Edelgard woke early the next morning, actually excited for the day to come. She practically vibrated in anticipation, but she remained net to Juliane until the woman woke. They ran through their usual morning routine with Edelgard gathering her hair into her usual pigtails, though she braided them today. Thanks to the magic Hubert had found, it was shoulder length instead of being cropped close to her head. It still wasn't as long as she would've liked, but it was better than previous. They cast it once every two weeks and it grew a few inches in a couple days.
"By the way, El, go down and ask the cooks for your normal meals to take with you," Juliane said gently.
She blinked and looked up at the empress. "Why?" She didn't understand. She wouldn't be that far from the castle.
"How much did you eat yesterday?" She frowned at that. Oh. She normally ate six small meals a day (sometimes with snacks) over the course of the day. She had only eaten two yesterday. Her weight was already dangerously low so missing that for days on end wouldn't do her any good. She really was trying to put weight back on. Plus, she might pass out during her combat classes if she didn't eat all her meals. She didn't want that in the slightest. Being bedridden for days wouldn't be fun.
She stuck her head out the door and looked at Hubert. "Would you mind go asking the cooks for my four smaller meals and some snacks?" She would eat breakfast with Juliane then probably have dinner with Helen and Ueli again. So four meals would cover her through the day. She could have one before going to see Ueli then have the other three at different interims.
"Of course, my lady." Hubert bowed and headed off. Part of her was sad to see him go but he'd be back soon enough. Still… She always missed him when he was gone. She regretted having been so mean to him in the days following her release.
With that done, she finished getting dressed. She was in pants because they were far easier to move in around for combat probably should bring a dress to be more presentable to Helen and Ueli. But she didn't want to potentially ruin any of the nice dresses with bird dander. She frowned. Yeah. Her dresses would get ruined if she interacted with the birds. But she didn't have her glove yet so she wouldn't be directly interacting with them.
She did put a couple of books in a small bag. She wanted to visit with Evelin, so maybe some reading to her would hep. It sounded like Ueli hadn't done much to try to calm her down. The bell had obviously helped so maybe she could incorporate that somehow. She really had no idea what she was doing and what might work or not.
She heard a knock on the door and checked it. Hubert offered her a small bag. "Your meals, my lady. Are you ready to head off."
"Yeah, I am." She couldn't think of anything else that needed taken care of. "I'll be back later, Mother Juliane."
"Have a good day, honey." Juliane looked over her shoulder and smiled. With that, Edelgard set out for the day with Hubert in tow. She missed Mother Katinka being the one to train her, but there was nothing she could do about it now…
#
Edelgard put her meal away and went to the falconry mes. It was still kind of disturbing to see if she were honest. She didn't understand why they were kept behind bars. It was as if the birds were prisoners. Of course, they did have to be housed so they didn't fly away. But still. Why bars?
She saw Ueli tossing a small bird into one of the mews. He had a bucket that dripped with blood, making her shudder. She could feel the blood dripping down her back after her flesh had been torn asunder. She started to shake, arms wrapped around herself. She still bore the scars of those tearings and—
Hubert rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, my lady. You're safe." His voice was soft and she leaned against him a bit. She hated being tripped like that. Even if she couldn't remember much, she could still sometimes be forced into those terrible moments she could remember.
"Eh? Everything okay over here, Your— Edelgard?" Ueli looked concerned. He had the bucket which made her feel a bit faint. She forced herself to look up at the man.
"Y-Yeah…" In this case, it was pretty transparent she was lying, buts he really didn't want to talk about the Crest experiments with random people. It was hard enough to talk about with Hubert and her remaining mothers. "Is there anything I can help you with, Ueli?"
"Well, I was getting my second feed in rotation in today. I feed in three rotations: morning, afternoon, and night. Too much to feed all the birds first thing in the morning. I raise and feed 'em quail." He held up the bucket which, once again, made Edelgard feel faint. Her stomach churned over and over. How was she supposed to hunt ethically if she couldn't stand the sight of a bleeding quali corpse? She would need to get over it if she ever wanted to hunt.
"I'll help you." There was really no way to get past this other than simply doing it. "I"ll see if I can help out with evening feeding too. You need to kill the quail, right?" She really needed to get over herself. Animal death was part of hunting. Now was the best time to become numb to it. This was a safe, controlled environment where neither she nor her bird could get hurt unlike the actual falconry field. It would be hard, but she wanted to see Evelin fly free and hunt again. If she couldn't stomach this, the bird would never fly free again.
"Are you sure about this? You don't look so good. You're awful pale."
Edelgard sighed. "I mean I've never handled meat or a dead animal before. I saw Toby take jackrabbits down once. If I want to hunt, I need to get used to handling prey, right? I figure this is the best way to do that…" Part of her said she really didn't need to answer him as crown princess. But treating him so poorly after she'd told him to call her by name yesterday was antithetical. She really didn't want him to think less of her.
He stroked his stubbly chin. "I suppose you have a point. Tobias learned to hunt himself, but your father and the Empress never sullied their own hands. It's rare for nobles to do it themselves." She nodded at his words. She wanted to do it for herself… Tobias had shown her how to handle it and she wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Ueli handed her the bucket. She was suddenly not regretting her choice to wear a dress. Who knew what would have been said had she gotten blood on her dress. Mother Juliane still wouldn't be especially happy if she got blood on these clothes. Maybe she ought to have the tailors make her some clothes specifically to get dirty… "Right this way."
Edelgard followed Ueli to a row of mews where some eagles and other birds weren't tied like Evelin. "Why do you tie some birds but not others?" That seemed like a good question. Plus, it would help distract her from the reality of what she was about to do. She had never touched a dead animal before. This was so incredibly upsetting.
Ueli opened the door to the mews and motioned to her. She hesitated before she reached into the bucket, quickly tossing the dead bird into the mews. At least it wasn't still warm. But it was headless. She felt bile rise in the back her throat. "It's called free lofting. Some birds don't do too well when tied to perches. They can break fathers on their furniture and such. Best to just leave those birds fly free in their mews." Edelgard nodded, though the bile didn't leave the back of her mouth. It was all a part of the circle of life.. There was nothing wrong with it.
"A-After we get done with this, do you want help changing Evelin's furniture?" Keep talking. Stay distracted. Don't think about what she was doing too heavily. It would be fine. She would be fine. She had to get used to it. She would have to dispatch Evelin's prey so this was a necessary part of the journey. Oh goddess, this was so hard.
"I would appreciate that, Y— Edelgard." Ueli smiled and started toward the next mews.
"Lady Edelgard, why don't you refresh what you learned in your combat lessons today?" Hubert spoke up, apparently having picked up on what she was trying to do. She was so thankful for that. So she started talking to him. Sure, it hadn't been that long, but she appreciated the distraction. It took the edge of just enough to get her to not wretch up her recent meal. Though, by time they finished, she was pale and shaking. She looked even worse than Hubert did on a normal day.
"Maybe you should go sit with Helen for a bit. You look in a bad way." Ueli put a hand on her head, patting it gently. She did feel extremely faint.
"That…might not be a bad idea… Sorry for the delay with Evelin." She had been so bound and determined to get Evelin's furniture changed out as soon as possible. But when she felt like she might keel over any second now, trying to wrestle with a golden eagle probably wasn't a good idea.
They headed into the house where Helen and Annika sat, working with some leather. Helen's voice was soft but Annika looked like she was struggling with whatever task Helen had set for the pair looked up and Helen raced over. It didn't take but a heartbeat for the woman's arm to be around Edelgard. "Oh, honey, what's wrong? Please, sit down." Helen led her over to the couch where she sat down. "Do you want some water?"
"That…would be nice." She could still taste the bile in the back of her throat. She really wasn't fond of that burning there for so long.
Helen hurried off and Annika looked at Edelgard. "What happened, if you don't mind my asking?" The other girl looked incredibly concerned.
"I…didn't handle afternoon feeding well." It was the truth. It reminded her too much of what had happened in the Crest experiments. She could still remember walking past Alina's cell and seeing her rock back and forth. There was so much wrong with what happened to her and her siblings. She remembered being bandaged up and left to bleed for days on end. She was not a fan of blood. It had caused too much pain and sorrow. People deserved to live, not be forced to bleed out in horrific experiments.
Annika tilted her head. "Really? It ain't that bad to do."
"For me, it is." She was not looking forward to evening feeding. She would have to kill innocent creatures that had never done anything wrong. But she needed to get over it. She wanted to see Evelin fly free and she didn't want to have to rely on Ueli or Annika for that. She had a goal and she wanted to see it through. Still, she was facing what felt like insurmountable odds.
Helen returned with a cup of water and offered it to her. "Here you go, honey. What happened?"
Edelgard took a sip from it, getting rid fo the bile a little bit. "I wasn't prepared for the quail." This was so terrible. She felt like she wasn't representing the Imperial family well at all in front of these commoners… She was trying her best but she was absolutely failing. How could she be so terrible around something as simple as blood? It didn't bode well for going to Garreg Mach… She would likely have to kill people while there. If she couldn't handle a quail now, how could she do that?
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Maybe we ought to start with tidbitting instead of you doing full feedings as of yet." Edelgard tilted her head at that. Tidbitting? What was that? Still… Anything that wasn't dealing with full bodies of animals would be welcome. She wanted to do things at full, but sometimes, all one could do was really baby steps. She wasn't ready or prepared for handling dead quail bodies. There was no way she'd be ready to handle butchering a quail by herself.
"What's that?"
"Oh, it's having the bird fly to your fist for a little bit of meat. It's not falconry season yet, but we keep a couple of birds ready to fly even in the middle of the molt. Lady Katinka left some birds here when she fled, so we keep them up to par." Helen ran a hand down Edelgard's hair and the teen frowned. She missed Mother Katinka so badly. The woman had been rough and tumble, but she hadn't been a bad sort. She was good and kindhearted, even if she was rough around the edges. She had grown up in Gillingr territory so it made some level of sense. She had left behind some of her birds, Edelgard knew that much. There hadn't been much chance to bring them when she'd been fleeing for her safety…
"Oddly, she has some buteos but they make some real good falconry birds. Buzzard with a gorgeous red tail. Seems like it'd be a good beginner bird, so that might be where we start flying you." Ueli smiled at her and she looked up at him. A buzzard? What was the difference between a lot of different birds? It wasn't like she knew about all different types. But going all the way to Kingdom territory? Had she a death wish?
"So a red-tailed buzzard, huh?" It was probably better to start off there than with a golden eagle anyway… She was a beginner. She was pretty sure that goldens weren't super beginner friendly. The family learned the basics of flying the birds, but it was Ueli and his family that worked with them behind the scenes. House Hresvelg didn't train its own birds or anything like that. Apparently they normally started off with a peregrine, but until she could get Evelin to respond to her, she really had no way to fly a bird. This would probably be the best way to do that.
"Yep. Real rugged bird. Real mild mannered too. It'll probably be a good one to start learning on. I ain't gonna put you on feedings anymore till you're more able to handle blood 'n stuff. If you work with Helen in the kitchen in the evenings, you'll get to handle meat more. There will still be some butchering though. We eat some of the quail ourselves." Ueli patted her head and she nodded a bit. That was probably the best way to get her to work up to the feedings and killings. Small tidbits of meat unconnected to the animal as well as working with the meat separate. She still felt silly for all of this… But the way she had reacted, she wouldn't handle butchering animals too well.
"Okay. Though I won't be able to do anything until I have my glove right?" That was disappointing. They were getting her all siked up to work with a bird, then she would have to wait another couple of days until she could even handle it. She was trying her best but she was somewhat impatient with it… Her mother had tried to make sure she never got too spoiled, but Ionius had done his best to give her whatever she asked for when she had one on one time with him. Plus, Juliane and Tobias had spoiled her as well… It was hard to stay back and always wait.
Helen left the room and came back a minute later with a small bag and handed it over to Edelgard. "Actually, I stayed up last night to finish your glove. I can see how important this is to you." She got in the bag and withdrew a rough glove that went up to Edelgard's elbow. It was pretty heavy duty, but she supposed it needed to be in order to stand up to a bird's talons. Did she really need one so thick if she was going to be working with a smaller bird?
"Thank you." There was nothing else she could say. She was grateful. Helen didn't need to stay up and do that for her. She really was grateful. It meant she could start interacting with the birds right away. She was excited to do so. It was a great turn of events for her. She was really looking forward to getting to flying the birds.
Helen did look surprised but she smiled a moment later before patting Edelgard's head. "It's no trouble, honey. You're a sweet girl." Helen muttered something under her breath and Edelgard caught 'Helga' and the teen made a face. Even if she didn't fully catch what Helen had said, she could at least get the general gist of it. Nobody had liked Helga. According to Juliane, she had been a two-faced bitch that had played nice with Juliane just long enough to get her approval for Ionius to take her in before turning around and just becoming a spoiled brat. Nobody had liked Helga or her daughters. Still… It wasn't like Edelgard had wanted to see her two older sisters die in such a horrible way.
"Once you're feeling a bit steadier on your feet, we can introduce you to Romy, the bird I was talking about. However, you're gonna have to work hard to gain her trust. Birds of prey don't easily trust people and have to start from square one whenever somebody new enters the picture. You'll have to do the manning process and all of that. She can fly free with me, but I won't trust her to fly with you." Ueli leaned back and stroked his chin. Manning? What could that mean? It didn't sound like a pleasant experience for anybody. It sounded like manhandling which wasn't good. Would it hurt her? She hoped it wouldn't…
"Okay. How does my face look…?" She was nearly to the bottom of her water and was feeling a bit steadier. Still, she'd need a little bit more time before she knew she'd be completely steady on her feet. She still needed to wrestle with Evelin to replace her furniture. That was going to be fun.
"You are looking better, Lady Edelgard, but a bit more rest probably isn't remiss." Everyone looked at Hubert as he spoke, but she nodded. She trusted him above everyone else, so his input was most valuable to her. She had a feeling Ueli and his family wouldn't lie to her, but she'd still rather hear it from Hubert over anybody else. She cared about him more than anybody else in this particular room. She tried her best to trust others, but it was hard… After everything, it was just so hard to trust anybody. Though the falconry family seemed especially truthful and kind. She felt like she had nothing to fear from them.
"Okay. Can I please have some more water?" She held the cup out to Helen after she finished the last little bit of it. Commoner or not, it wasn't good to be rude to the woman. She was in her house with her resources. Most of the bile taste had left the back of her throat, but a bit more water probably wasn't a bad idea. She really did need some more. She did lean against Hubert a bit and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Of course, honey." Helen retrieved another cup of water for Edelgard and she sipped at it slowly.
"Thank you." Yeah, she was glad to have this family… She already felt a lot better around them than not. It was really nice to have some people that legitimately seemed to care about her than the cold reservation that the castle staff tended to treat her with. She felt so entirely alone. Yes, she had a couple of her mothers with her, but it was no replacement for the entire family that she had lost. She has lost three of her mothers without even knowing during the time she was in Fhirdiad. Helga, Kerstin, and Katinka had all fled during the Insurrection and she missed them pretty horribly. Well. Except Helga. She wanted to bring Kerstin and Katinka back after she ascended as empress because she just missed them so horribly. It was so hard to have a large family and not care about most of them…
Ueli left the house and came back about five minutes later with a rather robust bird. The bird's tail was a beautiful shade of red. "Is that Romy? She's gorgeous." Edelgard could hardly take her eyes off of Romy. The bird was large but not as large as a golden eagle by any means. It felt like a pretty happy medium for a starting falconer even to her.
"Yep, sure is. Thankfully, she's fairly desensitised to things in general as Lady Katinka worked with her a long time and I've continued that on with her. She's fairly used to the house by now. Still can't believe a buteo is a good falconry bird. She had some pretty wide open ideas when it came to falconry." He sat Romy on a perch on the floor and tied her to it. The bird fluffed up and closed her eyes, obviously completely unbothered by anything happening around her. That was probably good. Right? A flighty bird probably wasn't a good bird. Maybe good for hunting but probably not good for too much else.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know her." Edelgard smiled as she watched the bird. She was just so completely impassive to everything around her. Nothing really mattered. She was content to fluff up and take a nap wherever, it seemed like. She hoped that she could get Evelin to be like that in due time. The bird was mad and wild but she felt like there was hope. She wouldn't give up on Evelin until she had exhausted every possible avenue.
"Some falconers prefer their birds a little wild, but a well-behaved bird is a good bird. Imprinting can be one way to really ensure a bird's behavior if done right. But if you mess it up, you can end up with a real bad bird. I've seen plenty of screamers in my day. Thankfully, I was taught how to make eagles right when imprinting them." Ueli leaned back on the couch, staring up wistfully at the ceiling. Edelgard nodded. What must it have been like to train a bird of prey as majestic as an eagle? It was crazy to think just how the birds went from little fluff balls to the fully grown birds that could take down jackrabbits and even wolves if well trained enough. She hadn't seen Evelin take down anything larger than a jackrabbit, but she hoped that she'd be able to do one day… Assuming she was trained for that. Hopefully she wasn't so far gone that she'd forgotten all of her training.
"I would prefer a well-mannered bird. I know there'll be a lot of work to do with Evelin, but she was well mannered at once, right?" From what she could remember, it seemed like Evelin was a fairly decent bird with good manners. She had really enjoyed seeing her be on a soar then stoop down to take up a rabbit. Watching the bird glide along the scrub and cover had been enthralling. She really did want to see that again.
"Yeah, she was really well mannered at one time. But ever since a couple years ago, she's been wild. Do you know why that is?"
Edelgard froze at the question and shook a little. She didn't want to go into the Crest experiments. Talking about that was far too hard for her. Remembering what little she could of what had happened was so painful and awful. She'd lost so many siblings that way and would lose her last three remaining ones. It was going to be awful and she hated it.
"Unfortunately Lord Tobias has lost his mind. I suspect that is why Evelin has become mad as well." Hubert spoke up which she was glad for. It was still too much for her to talk about the events of the past few years. Talking even with Juliane and Hubert was almost to much at times. Still… They had helped her a great deal by listening. She honestly couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for both of them to hear what had happened to her and extrapolate what had happened to the others. Juliane somehow maintained her kindness and compassion despite having buried so many children over the past few years. Edelgard hadn't seen hide nor hair of her father since then… He'd usually at least tried to see her once a week before everything happened. She missed him.
"Ah, so I see. Pity that. Lord Tobias was a good man. It'll be sad to not see him anymore. Never looked down on us despite us being commoners." Ueli sighed. Edelgard looked down at her water, her stomach churning again. She'd have to eat again in an hour or two, but she wasn't sure if she'd be up to it. Between the quail and the reminders of the Crest experiments, it was really difficult for her body to calm down. She was trying her hardest to calm down, but the constant trip ups were proving difficult to overcome. She really hated all of this. It was so hard to do much and function some days. The past couple had been fine, but it was just a matter of time before she backslid and couldn't come out of Juliane's room for a day or two. And then Hubert would have to stay with her…
Edelgard finished the cup again and sat it to the side. "Do I look any better?" She looked up at Hubert. She was feeling steadier now which was definitely good. It might just take some time for her complexion to come back with the constant reminders of the Crest experiments.
"You're still a little pale, my lady. But I suppose the most important question is how do you feel?"
"I feel a lot better." Maybe she should at least try to have a small snack… Even if it wasn't much, having something in her stomach might help her complexion a little bit. She was really glad to have cooks and servants that cared so much. Same with Hubert. She didn't know what she'd do without him at this point. She couldn't remember what it was like in Fhirdiad without him, and she kind of didn't want to remember… She had been alone in the Kingdom which hadn't been good. She would just rather remember the more current time in her life even if a lot of it was painful.
She opened her little bag of food and pulled out some dried fruit, eating what little she could before her stomach really started to do major flips. Yeah, food was not agreeing with her right now because of the quail. That would take some time for her to work up to. Still, it was good to know her limits of what she could and couldn't handle at the moment and how to build up to it. Tidbitting and cooking would help with it a lot from the sound of it.
"Okay, I think we can try to work with Evelin now." She still felt a tiny bit light headed after standing up, but it wasn't the end of the world. She had functioned on a lot less before. She did leave the bag of food and the bag with the books on the couch. They would just get in the way with her trying to hold the eagle.
"By the way, I think she's well overdue for a coping. So would you mind holding her longer than you would if I were just changing her furniture?"
Edelgard tilted her head. "What's coping?" There were so many new terms to learn. Falconry was like a whole new language that she had to learn. Helen had done a good job of explaining some of the terms to her yesterday like furniture and such, but there were still so many things she had to learn. Hopefully they would have the patience to teach her. She was really trying her best to learn as quickly as possible.
"It means trimming the nails and the beak. She hasn't been out in two years so they're really overgrown. Causes some problems while eating for sure. She might be a bit underweight if anything." Edelgard frowned at the explanation. If she was underweight, that wasn't good. Edelgard herself was underweight and having trouble eating a lot of the time. So she could really relate to Evelin there. She hoped that the bird would be able to put on weight and start eating properly after this.
"Okay. I can help with that too." Thankfully, Edelgard was strong despite her frame being so small and underdeveloped from the experiments interfering with her body's normal processes.
"Right then, we should head out." With that, Edelgard followed Ueli (Hubert still in tow) out to his workshop where he grabbed a hood. "We'll want to put this on her to keep her calm. Might be hard though." With as wild as Evelin was at this point, it would be difficult to slide the hood on. Hopefully they'd be able to do that. Ueli also grabbed a small thing of files and smiled at her.
When they reached Evelin's mews, the eagle spread her wings out and started bobbing side to side. "This is gonna be a fight and a half, Edelgard. Are you ready? Just be real careful not to get scratched by her talons. Else it might be game over for you."
She nodded and held out her hand for the hood. She was completely inexperienced with birds of prey but she was far stronger than the bird would ever hope to be. "I am." He handed her the hood and she walked into the mews.
The eagle tried to strike at her, but the rope and jesses kept her at a distance. Edelgard let out a breath. Yeah, this was more than a little intimidating. Then she had a thought. She started ringing the bell on her wrist which made the bird look up at her. "Evelin, you probably don't remember me, but I'm El, Edelgard. Tobias' younger sister." She knew the bird couldn't understand her, but it was worth a shot. It seemed like the ringing of the bell was keeping her attention. Her wings folded back against her though they had a considerable droop to them. Her overall posture relaxed as she listened to the ringing of the bell. It was just like Edelgard had hoped for.
She managed to get within range of Evelin and slipped the hood over the bird's head and quickly drew the strings, but it didn't take long for the eagle to start flapping violently. Even the ringing of the bell didn't seem to calm her this time. But she settled down after a moment. A raptor's sight was its more important tool, she'd read in a book one time and Tobias had explained to her. The hood covered the light and made them think it was night, so they calmed down.
"All right, Edelgard. I need you to go behind her and pick her up with your arms around her wings and secure her feet with your hands." She nodded a bit, though she did feel intimidated. She would have to get within striking range of those terrible talons. She couldn't afford to die as the only remaining child with some level of sanity. She would have to take over the Empire someday which wouldn't happen if she got an infection from the eagle's talons. Still… The bird needed her furniture replaced and a good coping. So she slipped behind the eagle and held her close. She felt Evelin fighting but she seemed…weak. Her wings weren't strong in the slightest but she could feel the power still in the talons regardless of whether or not she had been exercised in two years.
Ueli came in and made quick work of the furniture. He replaced the jesses and rope with new ones, slicing off the old, battered furniture. Then he turned to Evelin and forced her mouth open. Even if Edelgard knew nothing about birds, it was pretty obvious that the beak was much too long. The tip was extremely long and obviously hadn't been trimmed in a long time. Ueli forced the bird's mouth open and started filing away, all the while Evelin struggled. Edelgard held her tight, though she was trying to not break the bird's bones either. She could probably break the extremely delicate bones of a bird if she held on too tight.
Thankfully, Ueli finished in time and Edelgard let her go. She managed to slip the hood off but it wasn't without Evelin taking a snap at her. She flinched away from the bird, but at least it was all done. She wouldn't have to deal with Evelin like that again until she hopefully calmed down and managed to regain her sanity.
"You are pretty strong there, kid. I did see you crush that rock, but damn, holding an eagle like that ain't easy on a first timer." They left the mews and Edelgard rubbed the back of her neck. She wasn't trying to show off or anything. She was just trying to help. Hopefully she'd be able to help Ueli more in the future. She was just trying to do what she could around the falconry center.
Though she did look at the mews. "Why do you essentially keep them in jail cells…?" That was still disturbing her. Again, she knew the birds needed to be kept inside and sheltered somehow. She just wondered how they'd arrived at the idea of more or less jail cells. At least being in the mews hadn't made her think to being trapped beneath the palace. Then again, she hadn't even thought about that… She might have to be more careful going into mews in the future. She didn't know. She'd have to really think about it and pay attention to her reactions at a later date.
"Oh, that's because it doesn't damage their feathers. Wide-spaced bars won't hurt a bird's feathers. Anything else can cause significant damage to them and a raptor's feather state can decide if it'll fly for a season or not. It's why some birds can and can't be tied. In either circumstances, a free-lofted bird or a tied bird can break its feathers." Ueli looked at Evelin and Edelgard followed his gaze. She supposed that made sense to some degree. A bird with damaged feathers really wouldn't be at peak performance. They were how a bird flew from what little she knew of bird biology. She wasn't sure what would happen if they were flying on damaged feathers…
"I see. Is there anything else we need to do out here?" She looked around. They had come out here mainly for Evelin's furniture change and coping, so she wasn't sure if he would need help with anything else. Hopefully he wouldn't. That had kind of worn her out. Evelin might have been weakened, but that didn't mean she wasn't powerful. Edelgard's arms kind of hurt from the eagle struggling against her.
"Not really. We can go back inside if you'd like. Then I can introduce you properly to Romy. Though I will need to teach you the falconer's knot at some point soon." She tilted her head. There was a specific knot falconers used? She really wasn't used to tying things at all. Maybe a few ties on a dress here or there, but she hadn't much worked with rope or anything of the like. She supposed she wold really be expanding her skillset quite a bit out here while working with the birds.
"Okay." She nodded and they started heading back into the house until she noticed another bird tied up with striking red eyes. "What's that?" She had never seen a bird like it before. It had beautiful reddish-brown and white banding across its chest. It titled its head as it looked at her, eyes seemingly fixed. It didn't blink, its gaze intense. Wow, that was one crazy bird… It was a moderate size, a bit smaller than Romy but still a decent size.
"Ah, that was one of Lady Katinka's accipiters. She worked hard with that bird to get it tamed down. I had a helluva time getting it to respond well to me. Accipiters can be nasty little buggers if trained improperly especially as imprints. They're called the cook's bird since they can go all day, everyday. I fly that one even through the molt because he can be aggressive if left alone too long." Ueli rubbed the back of his neck and Edelgard nodded. She had never seen a bird like that before. It was really pretty, but if it was aggressive, she didn't really need that in her life… Evelin was enough right now. She really had no need for another highly aggressive bird.
"Maybe if I get used to Romy I can eventually fly him… But I can guess that's it's a bird for more experienced falconers." The way he moved was incredibly twitchy which implied very high strung behavior. People with high energy could be incredibly anxious and that seemed to strike her as this sort of bird. She really was starting to fall in love with birds of prey… So far, they were the only beauty she could find in life… Sometimes, she felt so cold and numb unlike when she'd been a young child. Everything had been beautiful to younger her which meant that she could write poetry easily even if it hadn't been very good. But now, she just couldn't write poetry at all which was sad… She had loved doing it so much…
"Maybe in due time, but for now, let's focus on Romy."
"Of course. And I'll visit with Evelin when I can." She wouldn't go into the mews, of course. She could see just how dangerous and untamed Evelin was now. The way she'd fought and struggled had been hard to keep under wraps especially with that giant wingspan of hers. Even an out of shape eagle wasn't a bird to scoff at. She had really, really learned that lesson today. Eagles were not birds to be trifled with. At least most of the other eagles seemed like they were probably a lot calmer than Evelin…
"As long as you stay outside—"
"I won't go inside. I promise." She smiled up at Ueli who nodded. With that done, they headed inside and Romy was still as impassive as ever.
"Honestly, I should probably start teaching you the falconer's knot before we get to into the bird… We're inside so she won't have much room to go if she flies off, but it's still gonna be important to know how to secure a bird sooner rather than later." Ueli had her sit on the couch and took out some thin rope. He started running her through how to do the knot slowly. She frowned, definitely struggling a fair bit. She was used to tying things with two hands, not one. She could see why it was a single-handed knot though… If the bird was up on the glove, then the knot had to be done single handed. There was no real way to use one's occupied hand. Still… She was going to have to practice this when not with Ueli. She could probably do a quarter of an hour in the morning then another quarter hour after she left them. Hopefully that would help her start to get the knot down quickly.
"I'll practice on my own in the morning before I come and after I leave. I promise." She didn't want to potentially lose a bird because she couldn't handle the falconer's knot quick enough. Yeah, she was going to do her best. Losing a bird would be devastating most likely and there was no telling what would happen if he did lose one. Losing an eagle would be especially devastating for the family. She could only imagine how much time and effort went into training them with as large and powerful as they were.
"I'd appreciate that, but we can still work on it while you're here. Helen knows how to do it pretty well, so she can set aside a couple minutes here and there while you're working on making furniture. That sound good?"
Edelgard nodded. "That sounds fine." Having some feedback from people that knew how to do this would be good. She could practice on her own all she wanted, but if she was doing it wrong the entire time, it wouldn't do her any good. She really would be looking to Ueli and Helen for guidance on that.
"For now, we'll just have Romy attached to your glove and I'll tie her to it. But I should probably go get some tidbits… Be back in a bit." Ueli slipped out of the house and Edelgard shuddered a little. That would mean having to butcher a quail. That really was not appealing to her. She would have to get over it eventually, but for now, she would hopefully be able to handle the tidbitting as well as cooking. She just… This was all so hard on her. Having her flesh flayed open like that and then healed back had been absolutely terrible.
Ueli came back a bit later with a bag full of small bits and put the bag in Edelgard's lap. "The first thing to do with any bird of prey is to get them to eat off the fist. Thankfully, Romy should do it without too much problem. She's a well trained bird and I handle her all the time." He brought Romy over and then tied her to Edelgard's glove.
Her eyes were a sharp amber color and studied Edelgard with a certain level of intelligence. It was odd to be so close to a bird with such intelligence. Even her horses didn't have this much knowing in their eyes… She had seen pegasi up close before a few times, and there really was consideration in there. They could clearly think and process unlike most other animals. She wouldn't be surprised if they were nearly on par with humans. But she had never really worked with them long enough to understand or know if they were only basal instincts like most animals or able to do that sort of processing like humans were capable of.
She took one of the tidbits and held it in her gloved hand. She did flinch a little at how squishy it was between her fingers. It was not fun to handle meat like this. But she needed to overcome all of this. At least it was all cut up so she couldn't really identify which part was which part. There were feathers and bones and everything, but since it was cluster of small bits, it wasn't quite as nasty to her as the full body of the quail. This was a little bit easier to handle though she still didn't like the sensation of it.
Still, the bird bent her head down and started to eat. Edelgard smiled and simply watched her contently. Yeah, this wasn't really doing much, but it was pretty neat to be so close to a bird of prey. She could feel the talons on the outside of her glove, though. The leather really didn't seem like it would stop the bird if it decided to foot her… "What exactly is the glove for? It feels like Romy could put her talons through it if she wanted." The bird's hold wasn't tight, at least. Enough to maintain her balance but not enough to punch through the leather either.
"Ah, yeah… A glove isn't much protection from a bird if it wanted to foot you. It's mostly for the bird's comfort. Is a plain wood chair or a chair wit padding more comfortable?" That made some sense. A human hand probably wouldn't be very comfortable to sit on by itself…
"I see what you mean now." Edelgard nodded. Yeah, she didn't want the bird to be uncomfortable. Plus, she wasn't sure what she would do if a bird's talon punctured her. They used their talons to pick apart their prey, so only goddess knew what got under their nails. She felt lucky she hadn't gotten footed by Evelin even with her having restrained her like she had. She really hoped she would never get footed. She didn't want to die to nasty infection… Plus, who knew what would happen if she died? Adrestia would fall into chaos with there being no more descendents of House Hresvelg. She really couldn't afford to get sick and die if just for the future of Adrestia… And she wanted to spare Juliane the reality of losing all of the children she cared about so much. (Aside from Magda and Gete. Nobody liked Helga or her daughters.)
For a while, she sat there and let Romy pick at different tidbits. Eventually, though, the bird stopped eating and closed her eyes. "Is she full or something?" She did notice a strange bulge on the bird's neck. It had been there before, but she really noticed it now.
"Yeah, prolly. I gave her a quail this morning, so her crop was probably already pretty full." He stroked her throat where the bulge was. "Basically they store food in a pouch to digest it later."
"Oh, neat!" That was pretty cool. Still, if she was full, then they should probably put her up. She held her hand out and Ueli took Romy back.
"Want to see an eagle fly free?" Edelgard's eyes rounded at the offer and she nodded. It'd been years at this point. She really wanted to see an eagle fly free again. It wasn't really the falconry season yet but still… She wanted to see it. She was really enthralled being so close to birds of prey like this. She was truly privileged to be able to be so close to these majestic creatures.
She stood up and followed Ueli outside to the mews again where he put Romy away. He didn't tie her up and simply let her go into the aviary before closing the door. She followed him to an eagle that had plucked away its entire quail obviously earlier in the morning. Some feathers remained but there was virtually nothing left of the bird. She could see the eagle's crop, but it was far from full, judging from how big Romy's had gotten.
Ueli went into the mews and retrieved the eagle. "This is the Empress' eagle. Whenever you do start flying an eagle, I'll probably start you on her. She's a well-trained bird and fairly gentle and steady. The Empress has flown her for nigh twenty years now." He looked proud of himself. "Though we'll probably be returning her somewhat soon, maybe five or so years. She's a good bird, so it'll be a sad day when we can't fly her anymore." Wow, twenty years of flying… But Tobias had said that Evelin had been flown for two years before he'd gotten her.
"Do you train them for a bit before you let who they're intended for fly them?"
Ueli nodded. "Yup, usually about two or three years. An inexperienced falconry bird doesn't make for an enjoyable hunt for nobles. So we give 'em a couple of years before we let the royal family fly them. But since you'll be helping with Evelin…" He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. Yeah, that definitely had to be odd. Having a member help with their own bird when he took it all into his own hands. She was awed by how much work her put into all of this. He had at least thirty birds to take care of… How did he exercise all of them? It was really crazy to see. But he also did have Annika and Helen to help him work things out. It seemed like most of the furniture production fell on Helen, though, while Ueli was the one that worked with the birds more directly. She might be wrong, but that was what it seemed like the division of labor came down to.
They exited the mews and Ueli put the bird up in a tree, then undid the knot that attached to the leash. He stood back and held his fist up, whistling to the eagle. Edelgard smiled broadly as she saw the eagle fly to and from a few times. It was nothing compared to seeing Evelin on the wing back when she'd been a child, but it was still amazing to see all the same. But after a few rounds, Ueli tied the eagle back to his glove and walked over to Edelgard. "Do you know how to pet a bird of prey?"
She nodded. "Tobias taught me." She reached over and gently stroked the bird's breast bone, getting a few chirps out of her. She moved a little bit on Ueli's fist, but she seemed mostly steady. Edelgard smiled. It was pretty neat to be petting an eagle again after so long. "Maybe I can go on some hunting expeditions with you this year. When does falconry season begin?"
"Usually 'round the Horsebow Moon and lasts about till the end of the Pegasus Moon. Breeding season starts 'round the Lone Moon time." That…was a pretty robust season. It lasted basically all of the slightly chillier seasons. She would have plenty of time to go with them on hunting expeditions. She was old enough now, so she would hopefully be able to accompany Juliane a few times during that time. She wanted to see the birds fly on the soar again and be free. But it was only the Garland Moon right now, so it was still summer. That at least gave her time to work with Evelin. Hopefully she'd be able to get the bird out of her madness and trained by time the Horsebow Moon came around.
"Okay. I'll see if I can get Evelin by then. If not, hopefully for next season." Yeah, she really wanted to see Evelin fly free yet again. No bird of prey deserved to be pushed into a little aviary for the rest of their lives. Especially not one as intelligent as Evelin obviously was. She deserved to be doing what she would naturally. Though… "Why only fly during the colder months?"
"Well, think about it like this. New life usually starts coming with the Great Tree Moon. Most animals are having babies at that time. What would happen to the populations if those parents were constantly taken away from their babies? Their babies wouldn't grow up to then have more babies. By time the Horsebow Moon rolls around, those babies are grown and surviving on their own. We want to work with the natural cycles, not against them." Ueli nodded sagely, starting to walk back to the mews.
Edelgard nodded. That did make some level of sense. If parents couldn't raise the next generation, then populations might crash and be horribly effected… Making sure everything was grown first would definitely help work with the natural cycles rather than help potentially crash them. She didn't want to see life disappear because falconers took prey when they shouldn't have.
"Plus, there's the molt to contend with too. Molts start around the same time as life begins to wellspring anew. We don't want the birds hurting their new feathers, so we put them up. Like I said earlier, if a bird's feathers are broken, it causes real problems for their flying. I do keep feathers just in case something happens during the season and I can imp them in. Had more than one eagle over the years break some primaries and it would've been season over if it hadn't been for my reserve feathers."
"Imping?"
"Basically replacing damaged or broken feathers with pristine ones from the molt. Like I said, it can be a real lifesaver under the right circumstances." He placed the eagle back into the mews and closed the door. He stretched a bit and smiled at Edelgard. "Now, how about we get you back for some furniture lessons from Helen?"
She nodded. "All right." They headed back to the house and to the workshop room in the back. She paid rapt attention to Helen's instruction over the next several hours, stopping only for the occasional small meal or snack until dinner rolled around. She didn't want to lose any more weight than she already had. Missing one day wouldn't be the end of the world for her, but too many days and she would lose more weight. She was having such a hard time putting it back on. The healers were worried for her, but she was doing absolutely everything she possibly could in order to recover from her captivity.
Once they were done with the furniture lessons, they headed into the kitchen where Helen handed Edelgard one of the knives and smiled at her. "Now how about we pick up where we left off last night? We'll be having some quail tonight but I'll handle most of the work. Still, I'll ask you to cut some breast. That sound okay?"
"I'll try." She still wasn't entirely comfortable handling all of this… But she needed to get over it. She needed to ensure that Evelin would fly free again and the bird wouldn't struggle with her prey. She really, really needed to get over this part of herself. She hoped that she could let the eagle soar and she wouldn't have to depend on Ueli, Helen, or Annika to dispatch the prey. It would be her responsibility to do that.
Helen put the vegetables down on the counter in front of Edelgard and she started chopping again. She saw Helen dealing with a couple of quail corpses and looked away, focusing her attention fully on the vegetables. She didn't want to see the bird carcasses unless absolutely necessary. She was trying to not pass out. She could tell just from how light headed it had made her complexion probably wasn't looking too hot right now. She was already naturally pale as was, so having the blood drain from her cheeks wouldn't help that in any shape, way or form.
She kept her attention entirely on the vegetable, trying to not look over at the dead quail. She could see Helen plucking the feathers off and beginning to score the bodies and take them apart. It was beyond difficult to not pay attention to. She really wished that she could react a lot better to this than she did. But it was so hard when she wasn't used to seeing blood or animals dying. She had seen them die on her initial hunting trip with Tobias and that hadn't been fun. But still, she had dealt with it better than compared to now. She didn't have the same sort of trauma then that she did now.
"How are your archer lessons coming along, Lady Edelgard?" She glanced over her shoulder and saw Hubert looking at her. He would already know that. He was there with her for every single archery lesson she'd had since she'd taken it up. She was trying to rebuild her arm and back muscles. Though with her freakishly increased strength, it wasn't really doing what it set out to. She could handle an eighty pound draw weight without too much issue, though it did seem like that she would need some extra time to rebuild her muscle mass. It was really hard to do too much when she was so weak even with her magically enhanced strength. She had to do a lot of exercises in order to rebuild her core strength and other greatly atrophied muscles.
She started to talk, glad for the distraction. Her chopping remained rough, slow, and uneven, but it was better than having to worry about the quail bodies being taken apart not too far away from her. Thankfully, Ueli nor Helen seemed to really mind that she was talking the way she was with Hubert. She just sometimes needed the distractions to make sure she didn't pass out. It was rough but she was glad for him. He understood her well enough to know when she was about ready to reach her limit. She really couldn't have asked for a much better friend or vassal. She knew he dealt in a lot of dark areas that he never told her about, but she was fine with that. He did what he needed to in order to protect her. After the slitherers had completely destroyed her family, she wouldn't complain about him protecting her. It was the best thing for her to always have him around. Honestly, she was surprised Ueli and Helen weren't more off put by him aside from his threats... Most people seemed to be eally unnverved by him due to how he carried himself.
After she finished with the vegetables, Helen did get her attention. The quail bodies had been completely dismantled and the feathers were nowhere to be seen. It was just various pieces of meat put to the side. She didn't quite feel as queasy when seeing that since that was just uncooked meat in her eyes. Still, she didn't feel a hundred percent comfortable with it either. "Do you think you could help me cut the breast meat into strips?" The woman smiled at her warmly and Edelgard nodded a bit. She had promised to help and this was part of getting her ready for hunting later on. She really needed to get over herself.
"Okay." There was no getting around it. Plus, she had handled the tidbits relatively okay. She had felt a little queasy, but with it disconnected from the animal so much, she had been able to handle it. This was just handling bigger chunks of meat was all. At least she didn't have to break down the bodies or anything like that. She really was glad that Helen and Ueli were so understanding even if they didn't know why she had such a hard time around the butchered animals.
Helen placed a few pieces of meat in front of her and told her how to properly handle them and how to deal with the grain. Edelgard did feel her stomach churning as the meat squished between her fingers and slid around the cutting board a little bit. It was strange to handle something with such a nasty texture. She really didn't like it. But she really did need to get over it because she'd be handling meat in the future. She might have to break down the animals Evelin caught so that way they could eat while out on the trip. The jackrabbit stew and roasted jackrabbit had been pretty good in its own right. She really had enjoyed eating stuff cooked simply over a fire instead of the elaborate ovens in the kitchens. There was something nice about the humble cooking Helen did compared to the elaborate dishes she tended to be served for major meals. Her smaller meals tended to be much simpler in comparison and construction to dinner and breakfast. The cooking was much blander since commoners didn't have the same access to spices, but she didn't mind. There really was something nice about the humble cooking.
"Now, how about we get you to actually cook something tonight, honey?" She looked up at Helen, head tilted.
"Aren't you afraid I'm going to burn the meal or something...?" She had never once cooked before in her life. It was a very valid concern. Granted, she was pretty good at keeping her attention on something. So she hopefully wouldn't burn anything. She really did just want to make a good meal for the family to enjoy. This was a nice setting and the people were so kind to her. They were feeding her despite her having plenty of food in the castle... Maybe she could their pay bumped a little bit so they wouldn't have to stretch their money as far to feed her. Maybe she could invite them to dinner one ninght too... They were giving to her, so she wanted to give back to them one day hopefully. She might have to wait a while to suggest that, though. It wasn't like they had any trust in them and Hubert had scared the daylights out of Ueli the previous day. Helen had also been scared of punishment for calling her honey... She had come around to that pretty quickly though.
"We all have to start somewhere, Edelgard. Plus, I'll be here to keep an eye on you. Most new cooks will burn something at some point. That's almost a given. As long as you have somebody helping you, you won't be as likely to burn something." Helen smiled warmly at her and she nodded. She hoped that was true. She didn't want to burn their meal and have them eat scorched food. She had had the luxury of never needing to eat food that had been turned to charcoal due to due to having the finest cooks in Adrestia cooking for her. "Even experienced cooks and burn things from time to time, so don't you worry too much if you do accidentally burn something. As long as it isn't charcoal, we'll eat just about anything." They probably didn't have the luxury to turn away burned food. Part of her felt guilty because the cooks had probably burned food before and then had to throw it away when it might still be fairly edible... She was so incredibly privileged when it came to almost anything. Being a princess came with so many perks that she wasn't even sure what all she had going for her that common people might not even know about.
"Okay." With that, Helen started to walk her through how to cook the meal. Granted, she did struggle when Helen told her to grab something from the second shelf in the cabinet above the counter. She knew she was short, but she hadn't realised just how short she was until now. Even Helen was taller than she was at about 5'5". Edelgard was only 4'111" flatfooted. It sucked so badly to not be able to reach things in the kitchen. And Hubert was a monster compared to her...
Thankfully, the meal didn't burn and so they set the table and settled down. Ueli said a short prayer of the meal again (rage boiling in Edelgard's veins the whole time), then they started to eat. The two youngest kids chatted between themselves, mostly about games they wanted to play after dinner. Annika, however, picked at her meal and and didn't look up at anybody. Edelgard glanced at Helen who looked a bit concerned. "Annika, honey, what's the matter?"
Annika's head snapped up, her cheeks relatively pale. Something was clearly very wrong with her and she might not want to talk about it. "I-It's nothin', Ma. Don't worry about me too much." Edelgard could tell she was obviously deflecting so her mother wouldn't worry. Her body language was so very clear and telling in regards to that. Sometimes, people would do absolutely everything they could in order to get out of something... Edelgard had fought hard against Juliane taking her out of her room and had actually hurt the Empress in the process. Thankfully, Juliane didn't hold anything against her since she understood her vulnerable state at the time.
Annika glanced at Edelgard for a split second and Edelgard tilted her head. Something to do with her? What was so upsetting about her? She hadn't treated Annika poorly or anything. Right? Hubert had given her that one glance yesterday, but that was about it as far as she knew. She really wasn't trying to upset the girl. She was just trying to get Evelin back into flying shape again, hopefully before the Hosebow Moon was upon them. Though she wasn't sure if she could undo two years of madness in just a matter of months. She was trying her absolute hardest.
"Is something about Edelgard upsetting you?" Helen put a hand on her daughter's head and ran it through her hair. Annika didn't seem comforted by the gesture in the slightest. What was going through her head to make her so uneasy?
"It's just... You and Da took so easy to calling her by name. She's the Imperial princess. Doesn't that just feel the slightest bit off to you? Ain't no commoner should refer to a lord by their first name." Annika's tone was quiet and Edelgard looked away. She hadn't been trying to upset the girl by any means. She was just trying to get them more comfortable around her. There was no need to be so formal when they'd be working closely together for years and decades to come. Her father was relatively neutral toward commoners, but Juliane and Tobias had been warm to them. That was how she'd learned to be so kind to them. They were simply people too. They were all doing their best to make their way in the world with what they had. Granted, Edelgard had far more in life than dozens if not hundreds of commoners combined... It was so hard to see people struggle especially after what she'd been through.
Helen patted Annika's head then wrapped her arms around her daughter. "It is a bit odd, but she's also had the Empress in her life since she was young. The Emperor don't much care about us commoners, but the Empress and her sons really did care. I can't tell you how many times Juliane has been down here to sit and talk with us. Same with Tobias. They're good, kind people despite being nobles." Edelgard smiled a little at that. Yeah, Juliane was a kind woman that would do whatever she wanted with people. Aside from the drama with her own mother that had led to Anselma's exile, Juliane really was kind to almost everyone. She treated even the lowliest of servant girls and boys with extreme warmth. There was a reason that Edelgard hadn't given into her madness or hardened despite all of the rage and pain in her heart.
"You really haven't had any one on one time with the Empress, have you?" Edelgard asked. She saw Annika's face turn completely ashen at the question. It was only because of Juliane that Edelgard saw things the way she did... The woman had been such a huge influence on her life.
"Not really, no... She mostly just comes to talk to Ma and Da when she's down here. I've met her a couple times, but it's just been in passing." Annika's voice was incredibly quiet and Edelgard gave a sympathetic nod. Juliane was a busy woman, so it did make sense that Annika hadn't been able to spend much time around her.
"Well, I could see if I could get her to come down here one day and you could talk to her a little bit more." That was assuming she could pull the woman away from taking care of her son... That was what occupied most of Juliane's time when she wasn't with Edelgard now. It must have hurt to see her son in such a state. She really did hate that Juliane had to watch her only remaining biological child waste away into absolutely nothing. She hadn't allowed Edelgard to see her siblings, probably wishing to spare her from the trauma that would come from that. Still, she wanted to say goodbye to her siblings at least one more time. She would never get to see them again afterr they died. They'd be buried and that would be that. It wasn't fair to keep her from people she loved even if they couldn't remember her any longer. Hopefully Juliane would allow her to talk to Tobias and the others at least one more time... She was a teenager now, so she ought to be allowed to do far more than when she'd been a small child.
Annika looked incredibly ill at ease with that. "But ain't she a busy woman? She don't need to get to know little old me. I'm not worth anything. I'm just a commoner... Common. Meaning easily replaced." Edelgard frowned at that. Commoner didn't mean easily replaced. She meant the world to her parents and any other family members, no doubt.
"You mean the world to your family. Maybe in the eyes of the nobility you'd be easily replaced, but your life still means a great deal to those who love you." She looked at Helen and Ueli who no doubt loved their daughter to the ends of the earth. Juliane loved Edelgard despite not having any sort of blood relation. She was just a plural mother to her and had zero obligation to seeing her through anything. Yet she chose to help Edelgard as well as care and comfort her after everything had happened. She really did love her family even if there was no blood relation there... Family was absolutely everything in the world to Edelgard... She really hated that her family was now more or less just her, her father, and three plural mothers. It just wouldn't be very long until her siblings died... From what Juliane said, they barely ate anything and barely drank any water. Getting them to consume anything was a great toil, and they lost so much weight…
Annika looked down at her plate, betraying the fact she didn't put too much stock in herself. Edelgard frowned. "Trust me. You have a lot of value to the people that do care about you. My family wasn't perfect growing up, but there was, in general, a lot of love there. Everyone has value there. So it means you have value too." How could somebody believe they didn't have any value? That was such a foreign concept to her. Again, her family had been far from perfect, but the love there had told her that everyone had value. Aside from Helga and her daughters, every mother valued every child and almost every child valued every mother. Her father had valued them all on top of it. Helga was the biggest wrench in that, believing she was above everyone else due to being such a classically trained mage. Aside from Katinka's children, most of the kids hadn't been trained heavily in combat. Helga had valued her ability to defend herself above almost all else. It was really frustrating because she didn't offer anything to the family but shallow, bitchy behavior…
"Annika, honey, we love you more than anything. Edelgard is right. To the nobility, you might be a commoner, but to us, you are the world. You have a very important job in the future and we love you for everything you do, whether or not you relate to your work or not." Helen pulled Annika into her lap and ran a hand through her hair. Edelgard smiled a bit. There was so clearly love among this falconry family that she was glad they had each other. It reminded her of her family to a large degree, though smaller in scope. Love was something that she truly did miss... Juliane, Karola, and Augusta offered her plenty, but it just wasn't the same without her siblings... She missed their love so much.
Dinner wound down shortly after that and Edelgard offered a half bow to them. "I'll see you tomorrow about the same time if that's okay, Ueli?" She looked at the man who nodded.
"Yep, sounds good, Edelgard. We'll do some more time with Romy tomorrow. I'll make sure she ain't too fed up so you can feed her off the fist yourself." The man gave a two-fingered salute while Helen offered Edelgard a warm smile.
"And we'll continue how to make furniture too. Jesses aren't too hard, so we'll move to hoods and gloves soon enough." The black-haired woman continued to smile. She was glad. She got the gist of jesses down relatively quickly... She wanted to learn how to make more complex things sooner rather than later. Jesses were so simple. They were just strips of leather with slits in them to keep them on the bird's leg. Sizing could apparently be a bit of an issue, but she wasn't sure how often she'd actually need to make jesses. Though hoods and such seemed pretty tough so they probably wouldn't need to be replaced too often most likely.
"Okay. Be back tomorrow!" With that done, she headed back to the castle with Hubert in tow. Today had been a pretty good day. She'd had a few upsets, but it wasn't the end of the world by any means. She really was glad to have opened this new chapter in her life. Though she hadn't gotten to visit with Evelin outside of helping replace her furniture... That did make her grown a bit. That was sad. But she'd been so caught up in the rest of everything else that it hadn't entirely caught her attention. Maybe giving the bird some space to calm down first had been a good idea, though. She didn't understand eagle behavior, so who knew. Falconry was so new to her. She really didn't know what she was getting herself into. At least she wouldn't have to help with feedings for a while.
She parted ways with Hubert and headed back to Juliane's room. It was about eight at this point, so the woman was back in her room. Edelgard changed into her night clothes and settled on the bed against Juliane. "How was your day, El?" She saw the woman pick up a brush and comb from her nightstand and started to run the comb through Edelgard's hair.
"It was pretty good... I got to hold a raptor for the first time today. And I saw your eagle fly free a bit." She closed her eyes as Juliane brushed and combed her hair. It had become a part of their nightly and morning rituals. She really did enjoy having somebody play with her hair as well as brush it like this. It was just...nice. It was yet another way Juliane showed she cared.
"I bet it was nothing compared to what you saw on the hunting expedition with Tobias a few years back, though. Watching a bird fly just off a creance is nothing compared to seeing them soar on the wing and stoop from that soar on a jackrabbit."
"Yeah, no, it wasn't anything compared to that but it was nice to see a bird fly free again." She really was glad that she had seen it. Eagles were such majestic creatures. She understood why the Imperial family flew them after having watched Evelin on the hunting expedition and after seeing Juliane's eagle fly free earlier in the day. They were put up for most of the year, but those months they got to do what they were naturally attuned to... Oh, it was absolutely glorious. She was so glad they got to be free to some degree. She really hoped she'd have Evelin flying fit again by time this falconry season rolled around. But she needed to get her out of madness first…
"Who did you hold? I imagine Ueli didn't let you hold one of the eagles."
She scratched under her chin. "Well... I did get to hold Evelin, but that was to replace her furniture. But to hold on the glove, it was Romy. Do you know Mother Katinka's birds?" She really wasn't sure what all Juliane knew about the various birds Katinka had left behind. She knew the two had been closer than any other women, but she wasn't sure to what extent that had gone. Juliane was a fairly private woman that didn't openly share much with others.
"Oh my. Well, I'm guessing you didn't get hurt then. But Romy is a good bird. She was the first non-eagle I flew. She's about ten now, so she's pretty old. She's good and steady and you should learn with her fairly well. We do normally start Imperial children on a peregrine, but Romy isn't a bad beginner bird. She was fairly tolerant of my mistakes." Juliane kissed the back of Edelgard's head and the teenager smiled. She was glad that Juliane approved of Romy. Those talons were kind of intimidating but she had gotten pretty close to eagle talons today. As long as she didn't do anything to freak the bird out, she would probably be fine and not get footed. But there were still plenty of things that could freak a bird out that Edelgard couldn't control. Hopefully nothing like that would happen…
"I'll do my best. She ate off the first for me today." She was excited about that. It hadn't been too terribly much, but that was mostly because she'd already been fairly full. She was looking forward to feeding Romy more again even if the squishy bits of quail still made her queasy. It was still a genuine step up from having to handle the full quail bodies that were headless. She still was really not looking forward to having to eventually kill and behead them. How did anybody deal with that? She didn't understand. Then again, most people didn't have the trauma that she did... She could still feel her flesh being torn asunder to be played with and having her back flayed open…
She shook her head, trying to banish the memories. Juliane wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into her lap. "It's okay, El. You're safe here. It's just you and me." Edelgard nodded, tears welling in her eyes. She wasn't in the dungeon anymore. She had to remember that. Some days could just be so very difficult when it came to that. The past couple of days had been relatively good, but she still sometimes got flashes of those awful, dark moments. She snuggled deeper into Juliane, trying to banish the memories and feelings of those awful experiments.
"Would you like me to read to you?" The question was soft and Edelgard looked up at Juliane.
"Please." After the reminders through the day and now, she didn't want to sit in silence. It meant the brushing had to come to an end, but she didn't want the silence. It was too deafening right now. She got up and went over to Juliane's bookcase, then grabbed one of her own books and handed it to the woman. Juliane settled her down in bed, then started reading from the edge of it. She read for several hours until Edelgard's head started to bob, then climbed into bed with her. With the day now behind them, the pair drifted off into a deep slumber, though Edelgard's was a bit troubled.