been terribly welcoming since we arrived, have they?

She always spoke so highly of them, despite their glaring flaws. Watching her return here has been far more difficult than I'd like.

But as I stomach the agitation and feel the sharp pangs that have been tormenting my wing, which now appears swollen, I realize that she requested me to stay here until she returns.

And who am I to question her judgment?

I set the plate on the table, not bothering with the mass of uneaten food left on its metal surface. For a human, I suppose what's left could be an entire meal, but my appetite has been fleeting.

I could be flying around Protheka with her in my grasp. I could be killing monsters not for glory, but for the sake of satisfying my endless appetite.

Instead, I have resigned myself to a human life in this settlement.

Perhaps that was a mistake.

Perhaps she and I don't belong here after all.

I realize the decision is not mine to make as I pace around the living room, picking up various items to gain an insight into Evangeline's thinking.

I should find her and talk to her.

The more I sit here, the more anxious I become. I don't like it. I know that she doesn't like it either.

Against my better judgment, I push open the door, amazed at how few humans are in the streets.

Don't these creatures sleep at night like I do?

Where has everybody gone?

I search the streets, looking for signs of Evangeline. I can feel her anger growing, and as I move about the settlement, I slowly realize that she might be in trouble.

That's when I reach a more official-looking structure, noticing guards stationed outside its perimeter. They aren't well-armored, and don't offer much protection for this settlement.

"Where has everybody gone?" I ask them, noticing how they recoil in fear as I approach.

I'm used to that reaction. But I accept it quietly, understanding that I need their help to find Evangeline.

"Haven't you heard?" the man on the right offers, his voice shaking. "She's meeting with the council about you."

I'm surprised when they let me through, guiding me to a large door with a creature etched into its metal.

Pushing the door open, I enter a darkened room, finding myself surprised that Evangeline can see in here.

"All I'm asking is if it was self-defense, why aren't the injuries anywhere near equivalent?"

I recognize the small man from the night before standing up in the crowd. I feel my blood growing hotter.

"If he attacked you in the middle of the night last night, why is he suffering from a broken wing while you only look scuffed up?"

"That's enough, Evangeline," a bored-looking elderly man says from the front of the room. "You've made your point already. But you need to deal with the consequences of that creature's actions."

A swell of anger courses through me and I realize that it isn't my own. Then I feel a burst of pride, recognizing the powerful way she carries herself. These men and women gathered around her appear ready to lunge, but she still holds firm.

"Scuffed up! He took my face and he ruined it," the small man says.

As I enter the room, he shies away, lowering himself back to his seat.

The room stares at me. I can feel their terror.

I can feel their hatred.

Evangeline watches me, not scolding me for my disobedience, but curious.

"All I'm saying is that he's done nothing but protect you," she says, taking my hand as I approach her. "But you attack him in the night. You scowl at him. You make him , a godly being who should be capable of burning this entire village to the ground, afraid of you, even though he shows you mercy."

She addresses me, whispering quietly. I'm relieved to feel her warmth.

"I thought I told you to stay back at the house."

I nod in response.

"It felt like you could use the help," I reply. "But from the looks of things, you're doing just fine without me."

She smiles meekly.

"I'm glad you're here."

From the front of the room, I hear a cough, as one of the older humans clears his throat.

"Well, now Miss Evangeline, if you wouldn't mind escorting your pet back out," he says. "Or perhaps we can have Ephemera do that for you?"

A rage unlike anything I've ever felt in her rushes over her. I expect her to take one of the flames and burn the room to the ground.

Instead, she speaks calmly and mercifully.

"I don't think that will be necessary. Do you?" she asks. "After all, this trial is about him, isn't it?"

How is she so capable of containing her fury? I think if I were a human, I'd be ripping their throats open for this.

It feels like the goal of this trial is to humiliate her. She's being shamed for her association with me.

And yet she could easily renounce me and have these men and women back on her side, if she wanted it.

"If I may speak," I offer, looking up at the council.

Their faces contort into scowls.

"I don't think that will be necessary. Do you?" the elderly man says, repeating Evangeline's words back at me with mockery and sarcasm. "After all, your testimony is quite biased."

He turns his attention back to Evangeline, as I resist the urge to cleanse this room of its wickedness.

"This is not a trial, Evangeline," the man reiterates, as the other people at the table sit quietly, merely observing. "We merely brought you here to discuss the fate of your pet."

A smile crosses my face.

I've never heard anybody call me ‘pet' before. It amuses me that with all my power, I could leash and bridle them. And yet they consider themselves above me?

Are they not afraid that I'll lash out? That I'll crush them all?

"I was under the impression that meeting with somebody to ‘discuss their fate' was the definition of a trial," she says. "But then perhaps I'm out of touch."

A silence takes hold of the room.

"Apologies for the confusion, of course. Maybe you ought to consider renaming things to better fit their definition."

"Miss Evangeline, you're out of line!"

This time, one of the women speaks. Her nose hooks downward like a beak, and her eyes are bright even in this dim room.

She doesn't deserve that light.

By now, the crowd has stirred back up into a frenzy. I step back toward the podium as I feel hands reaching for me, trying to pull at me.

If I didn't have Evangeline here by my side, I'm not sure what I'd do to these humans. I was always under the impression they were superior to the dark elves in conduct. After witnessing their behavior in groups, I'm beginning to question that conclusion.

"Am I out of line?" she asks loudly, not in anger, but in order to be heard over the crowd.

Perhaps my presence here has inspired confidence in her. But the woman I see before me, fighting to defend a creature even though it might jeopardize her safety, is a beacon in this darkened room.

"Maybe you consider Xeros to be different in a legal sense. Maybe you don't think he deserves a trial. But if I wasn't brought here to defend him, I'm not sure why I'm here at all. Feels like you could have done this without me."

I can see the elderly faces at the front of the room contorting in rage.

"We have a way of doing things here, Evangeline," one of the men says, scratching his beard. "You know that. I know that. You speak when you're spoken to in the interest of keeping things organized. Okay?"

Evangeline nods.

"Then may I speak," she asks.

The humans at the front talk amongst themselves in hushed voices, the room still riotous and unruly. I watch as the small man who attacks me is escorted out of the room by a woman who looks rather like a dark elf.

"Very well," the first man says. "But if we have questions, we will interrupt."

"I would kindly ask that you not," she says. "Out of respect for me? I've grown up with many of you, and I hate that it's come to this."

The man nods, gesturing for her to speak.

"I understand why you exiled me the first time. I've paid for that in full. But it feels like you're being unfair to Xeros, who's done nothing but protect you."

She looks at me, as though hoping I'll speak. But this is her moment, not mine. I'm not about to trod on it.

Instead, I grip her hand tighter, feeling my claws rest easily on her knuckles.

"When he walks down the street, Xeros feels your eyes upon him, judging him. He's considered an object or a ‘pet.' And I know you say that's semantics, but I've seen how it affects him."

The elderly man who's done most of the talking sighs. I get the impression he's about to interrupt, but Evangeline stops him.

"Your village could have been leveled," she says. "But in the fallout of the battle, when Xeros was at his weakest, you left him to die. I had to carry him myself. I found a rickety wagon and wheeled it through the mud. It wasn't easy."

I feel my heart sink at the revelation, then feel anger rising up within me.

I knew that she brought me back to her home, but didn't realize that she managed it alone. How could those men leave her to that task? After everything she had already done for them?

As I watch her, it seems like a quiet revelation hits Evangeline. She pauses.

And I watch, waiting to see what she could possibly say next.