Images of Vullards

     “I don’t know, sweetheart,” he said and didn’t look at me. Then he ruffled the feathers on my head, and asked if I’d seen the portrait of young Lisha yet.

     I didn’t ask again.

     ---

     Every trip to the heart of the kingdom was exciting. I loved to see the castle and hear father’s stories of King Skarl. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to be king (queen, mother said, but I didn’t see the difference). To live somewhere so grand, with servants to do all my chores for me. Sometimes I imagined being a faerie like the beautiful Illusen instead, living in the forest, having things brought to me all the time. Sometimes I imagined I was a brightly coloured cheese, rolling down the hill! That looked like fun.

     But on this trip, all I could imagine were Petpets. It was my birthday, and I was getting one of my very own for the first time in my life.

     Inside Ye Olde Petpets, everything was a commotion. Creatures of all sorts were climbing and running and squawking. I clung to mother’s leg, overwhelmed by the activity.

     “Are you alright, dear?” she asked, and I nodded, afraid any other answer would cost me my opportunity.

     “Good morning!” said the shopkeeper, an Ixi holding a furry, long-tailed creature, “Are you here looking for a new friend today?”

     Father smiled. “As a matter of fact, we are. It’s our daughter’s birthday, and we promised her first Petpet today.”

     “Well, happy birthday!” The Ixi bent down to my level. “And do you know what kind of Petpet you want?” I shook my head. “Well, why don’t I show you around.”

     First, she showed us the Symols, but mother and father agreed a Symol would dig up the vegetable garden. The Mortogs were jumping all over in a way that made me nervous. I had to cover my ears when we met the noisy Wibreth.

     I felt bad for every Petpet I turned down, but none of them were right. Until...

     “This one.”

     “Are you sure?” Mother looked at the brown and grey bird hunched in the corner. “I’ve heard that Vullards are often sullen. Wouldn’t you rather have a Petpet that will run around and play with you, like a Manjeer?”

     All I could think was that this Petpet looked as overwhelmed as I’d felt when we entered. “This is the one I want.”

     ---

     Princess played with me more than mother expected. She still sulked sometimes, but mostly only when she was hungry. I loved her as much as mother and father, and could tell she loved me too. Her feathers weren’t as soft as mine, but her head and neck were fuzzy and nice to pet, and she walked silly on the ground. And she could fly, like me.

     One day, we went flying together and flew all the way up to touch the bottom of Darigan Citadel. Father always said I shouldn’t, but it was hard to resist such a target, especially one that we could always see from our garden. Princess and I perched on a rock that stuck out from the floating mass and looked down at all of Meridell. It looked so beautiful, the patchwork of farms and the castle in the distance. I wondered if this was what it was like to live in the Citadel. Princess nuzzled my wing, and I raced her back home.

     ---

     On our next trip, I got to bring Princess along.

     “Just be sure you don’t lose track of her, now,” father said. We wouldn’t have brought her along if she hadn’t been trained not to wander off, though.

     Father had some business at the castle, but we had arrived early so we could enjoy the bustling town. Princess sat on my shoulder as we strolled down dirt paths, taking in the sights. Mother said I was too young for the round table poker tournament happening that day, but we watched the little Turtums playing Bullseye, and went to a Turdle Race.

     We also got to play a game I hadn’t tried before. The evil Kass was gone, I knew, but this game was still popular. I got to take a turn, using a loaf of stale bread to whack a plushie as far as I could. Mother went too, and used the bread even when they offered her a bat. She laughed and said it was more fun this way.

     Father took a turn too, and he did use the bat. Before he swung it, I heard him mutter something about his sister. Aunt Lori had been a knight too. The plushie sailed out of view, and father smiled.

     Inside the castle, father said goodbye for the afternoon, and mother stayed briefly to browse potions. Princess and I explored the large hall while she was distracted, examining tapestries and checking stones for hidden passages. We didn’t find any, but Princess did find a loose tassel on a tapestry to play with until mother made us stop. She apologised to a large Draik in armour nearby, but he just laughed and patted my head.

     “It’s alright,” he said. “I’ve got a little one, myself. I know what they’re like.” I didn’t feel like he was talking about Princess.

     ---

     The great Turmaculus was quite a sight, but scary too. I’d heard stories about him eating Petpets. But not too far from him, there was a famous Symol hole, and I wanted to show it to Princess. Mother promised to keep an eye on the sleeping Turmaculus, and shout if he stirred.

     “Would you like to hop in and see what you can find?” I asked my beloved Vullard. I wished I could go on this adventure with her, but even at my size, I couldn’t fit down the hole. There was probably a whole world of tunnels down there, ripe for exploration and filled with treasures.

     Princess chirped, and jumped in. I laid down on my belly and peered over the edge, eagerly waiting to see what she might bring back. Petpets always returned from the Symol hole, but it was hard not to be nervous all the same.

     Finally, I heard scuffling and saw Princess making her way back out. She was dragging something behind her, too–she’d found treasure! I hugged her as soon as she was out.

     “Wasn’t that fun? What did you find?” At her feet, she had dropped something metal and nudged it toward me with her beak. It was really dirty, but it was obviously a Meridellian helmet. It reminded me of my father’s, back home, only very heavily dented. I rubbed some of the dirt away and looked down at it.

     “Thank you,” I told Princess.

     ---

     Someday, I thought, I would have to learn to paint. I watched Princess curl up in her bed, getting ready to nap after a long day of playing in the garden. We had gone down to splash around in the stream this morning, then come back up to pick peas off the vine, and I had tucked little flowers into the fluff of feathers around her neck. She had cooed and nuzzled me, and gotten distracted by a butterfly.

     I wanted to see paintings of Vullards like mine.

     The End.