Griffin's Daughter

“ Everyone, except you,” Ashinji interjected.

“ Yes, and Claudia, the woman who raised her. The two of us have always been Jelena’s protectors.”

“ Are all bastard children treated with such contempt among humans?” Ashinji asked.

“ No, they are not. Jelena was singled out because of her sire.” Magnes paused briefly before continuing. “It shames me to tell you this, but from early childhood, when we Soldarans learn about our religion from the priests and our parents, we are taught that your people-the elves-are the spawn of demons. Elves have no souls and are therefore accursed, doomed never to know the love and light of the gods. Any human who would willingly consort with a demon is despoiled, and the offspring of that union is itself a soulless, accursed creature.” He chuckled humorlessly. “This, Lord Ashinji, is the world my beautiful, kind, loving cousin has lived in.”

“ Please, you may call me Ashinji, for we are both of the same rank, it seems,” the elf insisted. “Why is it that you believe differently, Magnes Preseren? You, who are the son and Heir of a duke?”

Magnes shrugged. “I’ve always been different. I could never accept that the girl I grew up with, played with, loved as a sister, was anything less than a complete being, with a warm, loving soul. It was all just ignorance and superstition, and it always infuriated me.”

“ We elves are not without prejudice,” Ashinji admitted. “Take my captain, Gendan Miri, as an example. He is typical in his attitude toward humans. Oh, he acknowledges that you humans are intelligent and good at many things, but he believes that elves are more evolved… superior, in fact. In Alasiri, we have people of mixed blood- hikui we call them-who live among us… not many, but a significant number. I am sorry to say that they suffer legal discrimination, in many aspects of life, but they are not generally despised or abused. If Jelena had been born in my country, she would have had a much better life.” He poked at the fire with a long stick, sending a cloud of bright sparks whirling up into the night sky. “Out here on the frontier, things are looser, more tolerant,” he continued. “There are a lot of people living out here with a human or two in their family trees.”

“ How do you feel about humans and… hikui? ” Magnes asked slowly.

Ashinji regarded him thoughtfully for several moments, as if trying to decide just exactly how to frame his response. Magnes found himself growing uncomfortably warm under that brilliant, green gaze. “I have never spoken to a human before I met you. I, too, grew up with certain ideas about your people that I have never really questioned until now. I am revising my opinion even as we speak. As for how I feel about those of mixed race, I have always felt that they should have the same rights under the law as any okui , our word for pureblood.”

“ So, my cousin is going to be an outsider here as well, made to feel as if she doesn’t quite belong…Gods!” Magnes muttered angrily. “She doesn’t deserve this. All she wants is to find a real family!”

“ Does your cousin know her father’s name?” Ashinji asked, leaning forward slightly to look into Jelena’s sleeping face.

“ He called himself Zin,” Magnes replied.

“ Hmm. Zin is really just a bukuza … a nickname. That is all she knows about him? It would be far more useful if she knew his family name, at least. That way, we would know if he was noble or common.”

“ Gods! I almost forgot. She carries a ring that belonged to him. It hangs on chain around her neck. I’ll get it for you.”

“ No, no, do not disturb her. Just describe the ring to me.”

“ It’s made of white gold, with a black stone set flush in the band. There’s a griffin, also white, inlaid into the center of the stone.” Ashinji reacted as if he’d just heard something completely unexpected and altogether startling. “What? What is it? Do you recognize the signet?” Magnes eagerly asked.

“ I…I am not sure,” Ashinji replied. He frowned, and pulled on the gold rings in his left ear, staring at Jelena intently all the while. Then he shook his head as if answering a question in his own mind. “I do not recognize it exactly, but it could fit the devices of several noble families, or it could be someone’s personal device. My father should be able to figure it out.” He rose to his feet and stretched. “I have something in my saddlebag I want you to try,” he said, then strode away into the dark.

Magnes leaned over to check on Jelena. She remained deep in a drug-induced slumber. He adjusted the blankets around her then allowed his eyes to slowly scan the campsite.

The man named Gendan Miri sat a few paces away, a very young, strawberry blonde woman at his side. They were deep in conversation, and Magnes focused in on the musical cadences of their speech, allowing the alien words to flow into his ears like warm rain. The elves’ language, the sound of their voices, was as beautiful as they were. Most of the others had retired for the night, little more than dark lumps on the riverbank. Two troopers stood guard.

Ashinji returned shortly, carrying something in his hand. It was a small metal flask, which he offered to Magnes. “Have a taste of this,” he said, an enigmatic smile on his face. Magnes took the flask and pulled the stopper. He raised it to his lips and took a sip.

Magnes had never been to the southern islands to behold the great volcanoes there. It was said that when they awoke, the mighty mountains belched clouds of burning smoke, and rivers of molten rock poured forth from their steaming maws. The liquid that ran down his throat must surely be a distillation of the essence of those rivers of fire. He gasped and choked, then began coughing helplessly. Tears streamed down his face as he fought to catch his breath. Ashinji deftly snatched the flask from his hands before it could drop to the ground.

When he could finally talk again, he looked up accusingly at the young elf lord. To his chagrin, Ashinji was laughing. “You…you knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?” he spluttered.

Ashinji looked a little sheepish, but made no attempt to hide his amusement. “I am sorry, but you should see yourself. I did not know a human could get so red in the face. I hoped that you would be able to take the muato a little bit better than you did, but believe me, one does acquire a taste for it. The first time is always the hardest, but you will get used to it,” he promised cheerfully.

“ I hardly think…hey, that is good.” The potent liquor had settled in Magnes’s stomach like a red-hot coal, but it was cooling rapidly, and like steam, rose straight to his head. He nodded in pleasure, beginning to feel its full effects. “Tha…tha’ has got t’be the strongest stuff ever made, much stronger than anythin’ we have back home.”

“ I knew you would like it. It is a drink shared only between close friends and allies.” Ashinji tilted his head back and took a sip. He re-corked the flask and sat down beside Magnes.

“ How do you know I’m your friend…or your ally?” Magnes asked, speaking slowly and carefully, so that his words would not slur. His tongue had turned into an unwieldy turnip in his mouth.

Ashinji tapped his forehead with one elegant finger. “I know because I have an instinct about people, and because you have brought something that is meant for me.”

Magnes puzzled over Ashinji’s words. What, in the names of all of the gods, did the other man mean? Magnes had no more possessions, for everything he had brought out of Amsara had been lost. He could not possibly have anything that was meant for this young elven lord, unless Ashinji had been speaking metaphorically.

Before Magnes could reply, Ashinji slapped his knees and stood up. “Well, it is time that I go to bed. I have left the vial of poppy juice for you, in case your cousin awakes and has need of it. If you need me during the night, I will be close by, just over there.” He pointed toward a spot nearer the water’s edge. Magnes nodded. “Good night, then.”

“ G’night.” Magnes lay down and snuggled close against Jelena. Exhaustion and the muato were pulling him down inexorably toward sleep. He hoped that if Jelena needed him, he would be able to respond. His last thoughts just before sleep claimed him were of Ashinji’s odd statement.

Tomorrow, he would ask for an explanation.

Chapter 14

Jelena’s Angel

Jelena stood alone on a gray, featureless plain. Above her head hung a blank sky and below her feet, gray