Redwing sighed. He and Eseth were sitting on two cushions(he couldn't find two chairs that he could drag upstairs, and Eseth hadn't bothered to help him) that were exeedingly large. More like giant pillows than cushions.

Redwing had made tea for himself and Eseth, and was nervously rolling his cup between his palms as Eseth stared at him, sipping at her tea.

He tried to meet her gaze and failed. "Do you know about the Rebellion of Angels?" he asked.

Eseth nodded slowly. "The lower and middle classes revolted against the higher class. No one was really sure what was really going on, or even which class was which. You angels keep to yourselves, don't you?"

Redwing nodded. "Or, at least we do. The Strix Nation. So, you don't know about the caste system?"

Eseth shook her head.

"It's simple, really," said Redwing forlornly. "Hawk angels are the lowest class, Raven angels in the middle, and Swan angels at the top."

"Red, black, and white." murmured Eseth. "You're a red-sorry, Hawk angel?"

"Yes." said Redwing, still not looking at her. He smiled, suddenly. "My parents didn't have much imagination. They were Dawn and Flyhigh, and thought that my sister and I didn't need complicated names."

"So, is it only Hawk angels who use word names? My village had a white angel pass through, and his name was Emerla."

Redwing nodded. "Actually, it's only the Swan angels who use only sound names for their first names. Hawk angels use word names, and Raven angels use a combonation of both. I knew a Raven angel, and her name was Lilith-on-Sky. Her mother and father were Gamith- and Nero-on-Sky."

Eseth nodded. "What does this have to do with the Rebellion of Angels?" she asked, still sipping her tea. Redwing hadn't touched his.

"Well, I'm a Hawk angel. Born and raised to be the lowest. I didn't actually mind. It was the way it had always been, and the Raven angels, at least, tried to be kind to us. The Swan angels, when we met them, were a bit cruel, but didn't pay much attention to us. Yes, we weren't the happiest or most privileged, but we were content."

Eseth said "How unlike the humans. They hate any caste or class system, and will never be content unless they are all, to an extent, equal."

He nodded, and started fooling with the edge of one wing, nervously preening the feathers with his long fingers. "Something happened to change the Swan angels' minds about us. I think it was Rani Maimai, their new leader. Anyway, they turned mean. Rude to the Ravens, and downright horrible to us. They'd usually ignored us, or walk right by if we were cleaning a street..but then it got bad. A friend of mine, Silvermoon, got...mobbed...by a bunch of Swans. It was awful. We tried to just get through it, tell ourselves it was just a phase...but more of us got hurt. Some even got killed, and the Ravens...the Ravens became afraid. They didn't want to be seen with us, for fear of the Swans. That was when we knew it was getting worse."

Redwing shook slightly, and took a sip at his now-lukewarm tea.

"And then...then there was the murders. The Swan Murders. Swans kept showing up dead, in the river or hanging from a tree or with their throats slashed in an alley. So the Swans thought it was us. Rani Maimai had convinced them we were the scum of the world, and now he convinced them that we were evil killers. When the Executions began..." Redwing shuddered. "It was awful. Worse than anything you could ever imagine. My mother got executed when I was fifteen."

Eseth asked "How old are you now?"

"Almost ninteen years. You have to understand, the Rebellion didn't happen for a while. The Swan Murders kept going on and on...as did the executions. Then Rani Maimai got killed, in his own home. That's what set the whole thing off. There was fighting in the streets, the Swans attacking any of us they could find. The Ravens tried to stay out of it, but since they did, both Swans and Hawks turned on them, believing them to be the enemy. My father was killed, and my sister had fled. That's when I left. But, the Swans were after me, you see. Not me personally, just a fugitive Hawk angel that they probably came up with a bunch of accusations for. I flew, and flew, and flew. I wanted to get as far away as I could. Then I found this place. I came here two full winters ago. I haven't left since. I fixed this old place up a bit, and stayed her for the whole winter. It's much more sheltered than it looks."

Eseth nodded slowly. "You thought Kaza and I were Swan angels."

"Yes. Maybe. I had to make sure."

"I can accept that."

"You can?"

Eseth shrugged. "It's probably what I would have done."

A groan interrupted their conversation. Kaza was awake. Eseth went to her side. "Hey there," she said to Kaza. "How do you feel?"

"Like a drunk donkey ran me over. How am I supposed to feel?" asked Kaza testily. Eseth grinned. "About that terrible. It'll wear off in a bit."

"Care to tell me what happened? The last thing I remember is going up the stairs."

"Our new friend here could explain."

Redwing gulped, and stepped forward.

END