The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (22 page)

He roared with laughter.

‘What? What’d she say?’
demanded Tomiar.

He relayed Laura’s words to her. Tomiar chuckled and sent him an image of the last time Gredel had been there—it showed the large man pasty white as the two girls closed in on him, their eyelashes fluttering and hands clasped demurely in front. Gredel had told Sabyn afterward, in no uncertain terms, that he would never again visit without Citaan.

Audrey seemed to love the view. She’d managed to twist herself up so she could stand and stretch to see past Phroma’s wings. Gredel grunted in pain.

'Audrey, you’re standing on my bladder again.' He shifted her slightly. She twisted back to give him a big sloppy kiss, then shifted back to her original position.

‘Ganooks.’
Gredel exclaimed to Phroma.
‘This dog is driving me nuts, she won’t stop squirming and standing on me.’

‘At least she’s enjoying herself,’
replied Phroma.
‘Just think of how bad it’d be if she didn’t and she probably needs to go for a good run.’

‘True, I think I’ll suggest it to Catherine.’

‘Cat,’
corrected Phroma.

‘Eh?’
Gredel was confused,
‘No, Catherine, the woman.’

Phroma snorted in amusement,
‘No silly, Catherine’s name is Cat for short, Kassandra is Kassie and Laura is Loi. It’s what they call each other all the time.’

Gredel huffed,
‘Well I didn’t know.’

‘Now you do. Yes it’d be a good idea for Audi to go for a run, the energy she’s throwing off is distracting.’

‘Can I do anything to help?’

‘Maybe try stroking her and talking to her, it might calm her down a bit,’
suggested Phroma.

Feeling a bit self-conscious, even if Phroma was the only one there, Gredel began to pet the dog and chat to her.

Over on Tomiar, Sabyn was showing Loi how to stand on the saddle. She was rather pleased with herself, as she’d managed to gloss over most of her home life details. Instead, she'd told him all about jujitsu. He had been fascinated and only promised to show her a saddle trick if she promised to show him a couple of throws.

Now she was crouched on the saddle, clutching the front pommel tight with both hands and was seriously wondering if she’d overreached herself.

'Loi,' Sabyn shouted into the wind. 'Strap this around your waist.'

He held a heavy leather circlet. She slipped back into the saddle and he reached forward to help strap her in.

'This has a length on either side which ties to the saddle, so with that and me behind you, you’ll be safe.'

Once the circlet was fastened, Loi pulled both legs up again so she was crouched low. Two large hands gripped her hips and Sabyn leaned forward.

'Ready?' He yelled.

'Yeah!'

'Okay stand.'

Bracing both legs, she slowly let go of the pommel and pushed her head into the wind then straightened her back. Sabyn kept a firm grip on her hips as Loi caught her balance then spread her feet a little wider and seized the front strap from the saddle.

It was such a rush.

The wind roared past her ears so she couldn’t hear anything and she had to squint to see—but the view! Rolling hills stretched out below them with distant rivers glinting in the sun and dark stretches of forest. There was so much green and blue. Loi started to laugh. The sensation of the wind and only her feet touching the saddle made it feel like she, herself, was flying.

Suddenly she understood why Sabyn had such a passion for this. It was magical.

From this view point she could see the other griffons and was spell bound. Even in flight they had the grace of large cats and flew with such ease. The joy of the flight was apparent on their faces. Loi caught sight of Sian gaping at her and she couldn’t resist waving. She giggled as Sian watched with an expression of pure envy.

Okay, so showing off isn’t nice, but on occasion it was fun and she and Sian always competed against each other. A little competition was healthy after all.

Tomiar cocked her head to look back at Laura.

‘She’s having so much fun. And the first of the bunch to do it,’
she thought smugly.

‘Yes, though I think Sian will be close behind her,’
he sent an image of Sian watching Loi to Tomiar.

She was pleased.
‘It’s good for them to learn. They’ll need to be confident with flying for some of the things coming.’

Sabyn was silent, Tomiar often showed a gift for seeing events that had yet to pass. It wasn’t unusual for griffons, or dragons for that matter, and Elena had thought it might have something to do with their ability to leap. He waited for Tomiar to elaborate, but when she didn’t, he let it go. She would tell him if she knew for sure, but when she only caught glimpses she didn’t usually bother.

‘Gredel, look.’
Phroma thought excitedly.

Gredel looked across and spotted Loi standing on Tomiar, a huge grin on her face.

‘You wait, she’ll be free falling in no time.’

Audrey spotted Loi and turned to bark at her, but the wind whipped the sound away so Loi and the others didn’t even notice. The dog grumbled and slouched back against Gredel who smiled down at the put-out creature. He ruffled her fur and talked nonsense to her until her tail started to wag.

‘I can’t wait to tell Citaan about the baby talk,’
Phroma teased.

‘I’m just practicing,’
Gredel thought, refusing to rise to the bait.
‘And you never know. Citaan might have a surprise for us when we get home.’

Phroma was thrilled by the suggestion. Citaan had lost a baby nearly a year ago and she often spoke to Phroma about her longing for another. Phroma knew the lovely blue haired woman didn’t mention it to Gredel because she didn’t want to upset him. He’d taken the miscarriage rather hard. If Phroma was right, the four month mark would be at the end of this week and she was quite certain Citaan was carrying a healthy baby this time. Understandingly, she wouldn’t want to announce it until the four month mark passed to be certain. Phroma felt a glow of warmth at the thought of how happy Gredel would be.

Young ones really did make a difference to your life, she thought, thinking of her own pup safe at the castle nursery. This was the longest she’d been away from him.

‘You must be missing little Ageip,’
thought Gredel. He loved the little pup who was the spitting image of his mother, right down to the black wings with violet undertones.

‘I am,’
Phroma sighed.
‘But it is nice to be out. We haven’t been for such a big trip in a long time.’

Loi decided she’d had enough of standing and with Sabyn gripping her hips again she lowered herself to the saddle.

'How are you?' Sabyn spoke into her ear.

'Shaking,' Loi said in surprise. 'It’s a lot harder than I expected.'

She trembled, her legs felt like she’d done hours of training.

He laughed softly, 'You were up much longer than I was my first time, it shows how strong you are,' he wrapped both arms around her.

Loi was flattered and relaxed back against him, 'Thanks.'

I could just see the village in the space between Loushka’s wing and neck. It didn’t appear to be fenced like Lothost had been. I leaned back against Alek’s chest and he obligingly ducked his head so I could speak into his ear.

'Why isn’t it fenced? Lothost was.'

'Probably because they have a large number of dogs here,' Alek said. 'Audi will be very popular. They also regularly host griffons and their riders, which tends to scare off most of the carnivores.'

That was intriguing and I asked, 'How many griffon riders are there? And what makes the five of you so special?'

I felt his chuckle through the breastplate.

'You don’t think I’m special?' he teased.

'I didn’t mean that.'

'In total there are about eighteen griffon riders. The five of us were selected by Elena for various reasons and trained by the late King. The other griffon riders are just people who have connected with a griffon in the same way some people connect with dragons. They’re in high demand as messengers and guards and in times of war they join forces with us and the General Guard at the Castle.'

'Do all griffons and dragons link with a human?'

'Oh no. Out of say, several hundred creatures, one may link with another being. There is just a ‘normal’ population of dragons and griffons out there.'

I thought about it for a moment.

'What do the ‘normal’ creatures think of those who have linked?'

He smiled against my ear; it sent shivers down my spine.

'It’s seen as an honor.'

Loushka made a loud whistle and Alek was silent for a moment as they spoke.

'Right. We’re going to land, so hold on.' He wrapped his arms around Catherine and this time she locked hers over his. Loushka made a slight sweep upwards so she was correctly aligned then dropped.

There was a bit of a crowd waiting to greet them and the girls kept themselves slightly behind the guys. Audi pressed herself against Cat’s leg while they waited to be introduced. Kassie watched as Rumal called out to someone. A couple pushed through the crowd with huge smiles on their faces as they greeted the men and the griffons.

We were introduced to absolutely everyone in the crowd and all the names went straight over my head.

As long as I remember our hosts’ names I’ll be okay. Brece and Melanite.
I kept smiling until my jaw hurt. They were all friendly and accommodating, but I began to feel claustrophobic. Sian bumped into me and I turned to look at her.

'Want out,' she whispered.

'Me too.'

'Me three,' said Kassie softly behind us.

I turned to see Loi bob her head in agreement. I looked around and managed to catch Melanite’s eye.

'Could we see our rooms?' I asked. 'We’d like to change.'

'Oh I'm sorry girls, I should have thought. C'mon this way,' Melanite said with an apologetic smile.

Waving to the guys, we hurried after her. This Inn was far bigger than the Inn at Lothost and appeared more lodge like. It was made of logs and had exceptionally high ceilings and huge doors.

'So the griffons can join their riders if they like,' Melanite explained.

The room she led us to was large and airy with several shuttered windows that were open.

'Will you need anything else?'

'Yes,' I said. 'I’m not sure if you’ll be able to help, but I’d like to go for a run with my dog and I was hoping for maybe some ankle boots as these,' I indicated my thigh high boots. 'Aren’t ideal.'

'No they’re certainly not,' she agreed. 'I’ll find some and bring them to you shortly.'