Rainfall nodded miserably, barely giving Dayga a glance when the serpe's assignment was mentioned. She wasn't looking forward to the food Sly would bring home, either. Her appetite was gone. As her guardian distanced himself from the platform, she turned and began moving slowly toward the nest he had made for her the previous night. She held it all in till she was huddled in the messy pile of sticks and feathers. Then, alone, with no one to see or hear, she keened a soft, sad lullaby to herself until she finally fell asleep.
Though she would awaken as the next moon rose, spunky as always and ready to fly again, tonight she had learned a lesson of authority she would never forget.
