Chapter 61 Growing Up
The stone nest.
The bipeds ate in their food nest. Like many things, the Pegasi did not understand why they needed one nest for eating, another for living, and another for sleeping. One nest was enough for a Pegasus. More than that was useless. Each Pegasus had its own nest except for the young, who lived with their mothers until they were old enough that they no longer needed the milk of their mother to grow quickly. The five Pegasi lay in their nests. A fire in the center warmed the inner walls of the stone nests. They were filled with plenty of hay. The bipeds had provided them with salted fish and fresh sweet grasses, and each nest had a large stone basin filled with clean water.
Grey Wing: Daughter, why did you not accept the biped? She has a strong and pure heart. She treats us like sisters.
Little Feather: I was ready to accept her, but I sensed another presence. It was as if she already had a flying sister. But the presence was different from yours and that of my sisters in the nest.
Grey Wing: I understand. That has happened in the past, when there were many Pegasi and bipeds in our nest. One Pegasus rejected a biped because the compatibility was lesser and she sensed the presence of another even before they were joined.
Little Feather: But I feel there is a biped nearby who is my flying sister.
Little Feather felt the amusement of her mother.
Grey Wing: Remember that if it is a male, it is a brother, not a sister. This is important to bipeds, especially the males.
Little Feather: I do not understand many things about them. They create differences based on names, bodies and even the sounds they make. They are all the same, just like us.
Grey Wing: I have flown with Less Hair most of my life and I still do not understand much about them. But many are of good heart.
Little Feather nickered and neighed with great amusement upon hearing the name. The Pegasi created stupid names for their flying sisters, in a funny form, like the stupid names the bipeds used for Pegasi.
An empty pantry near a staircase.
Freider, Francisco, and Antonio were in an empty pantry near an area where maids lived who did not live with relatives or husbands. Three knocks on the door were followed by a pause and two more.
Frieder smiled at the signal: It is Gunther.
He opened the door and the other three came in. The two candles illuminated the room well. Three boys stood in a line in front of the shelves on either side of the pantry. As boy do, they sized each other up.
Frieder looked at Marco: There is blood on your sleeve, have you run into trouble?
Marco let his words flow fast: We saw a big rat. Yegor stabbed it and Gunther looked like he was going to throw up. So, I threw it down the corridor, where he could not see it. I must have gotten some blood on me.
Yegor stared at the mouth of Marco, trying to decipher the hurried words. Gunther looked into his eyes, trying to understand how the young man could lie so easily, without any nervousness.
Francisco: Good. My name is Paco. This is Tono. We know Yegor and Gunther. Where in the Limeburner Valley were you born?
Marco was surprised by the question: How do you know?
Antonio: No, no. If he answers, we will stay here for ten minutes listening to how interesting languages and accents are. I have heard enough of that for a life time.
Gunther and Frieder laughed a little.
Francisco smiled: The hand fucker is right.
Frieder: There are two pages in front of the stairs with short swords. They are young, and Paco said they are morons.
Marco: Do you have a weapon for me?
Frieder displayed a hammer with a large iron head.
Marco: Hello friend.
Marco took the hammer and looked at it as if it were a pretty woman.
Marco slowly: Yegor, can you approach them and do something that will make them chase you?
Yegor smiled: Yes.
Marco looked at Frieder and pretended to hit someone with the hammer.
Freider showed his leather-gloved hand holding a steel rasp inside his fist. Marco knew that a fist wrapped around metal could do great damage to a face.
Marco: You other three, watch the hallways and cough if there is any trouble.
The young men left the larder and took up the necessary positions.
Yegor whispered in the ear of Gunther: I am sorry about this.
The redhead walked quickly towards the stairs and looked at the royal pages.
Yegor: I want to see my mother, you faggots.
They both began to clumsily draw their swords. Yegor spat directly in the face of the older boy and turned to run away. The two quickly followed him. As they entered the hallway, Marco and Frieder shifted their weight forward, swinging their arms.
Enrique was twelve and a half years old. The hammer Marco was holding struck him in the left eye. His head spun until his face was up over his shoulder. The boy fell to the ground and lay motionless at the feet of Marco.
Miguel was almost thirteen years old. Frieder punched him in the mouth and nose. He broke seven of his teeth and shattered his nose. The young man fell to his knees with blood gushing from his mouth and nose.
Marco whispered: Grab them.
Four young men pushed the other two into the pantry and closed the door.
Marco: Give me a dagger.
Gunther took out his dagger and handed it to the big boy. Marco inserted the dagger into the curved doorknob and hammered it into the wood beside it. The boys inside would have to break the dagger blade to get out.
Marco: Stay here.
The young man picked up both swords and returned.
Marco: Who?
Antonio and Francisco took the swords.
The six of them slowly climbed the stairs and stopped in front of an entrance to another hallway. Each looked at the other to see if they appeared ready to fight.