“If you want to see the world, my lady… I will make it so,” he said, giving her another warm and mildly charming smile.  He saw the small hint of sadness in her eyes, the light, icy color contrasting so deeply with his own dark eyes.  “You are well read and well versed, and you will be able to adapt to anywhere I bring you,” he said.  “And the threats are why I am here - to take care of you, and protect you.”  He paused for a moment, and fished into his pocket, pulling out the necklace that Lily had given him for Kirika.  “You also have this,” he said, and presented it to her.  “It will help protect you from any demonic forces,” he said, but furrowed his brow.  “I’m not really sure what that means, but your aunt said it was important,” he added.

Bryar found himself mildly surprised when Kirika brought him into her memory, but sat still, allowing himself to be fully engulfed in it and see it all for himself.  When it had ended, he looked over to Kirika, and could see how despondent her memory had seemed to make her.  He leaned towards her.  “Let me tell you a secret, Kirika,” he said, using her name for the first time since he had been introduced to her.  “When my family decided that I was an abomination, I felt like it was my fault.  In my eyes, it was my fault that my mother and father wanted me to bed dead.  But I have learned, over time, that it most certainly was not my fault.  You already seem to grasp the concept that your… mother…” he paused for a moment, unsure if that was the word he really wanted to use.  “Her hatred for you did not stem from you,” he concluded.

He was glad when the conversation was brought back to shifting.  “You have cousins who are half lycan?” he asked, delight showing on his face. “I would certainly like to meet them, someday,” he said.  “I don’t meet a lot of other shifters, being alone as I have been for some time,” he added, and this time it was his own face that shone a light of sadness.  “I’ll change for you, sometime,” he said, winking.  “My fur, when I change, is the same color as my hair,” he said, running his fingers through a patch of his hair.  “And my eyes stay the same,” he added.  

He paused, rubbing his beard in thought as she asked him if there was anything he wanted to know about her.  The thought crossed his mind to ask her age, but he thought better of it, for the time being.  It was information he did not need to know, and it would be inappropriate for him to request such, he thought.  He chose, instead, to speak on something that would no doubt excite her.  “So, you’ve read about many places in Revaliir,” he repeated.  “What is the one place you absolutely want to see, without a doubt?  We can make that our first adventure,” he said.  “That’s what we’ll do - we will think of you venturing out into the world as an adventure, and I will be there by your side to protect you from anything that arises,” he said, with a warm smile.  “What do you think of that?” he asked.

He made her smile and with that promise in mind, Kirika felt she was finally free.  She took the necklace from him as she was presented it. “I… I do.” She was quick to put it on. “They say my mother sold her soul to a bunch of demons. Laid a curse out for all of her children who would take her place. When I don’t have the holy lanterns near me… I hear their maddening whispers. I don’t want to end up like she did. I’m very grateful for this necklace.” She put her hand on it and smiled towards him once more.

She blushed when he finally used her name and nodded. “I was raised to know it wasn’t. That none of what happened was my fault. I was raised by the Queens instead of by my mother and they knew I would eventually come to question if I was just a puppet. They never wanted that. They were rather straight forward about everything from the get go. As soon as I could understand what they were trying to tell me, I knew the truth.”

She chuckled and nodded. “Yes! I would be glad to try and meet up with them.” She felt sorry for him and reached out to gently rub his cheek. “I will make sure we find more shifters! My cousins would be glad to meet you.” She nodded a bit and pictured it in her head for a moment, she held a dazed look on her face before chuckling. “I’ve never seen a real bear before.” She was embarrassed to say the least.

She was slightly disappointed that he didn’t ask her anything but the disappointed faded when he brought up their travels. “Abed! Some of Arri’s structural art comes from there!” She stood up and danced about the room until she came over to the bird. “First the garden. I want to make sure this little one can fly. He hurt his wing when he accidentally crashed into my balcony.” She took the bird back out and smiled. “Then we can go to Abed, right?”

Bryar grinned as Kirika smiled at his promise, and as she fastened the necklace around her neck.  He listened intently as she explained about her mother’s soul being sold to demons - something that Lily had briefly touched on when he had met with her before Kirika.  “Your aunt told me that necklace will protect you from demonic forces,” he said.  “I would assume that the whispers should not get to you as long as you wear that,” he said.  Unfortunately, he was not able to protect her from whispers from the unseen, but he would do everything else he could to make sure that the things that could protect her from such stayed in place.

He found himself glad to hear that Kirika’s family had raised her to know that her mother’s behavior was not her fault.  “It is good, that you were placed with people so loving and caring,” he said.  “Though, it seems to me that Rosenites watch out for their own, do they not?” he asked, with a bit of a chuckle.  “I find it refreshing that they were not afraid of sharing this information with you,” he added.  “You seem very intelligent,” he added, deciding to ask a question that he had been pondering.  “Your aunt Lily did not tell me… How many years have you?” he asked, deciding that knowing her age could prove useful.

He frowned when she mentioned having never seen a real bear before.  “I suppose you wouldn’t have, then, would you?” he asked.  “Here - I will shift for you, once we are out of the grounds of Sularia,” he said.  “Though I do not know if that would be a real bear,” he said, laughing softly.  “I’ll find you one of those, too?” he said.  “Deal?”  He held his hand out to her in a sort of promise, offering for her to take it and shake to seal the deal, so to speak.

“I’ve never been to Abed… it is settled.  That will be our first destination,” he said.  He stood up shortly after she did, and moved to stand beside her as she found the bird once more.  “Let us bring your friend out to the gardens,” he said to her, smiling.  “Enjoy our time out there for a few minutes, but then we must gather your belongings… because then it will be time to venture out,” he said, smiling warmly at her.  “And we will travel to Abed… and after that, anywhere else you want.”  

Kirika smiled boldly as she nodded. “Rosenites believe it takes a village to raise a child properly. We all look out for our own and those who don’t tend to get lost in the cracks of our society. The Black Court which I’ve become leader of, can be one of the worst courts. We don’t stand for bright cheerful things like the others. We are the outcasts of society or those that were weighed heavily with burden all their life… Some are born into this court because they are destined for sadness.”

Thinking on it for a moment she laughed. “We don’t like to sugar coat things. I would eventually come to take over this spot so they wanted me prepared. They didn’t know when they would infuse me with the power of the court. My mother was volatile and cruel. She went as far as to kill The Red Court Heir Nathaniel. He was my cousin.”

Blushing at the subject of her age, she gave him a laugh. “I’m twenty. I’m the youngest of my mother’s children.” When he mentioned shifting she grinned. “That sounds exciting! I can’t wait.” She had always been fond of all the stories that would trickle into the castle by the staff. She did not regret her life as she knew it made her safe and she was able to breathe still. However, while she had the knowledge of the world, she had no experience. Experience would be her key to success.

She nodded and scooped the bird up in her hands. Her thumb gently caressed it. He appeared comforted by her gentle spirit. “No more running into doors for you. Alright?” She chuckled lightly as she closed the doors to her balcony. “You got hurt pretty bad.” She smiled up at Bryar before leaving the castle with him.

If it wasn’t for the bird she could have sprint outside and bathed in the sunlight for the first real time in ages. Once out into the gardens, she unwrapped the bird’s tiny wing. “You need to stay here. You aren’t old enough to go out on fine adventures.” She nuzzled the bird softly. “Alright, time to fly.” She worried at first as she opened her hands and he didn’t leave. “You have to go.” She chuckled softly as the bird tweeted towards her. It wasn’t long after that, that the little song bird disappeared into the high skies. 

“I knew he could do it!” She said excitedly. “So how will we get to Abed? Isn’t one of the only ways there by ship? Does that mean I get to see the ocean?!”

“You call yourself an outcast from society,” he said quietly, and almost chuckled, very softly.  “You and I should get along quite well, then,” he said, smiling at her.  “Being an outcast does not need to mean one is destined for sadness, however,” he added.  “I have been outcast and alone for the majority of my adult life and I find myself fairly happy.”  He was silently content for a moment, before looking back to Kirika as she began to speak.  It surprised him, momentarily, at how desensitized to murder and violence Kirika seemed to be, and he frowned a bit.  “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, when she mentioned her mother murdering her cousin.  She did not seem to be overly affected by it, but he still felt sympathy for her. 

Bryar was glad when the subject shifted back to something lighter, and found himself feeling somewhat relieved at her age.  He had been worried that she was much younger, and younger would mean more difficulty explaining to her what things were dangerous and why.  Her age was not far behind his, and this would make the two much more compatible for travel together, and for that he was incredibly grateful. 

Watching Kirika handle the bird, he noticed for the first time how stunningly beautiful the girl was.  Her hair flowed as she moved, and her skin seemed entirely flawless.  He seemed captivated for a moment, before shaking himself out of his reverie and offering her his arm so they could head out from the castle.  Shortly thereafter, the two found themselves outside.  He stood back, watching her with a smile on his face as she unwrapped the birds bandage and released it.  He stepped up behind her as she watched the bird flying into the skies, and placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Now, you’ve released your little friend,” he said.  “It is time for us to go,” he added, smiling at her.

He nodded at her when she questioned how the pair would travel to Abed.  “We will take a ship, yes.  I will find us one with a private cabin, so that you can ease into the transition of being out in the world,” he said.  He did not want to throw her into things too wildly, but a private cabin would also allow him to keep a closer watch on her.  “And yes, you will see the ocean,” he said, dropping his hand from her shoulder and holding an arm out to her.  “Shall we?” he asked.  The two gathered her belongings and headed off.

Bryar led the two of them to the port right outside of Sularia.  He was momentarily surprised that the girl had not seen the ocean, given how close they were, but realized that she had not been well positioned in the castle to where she would have been able to see it.  Normally, he would have asked Kirika to stay back a ways as he spoke with a few crew members, but he kept her very close as he needed to keep an eye on her.  Fortunately, the men in the port were not lecherous, and seemed to pay no mind to the young girl at his side.  Eventually, he had secured them passage on a larger vessel, paying a hefty amount of silver to use one of the officers’ quarters.  

He looked to Kirika, and smile, pointing towards a large dark brown vessel at the far side of the port.  “That is the ship we will be taking,” he said to her with a smile.  “I’ve gotten us a private cabin, so you will be safe if anything should try to harm you - but I will be sure that does not happen,” he added.  “Come on,” he said, and began to lead her towards the ship, feeling a bit of excitement for her as she was about to embark on an entirely new adventure.