For My Collection., attn: Matthias

[Altariel Katrei]

Matthias pouted. Oh, but the man should be thankful that she was even concerned for him! High Seat of House Ghayth, most powerful woman in the land, tending to a mere falconer!

“I don’t know anybody else who can get near King Henry, Mistress.” He said. With his good arm, he pointed at the saddlebag. The eagle had its claws on the leather, piercing it in some places.. “Right there.” He said. “Supplies are in there, Mistress.”

This wouldn’t be easy…

“King Henry is very intelligent, Mistress.” He continued. I can SEE that, Matthias. “If King Henry doesn’t like you, there’s a big chance she’ll peck you, Mistress.” He still sounded optimistic. “Even with a falconry glove on… King Henry’s experienced in pecking through leather, Mistress.”

Pecking through leather. This wasn’t too good…

“If you handle her correctly… you might escape being pecked, Mistress, but there’s a question on how...”

That was a problem. Altariel was no wildlife person to pull this off with ease.

“Here.” She turned back to him, and saw him lay his glove. “Slip it on and hold your arm out, enough so King Henry’ll feel the leather, Mistress. If all goes well, she’ll trust you enough, but eagles are proud creatures. They can smell your fear, Mistress.”

She took the glove, which smelled strongly of blood. But she was used to that kind of stench… she took the glove wordlessly and slipped it on her left. If there was anything else she treasured, it was her right hand. She favored that hand more.

She stood up, and approached the horse. The eagle looked at her menacingly – and she was not stupid to feel oh-so-haughty at the bird of prey. It was sufficiently equipped to have an eye plucked from its socket. She was within arm’s length when she held out that gloved hand, which shook slightly.

Bad move. There was a flutter of wings…

That hurt.

[Matthias Culwych]

The High Seat stood up, and approached the horse. King Henry looked at her menacingly. She was within arm’s length when she held out that gloved hand, which shook slightly. Matthias bit his lip and frowned. Bad form, really bad form. He really should teach people how to approach…

King Henry flapped as far as her tether allowed, which was fairly long, and reached out with wickedly sharp talons that pierced the falconry glove and through to the arm. Being an eagle, Matthias had brought the other glove, the one that went all the way to the elbow.

That said, King Henry didn’t look happy at all, in fact she seemed fairly pleased with herself, which only made him more paranoid. What’ll happen to his eagles now? He watched in horrified silence. Oh god, it was a repeat of last time… and Ghayth was not a forgiving House.

How deep? How deep? Back then it was Fedecks who pecked the Marlas noble, and NOW it was King Henry. Suffice it to say he had a really hard time finding a substitute for Fedecks… Matthias hesitated initially, when he struggled up and crawled over to the pack.

King Henry flapped her wings again and detached from the Mistress’ arm. Hood off. Hood OFF. Oh god. He took his knife from his boot and sawed the saddlebag off using his good arm.

[Altariel Katrei]

She flinched, biting her lip to stop herself from screaming in pain. Screaming. Whoever would have thought that eagle talons hurt this much?

Let’s say it’s her way of punishing herself for being an erratic decision maker and ruler in the first place… and why, oh why, did that thought pop inside her head? Maybe she was sick… in the mind.

Yes. Maybe she needed a vacation.

Pain on her arm… she could feel the blood ooze from the wound. But she kept still. Who knows, if she moved, the eagle might go for her face next. She tried to keep her arm steady, as the free hand reached for the saddlebag.

She kept her promises. And she promised herself that the man would be ensured of the job as Head Falconer. She regretted making that decision, but nevertheless, she was still alive, was she not?

Just then, the eagle flapped its wings, its talons retracting from the wound. She immediately removed the glove from her arm, clutching the spot where the talons sank. Not too large for a slash, but deep. She heard the sound of something torn – Matthias had reached up for the saddlebag, and slashed it off.

So. Her left arm was going to be in bandages for the next few days. But she was safe.

She shook her head to herself; was the falconer’s optimism rubbing off on her? Likely. She knelt down, and reached for the supplies in the saddlebag. Bandages, ointments, cotton…

Of course, she gave herself the quick treatment. Just disinfected the wound for a moment to prevent further damage to her skin. She unrolled one of the bandages, and raised an eyebrow at Matthias.

[Matthias Culwych]

Here we go. Matthias got himself into an easy sitting position. Right-o. Worst part ever, but he still had to do it. He grabbed one of the saddle straps and bit down on that. No time to prod at hygiene, he put a hand on his arm and felt around. Broken, no doubt, his …what you call that… radius and that ul….thingy were blown. His forearm looked like a small hill right now.

Matthias took hold of his right arm with his left and made sure his bad arm wouldn’t move by cramming his right elbow between his knees. Totally awkward, but it works. Really works. This happened back in the ravine too. He took the bandages from the High Seat’s hand with a grateful nod and took up the stick he’d usually kept inside the saddlebag for these kinds of things. Propping the stick up so his arm would LOOK like it should, he wrapped the bandage around his arm, making sure to include the stick, and finished off by tying a ruthless tight knot.

He tested his fingers. Awesomely painful, but still working. Good. If all went well he’d be back to shooting arrows in no time. The Falconer looked at his knee this time. Couple of bruises, some cuts. Nothing a good week’s rest wouldn’t fix. He disinfected the wound using the bottle full of antiseptic in his saddlebag and wrapped that in bandages. But the rib was a problem.

If it was broken, he was eternally screwed. If his hunch was right and it was just a rock that hopefully didn’t hit anything, he’d be having a bruise the size of … well, a melon. He lifted his shirt and twisted a little. Bruised. Big awful looking patch, but he was still alive. He lowered his shirt and grinned.

“Broken forearm, some cuts, mostly bruises, but still in one piece, Mistress.”

[Altariel Katrei]

She looked at his sorry state. Broken arm, she could see plainly how the fractured part made a lump on his skin. It was sickening to watch – she herself had never broken a bone. He looked that he had things under control. That was fine by her.

He took the bandages from her hands and gave a grateful nod, then proceeded to bandage himself up, adding a splint to his broken arm. She’d have to say he was better than half the other Ghayth servants not worth mentioning.

They were awfully silent as she waited for Matthias to finish patching himself up. There wasn’t a sign of wolves, or of any other dangerous creature. Heaving a sigh, she started bandaging the clawed part of her left arm.

It hurt, but she had to keep a blank face, did she not? The antiseptic fluid stung, but it was all for the best. The skies were starting to turn into a fiery red.

Her eyes didn’t fail to note that large bruise on his back. Probably from his fall moments ago. She said nothing, as she averted her gaze from him, and onto the rushing water on the nearby stream.

“Broken forearm, some cuts, mostly bruises, but still in one piece, Mistress.” He said.

“Shall we go, then?” she asked, as she stood up. Finally! Back to civilization! “Can you walk?”

[Matthias Culwych]

“Shall we go, then?” she asked, as she stood up. “Can you walk?”

He frowned a little at that. Well, yes. If he hadn’t broken anything else. The falconer checked on King Henry. Still awfully happy. He took up the discarded hood and put his falconry glove on. Meh. Only a short distance left to cover; hopefully he’d make it before anything else happened to attract more predators.

Matthias tested his leg. Could handle the weight. He stood up shakily. Yes, it could. Goody. He nodded gratefully.

Moving over to his horse, he returned the saddlebag to its previous position as much as possible and put King Henry’s hood back on. His falconry glove still had holes in it, but it was better than nothing.

After second thought he dragged the deer over and tied it to his horse. Yes. Still doing this.

He mounted his horse as fast as he could with his injuries. He dare not jar the arm, not until reaching the city.

Clucking his tongue, he urged the horse into a steady walk.

[Altariel Katrei]

He gave a small frown, and she gave him a raised eyebrow in return. Well, his clinical bills would be paid for by House Ghayth, that was certain. If he was to be hurt while on the way, it would all be easily arranged. He looked at the eagle, which seemed to emanate a sort of happy aura. She gave a shudder.

What a vicious eagle. Vicious, dangerous, reckless… not to mention intelligent. She’d give Matthias kudos for training the eagle well in combat.

Matthias picked up the falconry glove and the eagle’s hood, and stood up gingerly, testing if his knees could take his weight.. Well, he swayed a bit, but only slightly. Nothing too major, it seemed… he gave a grateful nod.

She stood up as well, and started to approach her horse, and rode it with little difficulty. It was a miracle that she was nearly unharmed by her little ‘fall’ a few minutes ago. All in all, she was luckier than Matthias.

Her to-do list once she gets back to her office? Take a break. And probably give Matthias a month or two of vacation.

Matthias’ horse started to walk steadily. Altariel followed closely behind in a dazed silence.