Griffin's Daughter

After all, I’m to be his daughter-in-law, and a man like Lord Sen would never lie to a member of his family.

Jelena slipped the ring back into the leather pouch that she had taken to keeping it in and put it back in her storage chest. The barracks were quiet; all of the guards were still on duty. Aneko and Kami wouldn’t return until sunset, so Jelena had to wait before she could share her good news. She lay back on the bed and folded her arms behind her head.

My life is changing so rapidly, she thought. It seemed like just yesterday that she had been a kitchen drudge, destined only for the life of a concubine, to be used and discarded when her master had tired of her. Now, she would soon become part of a noble elven House, a full member, with all of the concurrent rights and privileges.

Maybe Ashinji is right. Perhaps the One Goddess of the elves did put me on that riverbank so he would find me.

Or, perhaps the Soldaran gods had at last taken pity on her and had released her from their cruel dominion. Whatever the reasons, Jelena would not commit the sin of ingratitude. She vowed to visit the chapel of the One each day to offer up prayers of thanks for her reversal of fortune.

The air felt hot and close in the confines of the bunk room. A horse whinnied in the stableyard below. Jelena could feel sleep stalking her, weighing down her eyelids with pebbles and infusing her muscles with lassitude. She fought for a while-half-heartedly-but soon gave in.

She awoke with a start, the beginnings of a scream tearing at her throat. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her body, shivering despite the lingering warmth in the room. Vague images of something huge and unspeakably evil, trailing tatters of shadow in its wake as it swooped down to envelop her swirled in her mind. Jelena had no idea of the nature of the thing , but she had felt its burning hunger, its frantic need for…for what? Then it hit her with chilling certainty.

The blue fire!

It wanted the energy that smoldered like banked coals deep within the essence of her being, and she sensed that, though it might not now have strength enough to take what it wanted, its power waxed with each passing day, and soon, it would come for her in earnest.

Jelena scrambled to her feet, swaying a little in reaction to the aftereffects of the nightmare.

I must tell Lady Amara! She’ll know what to do!

Chapter 32

The True Measure Of Friendship

Do not worry, child. The seeds of this nightmare come from your own fears about your Talent, nothing more.

Jelena turned Lady Amara’s words over and over in her mind as she slowly walked back to the barracks, but no matter how hard she tried to banish it, the feeling that her future mother-in-law hid something important continued to nag at her.

It’s just like with Lord Sen, she thought. Why do I feel Ashinji’s parents know things about me they are trying to keep secret? What could there possibly be to know about me that’s worth hiding?

She shook her head, completely baffled.

As she mounted the stairs up to the common room, she heard Gendan’s voice drifting from the doorway. “We’ve got to send for the doctor!”

Jelena paused, frowning. What’s got Gendan so upset? she wondered.

“ Gendan’s right!” Aneko’s voice sounded just as distressed. “For once in your life, Kami, please don’t argue!”

Jelena hastened to the top of the stairs, heart racing. She rushed through the half-open door and spotted Gendan, kneeling, his back to her. “What has happened?” she cried.

Aneko, who stood beside the captain, looked up and around at Jelena as she approached. The stark look of fear on the older woman’s face froze Jelena in her tracks.

“ Kami collapsed a few moments ago, Jelena. She’s very sick. We need you to go fetch the doctor,” Aneko said tensely. Jelena could see now that Kami lay sprawled upon the floor, her head resting in Gendan’s lap, still dressed in her dusty armor, as though she’d just come in from guard duty.

“ I…don’t need a doctor,” Kami murmured. Jelena drew in a sharp breath, shocked and terrified at the sight of her friend’s bloodless face.

“ I told you not to go to work today. I asked you to stay in and rest! Why didn’t you listen to me?” Gendan scolded gently, tears streaking his weathered cheeks.

“ Jelena, please hurry!” Aneko urged.

Jelena turned and ran for the door. She pounded down the stairs and sprinted across the lower yard. Up the path and through the lower gates she ran, ignoring the shouts of the guards, slowing down only when she had crossed the upper yard and had to think a moment to remember which way to go.

The infirmary lay at the back of the main wing of the castle. By the time Jelena arrived, she was thoroughly winded. Breathlessly, she pounded on the thick, wood door.

The doctor’s assistant, a gangly young man, answered the door, listened closely while Jelena gasped out her request for help, snapped, “Wait here!” then slammed the door shut, leaving Jelena alone in the warm darkness.

Anxiously, she waited.

Terrifying thoughts tumbled over themselves in her mind, each new one more horrible than the last.

What if Kami is losing her baby? What if she’s dying? What if she dies before I can bring the doctor? Will Gendan blame me?

Just when she thought she would go mad with fear, the door flew open and the doctor stepped through. Jelena immediately recognized her as the woman who had tended the injuries she’d received on the day Ashinji had rescued her from the bandits.

“ Lead on, girl!” the doctor commanded, handing her bag off to her assistant. Wordlessly, Jelena turned on her heel and started back the way she’d come, the doctor and her assistant following closely behind.

By the time they arrived at the barracks, Gendan and Aneko had stripped off Kami’s armor and clothing, and had put her into bed. Gendan had pulled up a stool and now sat beside his stricken lover, her small hand clutched tightly in his.

“ Doctor Metai, please, you must help my girl!” the captain begged, his voice ragged with fear. The doctor crossed the small room in two strides and bent over Kami, peering into the girl’s half-lidded, restless eyes. She pressed her first two fingers to the large vein in Kami’s pale throat, then after a few heartbeats, clicked her tongue in dismay. “What exactly happened, Captain?” Doctor Metai asked.

Gendan shook his head. “I don’t rightly know,” he replied. “I wasn’t there, but Aneko, here, was. She came and fetched me just after the bell sounded the hour-said my girl had taken ill.”

“ We’d just come in from our shift,” Aneko explained. “Kami’d been complaining since dawn that she didn’t feel well. She insisted it was just the morning sickness and that she’d be all right. She refused to stay in the bunk house to rest, even though Gendan asked her to.”

“ She’s such a hard-headed girl, sometimes!” Gendan added, sniffing hard and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Kami moaned softly and began to shiver. Gendan stroked her tousled blonde hair. “Can you do anything for her, Doctor?” he asked.