Hearing the crunch of footsteps, I sat up and shaded my eyes. Alek smiled down on me and I flushed. He had a gorgeous smile.
Maybe it won’t be so hard to handle the heights. I subtly studied his muscular form. There certainly were worse ways to travel.
Alek took a seat beside Audrey who’d obviously been swimming. She sat up and wagged her tail at him.
'Why don’t you go see what Loushka’s up to?'
The dog perked up at the griffon’s name and disappeared off down the track.
'You know she’s very bright,' he commented to Catherine.
She glanced fondly after her dog.
'She is. Sometimes too clever though, and she does naughty things when she knows I can’t see her.'
He laughed, 'As they do. What’s she done before?'
Catherine frowned as she thought about it and Alek watched her with a smile.
She has such an expressive face; I’ll bet she’s an awful liar. He liked that thought.
'I know. One time after we’d had a roast chicken, I’d removed the meat we didn’t eat from the bones and placed it in a bowl to cool. I’d made sure it was far back on the counter, so out the way, but when I came to look for it later, it was gone. Just a clean, empty bowl on the bench. I checked with the others, in case they’d put it somewhere, but no, they hadn’t touched it. Then as I came down the corridor, Audi passed me and just as she did, she cringed ever so slightly.'
Catherine smiled triumphantly at him.
'And I knew it! She got a smack on the backside and had to spend the rest of the night outside. She was not a happy girl.'
He laughed at the thought of it; he could just imagine Audrey being that sneaky.
'She cleaned the bowl completely? And no noise? Such a pity for Audrey that she’s so honest.'
Catherine agreed, 'Yes. She’d committed the perfect crime. If only it weren’t for her conscience.'
He laughed again then proceeded to tell her about a dog he’d had when he was young.
'His name was Zane, and father and I chose him from a litter when I was five. My father decided it would be a good way to teach me compassion and responsibility,' He smiled at the memory of the stocky determined puppy he’d selected.
'Were you a right little terror?' Catherine teased.
'I had my moments.'
'So did it work?'
He chuckled.
'Do I seem so irresponsible? Yes and no. Zane and I were inseparable so if there was any mischief going on it meant we were both involved.'
He continued to talk about Zane and successfully distracted Catherine.
Back at the campsite, Rumal and Kassie were deep in a conversation in regards to which creatures existed in this realm that she knew of. It was somewhat of a comfort to discover that lions, tigers and bears—oh my!—existed here as well. Cats, dogs, and chickens did too, and Rumal pointed out that they'd had bacon for breakfast, so there were pigs as well.
Rumal smiled at Kassandra, she seemed very relieved to learn that there were things here she recognized. He wondered if where she came from was so different. She didn’t look any different than women here.
Actually, she reminded him of an older woman he’d met at court who had hair very similar to Kassandra’s crazy, curly locks. Surely if she and the others seemed so normal to them, there must be a lot in common with their realms.
Kassie was fascinated by Rumal. He had to be the most feline-like male she’d ever met. He had gorgeous dark, mocha skin, and wide, slanted, liquid gold eyes, like a hawk's. His hair was cut so short it was practically non-existent.
'Rumal, where are you from?' Kassie asked, curious.
'You don’t sound like Alek or Sabyn and you certainly don’t look like them.'
He smiled down at her.
'I’m from an Island called Delanta in the Delos Sea. East of Elion.'
'So where are the others from?'
'Alek and Sabyn are from Plusian, and are actually distant cousins. Daron is from Gartolle, and Gredel is from Vo Arum. When Elena felt our griffons call us she summoned us to the castle along with the griffons so we could begin training.'
It was a bit of a shock for Kassie to think of this place as so big and real that it had islands and countries. She half expected to fall down a rabbit hole and wake up at home.
Rumal watched as various emotions flickered across her face and he felt a surge of protectiveness at the woman’s predicament. Elena hadn’t had much time to explain but had said that the women they were being sent to collect weren’t from this time or place. She’d told them to think of them as newborns in the sense that they would have little idea about what was dangerous here and what wasn’t.
He reached out and gently placed his hand on her arm. She jolted in surprise and looked up.
'Are you alright little one?' he asked very quietly. 'I understand this must be all so strange to you.'
The gentle concern in his voice bypassed any annoyance Kassie would usually have felt at being called “little one” and hit the spot of fear and confusion she’d fought to stamp out.
She burst into tears.
Gredel, from the other side of the clearing, glared at Rumal, a "what have you done?" look and Kerak looked up to see what had happened.
‘Rumal what’s wrong? Is she hurt?’ the young griffon was quite concerned. Rumal gathered the sobbing girl into his arms as he replied, ‘She’s okay I think, just missing home and I suspect yesterday would have been the first time she’s really fought for her life.’
Kerak came over to where Rumal sat, rocking back and forward, gently stroking Kassandra’s hair.
Kassie was mortified to cry all over a man she barely knew, but the need to sob out the stress from the past few days overrode her desire to stop.
No wonder Lucky likes pats so much, she thought as Rumal stroked her hair. It was so comforting.
Whoa. Did I just think that? She blushed and sat upright, wiping the tears from her face.
Loi and Sabyn observed quietly from a distance. It’d been hard for Loi not to run to her friend when she was so upset, but Sabyn had caught her arm as she made to move toward them.
'Don’t. She probably needs a good cry and Rumal will understand that.'
She watched her friend a moment longer then turned to Sabyn.
'You’re right. It's just hard sometimes, we’re all so close.'
Yes, thought Sabyn, it was obvious.
'Would you like to learn a game we play at home?'
She looked astonished.
'Err?'
He explained, 'I thought it would give us something to do without feeling the need to interrogate one another and it needs three people so Gredel can join in.'
It sounded a good idea, thought Loi and she had no desire to burst into tears like Kassie. She knew she probably would if she thought about all the events of the past few days.
'That sounds fun. Why don’t we play it on the other side of the tent, so they have a little privacy?'
Gredel headed over to where Sabyn and Laura were. At least she wasn’t crying, weeping women always made him fall to pieces, he reflected sourly.
Phroma, picking up on Gredel’s thoughts, chuckled, a strange husky cough.
‘Citaan seems to have noticed that’ she thought to Gredel, who gave her a dark look. Phroma chuckled again. She adored Gredel’s wife, a tall woman about Laura's size and build, but with mid-length, wavy, turquoise hair and striking dark gold eyes, showcasing her water sprite lineage.
Traits she’d received from her Grandmother, a full blooded sprite, and thanks to that heritage, Citaan was gifted with water. Meaning she was one of the rare people who could actually ‘tune’ into Phroma and communicate with her. It had taken a couple of years before it became second nature though, so they had a legitimate excuse to gossip—it was practice.
Sabyn hunted out the pack of cards for the game while Gredel, Loi and Phroma looked for a variety of small objects; pebbles and snail shells. Having f
ound a good handful of small pieces for the game, Loi went over to Sabyn, who was setting up the cards.
'Sabyn, look,' Loi held out her hand. 'I found these funny colored stones. Do you know what they are?'
Sabyn glanced into her hand as she prodded one of the green and pink spotted stones. He was quiet for a moment, then stood and walked to the tent. Laura looked after him in confusion, as did Tomiar who sent her thought to him.
‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ Tomiar could feel Sabyn’s amusement which confused her further until Sabyn sent her an image of what Laura had in her hand.
‘Oh I see. Oops guess we didn’t think to mention that.’
Tomiar seemed to regard her in amusement which made Loi feel a tad uncomfortable. Then Sabyn came back out the tent, carrying something. He gave her a broad smile.
'Why don’t you place your findings over here,' he indicated as he dug a hole in the ground with the heel of his boot.
'And then I’ll walk with you to the river so you can wash your hands,' he waved the soap he’d fetched at her.
She gave him a long look, then gingerly dropped her “findings” in the hole and resisted the urge to wipe her hand on her pants.
'Okay what is it,' she demanded as he covered the hole over.
'Ifanip droppings. Rather noxious. Next time you spot funny colored stones, I suggest you leave them where they are and ask one of us to identify them for you first.'
Her look of disgust made those watching laugh and Sabyn bowed to her teasingly.
'I would offer you my arm but…'
Rolling her eyes at his bad joke, she grabbed the offered soap.
'C’mon then, walk me to the river. You can tease me on the way.'
The others watched as Laura stomped off to the river while Sabyn teasingly left a safe distance between them as he followed her.
‘Humans can be such odd creatures,’ Tomiar thought to Loushka who agreed, then let out a sigh.
‘I’m so looking forward to flying tomorrow, I know it’s only been a day without but it feels like forever.’
Kerak and Phroma agreed.
Tomiar chuckled and flicked an image out of Catherine’s astonished face from the river incident, ‘I bet it’ll be an interesting flight for you, Loushka. Alek hasn’t appeared so interested in a female for a long time.’
Loushka agreed, ‘And I can’t wait to see the look on Rayna’s face.’
They turned and observed as all the humans came back from the river, now in good spirits.
Gredel reshuffled the cards and divided them into four piles. He looked forward to the flight tomorrow as much as Phroma and the other griffons and, of course, it meant they’d be closer to Citaan.
He wished again that they’d had enough time to fetch her, but she’d been at work in the Scrodian Mountains on a task Elena had set her. He let out a soft sigh at the thought of his golden eyed, mischievous wife. She would have loved to have been here to meet the women.
She’ll demand all the details when I get back, he chuckled to himself, and I’ll bet she even interrogates Phroma.
We wandered over to where Gredel had set out the cards.
In his husky, surprisingly quiet voice, Gredel said, 'I thought you’d want to pair up, so the girls can learn how to play.'
The griffons dozed in the afternoon light and Audrey decided to help Gredel, though I don’t think she improved his game at all, but she did take great delight in somberly chewing any winnings he made; leaving the remains in a nice soggy pile for him.
In the heights of the sky far above, the air began to chill and Daron wrapped his arms about Sian, tucking his thighs around hers. They’d had a fantastic afternoon. She was astonished at Nesha's skills and the breathtaking scenery. It was like nothing on Earth and yet so similar.
For the last hour Daron had fallen silent as they enjoyed the ride. At least with her back to him he couldn’t see her blush when he’d tucked her in. It was getting cold and she appreciated the warmth he radiated.
Like a heater, she thought in amusement. No wonder he could get about in that sleeveless tunic.
Breaking the silence Daron said, 'I think it’s time we headed back, it’ll be dark soon.'
Sian glanced back up at him.
'Okay.'
A strand of hair fluttered around her eyes and Daron tucked it behind her ear, pleased when she blushed.
‘Nesha, lets go home,’ Daron thought to his friend.
‘Good I’m starving and the conversation sucks, though some of your thoughts are certainly interesting,’ Nesha chuckled.
‘What? You weren’t supposed to be listening in on that.’ Daron was outraged and a bit embarrassed.
‘What else was I supposed to do? It's not like I could do the tricks I like to practice, what with you two lovebirds wrapped around each other. You’d fall off,’ Nesha snapped.
‘Sorry,’ Daron sheepishly thought, grateful that Sian couldn’t see him blush.
‘I didn’t know it would be like this.’
Nesha swooped lower until he spotted the campsite then with careful strokes of his wings, lined himself up and dropped, all four paws hitting the ground at the same time. He lowered his upper body and Daron slid down, then turned to catch Sian.
As he was about to walk to where the other griffons lounged he heard Sian’s voice.
'Nesha, wait a moment.'
Nesha’s huge eagle head swiveled to stare at her and she felt that instant of astonishment at being faced by a real life griffon. She shrugged the thought off then stepped forward and beckoned to Nesha to lower his head. He did so, and she placed a hand on his mane then cuddled into him.
'Thank you so much for that amazing flight. I can’t wait for you and Daron to show me all your favorite tricks.'
Nesha watched her curiously then headed to where the others were, settling down next to Tomiar and sent a thought to Daron, ‘She’s not bad friend. Not bad at all.’
Daron and Sian appeared to be rather comfortable in each others company. I exchanged a look with Loi and Kassie. The only trouble with sharing a tent was it meant we weren’t able to grill her for information.
Oh well, I guess we can wait until we arrive at the castle.
Alek touched my leg, bringing me back to the game and I frowned over the cards. We played late into the evening and when the symbols on the cards began to blur, I decided to call it a night.
'I’m done.'
Audrey staggered up from snoozing beside Gredel and made her way over on wobbly legs. I bent down to give her a hug and giggled at her little kisses. Kassie, Loi, and Sian stood too, and the men escorted us to the tent.
I pushed through the dividing curtain into our section and sat on my cot to undo my boots. There was a loud meow from Lucky when Kassie greeted her. The cat had been asleep all day, not surprising I guess, she’d probably had enough excitement in the last few days to last a life time, I knew I had.
Sian was the last to enter the tent and she gave Daron a shy smile as she passed him. Reaching out, Daron grabbed her hand which made her look back in surprise.
Feeling his stomach twist into knots, he decided against trying to speak and lifted her hand, pressing a kiss to it.
Her eyes glowed and she flushed a pretty pink. She gave his hand a quick squeeze before ducking through the curtain.
The next morning Gredel woke us before dawn. The burly man appeared to had gotten over his nerves around us and we had discovered he had a pretty good sense of humor. So we decided against bodily harm.
Yes, we may have had eight hours sleep the night previously, but it still felt like we could do with a dozen more. I glared at his retreating form while I attempted to clear my head. The urge to hurl something at him was strong, as was the urge to curl up and go back to sleep.
But the cots we slept in weren’t that stable and it would be pretty easy to ‘accidentally’ knock one over. I heard Kassie sigh in resignation and grinned.
I bet the same thought occurred to her.
We shuffled around our small tent space, got dressed, and packed up our gear. I kept myself busy while I tried to ignore the annoying voice in my head that mumbled about flying and heights (and lack of safety belts, parachutes and oxygen masks). My pack ready, I glanced at the others.
'I’m just gonna pop to the river to wash my face and,' I shrugged and tried to work up a smile, 'De-stress for a moment.'
Kassie and Sian nodded while Loi gave me the evil eye.
'Just make sure you don’t try heading off down it. You know we’ll catch you.'
I sketched a salute to her, 'Yes ma’am.'
Calling Audi, I headed out the tent.
Loi watched Cat disappear with a little trepidation. The last time they’d been on a flight with her she’d clutched the arms of the chair for dear life with an enormous insane grin, for the WHOLE flight. Needless to say everyone had stared and even the flight attendants had been hesitant to approach her. It’d been an interesting experience.
Kassie and Sian hadn’t been concerned; she had been much better this time according to them. When she’d last traveled with them the grin had been accompanied by giggling, again for the WHOLE trip, and it had been a long one.
Sian caught sight of Loi’s frown.
'Don’t worry, Loi. Cat appears to get better with each flight and this is quite different to what she’ll be expecting. She might even enjoy it.'
Sian mentally crossed her fingers.
'C’mon,' Kassie said. 'Let’s take our stuff out and get breakfast.'
The three of them, with Lucky draped around Kassie’s neck as usual, walked out the tent to where the men waited.
Or rather, where four of the men were.
Sian’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she registered that Alek was missing.
'Where’s Alek? He isn’t swimming again is he?'
The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) Page 10