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Euphoria. That was exactly what it felt like, without being completely lost in it.
A small gasp came from Jill as the path swung sharply to the right and a black gate loomed in front of them with large lanterns hanging from anchored poles at either side of it. Compared to the architecture of the city, which was aimed toward simplicity and a certain endurable uniformity among the tight network of buildings, Brydis guessed that the gate and the rookery itself would be quite different to her.
“It’s like I’m stepping into a castle,” she whispered. “Are you sure that this is the right place? Or are you some sort of secret royalty in disguise?”
Brydis chuckled at her question. Perhaps it was more impressive than he had guessed. “No. Our rookery is rather basic as are any intended for a young avrhastal without fledglings to care for. I will admit that we do tend to enjoy certain minimal elements of artistry in the traditional designs.”
At their approach, an identification scanner on the door opened and skimmed over them, recording their biodata.
“Unidentified female,” the system intoned.
“Record identity of Jill Harris as resident and female unit of the Aignidas avrhastal,” Brydis instructed as he stepped away from her with a reassuring smile. “Just stand there a moment, talia. It will not take long for the system to add you to our database.”
She gave him an uncertain look but nodded trustingly. “Okay then. I won’t move from this spot.”
A narrower beam of light engulfed her and the operational lights on the scanner pulsed as it recorded her biosignature data. The beam flashed and snapped off again, the process ending just as abruptly as it had begun.
“Jill Harris of Aignidas avrhastal entered and recorded. Access level?”
“All levels,” he replied as he directed an affectionate look down at their mate. “There will be no secrets between us, talia. You will not be kept from any part of our lives.”
“Are you sure you’re not secretly royalty?” she asked with a nervous laugh. “This is starting to feel like I’m getting top security clearance or something.”
He grinned down at her reassuringly. “This is normal. No avrhast twins would do less to keep their talia and brood, should they be graced with any, safe.”
She peered up at him as if weighing the matter, but whatever it was, she came to a quick decision regarding it because she nodded her head and turned her attention back to the door.
“Ok. Let’s see our new home.”
The system, waiting for direction, responded immediately at her words and the gate swung open inwardly to admit them inside. Welcoming them home.
Chapter23
Jill stared up at the high vaults of the rookery. From her position, she felt as if she were standing within an enormous, and incredible wide tower and yet still able to see an unobstructed view from the main floor all the way to the top. There were various little platform perches at various points and doors that no doubt led to different chambers and there were a couple of doors leading from the ground level, but she suspected they were various rooms attached to the main structure that was designed to be perfectly suitable for an avian species despite the winding staircase that led all the way to the top.
“This is incredible!”
She didn’t even bother disguising the awe in her voice or trying to downplay her first glimpse of her new home. While the rookery was made of the same dark stone, there were numerous lights mounted everywhere and a large hearth on the main floor, which did have a nice little cozy sitting place tucked in a corner with a media screen and several other bits of technology that she couldn’t quite see from where she stood. It was like merging some ruins of old European keeps and an avian alien habitat with its cylindric structure and with all manner of advanced technology.
At her side, Brydis smiled with true pleasure. “I’m so very pleased that you like it.”
“Brydis practically programmed the entire layout himself,” Agor confided as he took position at her other side. He grinned with pride at the other male, his wing stretching to ruffle over Brydis’s head affectionately. “I helped with monitoring the machines, but this is all him for the most part.”
The male in question ducked his head, his long, feathered ears twitching in an obvious show of embarrassment. “I enjoy the artistry of it and found it enjoyable to design it for our avrhastal,” he admitted. “It’s nothing more than what rookery males are trained to do.”
Agor scoffed. “Except that you were reared into the warrior grouping and weren’t trained in rookery upkeep any more than I was. Don’t make it out like it’s nothing when other males in our training unit tormented you for it.” His gaze dropped to meet Jill’s. “Duties are very segregated, and typically each avrhastal has a set of twins comprised of a warrior and a rookery keeper,” he explained. “Brydis and I are actually a rarity in that I’m the dominant lead and protector of the rookery as a warrior, but that he was also classified as a warrior class male because of his aggression levels.”
“Rookery keepers tend to be more docile and submissive to the other two units of the avrhastal,” Brydis added with a gruff sigh. “Despite my personal interests and inclinations, I wasn’t considered a good fit to be a rookery keeper. Our parents lamented it keenly.”
Jill peered at them in confusion. “But why? I mean, you obviously didn’t let it stop you from pursuing your interests despite being treated rottenly, but I don’t understand why it would be so upsetting to your parents.”
“Because we are unlikely to mate,” Agor filled in. “The taliazon plays a significant role in our lives, but males and females have the ability to choose not to pursue a potential mating and prevent any bond from forming. Twins who veer to one grouping rather than be balanced between the two don’t bring a full skill set to establishing their rookery.”
“It’s the same for a pair of twins who are both aligned to rookery keeping,” Brydis murmured. “In that case, they would lack the strength and protection of a warrior. As our species is predisposed to possessing unpredictable tendencies, the twinning and strict training is supposed to form some sort of stability for an avrhastal. A twinning that is perceived as unbalanced is undesirable.” A look of irritation crossed his face. “We can’t even prevent such from happening either, since twins usually find each other during basic education revolutions before they’re divided into training groupings upon reaching maturity. Naturally, they make no exceptions in how they divide males into training groups, even in cases such as ours, with conflicting disposition.”
Agor wrapped a wing around him and rumbled a crooning sound that even Jill found comforting in its rolling song. Brydis leaned into the offer of comfort but smiled down at her, the tension draining from his face as he lifted a hand to brush his knuckles across her cheek.
“Don’t look sad, talia. I wouldn’t want it any other way. You’re worth waiting for.”
