Maher
Before they lifted off in the direction of the Wyvern Kingdom, Maher refused to mount the wyvern and declared, "It is an indignity for a member of the Halcyone Tribe to be expected to ride upon another beast when I have perfectly functional wings of my own. I will fly alongside, of my own strength, to the Wyvern Kingdom."
"Maher, quit being stubborn and just get on the wyvern!" burst out Selenia, her patience obviously wearing thin. "We need to go now."
"If I am to embark on this journey, I would like to go on some of my own terms."
"Master Ranell, leave him be," said Queen Syleen with a small sigh. "He does have a point. However, Prince Maher," she turned a cautioning stare on him, "if you begin to tire, I do not want to hear any complaints. Understand?"
"Perfectly, Your Majesty," replied Maher with a deep mock bow. He knew that he would not be tired. He had flown a much longer distance from his old home to the kingdom.
The other apprentices stared at him and some of the other masters shook their heads, while the unfashionably late, flirty apprentice glacimancer - whoever he was, anyways - seemed to give him a look of condescension. Or was it just a mocking smirk?
Whatever, thought Maher, rolling his eyes. He is irrelevant.
-<>-
Feeling the wind sliding over his feathers and whipping through his hair was so soothing that Maher even forgot his annoyance at the world for a while as he flew beside the massive wyverns. He had missed flying like this; what would have made it even better would be to have his father and fellow tribe members surrounding him in a formation, like the birds would in migration. It was too bad that they would not fly over the Halcyone Forest on their way.
He glanced at the others riding on the wyverns, which actually seemed to fly with a certain degree of grace, much to his surprise. The apprentices had looks of awe and amazement on their faces, though there were one or two who seemed to be green in the face. Maher kept his laughter to himself.
And although he would have loved to show off, now was not really the time to accidentally lose the group, either. Just by himself, Maher was, grudgingly, not completely confident that he would be able to quickly find his way back should he become lost.
But soon enough, the Wyvern Kingdom was below, the queen announced to the group. When they landed, she gathered them together and the apprentices were informed that they would be joining a feast in the great hall of the wyverns.
Maher appreciated a feast - he had experienced a good number of them among his tribe - but he hadn't really faced the situation of eating with non-Halcyone people; he had mostly eaten alone since he entered the program. Besides, what would they be served to eat? Regular human food was fine, though more raptor-like Lianth such as himself and his family had no problem with eating fresh raw meat - not that he told anyone in the kingdom, since he was sure that humans thought that was revolting. Better to avoid conflict over the dignity and pride of his people. When somehow possible, of course.
He fell in with the others and they entered the hall. The sooner Queen Syleen and the wyverns resolved their problems, the faster Maher would be able to go home at last.
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