 The tide had long since come in, covering the very sand Tanser had lounged on earlier that day. Singer crooned a soft, comforting song in her Tanzer's ear as he walked aimlessly along the beach, calmed by the gentle, continuous sound of waves breaking on the shore. Suddenly, Tanzer came to a dead stop, causing Singer to squawk a protest. Peering ahead, he was sure he could make out the shape of someone - or something - sitting on a rock. Singer cheeped and winked between. A few seconds later, the gold reappeared, reporting amusedly that his sister was the one sitting on the rock. What was Telizae doing here? Tanzer wondered as he kept walking, Singer winging her way along beside him at shoulder height. Hadn't she gone back to Tharsos' hold? Now that he was closer, he could make out Jezin perched on Telizae's shoulder. Jezin had, of course, stayed in the South when Rhalis went north; he was a southern flit, afterall. "Out a bit late, Zae?" Tanzer called as he neared his sister. Telizae whirled at the sound of his voice, features softening into a smile of sisterly affection when she saw Tanzer. Singer trilled a greeting to Jezin, who bugled a reply. "I'm not supposed to be in my quarters," Telizae replied in a mock-reproachful tone. "Singer gave both of us quite the scare today," she remarked, looking at the gold thoughtfully. Tanzer arched an eyebrow. "'Us'?" he queried. "Meaning, you and that dimglow you married?" "Tanzer," Telizae chided, the reproach in her voice not mocking now. "You can't blame Tharsos for what happened, Rhalis was just eating peacefully." "Out of Singer's food on Singer's territory with Singer in the room," Tanzer reminded his sister. "Still, you've had Singer what, four, five turns now? Tharsos has only had Rhalis for two. And he's a Northerner, they always take a bit longer with training their flits." "Singer's training does not include restraining from reminding an intruder that this is her territory," Tanzer retorted, eyes snapping at the slur on his queen's abilities. "Reminding?" Telizae scoffed. "Tanzer, Singer attacked another flit! What if it had been a human?" "A gold flit," Tanzer emphasized. "A gold flit who was acting as though she and not Singer were the queen here. And why would Singer have any reason to attack a human?" "I don't want to get into an argument over this," Telizae cautioned, holding up a hand to silence her brother. "All I want is for you to admit that it was as much your fault as it was Tharsos' and avoid it happening again." Tanzer choked on the redfruit he'd been idly munching on. "As much my fault? What did I do? Singer was hungry, I took her to get something to eat. At the usual place she eats. Tharsos was the one who brought Rhalis in, assuming that any food was for his golden darling." "You could have taken Singer out of the room when Rhalis came in," Telizae suggested exasperatedly. "Oh, that would just have been perfect," he scoffed. "C'mon Singer, let's leave so this other gold can steal your food!" he said to the gold, who hissed and spread her wings at the statement. "You just want to blame it on Tharsos because you don't like him," Telizae accused. "And your gold took that dislike out on his- and seriously injured her too! Rhalis won't fly for at least two sevendays!" "Well isn't that a pity," Tanzer said in mock sympathy. "I feel for the wherry. His poor beauty will have to sit and gorge herself for a few days." "Y'know Tanzer, you can't go on hating Tharsos forever," Telizae accused. "He's my husband whether you like it or not, and you're just going to have to accept that." With those angry words hanging in the air, Telizae lept from the rock and strode purposefully towards the cothold. Tanzer watched her go, face set in stone. Inside, his heart was being torn apart. He was losing his sister and he knew it. Singer chirped sadly and rubbed her head reassuringly against Tanzer's cheek to comfort him. When Telizae was out of sight, Tanzer slumped down on the far side of the rock. What a sharding fool he was. He had wanted Singer to do something about Rhalis, and she had done it, under the guise of one gold flit's dislike for another gold on her territory. It really was partly his fault. But he'd never admit that to Telizae. Never. With an exhausted sigh, Tanzer closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cool surface of the rock. The sound of the ocean were soporific, and within a few minutes of sitting down he was asleep. What might have been minutes or hours later, for all Tanzer could tell, cold water splashed against his face, waking the young man and his gold immediatly... |