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Lio frowned. “Will you fatten us before you eat us?”

This received a loud, booming burst of laughter from Tarick, which echoed amongst the other guards when translated.

Lio blushed.

He was set down at the table and a bowl slid in front of him. He ate.

Later, instead of going back to the dungeon, they were brought to the castle’s tallest tower, which had apparently been the deceased king’s quarters. Warm, rich bedding was strewn about. They were told to rest.

They did.

That was the first time Tarick helped Lio become ‘unstuck’ from an unfortunate situation, when he pulled him from the cage on the dungeon floor, barely able to walk.

Lio would have never guessed that it would happen again, and just the next day.

The following day was filled with activity. They were allowed to wander the castle. All were assigned tasks and things to do to keep their day busy.

All except Lio.

When he asked why he wasn’t assigned a duty within the palace like the other birds, none of the Diagorians understood his question. He was left to wander the palace, alone and confused.

But he was not the only Susconian who was alone somewhere.

What happened to Salas?

He wanted to ask about Salas’ well-being, though the only person he could think to ask that would understand him was Tarick, the strange guard with the even stranger smile, who didn’t look down on him warily like the other Diagorians seemed to do.

He wandered aimlessly through the castle, until, by chance, he spotted the man.

Outside, the Diagorian was up on the high wall, patrolling the perimeter. Lio watched as, his face bright with laughter and cloud-dappled sunlight, he chuckled with another man on patrol.

Lio could swear then and there he had never seen a brighter, more vibrant face.

Swallowing, he looked around for the staircase leading up to the gangway, but found none. Had the guards climbed up?

He ran his fingers lightly over the first block of masonry, then secured his grip. He hoisted himself up a bit, moving just one hand every minute, trying to scale the wall. The climb seemed to become slippier the higher he went, for no good reason. Soon, he ran out of places to gain good purchase on the rock. That, or he became less daring with his decisions when it came to maneuvering the higher he scrambled up.

But it wasn’t until he glanced down, fear instantly filling him as he measured his distance from the ground, that his body shuddered and stopped.

He was stuck. Again.

Panic threatened his grip as his fingers trembled.

Even worse. From below, he heard laughter and knew for certain that other guards, who may have been wandering the courtyard, had gathered somewhere below. They shouted at him in their language, obviously making light of his situation, and his whole body turned hot in response.

“Lio?”

Lio knew that voice. Tarick.

Impossibly, he grew hotter.

The voice came from directly below him, and glancing down, he saw that the tall Diagorian man was closer than he thought. His great hands were thrown up, to hover at either side of Lio’s feet, though not touching, but ready to. A snare prepared to trap him, should he fall. It was both comforting and disconcerting. What if hefell?

“I can’t move,” he whispered, praying that Tarick, and just Tarick, would hear.

“What are you doing up there?” Tarick asked hesitantly, reasonably. Like trying to correct the behavior of a fool.

“I…I’m…” Lio began hyperventilating. “Looking for you.” The last was even softer than the first whisper.