Free Web NovelChapter 63: The Return of Kestrel
Kestrel was welcomed back to the East Shore outpost by Parfit and his team with grandeur. The cheers and greetings were warm and plentiful.
The East Shore lacked a healing pod. Not every outpost could afford such advanced medical equipment.
Birdie, her arm still bound in bandages, dashed down the staircase to greet Kestrel. With her one good arm, she hugged Kestrel tightly.
"Kestrel," Birdie’s head rested on Kestrel’s shoulder. Kestrel patted her back, yet Birdie remained still.
"I thought I’d left you in there too," Birdie’s voice was frail, barely louder than a whisper.
Birdie had left her mother, families, and childhood friends back in the Polluted Zone. This act had planted a thorn of guilt in her heart since she was a child.
Holding onto Kestrel, Birdie ignored Parfit’s pointed cough. She was the alpha, after all, and Kestrel was a beta, a beta from the Tower.
Kestrel could only respond, "All is well now, isn’t it?"
When Birdie finally let go, Kestrel noticed a small wet spot on her shoulder. A minor stain, hardly noticeable, but Kestrel felt as if something lingered there.
As she walked away, she kept glancing at it. Then she thought, "If I had died inside, she would have cried even harder, wouldn’t she?"
"If I died, there would be people in this world who would shed tears for me. More than one person, perhaps even many," thinking of this scenario brought a strange happiness to Kestrel. Her lips curled into a small smile.
Seeing her in a better mood, not as cold as before, Parfit invited her to a casual dinner at his house the following evening.
"There’s nothing fancy, but it’s always lively. The others frequently visit."
Parfit was the commander of the East Shore, but his house was hardly spacious. When the tall, burly alphas crowded into the living room, there was barely room to move.
Kestrel’s kitchen in the Tower was much bigger than this living room.
Yet, Kestrel found the crowding comforting, seemingly more cozy than her own spacious, empty home.
She was seated in the most comfortable position, on a plush single-seater couch, cushioned by pillows. A small blanket was draped over her legs, and she held a warm cup of fruit tea in her hand.
Raymond, with his golden hair, placed a small vase in front of her. It contained moonflowers freshly cut from their stems.
Kestrel looked small and delicate, sunk into the couch, her fair hand cradling the steaming mug, half her face hidden behind the pale purple petals of the moonflowers. She looked like the moon shrouded in clouds.
"Are you the beta from the Tower?" A little girl, about four or five years old, peeked out from behind Raymond’s leg. Her round eyes examined Kestrel, a hint of fright in her gaze.
The little girl was clean and well-dressed, in a dress with lacy frills and black braids held together by a small hairpin. She held a doll stitched together from scraps of fabric.
At first glance, Kestrel could tell she was a child from a modest background, cherished by her parents.
Kestrel didn’t care much for happy children, she decided to ignore her.
The little girl crept closer, offering one of two rabbit-shaped lollipops from her hand. "Do you want some candy? My mom made it."
She was a bit unsure, aware that most "grown-ups" didn’t enjoy sweets, and the noble guests who visited her home rarely accepted her treats.
To her surprise, the usually icy Kestrel, after examining the lollipop for a bit, opened her mouth and accepted the golden rabbit-shaped candy.
Seeing her candy accepted, the little girl relaxed instantly.
"My name is Olivia," she moved nearer to Kestrel. "Is it good? My mom and I made it using malt sugar, and we added some rose."
Kestrel tasted the candy in her mouth. The sweetness of the malt, mixed with the rich scent of roses, was yummy.
The two girls, one older and one younger, quickly got comfortable. Olivia brought her snack jar to share with Kestrel.
Honey cookies, purple shell candies; Kestrel’s cheeks filled with the snacks.
"My mom doesn’t usually let me eat like this," Olivia was excited too. "Today, because you’re here, I can enjoy too. Mom said we can bring out anything as long as you want to eat."
Olivia stayed by Kestrel’s side, sharing everything with Kestrel - "We’ve been waiting for you for a bit." "We were scared you wouldn’t come, and my dad had a few sleepless nights." "The day you healed Raymond, my dad came home and cried happily." "This doll was just made by my mom; it’s pretty."
...
When it was time for dinner, everyone kept serving Kestrel, which made her feel a bit awkward.
Parfit tapped on the table: "Be polite. How can she eat with all your fuss?"
Alphas wouldn’t skip a chance to drink at dinner. The drink was homemade rice wine from Parfit’s house, sweet in the mouth and strong after swallowing.
Kestrel wanted to try it too, so Raymond poured her a small glass. "Just taste a bit," he said, worried that the delicate beta from the Tower might not handle their strong drink.
"I’ll just have a little." Kestrel took a tiny sip and licked her lips.
"Wow!"
"Ah!"
"That’s good."
"Let me try."
Everyone started to make noise.
Tegnell stood up and raised his glass to Kestrel, "No more words, let’s talk over the wine."
Kestrel drank with him.
Birdie also raised her glass, drinking happily.
"This drink is strong, not everyone can take it, don’t push her," Raymond, holding the bottle and not pouring more, warned Kestrel, "Don’t drink any more."
"I’ll just have a tiny bit more," Kestrel said.
As the night got later, all the leaders at the table - the big Tegnell, blond-haired Raymond, capable Birdie - were all drunk.
Only Kestrel was still there, holding her glass, her eyes bright.
Her tendrils, full and wet, moved under the table. One found a wine jar, opened the lid, and fully went inside.
...
After all the guests had left, Parfit, who was cleaning up the house with his wife, asked her, "What do you think of Kestrel?"
"She’s not like any beta I’ve pictured," said his wife, laughing as she did the dishes. "She’s pretty, nice, and still has a hint of childlike innocence. Truly a rare find."
She remembered the gossip she’d heard about Kestrel and sighed, "Such a great girl and there are still those who push her away. I really wish she could stay here and not go back to that harsh place, the Imperial Nexus."
Parfit mumbled in agreement.
Kestrel found her stay at the East Shore very cozy, even fun to the point of forgetting home.
Birdie often took her flying everywhere, even over high cliffs just to pick a flower at the edge.
Muros would sometimes ask her to dive underwater for fish. They shared their sight and managed to find some pretty pearls from the sea.
Tegnell would always bring her some treats whenever he went on patrol. One day, he brought back a jar full of golden honey.
Kestrel did psychic grooming for each alpha at the outpost, getting better with each time. She could easily and accurately clean the long-lasting bad feelings from their psychic landscapes, making the healing process a breeze.
Raymond, who was about to go to the grooming therapy room, saw Tegnell leaving and asked him, "How was Kestrel’s treatment?"
"Help me." Tegnell rested his head on Raymond’s blond braid, whining, "My legs has gone jelly."
While the alphas were training, Kestrel would often watch them from the window of the therapy room.
Raymond came over to invite her, "Do you want to learn how to use a blade?" He held a beautiful short knife in his hand, and with a twist of his wrist, he showed off an impressive series of moves.
"Are you going to teach me this?" Kestrel’s eyes widened.
During her time at the follower academy, she once signed up for a blade-fighting class, which led to a lot of laughter from her classmates. She still remembered what they said:
"You’re too funny."
"That’s a class for alphas."
"Why would a beta learn how to use a knife?" freewebnovёl.ƈom
"Maybe you should think about learning how to do tricks with a kitchen knife."
But Kestrel knew that here, in the outpost, no one would say those things.
Raymond put the handle of the knife in her hand and taught her how to hold it right.
"I believe you can learn this," Raymond said, his head down as he taught her, his braid hanging from his side. "If you want, I can teach you everything I know."
He hid the knife’s blade, and his face became serious. "We’ll start from the basics and practice every day."
Kestrel clumsily held the knife and copied him in lowering her body’s center of weight.
Alphas would do everything they could to protect betas, but Raymond thought that having the ability to protect yourself, even if it wasn’t as strong as an alpha, was better than relying completely on others.
This was a kindness unique to Raymond, and people just like him–those who lived on the edge of life and death every day.
During this time, Roy had called Kestrel many times from SRD. "You’ve been out having fun for too long, when are you planning to come back? I can’t keep making excuses for you if you’re just going to vanish after being sent out."
Kestrel hummed in response, "In a day or two."
Here, every time they were about to go into the Polluted Zone, they would invite Kestrel.
"Are you coming? The daytime cycle of Polluted Zone 103 is about to start. We’re thinking of going in," Birdie asked, squatting in front of Kestrel.
And so, among a group of strong, powerful alphas, a beta joined them.
As they waited at the entrance of the Polluted Zone, they met other alphas from different posts. When they saw Kestrel in their group, they teased Raymond, "Raymond, did your brain mutate? Why would you bring such a fragile beta into the Polluted Zone?"
"Mutate" was the worst insult among alphas.
The alpha who spoke seemed ready to start a fight, knowing well that alphas are famously quick-tempered and those from the East Shore are especially protective. His words were sure to provoke them.
However, the alphas from the East Shore surrounded their beta, didn’t fight back, but instead looked at the teaser with pity. Confused, the offensive alpha mumbled to himself and entered the Polluted Zone.
Somehow, his journey didn’t go well at all. Despite being an old area and during the ’daytime,’ he made many mistakes. Whether it was tripping over nothing or accidentally angering the monsters of the Zone, they had to come back empty-handed and dirty, with him even hurt.
As they left, they ran into the group from the East Shore again. Those annoying guys had collected a lot of treasures – Tegnell and Raymond were carrying a new model of a healing pod, Birdie was holding a pulse gun, and they looked pleased as they passed.
Not only were they unharmed, but the small beta in their team was clean, not a spot of dirt on her face. In her hand, she was carrying a brand-new stuffed animal.
The other team watched with both curiosity and scorn. They wondered why she would go into the Polluted Zone and not grab something valuable, instead choosing a toy that a child would want. Then they concluded that only a spoiled beta would do something as silly as that.
As they got on the vehicle, Birdie looked at Kestrel sitting on her special seat, playing with her stuffed animal, and found it cute,
"Kestrel, do you like this?"
Kestrel played with the soft toy in her hands, "Not really, I have a lot of these at home."
"But when you saw it, you ran over to get it." Birdie laughed. "We thought you saw some treasure and got worried."
Kestrel was quiet, resting her chin on her hand and looking out the window. When she had first arrived, it was fall and there were people everywhere along the beach. But now, the land was frozen and everything had become barren. It was time for her to go back.
The next morning, Olivia woke up from her dream and rubbed her eyes. She saw a gift on her bedside table – a brand-new, fluffy stuffed animal filled with down.
Olivia jumped out of bed, spinning around a few times while hugging her new toy, "Mom, mom, who gave me this gift?"
Her mother squatted down in front of her and stroked her excited little head, "It’s from Kestrel. She’s gone back to the Imperial Nexus."
