“No promises.”
“Of course not. We promised each other not to make any promises. Didn’t we?” Shendel stared at the mage currently standing forlorn in the middle of her room. His wings were pressed tightly to his back so they wouldn’t cramp what little space there was. It gave Dragonus the apperance of being shy, of not knowing what to do.
“I wish that was the reason.” Dragonus sighed. “I just… when you are around, I’m too irrational. I can’t help myself.”
The Vengeful Spirit clucked her tongue. That had always been his excuse. Even in the end, when he had betrayed her. “We are going into a war, and I want to be able to trust you by my side. Stop being all foolish and concentrate. You need to be focussed, or your magic is of no use to us.” And your magic is all that is good about you. She didn’t say the last, she didn’t want to hurt him and it wasn’t his fault he was a mage. And it wasn’t even true. There was a lot that was good about him, Shendel just didn’t want to think about it. She had lost him and she tried to be as cool about it as possible.
When he shifted, one wing brushed against the ceiling and he tucked it closer with a start. “I know. I’ll do my best.” He leaned forward, as if to be closer to her. He wanted to say something more, but then he straightened, nodded, and left.
One single feather remained lying on the wooden floor. Annoyed, Shendel kicked at it. It fluttered through the air before settling on almost exactly the same spot. Her annoyance left in a whoosh. Even though leaving a feather was absolutely intentional. No skywrath ever lost a feather without realizing it. But he meant well and he probably missed Shendel as much as she missed him when she didn’t push all her emotions behind a curtain of anger and vengeance. She understood it. That didn’t mean she had to tolerate it, though. Only that she shouldn’t be what she accused Dragonus of: being irrational. They were going into a war, she and the mage.
She didn’t even look at the feather again as she left the room. It could rot there.