Her lucky didn't hold up. Axel was back in her cell before dawn the next morning. He was flanked by the same medical team that he brought with his last visit. She couldn't be sure if the guards were the same since they all looked the same when they were in their armor. Even Roch looked like the rest of them, until he took his helmet off.
"Good morning, Zephyr dear!" He practically sang. "I do hope that you are enjoying your stay here. Now that you have had ample time to think, have you decided to join me yet?" As he spoke the medical team went to work removing the rest of the bandages on Zephyr without saying a word.
Zephyr opened her mouth to respond but Axel put a claw on her lips to stop her. "Shh. Before you respond, let me give you all the information. You might want to consider all the perks to joining me when you do say yes. You can have a bed to sleep on. You will have three full meals a day. You will be cared for by the best medical team possible to minimize your scars. You will be free to travel within the asylum with me. If you are really good, one day you might even be able to travel without me,' he laughed. "Oh and the best part is that you get to tell these fools what to do all day long."
He pointed to a guard at the door and said, "Dance." The guard didn't miss a beat and began to hop and spin around on his toes in rhythm with the clapping of Axel's claws. Axel laughed and looked like a maniacal, power-hungry toddler who had just found out that every day could be their birthday, if they wanted.
Zephyr was disgusted but she kept her face neutral and didn't say anything. This silly little show of power went on the whole time her bandages were being taken off. Only when the three medical Winglies walked out with piles of bloodied bandages did Axel give the command for the guard to stop. The guard was breathing heavily but remained in his position by the door without showing any other hint that he had been winded by the show.
"See, it would be so much more fun with you." Axel grinned, "I would only ask one thing in return." Axel dismissed the guards and waited until they had all gone and closed the door behind them. He paced back and forth in front of Zephyr just out of the reach of her chains. He was always one for dramatizing everything he possibly could. He stopped and faced Zephyr. "I need you. I need you to do what you were chosen to do, to be my voice."
Zephyr narrowed her eyes. "I can already see where you're going with this and I can tell you that it's not going to work."