The Subtle Beauty (16 page)

Glory pointed to the prince in the picture. “Who is she with?”

“That is Kuhuch, the son of King Kilyth, whose mother died shortly after his birth. Before her death she charged the king that he should not take another wife until he saw a briar with two blossoms upon her grave. The king went every morning to see if anything had grown. After many years the briar appeared, and he took to wife the widow of King Doged. She foretold to her stepson, Kuhuch, that it was his destiny to marry Olwen, and none other. He, at his father's bidding, went to the court of his cousin, King Arthur, to ask as a boon the hand of the maiden. He found himself on a great quest to win her affection.”

Glory pointed to a word.

“
Fíorghrá
,” said the gryphon. “True love.”

“And this?” asked Glory.

“He has won his prize.
Is liomsa mo ghrá.
My beloved is mine.”

Glory pulled the book closer to her, trying to discern the words. It was all symbols and curves. How could anyone make sense of this? The gryphon’s talon remained on the page, tugged innocently closer to Glory. Glory looked at him from the corner of her eye.

The gryphon slowly lowered his claw to the floor and sat, resting his head on the arm of the chair. “Do I frighten you, princess?”

Glory chewed on a fingernail and stared into the book.

“I am sorry if my behavior since your arrival has been…” the gryphon paused as if trying to find the right word, “
uncouth
.” He shifted uneasily. “Please forgive me. Your presence causes great confusion in me. I do not know whether to hunt you, or, well…” he looked away ashamed.

Glory slunk down in the chair. Heat crept up her cheeks to her ears. There was a long silence.

“I like your smell,” the gryphon mumbled.

Glory looked straight at him, her chest full of a tightness she had never known. “Does Prince Eoghan know of your feelings? I should say he would punish you for your actions if he did.”

The gryphon panted nervously.

Glory shut the book. “Where is Prince Eoghan? Is he alive?” She rose and placed the book back on the shelf, trying to get away from this accursed creature. “Does he even know my name?” she asked bitterly.

The gryphon lowered his head. He spoke so softly that Glory did not hear him. “Speak up, beast.”

The gryphon looked at her timidly. “
Breátha.
Splendor. Glory.”

CHAPTER SIX

The Cursed Prince

Glory woke to a light in her room. The glowing specter floated before her. Glory sat up. “You again?”

The ghost smiled and reached out, then turned and passed through Glory’s closed door.

Glory rose and pulled a robe over her sleeping gown. She padded down the hall behind the woman. Glory stopped across the hall from a door.

“Listen to me, beast,” Xander snapped.

What had that dirty gryphon gone and done now? She remained in the shadows.

“You must make her believe there is a prince in this castle. Do you understand?”

The gryphon screeched. “Do your past sins teach you nothing? She will never love—”

“She must believe there is a prince in this castle or all is lost. If you cannot do the job I have set you about, then it is I who will wed her in her sixteenth year and become king.”

Glory pressed herself against the wall. Her knees buckled.
Oh, gods!

“Either way,” Xander vowed, “she will fulfill the purpose for which she was brought here.”

The gryphon rumbled resentfully.

“Be a good little beast and run along now,” Xander said.

Glory rose and bit her lip. She darted down the hall. The door creaked behind her as the gryphon told Xander, “You sicken me.”

Glory bolted out of the bailey and into the field surrounding Blackthorn. Torchlight danced on Blackthorn’s high walls. Glory placed her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. There was no prince. Glory stared out across the field. She sucked in a deep breath. The sea crashed against the cliffs. The air was rich with salt and mist. She shivered. She looked down a moment and tried to steady her racing mind. When she looked up, a cloaked figure stood in the middle of the field. They stared silently at each other. Slowly the figure began to slip back his hood. Glory caught a glimpse of short, blond hair and a chiseled face. Her heart leapt.
Colin!
The name caught in her throat. She moved toward him just as the gryphon landed before her, blocking the way.

“What are you doing, Glory?”

Glory froze. The gryphon paced around her. Had he seen Colin? Glory stared straight ahead. Colin had vanished. Glory blinked twice. Had she been seeing things? Glory shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Why are you out of bed?”

Glory glared at the gryphon. “What concern is it of yours?”

The gryphon growled. “It’s not safe outside at night.”

Glory closed her fists. “Why? Is the great protector not so great after all?”

The gryphon paused and stared off into the woods. “Years of being hunted in the north have driven certain creatures south.”

Glory’s eyebrow perked.  “Certain creatures?  Is it monsters you speak of?  They are only fairytales.”

“Are they?  You are talking to one, need I remind you?  I suppose you think unicorns do not exist either.”

"My father denies the existence of such creatures." Glory said under her breath, "I wanted so badly to believe him."  She shivered as the roar of a donestre echoed in her memory.

"Your father keeps secrets."  The gryphon’s tail twitched.  He motioned toward the woods.  “Look there.”

Glory followed his gaze. A tall, lean, magnificent horse glowed in the woods. A single horn spiraled forth from the center of its head. Glory gasped.

“Day is my domain, Glory. I live in the light. The creatures of the forest rule the night. There is only one I dare seek, and only by day. We are in danger here.” The gryphon put himself between Glory and the forest. He nodded toward the unicorn who nodded back and turned away. The gryphon pressed his beak against Glory’s ribs and nudged her back inside.

Glory resisted at first, still trying to see Colin, but she finally turned with a sigh.

***

Colin escaped Morgorth with Illyndiil unscathed. The dagger seemed to warm to him somehow. He swore he even heard her speak his name. She pulsed with life in his hands whenever he held her. Now he came across an expanse of field abutting a great, black keep. The coral ashlar glinted in the torchlight as though tiny diamonds had been embedded in each block. Waves beat nearby and the air was thick with the smell of sea water.

Colin’s eyes were fixed on the open gate when a blonde girl sprinted out. Colin’s heart leapt.
Glory
! He had found her at last. He hurried to the middle of the field. The light barely touched here, but he knew if he showed himself to her that all would be right in the world. He watched her bend over and catch her breath, and he waited for her to see him. When she straightened he stared at her with awe. She looked different somehow. More beautiful than he remembered her. She had grown and filled out. He was certain of it. She seemed taller. The land had improved upon her if such a thing were possible. He began to slip back his hood when a sudden shadow descended upon Glory. Colin crouched down low. Great wings such as he had never seen beat on the air. Colin held his breath as he beheld a mighty creature with the body of a lion and the head of a hawk. The firelight played on its copper hide. Colin swallowed. He feared for Glory. His hands shook. He reached for Illyndiil. The gryphon spoke to Glory in a language Colin did not recognize. Colin’s breath caught when Glory answered back in kind. When had she learned a tongue other than her own?

Colin’s hand tightened around Illyndiil when the gryphon moved his beak close to Glory. Colin watched Glory strain against him before being bullied back inside the keep. Colin cursed under his breath. The gryphon paused by the gate, ears perked. He looked around as though he had heard something. Colin’s mouth drew. His eyes narrowed. The gryphon’s tail twitched. His beak opened slightly and his tongue undulated. Colin saw a pulse in the gryphon’s throat as the creature smelled the air. Finally he lowered his head and strode inside the keep. Colin kept his eyes trained on the beast. “Do not worry, Glory,” he whispered, “I’ll save you.”

***

The air was getting warmer by the day. The sun shined down on the savage garden as Glory plucked a black rose and began pulling off the petals. Had her eyes played her the fool? A few days had passed since she had wandered into the field and glimpsed who she thought had been Colin. Where was her knight in shining armor? Glory threw the deflowered sepal on the ground listlessly. She was too sullen and lost in her thoughts to notice someone slip behind her. A hand went over her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a corner behind some bushes. Glory flailed wildly, trying to fight the abduction until a voice hushed her.

“Shh! Do you want us to get caught?” Colin’s voice whispered.

Glory turned. Her mouth tried to speak, but her brain sent no words.

“Well, do not look so delighted to see me.”

Glory threw her arms around his shoulders.

Colin lowered his head to kiss her, but was met with a slap in the face. “What took you so long?”

Colin rubbed his cheek. “When you did not come to the garden after Lucullia’s wedding, I went looking for you. I asked every one if they knew where you were, but not even your sisters would answer.”

“That is because they are all a bunch of yeasty, unchin-snouted snap dragons!”

“So I set out on my own. This is so far away. How ever did you end up here of all places?”

Glory blinked. “Didn’t you get my letter?”

“What letter?”

“Blast!” Glory imprecated.

Colin took her head in his hands. “Oh, but it does not matter anyway, does it? We are together now. We’ll find a way out of here, and then we are going to be so happy.”

Colin tried to draw her close for a kiss, but Glory turned her cheek. “Colin, there is something you should know.”

He freckled her face with slow, soft kisses. “I know I went to the ends of the earth for you. Isn’t that enough?”

“Colin, listen.”

“Come on, Glory, can you not give me a proper hello? It has been so long, and I am here to rescue you.”

Glory grabbed his wrists and sent his hands away from her. “Colin, please, listen to me!”

Colin stepped back with an exasperated expression. “What could you possibly have to say to me that I do not already know?”

“Glory!” came the gryphon’s voice.

Glory gasped.

Colin peered through the foliage to see the beast headed their way.

“That is the reason I am stuck here, Colin. Now, quickly, go!”

Colin stole a reluctant kiss from Glory. “I will return tonight.”

“Glory?” the gryphon called again.

Glory pushed Colin away. “Hurry, you fool.”

Colin leapt over a low wall and disappeared into another part of the garden. Glory took a deep breath and turned a corner. “I am here, Gryphon,” she answered calmly.

The gryphon crossed to her. “I heard you talking with someone. Who were you with, Glory?”

She did not look him in the eye. “No one.”

The gryphon circled her, his ceres flaring, filling with her scent. “Really? My sources tell me otherwise.”

“I was sitting behind that rose bush there, talking to myself. I have been lonely.”

The gryphon’s ears relaxed. “You could talk to me,” he suggested.

Glory parried, “Why would I want to do that? You never have anything nice to say... and you
smell.
”

The gryphon continued to circle her. His muscles rippled in the low afternoon sun. Glory thought his coat, filled with tones of gold and orange, might burst in to flame. He held his tail high, the small brown tuft at the end dancing about. His feathers, freshly preened, sat smoothly against each other, glowing in the light. He paused mid-stride, his ears perked. “I know not of what you speak. I say nice things every day.”

“Calling me ugly and stupid is not considered very nice, Gryphon.”

“Just because it is not something you want to hear, does not make it unkind.”

Glory folded her arms, unconvinced.

The gryphon put his foot down and gazed at her thoughtfully. “Why, ever since you stopped thinking that Bel worships you, you have become less ugly to me.”

“There you go again.”

The gryphon’s ears dropped. “What did I say?”

“You called me ugly, Gryphon.”

The gryphon’s beak gaped, his tongue rising and falling a little with each of his breaths. “Surely, I did not.”

“And now you are inferring that I am stupid. Your words do not exactly inspire any kind of affection, you know.”