“It found you, then got food,” Luykas said softly. “Makes sense. They wouldn’t want their steeds attacking every Andinna it sees. Train it like a horse to respond to different leg pressures and commands, and you have a well-educated beast to ride that will track and fight.”
“That’s all well and good, but this mission had four Ivory Shadows on it, and we all know you’re better than the rest of us,” Yenni pointed out. “Our twenty-four might not have a chance against gryphon riders.”
“I’m asking you to try,” Alchan said softly. “We have no other options except hiding. We can’t do that. Every week, more Andinna sneak into these mountains. If we hide, the gryphon patrols will grow, and they’ll be recaptured and probably executed or worse. If we keep Lothen busy, it not only keeps us safe but allows the growing number of Andinna escaping from the Empire to run. It also keeps Senri’s guard stations around the mountains from being disrupted unless there’s an emergency.”
Yenni nodded once. “I understand the need, sire. If you think the risk is necessary, I’ll leave with my unit come dawn in two days’ time.”
“Thank you. And you?” Alchan looked toward a large male, one of the unit captains. Their numbers were growing. Mave had a feeling some were going to get promotions soon enough to lead other commanders, or they would end up with a hundred Andinna in the war room every meeting.
“We’re ready, sire,” the male answered.
“Then you two can fight over who gets which attack point. One trip is longer, so account for that in your plans. Dismissed.”
Mave watched them leave, their heads down as they started toward each other.
“The rest of you, I need reports on how your numbers are holding up. Is there anyone who isn’t keeping up with training? If so, I’ll need to send them north to Seanev for more intense training and have him send several others.”
“We have a group coming down from him in a week’s time,” Senri said loudly across the room. “My northern guards caught sight of the caravan and sent word down earlier today.”
“I’ve heard,” Alchan said with a sigh. “Who, I don’t know, but Leria thinks she has a small group who can assist Allaina with the community, and she sorely needs the help.”
“Two villages for one mativa and under these circumstances?” Senri snorted. “She needed the help a month ago.”
“I know,” Alchan growled.
Mave raised an eyebrow. She knew Allaina had been busy, so busy, they hadn’t had the chance for a long conversation in weeks, but she hadn’t expected her bitchy friend to be so overburdened that Leria wanted to step in and send help.
“Is the second village up and running?” she asked, frowning.
“We moved two hundred Andinna into it just last week,” Luykas answered, smiling. “It’s looking good. They’re preparing to take on two hundred more come mid-summer. We declared summer start a couple of days ago.”
“Ah.” Mave nodded, glad to be caught up on that little bit of information.
“Moving on,” Alchan said loudly. “Unit captains, you’re dismissed. Company, you stay.”
The crowd thinned out even more, and soon, Mave could relax with only familiar faces around.
“We’re going to strike at Lothen with orders, if we can capture, we should,” Alchan explained. “If he’s entering the battlefield, we should use it, and if we can capture him, we can get important information. As it stands, Luykas’ contact in Elliar is being kept out of the loop of his plans and many of the plans of Shadra’s other military commanders.”
“It’s also a statement,” Luykas added. “If we capture the Crown Prince, we can bargain with Shadra. She might do anything to get him back. Or we execute him and deliver a decisive blow to the Empire. They’ll go into a time of grieving and give us a moment to breathe. They’ll know we’re a serious threat and either concede to our demands or retaliate, but it’s a risk we should take. From a political standpoint, it will greatly weaken Shadra in the eyes of her nobles and her people. They’ll see her and the children she’s raised as so weak, they can’t even put down a slave revolt.”
“Is that what they’re calling it?” Alchan asked, chuckling. “Really?”
“Last I heard,” Luykas said with a shrug. “I figured it wasn’t something you needed to know.”
“I needed a laugh,” Alchan said, still smiling as he looked down at the papers and the map again. “I’m going to do some shuffling of everyone here. I want groups of you in charge of assault teams. Yenni had a good point. If they don’t do well or suffer too many casualties, I’m going to send you out with them. I’m thinking Kian and Nevyn with Varon once he’s back to fighting strength for team one. Mave, you’ll be with your husbands and hopefully Zayden, though he might have to support Nevyn and Kian for a little while. He’s been in the air recently. You did good work getting him back on his feet and using his wings.”
“Amazing,” she said, smiling. For all the joy she had, hearing he was flying again, she felt bad she missed him getting the all-clear from the healers. She had been hoping to celebrate that with him. “Why isn’t he here? Or Rain?”
“He’s with Rainev in the secondary village, helping figure out some living situation problems,” Alchan answered softly. “He’s good with civilian males. He knows how to address their needs in much the same way Kian does, but Kian was with you.” Alchan looked back up, and Mave watched his amber eyes soak in the group around him.
“We’ve been fighting together for a long time, alone—my Ivory Shadows. Now, we find ourselves at the center of the largest scale rebellion against the mighty Elvasi Empire. I hope I can continue to rely on all of you as I have for so many years. Take a few days to rest, warriors who have just returned. Those of you who have been with me, help them catch up on what they’ve missed. The rebellion is moving quickly, and it will only get faster and more dangerous as we draw more Elvasi attention to the Dragon Spine.” He turned away from the table and walked out. None of them followed, but Mave watched his back.
“That was surprisingly sentimental,” she pointed out, thoughtful why they had just gotten the small speech.
“He’s been worried about everyone making it back,” Luykas said softly, stepping closer to her. She felt his hand run over her lower back above her tail, where a bit of her skin showed. Through the bond, she felt the worry her husband had during her time away. “After the failure of the scouting mission, he was worried this one would collapse. We sent our best, though, and we could only rely on all of you proving why you are in the places you’ve earned.”
“It wasn’t a hard mission,” she said, turning to him. “Honestly, the fights weren’t a problem. If the coming missions get the drop on the gryphons, they’ll win.”
“Says the female who almost died,” Nevyn muttered. “Love, I’m going home.”
Varon took his husband’s hand and pulled him out of the room, an obvious agreement to the sentiment.
“Would you like to go home?” Luykas asked softly.
Mave reached up and touched his face, then looked at Bryn and Mat.
“Yes.”
Tomorrow, she would get back to work. Lothen was out there, his sword ready to be coated in blood. She had to make sure her blades were ready to be coated in his.
30
Trevan
Trevan picked up the leg of venison off the counter, his heart pounding as he left the kitchen and walked outside.
His eyes immediately found the new gift waiting for him, tied to a simple post he had Emerian and Dave help him install in the clearing right outside their home the night before. While they had been doing that, Mave had come by and asked to talk the next day. He had quickly agreed, trying to ignore the stares from her males. Once the gryphon was fed and secured and she was gone, he had tried to sleep.
It hadn’t been easy.
For weeks, Trevan had felt as if he was in a haze. He’d grown edgy and annoyed at his circumstances, even though they weren’t bad. He hadn’t
fit in, been looked at, or talked to outside of training with Luykas and Emerian. It had begun to weigh on him, being so alone in such a vast place.
He’d been only days away from asking to go to Kerit and taking the first ship to Olost.
Then she returned with this and looked at him.
She wants to get to know me. What am I even going to say to her without sounding like a stalker or a fool? I don’t know her either. I always respected her, but…
The anxiety terrified him.
He focused on the gryphon instead, walking down the steps to where it slept. Lifting its head slowly, it saw what Trevan was holding and sniffed the air. The gryphon clicked its beak several times, making a strange bird noise.
Trevan put the leg down as the gryphon rose to its feet and walked closer. Trevan was amazed it had even stayed on the post all night. This was a beast meant to serve, but he had never seen one in person. Like a horse, if it knew food was coming, it would wait.
“Hi,” he whispered to it, reaching out to touch it as it sniffed the food. When he received no reaction, he began to pet its side as it tore into the leg. He knew how to check over a horse and performed the same sort of check on this beast, hoping he could learn more about it.
First thing. He is a male. Good to know. Hopefully, he doesn’t run off and try to find a mate when the season is right.
The gryphon’s feathers were of a reddish nature, very common colors, and the hindquarters were like a small mountain cat. Due to malnourishment, every bone was visible in the legs, both bird and feline.
Now that he was seeing it up close for the first time, he could appreciate the strangeness and mythical nature of the animal. While they existed like any other beast in their world, they were definitely not of a natural origin. Only a god could take a feline and a bird and put them together in such a deadly way.
“There it is,” someone said calmly with a pretty, feminine voice Trevan didn’t recognize. She spoke in Common, meaning she had wanted him to understand. “Look at how pretty it is.”
“It’s going to fucking eat someone,” a gruffer voice said, very much a man.
Trevan turned slowly to find the new onlookers who had snuck up on him and recognized the mativa, whose name escaped him. She wasn’t hard to miss, being a feminine beauty. There was also no missing the three large males, one on either side of her and the tallest directly behind her. They had to be either her guards or her husbands…or both.
“How may I help you?” he asked, turning his back to the gryphon. He kept with Common, thankful they had been speaking in it.
“I wasn’t able to come by and help you with this last night, so I wanted to check in this morning to see what you might need for its care,” she answered. “And it’s finally time I met you, Trevan. I’m Allaina, a friend of Mave and mativa of this village and the neighboring one. It’s my duty to make sure all households have their portion of the rations, basic needs met, and address any concerns or official duties between households.”
“She’s the bitch in charge,” one of the males said with a growl. “And you’ll drop your eyes to her.”
Trevan did that, hearing a thwack.
“I’m trying to get to know Mave’s friend, and I finally had a reason to come over here. Her household has been sending in the reports for their supply using the human, but I haven’t had the chance to talk to the Elvasi or the mutt. Please do not be an asshole, or I will send all of you home.” She sounded annoyed with her males. Trevan looked back up and saw her glaring at them, her back turned to him. When she turned around again, he dropped his eyes. “Stop that. I want to speak about the gryphon. Mave brought this into my village without warning, and if we’re to have it, I think it should be well cared for. It’s safer that way.”
“Ah, of course,” he agreed quickly, straightening up. “I just fed it, and it should be calm. He hasn’t given me any trouble since last night. He ate what I gave him and curled up to sleep.”
“Did you install the post?” she asked, pointing at it. “We have something sturdier built. He can’t go in the stables, he’d probably eat the horses, but maybe we can have something built for him up against the cliffside. Gryphons love cliffs as much as we do.”
“A lot of work for one beast,” a male said softly. “Do you think he’ll take food?”
“Mave said they fed him fish on the trip, and he ate from her hand last night,” Trevan explained, swallowing. They didn’t seem to hate him, but he didn’t want to accidentally insult them either.
The male nodded and walked forward, opening a pouch. He held out a thin piece of jerky, giving himself space from the gryphon. The beast sniffed the meat, then sneezed.
“Doesn’t like spices then, just like the horses,” he said quietly. “Raw meat only might be best.”
“Good observation,” Allaina said, stepping closer. “You must be happy.”
“I’m…” Trevan looked down at her and tried to find what to say. He felt more hopeful this morning than he had in weeks.
“Leave him be,” Mave called. “He doesn’t need you bothering him, Allaina.”
“There’s my friend. I was coming to yell at you for bringing this thing home, but I caught Trevan feeding it and decided it seems nice enough. You’re lucky.”
Mave jumped off her porch and walked forward. Trevan tried to stay as small as he could as he saw two obviously dominant females square off.
“You wouldn’t be able to stop me,” Mave said evenly, “and you know it. My gift to Trevan is none of your concern.”
“We’re going to make it a stable and a strong post. Maybe Gentrin can recreate the gear for it, so Trevan isn’t riding bareback.” Allaina smiled innocently. Mave seemed both amused and annoyed. Trevan felt trapped between the two. “How was your mission, my friend? I see the new tatua.”
Everyone has seen the new tatua. Am I really going to have to stand here while these two catch up?
“It was good, now run along and leave us be. I need Trevan. You can come back in the afternoon with a building crew and get to work.”
“Fine.” Allaina sighed and launched into the air, her males following her. Mave looked at him, then the gryphon.
“Did you name it yet?” she asked in Elvasi. He was somewhat surprised by her choice in language. It took him a moment to remember Elvasi had to be one of her first languages, if not Common. She wouldn’t have learned Andena until she was free, though he knew she could speak it.
Trevan shook his head quickly. “Not standard to name the short-lived beasts among the Elvasi, except for tracking their bloodlines.”
“Same for the Andinna.” She crossed her arms, staring at the gryphon. “But I think this one deserves a name.”
“Yeah?” Trevan sighed. “What would you name him?”
“There’s a word in Andena…” She glanced at him. “How is your Andena coming?”
“It’s coming,” he said, shrugging. “I can pick things up, but mostly I’m glad many Andinna talk in Common when they’re talking to me or saying something I need to hear. I don’t speak in Elvasi to anyone. I’m not a fool. What’s the word you were saying?”
“Vahne,” she answered, looking back at the gryphon. “It means strong. He’s not yet, but he will be one day. If he wants to survive, he’ll grow strong, and his wings will carry him once more. And he’ll carry you.” Nodding, she stepped closer. Trevan was transfixed, watching her every smooth move, not carrying even a touch of hesitation. “Or maybe you can give him a name deriving from ovensita,” she whispered.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s built on the word for submit, sita…and it means slave.”
Trevan felt cold for a moment.
“No. He’s not a slave. I would release him right now if you think—”
“Vahne, it is. No, I think it should be Vahn,” she said, crouching down so the gryphon rose over her. “Strong. Don’t be surprised if anyone calls him lenti, though. Before you ask, it means pigeon, and it�
�s a childish insult to imply someone is stupid and useless.”
He had heard it before.
“Thank you for the education,” he said softly.
“No problem. Now, let’s leave Vahn to rest after his breakfast. A starving belly needs time to readjust to so much food.”
He nodded, knowing she had learned that lesson on her own. He followed her as she walked toward a trail that left the valley. He had no idea where she was leading him but followed, nonetheless. They walked for what seemed like hours, but when they reached a cliffside, he saw the sun was barely halfway through its journey to midday.
“You wanted to talk,” he reminded her, in case she was planning on killing him instead. She was wearing her armor and her sword belt with both of her moroks, one on each hip. She took off the belt and laid it over a log in silence, then undid the laces and buckles of her armor, carefully removing the chest piece and putting it beside the swords, then sat down, staring at him.
“I did,” she agreed. “I need to know, Trevan of Elliar, guard of the Empire forces, why you decided to risk everything to free me.”
“Maybe it was childish,” he said, looking down at his hands. “One day, I was a young, young man, and my friends wanted to go to the Colosseum. They dragged me along, a gift. Did you know that most Elvasi knew exactly who you were? Well, they did if they went to the Colosseum. They hand out small scrolls where your tale is written. The Empress didn’t want you to be a mystery. She turned you into a symbol.”
“I didn’t know one could buy scrolls about me, no. I knew she turned me into a symbol. I always felt its effects when the other Andinna tried to kill me.”
“Ah...yeah. We were under orders not to help you unless it seemed…”
“I understand,” she whispered. “And you needed to keep yourself alive. Guards had a tendency to die down there. Back to your story, though. There’s no reason for us to rehash the culture of the pits.”
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