A Pryktian's Pride Ch. 07

My heart beat hard against my chest as I panted to take in breaths. A heavy arm laid across my stomach. I urged myself to calm down, examine the dark around me without moving my head, trying to remember where I was.

A faint light filtered in from a window and the smell of dust hung in the air. Above me, I slowly began to make out shapes in the patchy material above us. The room wasn't familiar but I knew where I was. It would be some time before I was used to this room enough to not wake up and feel like I was backwards.

My breathing was still coming fast, raising Grysn's arm enough to worry I might wake him. It was late. Or early, I suppose. If he weren't right there, I'd get up and move around for a few hours, hoping for the sun to raise before falling back asleep.

Forced to remain in bed, whether due to my anxiety of facing him or respect for his sleep, I closed my eyes hard enough to hurt until I was asleep again.

When daylight finally woke me, Grysn was already out of bed.

He made us breakfast and gave me two pills that Lynatin had given him. Vitamins, he said. Apparently, my health wasn't up to their standards. I took it without complaint or grumble as Grysn watched. I was careful to avoid direct eye contact with him this morning. I would forget the dream enough after a few hours, I knew. Days maybe, if I was unlucky. Until then, it was just too hard.

If he noticed the avoidance, at least he didn't mention it as we sat and went over several points from last night. He pulled out a dress he'd also gotten from Lyn for me to wear and cleaned up the kitchen as I changed.

I hated being made to wear gowns, even if they were somewhat more comfortable. This one was thankfully less difficult to keep in place than the last one. The heavy beige fabric falling over me didn't hug my body as much as it blanketed it. There was a belt he left on the bed that I wrapped around my waist, and that was the only defining feature of the outfit. I had expected him to make me wear something more extravagant for such an event, but I was glad to be wrong.

I sat on his couch until he finished with his menial chores. There were boxes and an assortment of items scattered around the living quarters that I hadn't noticed yesterday which held my attention. I assumed they had something to do with his chores from last night, but I didn't ask.

I didn't ask anything, in fact. I was always quieter after dreams. That was a good thing today, and I held onto my silence in preparation for what was to come.

Once he was done, Grysn put on his shoes and his coat, and with a great, motivational sigh set us on our way.

The streets were even more crowded today than they had been the previous. I kept my head down and body close to Grysn as we had discussed in detail. He had painted an eerily vivid picture of how well I'd sell if the right people saw the opportunity to grab me.

It was all for the best. The paranoia took some time to wear off, and I'm sure constantly seeing the wary and fascinated glances coming off every gray- drygson, I mean, was enough to flame the bushels of suspicion within me without any assistance on a good day.

"Normally I would hail a cab to get downtown," Grysn said as we walked past someone getting into a sporty little carriage drawn by a single horse, "but I want you to get acquainted with being around other people."

By which he meant other grayskins. Stars above, I did it again. I sighed, frustrated at how difficult it was to stop using that name for them.

Hopefully, he was right and I wouldn't need to speak at all today.

After a little more than an hour of crossing streets and turning corners in a mostly linear fashion, we stopped in front of a large church. Gray pillars rose high above us to hold up the immense ceiling, covered in cylindrical carvings reminiscent of spider webs. Higher still, a tower rose to weaponize its giant clockface upon the city it overlooked.

I shrunk slightly as Grysn led me up the stairs and through the building.

My throat felt tight and breathing was getting difficult as he spoke with guards and workers for instructions and directions for the hearing. I kept my head down, slowing my pace until I was slightly behind Grysn so I could focus on his feet and nothing else.

I wasn't dreaming, I knew that. But it still felt like a dream. That comfortably sick heaviness upon reality bore down on me until I knew too much movement would make me wretch.

Why was I doing this? How in Shila's graces did I think this would be okay?

My hands trembled at my side. I was deliberately directed to not glare today. It would be an impossible task. I would look up at the first spoken word and immediately wish death upon the first person I see with a look so violent, so terrible that they would call for my head to be chopped off at once and I wouldn't even have meant it. I'm a natural glarer, and I'm in a position that calls on that power constantly, there was no stopping it.

Driven to death by my own eyeballs. Or perhaps the blame would fall upon my brows, eyebrows being the most crucial part of-

A tug brought me to the side of the corridor we were traveling, halting my thoughts. Grysn held both my arms tightly as he bent down close.

I was shaking to the point my head hurt, and my frantic breaths came quick and shallow through my half-open mouth.

"Take a breath," he instructed in a low voice.

I flinched away from his gaze, my eyes closing on the last scene my dream had burned into me. "I don't need your help," I hissed through clenched teeth, trying to ground myself into the sparkling, black tiling.

His grip tightened on my arms as he shook me, his expression becoming more serious. "Don't do this now. You can fight me all you want after this, but not now. You're panicking and you need to calm down. Come on." And with that, he exaggerated a large inhale and equally exuberant exhale, then repeated the process until I was breathing with him.

Once my breathing was coming in at an even, steady rate, he let me go and stood back up. "Remember what we went over. And put faith in me, however much you may bear. Everything will be fine."

He waited a few seconds until I nodded and began moving in the direction we'd started in. Keeping his pace slow to ensure I stayed with him, Grysn paved our way through the building. We traveled through halls filled with windows and scatterings of people congregating periodically near open doorways until we reached an area where a small man- for their standards, at least- behind a desk directed us to take seats in an open area facing a closed door.

We waited, listening to the murmurings on the other side of the wall. Broken rays of colored light illuminated the otherwise dim and colorless area.

I put my hands between my knees, glancing around the room without raising my head. The noises came and went, sometimes escalating to the point I could almost make them out. They sounded angry.

Deciding to move my focus to less stressful things, I admired the high vaulting ceilings above us that met at a ridge in the center. There were no alters or worshippers of any kind I'd seen, so far. None of the fancy dressed gr- drygsons were acting as priests or leaders. For such an extravagant building, I couldn't believe it would be anything other than a church. No one here was acting like they were in a church, though.

Would it make more or less sense for them to be a religious people? The lessons made it seem like they were incapable of proper government systems, much less organized religion.

Maybe unorganized religion?

I can't say what that would mean. Besides, I'd already heard them talk about churches. I knew they had more than one, more than one god also. I wonder if their's are in any way similar to ours. I wonder if they stole those from us, too.

Can you steal gods?

I jumped as the door opened, and swaths of people began ushering loudly out. They gossiped and chattered about whatever event they had just attended and its outcome. And while I didn't look up, and Grysn made no movement also, their conversations quickly quieted to whispers as they neared us. They slowed as they passed, hushed in their awe.

I gripped my hands tightly together and closed my eyes, waiting for them all to leave. I knew myself enough to not risk a single glance. One accidental glare and off with your head.

A hand patted my thigh. I knew it was Grysn even before I opened my eyes. He was trying to comfort me again, and I was still straining against it.

I trusted him enough to come all the way here into the mouth of the beast. I didn't need to trust him more than I already did. And he could keep his miserable reassurances and pep talks to himself.

I was here to survive. Not to be babied by some miserable grayskin.

Drygson.

I sighed.

Grysn rose from his seat next to me, and I did the same. He kept a hand on my back as we entered the now cleared-out room. Down the center aisle, surrounded by heavy wooden benches, we walked until we were positioned near the front where two seats awaited us, facing the stands at the other side of the small clearing.

We sat and waited some more. A few people could be heard behind us, filtering in and filling the seats. Nowhere near as many as the last event, thankfully, but I was still quite surprised that anyone would be here other than who ever were to decide my fate.

In front of us, in the stands, sat seven... drygsons. Yes, good. They sat above the room, looking down across it. If I was correct, four of them were women, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Women rarely if ever held positions of significance for us. I'd always hated that. When I was too young to know my place, I'd often tell people I'd eventually be a leader of the town. The position I would claim changed often, but I was always certain I'd fill one of the important roles, until I figured out how life works.

It stung to see their women had that option, that... that freedom. They were capable of forging their own fate.

And now they would decide mine.

By the time we started, the noise in the room had increased significantly to the point I was desperately forcing myself to not turn around and examine what all the commotion was.

The center of the seven in front of us stood, signaling someone to the side to call out an order of silence. Hair that fell past the curve of her waist settled against the purple robe she wore as she clasped her hands gently in front of her. The effect was all but immediate as the one who stood began. "Grysn Mulsk, please come forward," she stated. Her voice carried across the vast audience and held its weight all the way to the back walls.

I didn't realize I was meant to join him until he pulled me up and toward the center of the open space. It felt like the room was moving around me, putting me into position, and if I wasn't staring at my moving feet I might believe Grysn was carrying me.

Grysn was deliberate in standing close to me, close enough so that a comforting tap to remind me to stop holding my breath wouldn't look like anything more than an accidental brush.

Addressing the audience, the woman spoke with her head tall over her wide shoulders. "This is a preliminary hearing. We have decided against making any immediate judgments. We understand the curiosity and concern this matter brings, and all those here may stay so long as there are no disturbances to the hearing. This is not an open congress. If any disruptions occur, the meeting will proceed as officially closed to the public."

The crowded rows had been silent before, but once she was finished speaking the level of noise left suggested that no one dared to even breathe.

She turned back to us and sat down. "Grysn, this meeting has been called to discuss your procurement of a pryktian from the mountain. We have been informed you plan on keeping her as a slave," she said, lifting a paper on the stand in front of her.

I looked up and opened my mouth to correct her before Grysn spoke.

"Yes, Guardian, that is correct."

My eyes couldn't get larger, and it took a great deal of force to urge them back down to a lower position as quickly as possible, lest the glaring commence. My blood was ice in my veins as I waited for him to take back his words, but he didn't speak again.

He had never-

He hadn't said-

A pet. I clenched my teeth. How much of a fool could I be? Of course he hadn't meant that. I really left my home and walked willingly into slavery. And now I was too deep in it. Had I really not realized it until I was in the exact position where I could do nothing at all?

Actually, ma'am, I know we're here to decide whether I'm slave worthy or should just be put to death, but I've changed my mind and would kindly like to go home to where we cower from you because you're so well known for killing us. And then I'd curtsy or something I guess.

Such an incredible fool. And I deserved no less.

Another spoke before the first lady could again. This time it came from the man at the far left, his words filtered through a frizzy beard that covered most of his lower face. "We do not typically take in wild tians," he said with great thought, his fingers pulling at the tip of his beard. "We have already learned of its attacks."

There were a few gasps behind us, someone made a swooning noise that had to be fake.

Grysn answered quickly. "She was faced with what she believed to be murderous fiends and defended herself. She has only defended herself."

I restrained myself against telling them that my so-called 'beliefs' had been correct.

"Your fellow huntsman claims she attacked him without warning," a scraggly, tall women next to the bearded man said in a breathy voice. "What is your response to the accusation?"

Grysn's hand twitched at his side, but he remained otherwise unperturbed. "She has defended herself from both harm and antagonization in the first couple of days she was in my care. Never unprovoked and has not been in any way violent since."

They exchanged several glances between each other for a moment before a bald man, two from the far right, slammed his first on the stand, making me jump and look up, accidentally catching his eyes. "This is preposterous!" he yelled, fuming at me before turning to Grysn. "We will not tolerate you fostering a wild tian. You should know better than to have brought it here. There are traditions for a reason!"

Grysn reacted to this with a heavy sigh. Not of anger or worry, but what I could only call annoyance. "Father, please."

We had discussed at length that I needed to control both my curiosity and anger during this meeting. Which included speaking out without direct instruction and reacting to anything I found 'confusing or bothersome.'

But I couldn't refrain from glancing up at Grysn momentarily.

Relations to any of those on the guardship or whatever was not discussed at all in our pre-hearing preparations. Some warning would have been real nice.

Grysn had already mentioned a brother a couple of times, so I assumed they had family units of some sort. The pang of jealousy I felt over it was no more than that I had felt towards all the Families back home. But it wasn't easy to immediately conceal, mixed with my confusion and annoyance with this new development.

"We are all aware of your feelings in regard to Pryktians, Srontyn," the lady next to him said, patting his arm in a friendly but impatient manner. She turned back to us as Grysn's father turned his head to the side with a great sound of annoyance. "Have you begun to teach it our customs?" she asked.

"I have," Grysn responded simply.

"And how has it reacted thus far?" another asked.

"She has shown great progress and understanding."

"What purpose will it be given if you are to maintain ownership of this tian?"

I braced myself. Grysn had thankfully prepared me for the answer to this question. And I closed my eyes against the shame to come.

"Entertainment and companionship."

I'd told Grysn that no one in their right mind would take that as a good enough reason to keep something not typically allowed, but he assured me it wouldn't stand out and would be much better than everyone expecting me to be cleaning or cooking for him constantly. Apparently, he had been right because there wasn't even a pause before the next question.

The light-voiced woman spoke next. "You will need to formally give notice to both your landlord as well as your neighbors about the keeping of a wild tian."

"I'm not wild," I grumbled under my breath before I could stop myself.

There was a sudden, heavy pause, and I knew it was entirely directed at me, whether I'd looked up or not. I did, but still.

Grysn stood taller, as if he needed to act even more formal to cover up my ill manners. "I understand," he responded, as though I'd not said a thing. "I have already disclosed this information to the owner of my building."

We waited for another question or comment, but they looked nervously at each other. And at me. Curious whisperings rose behind us, not having heard what was said- or by who, hopefully.

Grysn didn't look down at me, but I could feel him wanting to. If I screwed up my chances, he was going to have to figure out another way to help me. Or so he said. And I hadn't meant to say anything. I was doing well, considering I had just found out my new title was slave. But it was hard to stand there, being humiliated and talked about like I was some untamed animal they'd found in the forest. There was no reason for them to call me such things when they knew everything they had, everything they were, was due to our ingenuity and hard work.

But I should've held my tongue.

The center guardian, with her long flowing hair, stood, silencing the crowd with her movement, then began making her way off the stands. The shoes she wore clicked with each step that echoed through the silence. She stood significantly taller than Grysn. She held her hands behind her as she approached us, staring at me intently enough that I could feel it without looking up. She stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I wouldn't need to raise my arm completely to touch her.

Watching her approach, you could tell she held power over everyone she needed to. I felt like a fly next to her, small enough to crush with one finger. I was shaking before her, my eyes dropping desperate anchors into the tiled floor beneath my new, slightly too-small boots.

"What is your reason for owning a mountain pryktian when there are home-bred ones available here?" she asked in a voice that felt too quiet for her.

Grysn took only a moment before answering. "I would like to study her and learn more about their natural behaviors."

I flinched as the woman lifted my newly braided hair, not pulling it but holding it firmly so that I wouldn't be able to tug it away without a great show. She made a noise of consideration. "And do you believe that to be worth the risk?"

"I do."

"Home raised tians are meant to be far less prideful, as well as less dangerous. We can not permit you to bring in a dangerous pryktian, Grysn."

"I- yes, I know." That was the first time I'd heard him stumble over his words, and I wasn't sure what the reason for it was. It worried me.

My braid slipped from her hand, falling back against my shoulder.

She took a step back, her hands once again finding their place behind her. "Will it speak when addressed, or only when it wishes?"

Grysn tensed at her question, perhaps wondering himself if I'd be able to behave after breaking one of the biggest rules he had set. "She will answer when spoken to, Guardian."

"Look at me, young one." Her voice came as loud and distinct as her first address, threatening to throw me off balance.

I was immediate to comply, though my head lifted slowly under the weight of every eye on me. Her golden amber eyes held me prisoner, daring me to glance away at my own peril. I swallowed.