—
I am wheeling around in the air, screeching my victory so the other birds in the sky will know that I am here, and that I am uncontested. And that it should stay that way.
Keeping an eye on the ground as I fly, I see the boy with my yellow band on his arm offering me a perch, and I decide that I shall indeed take a rest, for a short time. I descend in a spiral, flapping a few times to slow my fall as I land on his arm, gripping so I don’t fall.
That would be undignified, after all.
“You’re good at it, though,” the other human, the one serving as a perch for Cassidy, is saying to my human. He’s not really my human, who is standing some distance back watching, but this human is the one wearing my band, and he has given me several snacks today, so I appreciate his existence.
“Felicia is good at it,” says my human. “Somebody at the castle trained her, not me. I’m just providing a perch for her.” He was stroking her feathers in a way she didn’t particularly like, but would tolerate.
“I guess that’s one way to look at it, sure. I guess I just know too many people who would want to take credit for her skill.”
I have indeed heard many a human take credit for my personal ability as a hunter. But let them think that if it makes their small brains and big bodies happy. At least this one knows his place.
“You just know too many nobles, Kieran.”
The other human is stroking Cassidy, who seems to be enjoying the attention. Slut. She’s always been too easy. “I tried to make friends with a commoner once, back home before we came to the capital. They were all too afraid of me because of who my parents were. Later my dad told me it was unsightly for a lord and his subjects to be friends. They had to respect me, not like me—even though my sister is going to inherit the land, not me.”
“You’re not much like your father, are you?” I’m not really listening to the humans. I don’t have anything to contribute to their discussion and it’s no longer about me. I settle for glaring at Cassidy to let her know I’m displeased with her behaviour, and after a short time the humans start walking us back to our usual humans—I think about flying away, but to what end? If I remain here, I’ll be fed and not even have to do anything for it.
The human holds me out to my usual human, who offers his arm for me as a perch. I like his perch better, probably just because I’m used to it, so I hop onto it. There are some cages, but he doesn’t put me in one, though the other human does put Cassidy in hers. Serves the bitch right.
We’re on our way home now for lunch, after while I’ll likely take a long nap. It’s been a tiring day of work already, and even though I’m always up for the occasion, a break afterwards is always welcome.
—
How Best to Use a Sword 