Amata continued to grin at her king as he shifted back into gryphon form and darted off into the forest. She still couldn’t help marveling at the speed with which he now moved. Which reminded her, she should start gathering wood for the fire. This would probably be his fastest hunt ever.
She was still smiling when she waded out into the shallow river so she could view the bright blue heavens above, unobscured by the tree canopy lining the banks.
“Thank you, Ishtar, for giving me this gift. I will not disappoint either you or Hillalum. Every one of Sumer’s city-states will see peace. If not in my lifetime,” Amata’s hand dropped to cradle her belly, “then in the time of my descendants. This I promise you.”
She would have added more, but just then she heard Hillalum’s mighty wings as he returned to her.
“Ishtar, perhaps you need not have made him quite so lusty,” she whispered under her breath. “He’ll be a distraction from my other duties.”
Beautiful laughter echoed through the trees and skimmed across the water. “My dear Blade, I made him that way so you would find a balance between family and duty. Otherwise, your life would have been all duty and where’s the fun in that?”
“You are wise, my Goddess.” Grinning, Amata admitted there were far worse things than a loyal and vigorous mate.
The End
First Queen of the Gryphons is a prequel novella in my Ishtar’s Legacy series. If you enjoyed this and are new to my work, you’ll probably enjoy Ishtar’s Blade.
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First Queen of the Gryphons (Ishtar's Legacy Book 5) Page 12