Five Years Later

"Please! Spare me!"

I looked down upon the pleading prisoner pitilessly. He was splayed upon the sand floor, his venomous barb ripped off and his wings broken. Blood oozed out of his many wounds, forming a pool at my talons. Aqua stood over him, claws tainted with blood that was not hers. 

I snarled, "Finish it."

Aqua raised a shaking talon and, as she brought it down, she closed her eyes. There was a guttural shriek that was abruptly cut off as the prisoner tensed and fell limp. I stood up as Blind Quads rushed to clean up the mess.

"I will be in the throne room." I said pointedly, walking out of the tent.

My talons sank into the sand and my wings fell lazily on either side of me as I headed to the other tent. Only the Leader and his adviser could live in a tent atop the dunes. The rest of the Blind Quads buried themselves in mountains of sand on either side of a pathway that led to a wide oasis. The tent was made of dried palm leaves and held up by a few small twigs. 

I entered, disappointed. It would normally be filled with endless supplies of meat, poison and herbs. Sometimes even the rare cactus fruit. However, rations were low this week and we would need to move soon. A strip of snake meat was all we had for tomorrow. If we were lucky, a fresh snake might stumble upon the oasis and we could have a feast. I admitted to myself that chances of that were low.

"Hey."

I turned, settling my wings and coiling my tail around myself. 

But I did not answer.

Aqua tried again, "I mean. Excuse me, Copper Eye, oh gracious leader. May I have a moment of your time?"

I nodded curtly, "I think I know what you came here for."

Rudely, Aqua ignored me, "Is Gold okay?"

I narrowed my eyes, "I have told you already! She is fine. As long as you obey me and be my Champion, she will be fine."

Aqua hesitated, "Of course. My apologies." 

She looked at me hopefully, "Has she asked for me?"

I held back a sneer, "No, my dear. I told you. You shall be allowed to visit her if she herself asks for you. Which she hasn't, yet."

I paused, letting it sink in before adding, "It's almost as if she does not care for you, don't you think?"
Aqua looked down at her talons for a moment before glaring at me with blazing eyes, "You're lying, she does care for me!"

I sighed, "Of course she does. But then, she hasn't really shown that, has she? If she really loved and cared about you, she would've asked to talk to you, right?"

Aqua's glare faltered, "Yeah. Why hasn't she..."

I walked over to Aqua, "Don't worry, my dear little champion. I will care for you. I can be the father figure you never had."

Aqua murmured, "Yeah. I guess you can."