The Shadowed Throne

by K J Taylor

  Skandar looked at the floor for a time, and his tail twitched. At last, he looked up, and his silver eyes had grown brighter. “Mighty Skandar have only one human,” he said. “Only Arenadd. Only one for Skandar. Never be another.”

  Arenadd is gone, the white griffin said. He will never come back to you.

  But Skandar turned away. “Arenadd come back.”

  He will not come back!

  “Will!” Skandar rose up angrily, spreading his wings wide, and pointed his talons straight at the white griffin. “Will come back! Will come back!” He screeched it out with all his might, again and again, until it seemed to echo all around him. Come back, come back, come, come, come . . .

  Skandar woke up.

  He woke up angry.

  Rising to his paws, he spread his wings over Arenadd’s body. “Come back!” he said again, in his sternest voice. “Human will come back, and Skandar will see it!”

  Silence. Awful silence.

  Skandar turned away abruptly and paced around the cave, his wings brushing against the jagged walls. “Skandar have human back one day,” he said aloud. “Maybe not soon. But not do nothing! Am Mighty Skandar! Am greatest griffin in this land! Territory still mine, and humans not take it!” He looked back at the body, and his voice quietened. “Go now. Mighty Skandar will prove he is still Mighty. Will do it without human, to prove his might more. But will not forget. Will not leave. Arenadd is the human of Mighty Skandar, and Skandar will come back.”

  Determined now, swelling with power, he charged to the cave entrance and hurled himself out into the sky. Morning had come while he slept, and he set out over the mountains to hunt.

  He hunted all morning, even after he had already eaten his first kill. By noon he returned to the cave, weighed down by two small deer. He carried them inside and laid them down beside Arenadd’s body, tearing open the hides to expose the tenderest meat.

  Still not satisfied, he flew outside again and searched out some trees. Humans ate green things as well as meat, everyone knew that.

  Unable to find anything else, he ripped a large branch off a conifer and brought that back as well, laying it next to the deer. Finally, he touched Arenadd’s forehead with his beak. “Human stay here. Have food now. Skandar come back. Promise.”

  He left the cave. Outside, to make certain that nothing would get in, he sank his talons into the cliff face above the entrance and pulled down, hard. Pieces of rock came crashing down in a shower of earth and snow. Skandar shovelled them into place with his paws, covering the cave entrance as well as he could. Arenadd could get out once he woke up; he was clever. But if any other griffins came sniffing about, they would never see the entrance or think it was important.

  Certain that he had done all he needed to, the Mighty Skandar flew away. Heading into the heart of his rightful territory and toward the war that brewed there.

  High up in the gallery above the council chamber, Kullervo sat beside Senneck and waited nervously for Laela to arrive. Below, the council had gathered and stood in a circle, human and griffin alike. Iorwerth and Kaanee were there, too, having returned to Malvern the day before.

  Kullervo shuffled closer to Senneck. They were the only ones in the tiered seating that circled the chamber—this particular council meeting wasn’t open to the public, and the guards outside had only let Kullervo and Senneck in because they had had direct orders from Laela herself.

  “It has been far too long since I have been in this place,” Senneck remarked. She stood up to peer down at the platform where Laela would stand, and sighed. “I have stood on that platform, back when it was golden like the sun. I saw the Mighty Kraal himself here in all his glory. Raakkakee! What a magnificent male he was! I would have given it all to be his mate, but only the highest and most powerful females could come to him.”

  Kullervo fidgeted. He had been given a fine set of clothes to wear, including an oversized velvet cloak to hide his wings, and they were uncomfortable. “You knew the Mighty Kraal? What was he like?”

  “The largest griffin I have ever seen,” said Senneck. “And the most powerful. I marvelled that he could even fly.” She glanced sideways at Kullervo. “It is said his only match was his son, the dark griffin.”

  “Wait, Skandar is the Mighty Kraal’s son?”

  “Yes. I do not know if he knows it, but it would not have mattered to him if he did. He killed the Mighty Kraal himself, on the day the sun went dark and Malvern fell.”

  Kullervo shivered. “That must have been such a terrible day.”

  “It was,” she said shortly. “Be ready now; your sister has come.”

  Kullervo stood, too, and hurried to the edge of the gallery to look down. Sure enough, there was Laela entering the chamber, with Oeka, silent and ungainly, by her side. Iorwerth and Kaanee stood aside to let them step up onto the silver-painted platform, and the meeting began immediately.

  “Warwick’s been won,” Laela told them without ceremony. “Arddryn Taranisäii an’ Rakek are both dead. So is Aenae. As for Saeddryn . . . there’s reason to believe she might still be out there somewhere. An’ there’s still Caedmon an’ Fruitsheart left to deal with. Iorwerth an’ I have talked it over an’ made plans for how we’re gonna deal with that. Obviously, if Saeddryn’s alive, then she’ll head for Fruitsheart. As for Fruitsheart, we can’t expect help from the governor there. She’s stopped sendin’ us messages, an’ the word is the people are armin’ themselves. Last griffiner we sent there never came back. So I think we’re safe sayin’ they ain’t about to give us Caedmon.”

  She paused significantly.

  “I don’t think I need to tell yeh what’s gonna happen if Saeddryn gets there before we do. We’re gonna strike hard, an’ fast. The unpartnered are ready to go—desperate for it, in fact. Anyone got any objections?”

  No-one did.

  “Right then,” Laela resumed. “Now listen. I know this looks simple, but it ain’t. I want one thing from all of yeh, an’ that’s caution. Have someone taste yer food. Don’t go nowhere without yer partner. If yeh haven’t got a personal guard, get one. Keep a weapon on yeh all day every day.”

  “Why?” someone spoke up. “What’s happened?”

  “We’re at war is what’s happened,” Laela snapped. “An’ I have reason to think there might be assassins about. Good ones. Is that understood? Take it seriously. Protect yerselves an’ each other if yeh want to stay alive.”

  Iorwerth coughed. “I understand, my lady. And I advise all of ye to listen. Not all of ye fought in the war, but I did, and trust me—assassinating councils is the first thing enemies think of.”

  Kullervo, watching and listening from above, could hear every word. The council chamber had been designed to make sounds from below carry, and it worked. “What about us?” he muttered to Senneck. “When are they going to talk about us?”

  Below, Laela spoke up again. “Now that’s all out in the open, there’s one last thing for me to bring up before it’s your turn. It’s occurred to me that we don’t have anyone servin’ as Master of Diplomacy, an’ I’ve decided it’s time that post was filled.” She gestured to the woman standing quietly on her left. “By the new Master of Wisdom, Lady Inva.”

  Several councillors protested.

  “Why her?” one actually called out. “Why not one of us?”

  “Yeh’ve all got positions already; yeh ain’t got the time for another one.”

  “I meant one of us,” the angry councillor persisted. “A real Northerner.”

  Laela cleared her throat. “All right then. Name a real Northerner what knows Amorani.”

  “What? What’s that—that’s not the—”

  “That is the point,” Laela snapped. “Inva’s a griffiner, she knows about travellin’, an’ she speaks more languages than anyone in this damn Eyrie. An’ she knows Amoran, an’ that’s where I’m sendin’ her. Unle
ss yeh’d rather it was you what went.”

  “Amoran?” another councillor said. “Why Amoran?”

  “Just a courtesy visit,” Laela said placidly. “They’re our allies now after all. I’m sendin’ Inva an’ Skarok, an’ a few helpers, with some gifts for the Emperor.”

  “Oh,” said the councillor who had protested. “I see.”

  “No more complaints, then?” said Laela.

  “No. Apologies, my lady.”

  “Helpers!” Kullervo repeated to himself.

  Senneck nudged him. “She cannot tell them that it is our mission as much as Skarok’s. They do not know us or have a reason to trust us.”

  “Amoran!” Kullervo smiled dreamily. “I can’t wait to see it!”

  “I have wondered what it is like,” Senneck admitted. “I have heard that griffins are almost seen as gods there.”

  “And a winged man might be just what the Emperor needs to persuade him to fight for us,” said Kullervo.

  “Indeed.” Senneck rubbed her head against his shoulder. “You and I,” she purred. “You and I, Kullervo, shall do great things. I am certain of it.”

  Kullervo’s heart fluttered. Ignoring the talk from below, he pressed his face into her feathers and inhaled the wild scent of them, loving the feel of her and her warmth. “And in Amoran, we’ll be safe,” he murmured. “She won’t find us there.”

  “Kraeaina kran ae cannot survive in the land of the sun,” said Senneck. “There will be nothing to fear.”

  They stayed where they were while the council meeting carried on, sharing their excitement, though Kullervo couldn’t have known exactly what Senneck was thinking in that moment that made her so happy and affectionate.

  Amoran is the key. I will teach him all he must know to control his magic. But more than that, I shall make a lord out of him, a greater Lord than poor Erian ever was. There will be no more failure for Senneck of Eagleholm. In Amoran, I shall have all the time that I need, and I shall use it to its full. She spread her wing over Kullervo, pulling him closer to herself. I shall not lose him. I shall not let him die. Not even Kraeaina kran ae can take him from me. I swear this on my life.

  When the meeting was over and the councillors left, Senneck got Kullervo onto her back and half-jumped down onto the floor and to the platform. Laela and Oeka were still there, the latter crouched in silent meditation as she had been for most of the meeting.

  Laela looked tired and vaguely irritable. “That went down fine, I reckon. Looks like I got it all sorted out.”

  Kullervo gave her a quick hug. “I never saw you look so much like a Queen before.”

  Laela smiled with pleasure. “The crown helps. So, yeh feelin’ ready for Amoran?”

  “We both are,” said Kullervo. He touched her shoulder solemnly. “Don’t worry, Laela; we’ll find an answer there. Someone there must know how to stop this.”

  “An’ if they don’t, then at least that husband of mine might send over some troops.”

  “You never told me you were married before,” said Kullervo.

  “Only in Amoran.” She shrugged. “Marriage ain’t valid in Tara unless it’s a proper Northerner ceremony. Amoranis don’t mind; if it’s valid in Amoran, it’s valid to them. But talk to him especially. If we’re lucky, he might come back with yeh an’ bring some extra manpower. See how it goes. Appeal to his sense of adventure if nothin’ else works. I’m sure it won’t come to that, though.”

  “Do not worry,” said Senneck. “You can trust us to do as we have promised.”

  Laela grinned at her. “I’d be a fool not to trust my own brother. C’mon, Kullervo, let’s go eat.”

  The siblings left together, but Senneck didn’t follow. Oeka hadn’t moved a muscle.

  I sense great ambition in your mind, her voice accused.

  “I have always been ambitious,” said Senneck. “It is natural to our kind. I thought that you would know that, little griffin.”

  Your new human is not welcome in my Eyrie, Senneck. If you have sense, you will not return from Amoran.

  “Kill us, then, if you cannot trust us.” Senneck flicked her tail and stared defiantly.

  You know I could have done this already if I had wanted. Oeka finally lifted her blind head. I have allowed you to live because you are useful to me.

  “I am surprised,” Senneck mocked. “I thought that you would have killed Kullervo out of mere frustration by now.”

  Oeka said nothing.

  “After all,” said Senneck, “you must be enraged that, of all the minds in Tara, his is the only one you cannot violate. And though you must want him dead, you cannot kill him. Have you seen that by now, you twisted fool? You cannot kill him, no matter how much you want to. Your magic cannot do it, and you have sacrificed so much of your own self that your talons cannot do it either.”

  Oeka’s fury made Senneck’s mind flash red with pain.

  “You cannot!” she rasped again. “You are a cripple who cannot even hunt her own food!”

  I do not need that nonsense any more! Oeka snarled. I am the master of this land. I am the greatest and you are the lowest, you whimpering chick who could not protect her own human! Do you believe that you have the strength to challenge me, when you could not even do that?

  Senneck didn’t rise to the bait. “Am I so low?” she asked. “I killed three of your greatest enemies while you lay here and did nothing. And now I have a new human, who is only one step away from owning all your own human’s power. A human who is stronger than you.”

  The force of Oeka’s mental attack drove Senneck to her knees. She convulsed, beak open in a silent scream. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

  Blood began to well up over her eyelids.

  Somehow, she found the strength to cry out. “Kill me!” she screamed. “Kill me, and my human shall avenge me! He will kill you, and you will be defenceless against him!”

  For a moment it looked as if her threat hadn’t worked. But then Oeka let her go, and she found herself on the floor, looking up at her through blurry eyes.

  The small griffin stood over her, her own eyes white and decaying. You will regret what you have said to me, old one, her voice said. You will regret it very much. You have only seen a fraction of the powers that will be mine. Soon, you will see.

  She left the chamber, her gait clumsy and hobbling.

  Senneck watched her from her position on the floor. Her entire body throbbed in time with her head, and when she blinked, she felt blood try to glue her eyes shut. Trembling slightly with shock, she hissed contempt and triumph.

  “Go then,” she gasped to the empty room. “And see what becomes of a griffin that abuses magic. I will screech victory over your corpse.”

  Oeka returned to the audience chamber, moving with difficulty on her weak legs. She was vibrating with anger.

  Laela wasn’t in her room, and the small griffin’s rage increased. Her human was with that vile monster that called itself her brother. The heir to the throne!

  She rested a moment and went back down the tower, to the dining hall. Sure enough, there was Laela, sitting with Kullervo and eating lunch. Neither of them did more than glance up when Oeka came in.

  She stood in the doorway, sensing their presence and motions in ways that went beyond mere sight and sound. No fear from them. No reverence either.

  That was when she made up her mind.

  Laela.

  She sensed that Laela had asked what was wrong.

  I am going downward, she told her. To the dark place where the stone humans lie. It is time for me to work my magic again, in privacy this time. I will claim the last of my powers.

  No, Laela’s mind said.

  This must be done, Oeka said, and left.

  To her astonishment, Laela tried to stop her. She felt the human’s arms around her neck, pulling her back, while
the mind driving them said, No, no, again. Don’t do it. Too dangerous. You could die.

  Oeka struggled, but her body felt stiff and awkward. All of a sudden, terrible, crushing despair came to her. She, who had once been so strong, was now unable to overpower a mere human! And all her senses, her sight, her hearing . . .

  Confused and angry, she bit Laela’s arm. It released her at once.

  I must do this, she said. I must be strong.

  This time, nobody tried to stop her when she left.

  She walked down and down, following the ramps she knew so well, down and down to the lowest level of the tower, below the earth itself, where a door waited. It was closed, but she used her mind to summon a servant, who opened it for her.

  It was utterly dark beyond, but that didn’t make any difference to her now. She could sense everything around her, in the dark or the light.

  She went down the steps and into the dirt-lined chamber where the dead humans lay in their stone boxes. How ridiculous, she thought, to keep a dead thing this way. When a thing was dead, it was nothing. It became an object, one with no use. Why keep the bones of a kill after they had been stripped bare?

  Oeka found a place in the middle of the floor and spent some time churning up the soil to make a comfortable spot to lie—more from habit than anything else. That done, she settled down on her belly and allowed herself to relax. She could still feel the heart of the Spirit Cave lying in her stomach. There had been no food to move it out.

  Fear twinged in her again. She dismissed it. She had made herself weak in the body, yes, but it had been a necessary sacrifice. Soon, she would make herself so powerful that not even her physical form would hold her back. Soon, she would have more magic than any other griffin that had ever lived.

  Oeka put forth the captured spirits, and began again.

  31

  It Begins Again

  “War.”

  Caedmon Taranisäii felt his fists clench, the fingers pressing inward until the knuckles turned white. Tears burned behind his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them show.