An Owl's Rise

When Evelyn made it to the kitchen of Melisandre's estate, she found Bylur, Rehni, and Aralee, looking on in amazement as Katrina and Anneli cooked up a feast for their return.

"Oh, sister, you are back!" Aralee said happily, spotting Evelyn first.

Following where Aralee had turned her head, both Bylur and Anneli turned to greet Evelyn as well.

"There is a seat next to me Evelyn." Bylur said, motioning to the cushion that sit empty next to him.

However, while Evelyn thanked him for the consideration she wanted to sit next to her sister instead and took the cushion next to Aralee.

This caused Bylur to hang his head, and he was far more devastated by Evelyn's actions than he should have been.

Once Evelyn had sat down, she exchanged a flew pleasantries with Anneli and Katrina who had momentarily stopped cooking to greet her.

"So, what did you and Lady Melisandre need Verrader for, and where is he?" Rehni asked once Evelyn had settled in. She was sure that something was going on behind the scenes and want to get to the bottom of it if she could.

"Verrader and I needed some advice from my master. I already got what I needed, but Verrader is staying behind to talk with Melisandre longer. I will give you more details later." Evelyn said, putting Rehni's inquiry to a swift end.

She did not even truly know what was going to happen at this point with Verrader. It was still possible that Melisandre might kill him if she deemed him a threat.

Luckily Katrina and Anneli soon finished up the food, and a grand feast was able to take everyone's mind off the fact that Verrader was not here.

For several hours the six of them enjoyed the best of what Anneli and Katrina had to offer. Each of them feeling their bodies being revitalized and filled with strength.

"This food is simply divine. I have never had anything this amazing." Aralee said, a sparkle in her eyes.

Up to this point she had been eating food at the lower end of what the Roost had to offer. Credits for her and Verrader were always in low supply, and they had more important things to focus on rather than the quality of their food.

But now that they had joined up with Evelyn, that was about to change.

Time seemed to pass quickly as they ate and enjoyed each other's company, until it was late into the day and each of them were starting to feel tired.

Yet even after several hours Melisandre and Verrader had not come back.

Evelyn was beginning to get pretty nervous about this, since her friends and little sister were periodically sending her glances, wanting to ask her what was going on.

Thankfully, before she was met with any heavy questioning, the two owls that had been absent for the entire celebratory feast arrived.

'What did she do to him?' Evelyn thought when she saw Verrader.

He looked incredibly worn out and like he was an inch from death. Certainly, when she left he was still unconscious and had a pained expression on his face, but he did not look as if the life had been drained from him.

Melisandre on the other hand had a very satisfied expression on her face and did not look worn out at all.

Naturally everyone else noticed this as well and glanced curiously at both Melisandre and Verrader.

"Katrina, would you bring some food for us. I image that you set aside easier." Melisandre said, sitting down at a chair that had been prepared for her.

"Understood, Lady Melisandre." Katrina respond before rushing over to the fridge magical tool and bring out several platers of food for Melisandre and Verrader.

"Here, eat up and recover a bit of your strength. I recommend you eat as much as you physically can. It will speed up your recovery." Melisandre said to Verrader.

She then waved her hand in front of the food and using her fire and water magic in conjunction reheated all of it without losing any of the moisture.

With languid movements, Verrader began eating the food in front of him. Showing no joy despite how amazing it tasted and honestly looking like he was ready to keel over and die.

Still, the fact that he was here and alive proved to Evelyn that Melisandre had carefully vetted him and was satisfied that he was no longer a threat to her.

In fact, having a turncoat like him on their side could have its benefits. They could have him send false repots to the humans that believed him to still be doing their bidding in order to get them off Evelyn's trail.

Eventually the root of the problem would have to be dealt with, but for now they could worry about other matters. Such as getting Otis admitted into the Roost.

"Verrader, are you okay?" Aralee asked, her expression filled with concern for her brother.

It as clear that something happened between him and Melisandre, but norther of them were willing to go into the details.

"I am just tired. I think I will be fine after some rest." Verrader said, shuddering violent for a moment when he remembered the sludge like liquid that Melisandre had injected him with.

Just as she had said, the dangerous alchemical item caused him to confess to any and everything Melisandre wanted to know. Even things Verrader did not truly know about himself. It was an intense integration that had left him beyond exhausted, but at least he had managed to prove his change of heart to Melisandre.

While the humans thought he was good and totally brainwashed, without anything truly binding them to him anymore, it only made sense that he would rather stay with a family that accepts him rather than continue to be a slave.

Within just a few minutes of slowly eating Verrader looked like he was ready to pass out at any moment and was wobbling precariously. Showing just how beat he was, since owls were normally able to stay upright even while sleeping.

"Anneli, would you take Verrader here to one of our guest rooms. And Katrina, would you prepare room for the others. It will be easier if we are in the same place tomorrow. It is too late now for me to submit the forms to grant Otis special permission to enter the Roost, today, so we will need to do it early tomorrow." Melisandre said with a slightly apologetic tone.

She had spent far longer grilling Verrader than she initially suspected. He knew quite a bit more about the humans that had captured and enslaved him than she though he would and spent time to squeeze out every detail while the honesty serum was still in effect.

Surprise was evident on Bylur and Rehni's faces, as they had never actually spent the night in Melisandre's estate. The two of them had come by often to train with Evelyn, but it was expected that they would leave and head to their own homes when they were finished.

But Melisandre did not want to wase any time tomorrow and figured it would be easier if they all just stayed in her estate for the night.

Aralee though, had never been here before and did not catch on to the abnormality of being allowed to stay and happily thanked Melisandre.

After that they all took to their own rooms and got to sleep quickly. The next day was going to be busy with getting Otis approved to enter the Roost.

…

"What the hell is taking so long." Evelyn grumbled.

As planned all of them had woken up Ealey and Melisandre had gone through the proper procedures to get Otis accepted as a member of the Roost, but despite believing that the meeting with he other Hall Masters would go quickly, Melisandre had been gone for several hours at this point.

And when Melisandre finally exited the chamber where the Hall Master had been meeting, it was clear that something unfavorable had happened.

It was rare to see Melisandre flared up with emotions, but one look at her face was enough to tell that she was beyond angry. She was furious.

"Damn him!" She shouted and slammed her fist into the nearby wall. Causing it to crack and shaking the entire room violently.

This was the first time that Evelyn had seen Melisandre get violently angry like this and it was quite nerve racking.

"Lady Melisandre, what happened?" Katrina, the bravest among them eventually asked.

"That bastard Silas is stone walling me. Normally there would be no problem with a tyrant rank owl being admitted if they have the endorsement of a Hall Master, but he is doing everything in his power to get in my way just for the sake of pissing me off." Melisandre said, her rage still palpable.

Hearing this Evelyn grimaced. She had not interacted with Silas often, but the couple times were enough to give her a bad impression of him.

He had treated her when they first met and said that she was not worthy of being Melisandre's disciple. Then when she was being sent to explore the new continent the roost discovered, se was certain he was the reason she got knocked out of the warp gate and deposited over the ocean.

Now, after all this time being quiet and not doing anything, he finally found his chance to get in Evelyn's and Melisandre's way, in order to derive whatever sick pleasure he got out of tormenting them.