The little bird

Sienna was sitting in front of the mirror and holding two long plaits of her golden hair in the air as Marco and Ziran changed places. Marco could not stand her cry and wanted to put the Tiger balm on her by himself.

Marco saw the tears running down her face, so he touched her cheek gently."My amazing queen, you were so brave. Don't cry anymore, I'm here with you." he said calmly.

Sienna looked into his cold eyes." He is trying to be gentle!" she smiled in her mind. It made her heart warm again. She smiled at Marco and tried to hold her tears as he finished smearing the balm on her neck.

Marco turned to Ziran."Write to Rem for some medicine and then go check on Tyrelll. He is levelling up!" he ordered him quietly.

"Sure. "Ziran nodded and left.

Marco ran his finger softly on Sienna's neck." I hope it will not get infected." he sighed."If it goes worse, I will take you to Sarcos."

"I do not want to go wetlands, is moist there, and it will just go worse. "Sienna said quietly. She just did not want to go back to the wetlands ever! She did not like that place at all! Mathyas's Underworld was still too fresh in her memory." Marco, I will need antibiotics for it," she looked at him hopefully."It is a medicine from my world against infection."

"Do you know how to make them?"Marco asked curiously.

"Yes, it is made from a mold. You need to take a yellow or orange melon and leave it in the air till it gets white mold on it and then you make the pills from it somehow. It kills bacteria which cause infection."Sienna tried to explain. But I'm not sure how exactly."

"Do you know the dosage?" Marco asked her.

"No, just how to make it."Sienna bit her lips."We normally buy it premade as pills."

"Then you will be not using it. You will get medicine from scorpions." he shook his head." Besides, how do you know the mold here will be the same kind as in your world, it can be a different kind and poison you." Marco noted.

He covered her neck in a bandage and also put a cold compress on it.

"Go bed and rest." he took her to bed gently.

"But I'm not that tired yet, just my neck hurts," Sienna looked at him.

"We have to wait for painkillers from Rem." Marco nodded, "I can't give you the tiger's ones twice a day. It is too strong."

"But..."Sienna tried to negotiate.

"Go to bed. I will stay with you." Marco said resolutely.

Sienna glanced at him. One question in her mind was making her restless. It was a bit hard to ask. "Marco, will Tyrell be ok?" she asked finally.

"Yes, his tiger is still rude. He is levelling up next door in his room."Marco looked at her a bit hurt, that she still care about the tiger.

"Thank you."Sienna nodded.

Sienna went to bed and Marco lay her on her belly."Just rest a little."

"Can you tell me a story?" Sienna asked.

"I'm a soldier, not a storyteller," he sighed.

"I know, "Sienna whispered.

"But I can pet your back, It might help you to sleep."Marco offered.

"Hmm, "Sienna nodded.

Marco touched Sienna's back gently till she fell asleep. It took her five minutes!

"Not tired, my beautiful queen." he chuckled. He propped her head carefully on the cushion and went out.

Marco went to check on Magnus in secret, he wanted to know what the old tiger is planning. But Magnus was in the library reading and preparing papers innocently, so Marco just went for a quick hunt. But if the strong eagle would just look closer, he would see that Magnus is marking a way thru the Light Sea in the ancient map!

When Sienna woke up it was dawn already! Her neck was stiff and like on fire. "Auuch." she moaned loudly and Bran barged into the room. "Sienna, are you ok?"

"Yes, Bran. Just my neck hurt so much." She cried loudly. She knew Tyrell was resting next door and she wanted him to hear her to let him know how much it hurts!

"My poor Sienna." Bran touched her neck carefully."The medicine from Rem should arrive soon. It will help you to get better, you see."

Marco heard the noise too and came to check on her. He sat next to her on the bed and took her to his embrace.

"I need some honey."Sienna looked at him pitifully.

"Honey?" Marco asked."For what?"

"For me. I need sweets, I'm in pain." She cried out loud.

Marco nodded and sent Bran to fetch the honey from the kitchen.

"Are you punishing Tyrell or it does hurt that much?" Marco asked coldly.

"Both," Sienna looked pitifully at him.

"Come," Marco propped her to sit by a window for a bit. "Get some fresh air. He open the window and went out. He needed to calm down. Seeing her hurt made him rage inside.

Sienna watched the red sunset. It was beautiful, but she felt sad. She missed Sarcos. He was always so reassuring and gentle to her.

Suddenly she heard a song coming by. The little mockingbird landed at her windowsill. It looked at her with its clever eyes and Sienna smiled.

"Hi, little bird. How was your day?"

The bird chirped something and Sienna smiled at it.

"My day was sweet and painful at the same time. Sweet because Marco saved me and painful, because...you see...my neck hurt so much, I can't even draw you. My Sarcos is stuck in wetlands. I miss him so much. Without him, anyone can do anything to me. He would not let Tyrell's tiger bite my neck and be forceful with me...with him everything is fine." she teared up."Now it hurts so much...my neck and my heart." she sighed. "Is getting all infected and I need to find out how to make antibiotics but I'm just locked in again..." she complained to the bird gently. The bird sat next to her chirping for some time. Then it sang a pretty tune and flew away.

Sienna looked after it longingly.

"Pretty little bird, how lucky you are that you can fly." she sighed.

Marco met Bran on the way to Sienna's room. Bran was in a happy mood, he brought a jar of honey, but more importantly, the medicine from Rem arrived! Bran also brought some food for her too.

The men came inside her room and watched her sit at the window.

"Sienna," Marco called her name."The medicine came and Bran got you some food, come eat."

Sienna sat at the table and ate slowly."Even the swallowing hurts me." she moaned.

"Just take this."Marco gave her a scorpion crystal little bottle.

Sienna drank it all up nervously. It didn't smell of cinnamon, so she tried it. Then she looked at Marco dizzily and passed out.

Bran turned to Marco holding Sienna halfway up on the chair.

"Hey, she was supposed to have two small spoons", he looked at Marco," Why did you give her a full bottle before she even finished her food?

"Will she be ok?"Marco looked at Sienna worriedly.

"Yes. It just has a sleeping potion in it too." Bran noted.

Marco nodded and put her back in the bed. He turned Sienna on her belly and put a potion from the jar on her neck gently crouching at her bed.

"She needs to rest anyway. It doesn't look good at all. If Sarcos will see this, he will kill Tyrell on the spot."Marco sighed.

"So why did not you?"Bran asked.

"Because she still loves him," Marco said."We will give it three days. If it is not better or she got a fever, we are taking her to Sarcos if she agrees or not."He stood up seriously. Then he heard a slight noise and turn his head. Marco saw that Tyrell stood at the door. He was getting better fast because he was a tiger, not a human, like Sienna.

Marco looked at him angrily."I can't even mate with her in this state."

Tyrell bit his lips and nodded. He looked at sleeping Sienna and was upset with his tiger a lot.

"Why nobody told you about the bloody star coming? You had to see the preparations! Doesn't Magnus know of it?"Marco asked him a bit provocatively. He wanted Tyrell to realize that the old tiger is hindering him!

"Magnus kept it quiet," Bran noted. "Sienna confronted him. He is guilty again!"

Tyrell shook his head. "The tiger concealed the star memory from me and Magnus kept me busy being upset with Sienna. Be firm, she needs to feel safer, you are the king, he kept saying to me! I just messed everything up. She will hate me after this." he bit his lips a bit desperately.

"Sienna will not hate you. Just give her time to heal."Marco noted."But you should not listen to Magnus anymore, he is a slave for treason."

"But she asked you to beat me up, she never did this before." Tyrell bit his lips.

"You also never bit her before so badly and treat her so roughly. She had her reasons. I think she wanted you to understand how she felt. Anyway, you can ask her when she will feel better."Marco noted. "Go rest too, you strong king." the eagle looked at him." I will take care of her till you heal more."

"Will you stay for a full week?"Tyrell asked seriously.

"Not likely. I need to get more guards for your city and I also promised air patrols to Rem for the Sand City. "Marco said."They are a lot more vulnerable without Sarcos. It is just a matter of time till the word spread."

'Ok, brother."Tyrell nodded. He felt still weird next to Marco. His tiger made a huge mess, and he got the consequences. Tyrell looked at Sienna longingly. She was sleeping with a compress on her neck.

"Come, have a look at your tiger's work."Bran lifted the compress and showed Tyrell the swollen wound. Tyrell bit his lips and went out. He went to his room and looked in the mirror.

"Did you see what you did? You hurt our mate. If Sarcos will see that he will put my skin on the wall." Tyrell looked into his own eyes.

The white tiger roared wildly inside. "She tricked me!"

"You can't be forceful with her. She is not a tiger. Be reasonable."Tyrell said.

"She is just too sensitive!" the tiger grunted.

"That is why you need to protect her."Tyrell sighed.

"I will, but she is my to mate too, I do not have anyone else to mate with, so think about it." the tiger growled.