Ravens Book 3: The Sky Warriors and the Fallen Child

Chapter 1

                                                                                         

                                                                                           Chapter 1

A warm wind that smelt of exotic flowers and soft spices stirred her hair as she stood on a parapet of the large palace in Palik. Her view of the West was beautiful and yet sad. As the sun set in rays of orange, pink and red, another day had ended with more sad news. Nayr glanced down at a piece of parchment with a few words written hastily. "Nextor has fallen. Your aunt has been captured. We look to you for guidance." It was written in Lilia's hands over three weeks ago. Nextor, while a town, had held its own with the help of ravens for three years. Nayr had been constantly requesting updates, and now with this news, she knew she had to leave Palik.

Sighing heavily at the dilemma before her, she heard Selenia tut. 'Oh, do desist,' Nayr snapped, not even turning around to speak to her. 'Your petulance for tutting at me irks me to the point of absolute disdain for your company!'

Selenia gave a low laugh and walked to Nayr's side. 'Forgive me, Sovereign. Yet, your sighing every five seconds has given me a damned headache! When will you stop thinking about tactics and do something? We've been out here for years. We need to act.'

Nayr frowned. She knew this all too well. The King of Palik was very accommodating in helping to train the soldiers that had come under her control when the previous Sovereign had died. Unto which she still felt uncomfortable at the thought it was at her hands. Not that she knew what she was doing.

Remembering everything after the event was clear in her mind; it was like it was yesterday. Nayr had woken up in a dank jail, deep under the castle in Bindheim in Rwen. Her legs and arms and wings were bounds. She felt like a worm trapped in an iron bar cage. There was only one torch just outside the cell door. Someone lit it before it darkened, but no one spoke to her. It took them all three days to decide that she was eligible enough for food and drink, and they then decided to unbind her hands.

Nayr refused to speak when, after three months in prison, some unknown raven came and asked her a few questions. The first one being, 'Why did you kill the Sovereign?' It had played on Nayr's mind for all that time on whether she actually did kill him or not. It all seemed as though a bad memory or a horrible nightmare. But it was confirmed that Nayr killed the previous Sovereign and the whole Rwen was in an uproar. What was ludicrous to Nayr was that the ravens were angry, sad and confused, not because the Sovereign was killed, but because they had no idea of what to do with Nayr as she was the next in line to the throne, over her aunt, Alamathea.

Selenia, who Nayr had heard was brought back from Palik and had also been imprisoned in a cell alongside Nayr, had requested to see Nayr and speak to her. The ravens had allowed this but under the council of a guard. When Selenia was pushed inside, she fell to the floor and immediately apologised to Nayr.

'Why are you apologising?' Nayr had asked her. 'This wasn't your fault. You were not even there when it happened.'

'I did not understand until it was too late,' Selenia sobbed.

'What are you talking about?'

'Nayr, you were poisoned! I had spoken to witnesses that night. You were not in your right mind when you attacked the Sovereign; you had been poisoned. Think now,' she begged, 'what did you drink or consume that night?'

It had been a ludicrous question, but Nayr tried to remember and realised then that her injury had healed. 'I had taken medicine for my injury.' She remembered the conversation with the healer, and he didn't like the fact that Nayr had a human family or that she was a Cuckoo. 'The healer gave me the medicine. But I do not think he could do something like that. He loved the Sovereign. Everyone did.'