Walking through the street, I slowed as I rounded a corner and stared at the tall buildings.

This town wasn’t as big as Telmik, or any of the other major cities, but it was still large. And a lot of the buildings here were several stories tall, at least three or floor floors, and…

“Which one was it…?” I grumbled as I studied the row of buildings.

Why’d they all look the same? A few had shops on their first floors, which were open even during this rainstorm, but I couldn’t remember which building my sister lived in.

Was it the second? Third? Damn it, this was why this nation needed to make addresses already. Why were some nations so bloody behind the others? How hard was it to just have a few numbers in front of a door or above a window? Really.

Giving up, I decided to ask one of the workers on the bottom floor. I knew in towns such as these, everyone basically knew everyone.

I hadn’t wanted to draw attention to myself, and thus my sister, but it was better than just knocking on random people’s doors.

Usually I’d smell her out, but this place stunk terribly of humans and the nearby river. I’d not be able to smell easily.

This was why we owls belonged in forests. Away from people. Surely.

Walking up to the first shop, I got the attention of a younger woman. She perked up at the sight of me, likely thinking I was customer, as I pointed upward. “Do you know if Crown lives in this building? Or one of the ones around here?” I asked.

“Crown? The pretty tall girl? She lives across the street, there,” the woman answered smoothly, without hesitation, as she pointed behind me.

Oh. Darn. I was way off.

I nodded at the woman. “Thank you.”

“Hey, you should at least buy something for the information!” the woman shouted as I walked away. I didn’t stop walking, uncaring as she mumbled a complaint about me as I left.

Unluckily for her I was too broke for such a thing.

Approaching my sister’s home, I was glad to find the shop at the bottom was closed. I rounded it, found the stairwell that led to the upper floors, and ascended.

She was on the third floor. I remembered that much at least.

Knocking on her front door, I waited patiently as I heard soft footsteps within. They rushed a bit, and then I heard the clanking of a lock… then the door only opened a finger’s width… then shot open quickly as she realized who I was.

“Branches!” Crown smiled at the sight of me, making me feel a little strange as I nodded.

“Crown,” I greeted my sister, and was glad to see she looked well.

That shop-girl had called her tall and pretty. I myself didn’t see the pretty part, but I saw the tall. She had inherited our father’s height, though not much else from our parents.

“Come on in! Before you get more rain in,” she said hurriedly as she stepped aside, to let me in.

I nodded and entered her home, and upon doing so smelled her finally. I frowned at the smell, since I didn’t understand why I hadn’t smelled her outside. It was a strong smell, one unmistakable to noses like mine.

“How’ve you been…? Look at you, you look just like a mercenary, my gosh… I heard what you were doing, but didn’t think you were taking it this far!” Crown said happily as she helped me take off the only bag I was carrying.

Like always she was an upbeat, happy sounding, girl. And very active. Once she got my bag off me she hurriedly went to helping me get off my jacket and stuff too.

It reminded me somewhat of Slip, which made me almost want to tell her to knock it off… but I kept my mouth shut as she helped me get out of my soaked traveling clothes and then invited me into her house proper.

Following her to the living room, I glanced around at the somewhat messy house… and wondered if all homes in cities looked like this.

There was a bunch of furniture, shelves, and a bunch of little random things here and there. She wasn’t messy in the sense she had clothes everywhere, or dirt and garbage… she just had clutter. The kind of clutter that made me antsy.

“I’m surprised to see you! This is great, I was just crying the other night because I was lonely!” Crown said excitedly.

Shifting a little, I turned to look at my second youngest sibling.

Crying…? She wasn’t joking was she?

Feeling terrible, I wondered what to say as Crown hurried to move the blinds to her window. She let in more light, though it didn’t do much. The world outside was stormy and cloudy.

“What are you doing here? It’s not often you come this far south anymore, right?” Crown asked as she went to reveal another window. A smaller one across the room, near the fireplace.

“I had a job nearby. Figured I’d come check on you before heading back north,” I said, not telling her the full truth.

Honestly I’d come down here to meet Cathrine, the bird at Telmik. Or at least, that had been the plan. It was why I had purposefully taken a shitty job down here.

Shouldn’t have done that. But… if my sister’s earlier comment, and her strange sudden joy over seeing me, was as real as it looked… maybe this was hadn’t been a wasted trip after all.

“You mercenaries sure do travel a lot. Trunk and Seed do too. They visited a few months ago, but they don’t come this way much anymore. They’ve been sticking to the coast,” Crown said as I went to sit in one of the chairs in front of her fireplace.

“They’re still playing merchants are they?” I asked.

“They were going to buy a ship, with the twins, but decided not to. I guess Seed doesn’t like them much, since the brother is always trying to get her into bed,” Crown said as she went to light the fireplace.

“What…?” I found that to be unpleasant news.

“Hm. You’d not know, brother, but we owls are well desired! At least, she seems to be…” Crown said, her voice becoming a little soft as she spoke and lit the flames.

Studying her back, I saw beneath her thin garment the feathers hidden beneath it. They ran down her back, all the way to her rear. I’d be jealous if she didn’t sound so sad all of a sudden.

When had my sister become so pitiful? I’ve always been a little… distant from them, since I didn’t like how soft they were in the spine like our father, but I’d never really hated them. Not truly, at least.

They were still nest mates after all.

“So… you guys get invitations often…? You know, to meet others?” I asked carefully. I wanted to ask if she knew this Cathrine, since she likely did. A lot of the members in this region, here in the Nation of the Blind, knew each other. Knew each other well.

“Hm. Sometimes. I turn all of them down, but I know Seed meets each one. That’s why she’s traveling around with Trunk, she’s looking for a husband,” Crown said.

I blinked in surprise at that. I hadn’t known that at all.

“I see,” I said softly, unsure of what to think of that information.

Seed was the youngest of us. Barely fifty years old. And… she was already looking for a mate? And being so serious about it…?

“Why not that twin then…?” I asked, feeling awkward as I did.

Crown turned, standing away from the healthy fire as she grinned at me. “She doesn’t like pushy men. She wants someone like father,” she said.

Oh.

For some reason that hurt to hear. Was that why Cathrine had turned me down?

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“Is… that what you look for too?” I asked as my sister went to sit down near me. She pulled her chair a little closer to me before doing so, as if giddy and excited to talk with me. A first in a long time for me to be so welcomed by a sibling like this.

“Me…? Honestly I’m not sure what I want. There’s a few men here trying to catch my feathers, but I’ve not decided on any yet,” she said happily.

“Why’s that?” I asked, hoping to hear more. Not just because I was interested in her love-life, but because I hoped it would reveal more of my own failures.

She hummed and frowned. “I’m still… debating, I guess?”

“Debating what?”

“If I should risk falling in love with a human or not.”

Oh.

She had meant men around here, as in literally. Human men.

“Crown…” I whispered her name, suddenly worried for her in a new way.

She nodded quickly. “I know…! I know. But… well… it’s hard, Branch. Our people are nice and all, but most don’t want to settle down. They just want either you know what, or just children. They don’t want to live with their partner, or join their parliament. To them it’s weird,” she said as she shrugged.

“Right… I’ve heard of that…” I mumbled, afraid to admit that was why Cathrine had turned me down.

So it wasn’t just men, then. Or maybe she had just used it as an excuse to spur me. I’d never know, really.

I sighed a little. “Just… be careful, Crown. Humans are… well…” I hesitated a moment, since I realized I knew humans rather well now. Hard not to after decades of living amongst them.

“I know. I not only need to find one willing and able to overlook the fact I’m not human, but then I need to handle the harsh reality that they’ll die before me. But… it’s not like I’ll live much longer than them, Branches. Look at me, I’m younger than you but I look older than you. I’m not as thick in the blood,” she said with a point to herself.

Frowning at her, I wondered what she meant. “You look young, Crown? You look pretty.”

She grinned, blushing a little as she did. “Thanks…! But I’m serious. You still look like a kid, almost. Like you’re not even twenty yet. I got a mirror in my bedroom, I know what I look like Branch. I look older than you, trust me.”

Huh… “I look young still…?” I asked as I reached up to touch my face. I’d seen mirrors of course, the Society had plenty, but I’ve never cared much to look in them.

“You do,” she said with a nod.

“Too young, maybe? Do you think it’d turn off a mate?” I asked.

Crown frowned and sat up a little… studying me a little differently than before. “I’m… not sure? Though I might be the wrong one to ask. You’re my brother, you know? I’d say you look fine…? A lot of women like youthful looking men, too. Plus you got that mercenary look, what with your scars and stuff. I bet you’re more popular than most think, aren’t you?” she asked with a tiny smile.

No. Not at all.

Deciding to change topics, since it hurt a little, I gestured at her. “You still a teacher?” I asked.

She nodded happily. “Yep! I in fact get my own class in a few months. No more assistant bird here!”

“Oh? Congratulations…?” I nodded, glad for her… even if I wasn’t sure what that meant. Did that mean all this time she hasn’t been teaching her own class…? What has she been doing then?

Crown looked happy as she shifted in her seat, bringing her legs up under her as she did. She sat like a kid, reminding me of our youth, as she grinned wildly at me. “It’s fun you know. Plus I get to pick out those who join the Society. I’ve found thirty three humans you know? I’m rather good at it!”

“Thirty three?” I asked. That was amazing.

She nodded. “Most go to Telmik, for one reason or another. My most recent find, a young girl able to smell our kind, was sent to Lumen.”

“Smell our kind…?” I asked. What’d that mean?

“She was able to smell us. Non-humans. Not sure how, but Randle knew about it. I guess sometimes, some humans are born with the ability to tell us apart by smell.”

“Oh… like how we do. She must have our blood in her veins,” I said, understanding what she meant.

Crown shrugged.

Interesting though… I had forgotten all about picking out humans for the Society.

A few names and faces came and went, like Klime… but I decided against trying. Not only were they mercenaries, the types the Society didn’t like much… Klime and the rest were older now. Too old, really. Klime had grown so old I now only used him for clerk work. He didn’t even go on the field anymore.

“Still… I’m glad you’re doing fine. Is this expensive? To live like this?” I asked as I looked around.

She had a nice home, really. Even if a little smelly, and messy. My own tent, the one we carried and set up and pulled down all the time… was nicer in a sense. Had better furniture and stuff, but I’d have preferred this over that I guess.

Not as good as home though.

“Kind of? To be honest I’d be struggling if not for the stipend we get. Teacher’s don’t make much. Lot of my co-workers are scrawny, which is rare for humans.”

Was it…?

“How big is the stipend anyway?” I asked.

Crown frowned at me… and shifted again. She tilted her head in a way that made my heart flutter.

Father did that movement too.

“You… never get it? Really? Jeez, Branches. It’s basically unlimited. You get enough per month to survive twice over, and get more anytime you ask. I’ve never needed to ask for any emergency funds, the extra I get over my expenses is so much I’ve turned down the stipend a few times in fear of having too much in my home at once,” she said.

Feeling sick over hearing that, I decided to just… forget it and change topics.

I was a captain of one of, if not the, biggest and strongest mercenary bands up north. Yet I was broke. Or at least, damn close to it.

Yet this was the life I’d chosen.

“Does anyone ever visit…? Other than our siblings?” I asked.

“Parents do. Vim does sometimes, he was here a few months ago. He had Oplar with him. She’s fun. Every so often Randle visits, but I mean… he’s not visiting me, he’s just checking on the church and the orphanages here. The schools. I’ve been visited by others throughout the years too, a couple years ago a man visited to see if we’d be able to become mates. I didn’t even let him into my house,” she said.

“Why not?” I asked, not sure if I was glad to be back on this topic yet or not.

“He was a sleazebag. I’m glad I didn’t. I found out later Vim banished him because he was caught buying human slaves,” she said.

I sat up because of that. “Him…! I heard of him! Vim visited after that, he was in a foul mood because of it.”

She found that really interesting. “Really? Did he have him with him?”

“No? He was banished, remember?” I said. Didn’t I just tell her he visited me after the fact?

“Oh. Right…” Crown frowned and nodded.

“Makes you wonder sometimes, doesn’t it? Buying slaves… I mean, we sometimes get them. Either as spoils or after a battle. So I know they’re a thing, but still,” I said.

“Hm…? What do you do with them?”

“Nothing? We let them go. You know the Society’s rules.”

“Right…” Crown nodded, and smiled in a way that told me she was glad to hear it.

Really, what’d she think? That I’d profit off them? Vim would beat me if I tried. Then after he was done, mother would finish the job.

There weren’t too many rules about being in the Society, but that was one of them. Especially for me, since I was a mercenary.

Sighing a little, I leaned back and relaxed as I stared at the burning fire nearby. It was making the house a tad too warm, but I’d not complain. I knew that Crown wasn’t as… adept at handling the harsher environments. She used to whine a lot back when we all lived at home, especially during the winter. She didn’t like the cold, at all. One of the reasons she moved farther south. It rained a lot here, but didn’t snow as often.

“Will you be staying long…? Can we have dinner and stuff?” Crown then asked.

“Hm? Sure.” I nodded. I could stay a bit.

In fact… I was kind of hoping she’d let me. I wasn’t sure why, but I was feeling rather…

Well…

Glancing at her, and the happy smile she had on her face as she swayed and hummed in joy, I realized rather quickly what was wrong with me.

I had been hoping that Cathrine, that bird in Telmik, would have said yes.

Her turning me down had hurt. In more ways than I understood. In ways I wasn’t sure if I wanted to figure out, yet.

Plus I had a terrible decision to face when I went back up north, and returned to the Silken Band.

It was time I began to step down as captain. I was growing too important. Drawing too much attention to myself. I had gotten an earful in Telmik from the Chronicler about it, that she had heard too many rumors of some wondrous mercenary who had the strength of gods. Basically I was standing out too much.

But what was I to do then…? Go join some other band…?

It was why I had hoped that bird would have let me into her nest. It would have annoyed me something fierce to live in Telmik, but it would have been something to do. Something to look forward to. Something to experience.

“Branches…?” Crown said my name, and I glanced at her and found her happy smile gone. It had been replaced by one full of worry.

I coughed, clearing my throat. “Sorry. I think I’m tired,” I said.

She smirked at me. “You look it. I have an extra bedroom, you know. Want to stay here awhile? I’d love to have you.”

Could I…? “You sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah? You’re my brother, for crying out loud. Sometimes our other siblings visit, or mother and father. One time mother stayed for almost a month you know? I was so surprised she lasted that long, but she did,” she said happily.

Mother did…? “What for?”

“Not sure? She just… stayed here. I’ll admit it worried me, since you know mother, but I enjoyed it. I really did,” she said happily.

Huh… something must have happened. I wonder what.

Mother never lingered in human villages. Ever. For any reason.

Oh well.

“Then sure. If you’re willing to put up with me.”

“Only if you’ll tell me all about what you’ve been doing! I’ve actually heard rumors about you, you know? The tall mercenary that rules the Silken Band!” she said happily as she hopped off her chair, running over to pat me on the shoulder before darting off out of the room.

“Deal. But only if you tell me in turn about all the suitors who’ve come to try and bed you, and why you’ve turned them away,” I said, watching her go. Was she going to get properly dressed or something? Or maybe start cooking the dinner she spoke of?

Crown slid to a stop, before leaving the room. She turned, gave me an odd look as she turned her head in a way only we owls could. “What? What for?”

“To find out what I’m doing wrong, of course. I want to compare notes,” I said, admitting it.

Crown busted out into laughter.

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