I had been uncertain whether Mother would be willing to go to town today. I was relieved that she was. Beth might have regained consciousness. If she had, I could only wonder how much Nai had already discovered since the sun had come up. Not only that, Aella had not gone on the hunt with the other mercenaries, and it occurred to me that I wanted to see her again. Very much so. These thoughts quickened my scrubbing and I finished my stack of dishes in record time. I even took Mother’s clean stack from her to carry inside and put away.
Without thinking about it at first, I tried to dress with close to the same amount of care as I had last night. I could not bear to wear the blue dress a second day in a row. Though I knew it shouldn’t, it seemed to me that it smelled of blood. The green skirt which I had worn earlier in the week was the least dirty, and I chose that one and a clean sweater to go over it.
It was as I was taking a little more time to fix my braids that I realized what I was doing. Twisting them and pinning, I managed to set the hair into a neat square at the back of my head. Staring at my reflection in my parents’ mirror, I told myself my primping had nothing to do with the possibility of seeing Aella. The fact that I had to tell myself that made me doubt the truth of it.
When I was ready to go, I met Mother at the barn. We had agreed that we would ride together on Hale this morning. Mother’s knees were causing her pain, and frankly, we both wanted to get to town as quickly as possible to see what news had developed over night.
Willy did not stand at his usual post at the gate. Instead, Nadia was there. She was small compared to her husband, but the grim line of her mouth was determined. Behind the counter leaned a sturdy quarterstaff capped in iron with mean looking knobs. It was almost her same height.
“Names on the list,” she said a little too loudly.
“Good morning, Nadia,” Mother said as she scrawled her name. “How is the baby?”
Nadia smiled softly. “She’s just fine, ma’am. She’s with my ma.”
“And how is Willy?”
The smile shrank a fraction. She gestured for me to step up and sign. Her voice was loud again. “He’s just fine ma’am.
Mother didn’t press her, and after I had tied Hale to a post we made our way towards the center of town. We exchanged a small look, but Mother didn’t say anything, so neither did I. At the washing well, I was taken aback to find how quiet it was. Quite a few of the usual people were missing. I’d expected the place to be packed. This surprise lessened slightly as it became clear that it was all the younger women. Kept home no doubt by worried parents. Even Nai was absent from the waterside. All of Mother’s friends were present though, and once she had settled in, I asked to be excused.
“Nai’s not here, and I want to make sure she’s all right after last night. She’s closer to Beth than I am.”
“You’ll stay on the main roads?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Then I see no reason not to,” Mother said, dipping her rag into the warm water and giving it an idle swirl. “Give my love to her. I’ll see you this evening.”
“Have a good morning. Good-bye ladies,” I said to the other women, who smiled at me, and said their own farewells.
I rubbed my arm nervously as I turned away. The dark circles under their eye belied the worry that their lips weren’t discussing. The empty spaces where my friends ought to have been told of the unspoken tension still more.
Usually the day before temple was busy, as everyone ran about to get anything they might need for tomorrow when the shops were all closed. Today I was joined on the street by only a handful of other people. That more than anything else nailed home the seriousness of the night before. The suspicious glances the other people shot at their neighbors made my stomach flip painfully.
To get to Nai’s place, the fastest path was the road that passed in front of where Beth was found. Instead, I took the long way—the parallel street, one block over. By this time, those in town would have soaked both buildings adjacent to the alley in water, and doused the alley itself in purifying oils. They would have lit the oil on fire, banishing the monstrous energies that came with such crimes, singeing mortar, wood, and clay. I couldn’t bear to look at the scorched bricks that would mark where Beth’s body had been found. My alternative route also happened to take me past the mercenary camp, but if Aella was there, then she was sitting quietly in her tent. The place was as deserted as the street on which I walked.
Nai’s home was not far from there. It was no more splendid than its neighbors, and certainly not as extravagant as the merchant’s homes at the top of the hill, but unlike the houses on either side it still looked brand new. Where other people might have allowed the thatching to go thin, or the paint to peel, Anwar put a great deal of whatever spare time he had into improving the home in which he lived. Nai’s father had commissioned for their home to be built a half a year before he had arrived in Nophgrin. He spent another half a year living in it as it was being built, and furnishing it before his wife and young daughter joined him.
I knocked on the bright red door, which stood out from the plainly stained doors along the rest of the block. There was some clattering inside, muted by the walls. A few moments later, Salma opened the door. She was close to my mother in age, tall, with wide hips and a prominent mole right above the right side of her thin mouth. She kept her thick hair pulled back under a bright green kerchief. The scent of the sharp spices and herbs that she grew in a small glass hothouse at the back of the house rushed past her to envelop me.
A streak of flour contrasted starkly against the dark skin of her forehead as though she had carelessly wiped a hand across it. She did a great deal of baking for Sweetlings in the house, especially when she was agitated as she appeared to be now.
“Taryn!” Salma’s accent was like those from the southeast, and it was more prominent than Anwar’s. Her tongue seemed to caress each word before releasing it. “What a lovely surprise. Come in.”
I obliged, slipping my boots off at the door. “Is Naieed here? She wasn’t at the well when I dropped my mother off, and I wanted to make certain she got home ok last night.”
“You are a sweet girl. Yes, she is upstairs in her room, sulking. She wants to go be help at the inn again tonight, and I will not let her. As though I would let my daughter out so late after something so terrible.” She stopped short and seemed to remember herself. “You are not staying after dark, Taryn?”
“No ma’am. I’ll be headed to the field before noon and back to my home before dusk.”
She bobbed her head. “This is good. You know, I like William, but I was glad to hear Francine talking about writing the capital as we were being herded home. He cannot be everywhere.”
“Francine is going to write the capital?”
Salma wagged her index finger at me. “I will leave something for Naieed to tell you, or she will be even more cross with me. You go up the stairs, I am certain she will be happy to see you. No. Wait.” She gestured for me to pause and hustled into the kitchen. When she returned, it was with a small plate of pastries that were still steaming. “Take these up and give them a try. They are a new recipe I’m trying.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I accepted the plate from her, surprised to find it heavy. The fragrant scent of cinnamon and nutmeg flooded my nose, and my mouth watered. She was the only one in town who ordered those spices from the south. They were expensive.
“I cannot remember. You are not sensitive to nuts?” She asked as I made my way towards the steps.
“No, not at all.”
“Good, these have pecans and pistachios. I got them off the last merchant who came through. Very delicious.” She kissed her fingers.
“Thank you,” I said again, and she smiled and turned to go back to her work. As I made my way up the steep staircase that lay in front of the mudroom, I kept one hand on the bannister. Anwar waxed the steps once a month, and I was never sure which day it was. I ran my tongue over my chipped left incisor.
&
nbsp; At the top of the stairs there was a tiny landing, onto that three doors opened. The center one held a ladder which led to the attic, the one to the left belonged to Nai, and the right one belonged to her parents.
Nai’s door was shut, and I didn’t bother to knock before I twisted the door knob and pushed in. Her room held the smells of baking, which wafted up through the floorboards from the kitchen below. It was oppressively hot in the summer, and cozy in the winter. The walls were covered in brightly embroidered hangings that depicted beautiful creatures and romantic scenes. Her aunts sent them to her every year for her birthing day. Before Michael and I switched shift times, I used to love coming in the afternoons after sheep watch. Nai would trace the figures on the fabric and tell me the stories her parents had told her of the place of her birth.
Nophgrin had gryphons, but Nai’s family on her mother’s side came from the homeland of dragons. According to her father, they started small like lizards, but if you didn’t catch them, they continued to grow. If they were left unchecked they could get bigger than houses, but unlike the Carpathe mountain range, there weren’t large wooded areas for them to hide in. Supposedly the city had a complex array of tunnels below it that carried away waste and they had to be swept frequently for the creatures.
A glance around the room told me Nai was not where her mother thought she was. The barely cracked window clued me in to her true location. I set the plate of pastries reluctantly on her dresser and moved across the floor, my toes digging into the carpets she and her mother had woven together.
I pushed the window open enough to pull my body through, and then carefully minced my way along the small decorative ledge that ran along the side of the house. It was painted the same shiny red as the door, which made it easier to see in my peripheral vision. Holding onto the edge of the roof was a strain on my fingers, and I moved as quickly as caution allowed. When at last the roof and supporting wall slanted close enough for my elbows to rest on the edge, I managed to heave myself onto the roof.
The back side of the roof wasn’t visible from the road, and Nai’s family had no neighbors behind them besides the mercenaries, whose camp curved along their neighbor’s property, and then behind both houses. It was for that reason that I didn’t fear flashing anyone my underthings as I kicked my legs like a frog to get up properly.
This path had been terrifying the first couple of times that Nai had made me come up. My dress always felt apt to tangle around my legs, and once I nearly fell. I would have if Nai hadn’t caught me. After growing a foot and getting a lot of practice in chasing Nai up here, I had become pretty good at it. Still, there was always a heart fluttering moment when all that was keeping me suspended were my arms, which I hated.
As I pulled myself up, I spotted my dark-haired friend on the far edge of the roof. I knew she must have heard me climb up, but she didn’t crack an eyelid. She was sitting cross-legged and practicing what she called “mindful breathing.” Which, as far as I could tell simply meant she let herself take deep breaths as opposed to the usual shallow ones that let her whip out such quick retorts.
“Nai, your mother sent pastries,” I said coaxingly in greeting.
Her breathing stuttered. “You can tell her that I won’t be her test subject if she’s going to act like I’m too fragile to work.”
I crawled on my hands and knees until I was next to her and then sat back. “Nai, don’t be like that.”
“Your mother let you out of her sight.”
“You can’t blame your mother. Did you see Beth?” She opened her left eye to look at me and shook her head. “She was a mess. My brother found her.” Quickly I recounted everything I had seen from the time I arrived on the scene until the time we left.
“Poor Michael.” She opened both of her eyes, and levered herself onto her elbows. “That must have been so hard on him.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t have much of a stomach for blood. I’m surprised he didn’t throw up.”
She gave me a shrewd look. “No, I mean because of the way he and Beth have been flirting lately. I thought maybe she was moving on from Corey on to him, and now this. It’s more reason for Michael to want to get out of here.”
I reared my head back with an incredulous twist of my lips. “Michael has not been flirting with Beth.”
“How do you figure?”
“Because I would have known? Beth has been asking about him and he hasn’t been interested.”
“Well,” she fiddled with some of the thatching, “I wouldn’t believe it either, but she has been asking your mom about him more recently. Then I saw him give her a flower about a week ago. A little blue one.”
I gaped. “You never said anything.”
“You’re always so keen on him finding a nice girl. I knew you’d jump all over him or her and ruin it.”
“Poor Michael,” I whispered. “No wonder he was so angry with the mercenaries.”
“And no wonder madam Francine was yowling about writing the capital for more guardsmen. It’s a wonder she hasn’t gotten more than our two here before now.”
“Francine is writing the capital?” I asked, as though it was the first time I had heard it.
Nai brushed her hair back as a strong gust blew it over her eyes. “Yeah. She says we need more protection. I suppose it can’t hurt, can it?”
“I guess not, so long as they’re not going to blame Willy for all the trouble we’ve seen lately.”
That got a forlorn headshake from her. “Maybe someone didn’t cleanse properly and we’re paying for it? He can’t be blamed for that.”
“I guess so. People are so ready to be furious with the mercenaries though. It’s not going to help anything to drive them out of town.”
“And why is that?” Nai asked.
“I don’t think they were the ones who did it. Now I’m thinking more than ever that it was Corey. I think he got jealous seeing Beth flirting with Michael and then the mercenary, and he saw an opportunity to get away with something awful.”
“Or,” Nai dragged the word out, “the mercenary Lucas lost his temper at something Beth did or didn’t do, and he used his mercenary strength to bash her skull.”
We sat quietly for a moment, watching the horizon brighten to a cheery blue as the sun began its climb. The hothouse’s steamy ceiling was barely visible from our position. The pricey panes of glass glinted in the morning light. Birds flitted across the sky, punctuated by the heavier flight of lesser gryphons who chased them.
“What do we know about Corey anyway?” I asked. “He has always been a bit of a bully, hasn’t he?”
Nai stuck out fingers as she tallied. “His father is pig farmer Daniel. He’d love to be a blacksmith. He spent some time with Claire, but now he thinks Beth is sweet, and … Gods, I don’t know, Taryn! He’s Daniel’s son. I stayed clear, but he isn’t someone who would beat a girl! We know him.”
Stroking a hank of my hair, I nodded in sympathy. “It’s just, I saw Luke’s face last night, and it was scared.”
“Right. He looked guilty.” Her tone made it clear that this should have been obvious, but I didn’t see it that way.
“No, not guilty. It was like he knew he was about to be blamed for something and he knew he couldn’t stop it.”
“You can’t decide another person feels a certain way,” Nai admonished. “You don’t know this mercenary. His innocent ‘oh no’ face could be very similar to his guilty face.”
“But then I talked to Aedith…”
“Aye, right, the captain of the mercenaries. A good, impartial choice. Say on.”
I glared at her blithe expression. “She’s a good woman. Before I ran across Michael and Beth, I was walking with Aella. She told me about her mother’s past, and from what I can tell, she isn’t someone who would put up with woman beating from any of her people.”
This gave Nai pause, and she tilted her head back to watch the clouds above us. Her neck made a perfect curved line that ended at the collar of her yellow da
y dress. I blinked and looked away. Down at the mercenary camp I could see Aella’s tent from this position. It was so still that it might as well have been empty like the rest of them.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Nai asked. Her tone was idle, but I knew her curious heart was straining with the effort to appear disinterested.
I made a face. “It’s not my story to tell.”
“Well, either way.” Nai lifted a finger and recited primly, “A woman may have little tolerance for misconduct in her own sphere and not care at all about it in another’s.”
“Is that from one of Claire’s grandmother’s lady-manuals?”
She grinned. “It might be.”
“Well, in this case I don’t believe it applies. Trust me,” I hesitated then continued, “her own husband used to beat her, and he hit Aella. That’s why they’re both mercenaries now.”
“Perhaps she took the charge seriously, but she can’t see everything. Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Exactly, and accusing someone of beating a girl with no evidence except for his profession as hirable help seems like a big mistake to me— especially since his current job is to help us. Plus, if Aella’s behavior is any indication, this lot places stock in consent.”
Nai pounced on this tidbit. “What is this? Did the mercenary captain’s daughter make a move on you during your little stroll?” She looked absolutely tickled by this prospect.
Heat rose from my neck to swamp my cheeks, and I couldn’t keep a smile from creeping over my lips. I’d hoped she would ask. “She might have.”
She turned to face me, taking my hands in hers and leaning in. “Tell me everything.” The look in her eyes told me she regarded this as the highest caliber of information. I could trust her with it though. Nai knew what to share and what to keep under her hat, clearly. My mind darted for a moment to the thought of Michael and Beth. Why hadn’t he told me? But then I returned to the present discussion. I could ask Michael for details of his own flirtation after I got advice on my predicament.
“All right, I’ll tell you. Keep your voice down though? She didn’t go on the hunt with the rest of them.”
Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1) Page 19