wing, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and reached tentatively for the cylinder on the creature’s back. The dragon glanced at her, and then went back to its grooming.
Laela fiddled with the cylinder for a few moments before she figured out how to take the cap off the end. It came free easily enough-there was a wax plug underneath it. She put it aside and reached inside the cylinder and pulled out a thin scroll of paper. It was covered in tiny, neat runes, and, unable to stop herself, she had a go at reading them. She could decipher a few words here and there, and smiled proudly as she handed it to Arenadd. “Here yeh go.”
He took it. “Thanks. Now, let’s see. .”
Laela, the dragon now perched on her shoulder, watched with interest. “What’s it say?”
Arenadd scanned it briefly. “Excellent. Just as I thought-it’s from the Amorani ambassador.”
Laela glanced at Oeka. The griffin had been grooming herself, apparently uninterested in what was going on, but now she looked up as if she were as interested as her human.
“What’s it say?” Laela persisted.
Arenadd looked up. “You know, this
“Yeah, so yeh shouldn’t share it with anyone except yer most trusted advisor,” said Laela.
The King smiled again, with his eyes. “Indeed.” He rolled up the message. “This was sent from Maijan-that’s an island away to the east that the Amorani Empire controls. Apparently the ambassador is there right now-or was when he sent this message, anyway. He’s on his way here now, and he says he should be here in a matter of days.”
Laela grinned and petted the dragon. “What’s his name?”
Arenadd checked the message again. “Uh. . Lord Vander. His griffin is called Ymazu. From what I’m told, he’s a reasonable man, and an extremely good negotiator.” He frowned. “This isn’t going to make me any more popular, you know-this treaty with Amoran.”
“But it’s for the best,” said Laela.
“Yes. It would be a lot easier if the Amoranis weren’t so different from us. And if they weren’t sun worshippers.”
Laela started. “They’re sun worshippers?”
“Yes. In fact, some people believe that Gryphus was born in Amoran. That’s probably partly because it’s eastward and the sun rises in the east, but also because the Amorani were worshipping a sun god before Cymria was even inhabited by humans.”
“They worship Gryphus?” said Laela.
“Actually, their god is called Xanathus,” said Arenadd. “But they also believe that the sun is his eye, and that he’s the father of all life. Most Northerners hate the Amoranis for that. But the truth is, we in Cymria have been copying them for some time.” His expression hardened. “The slave collars that my people used to wear-those were invented in Amoran. Still, you’re right-a treaty with Amoran is exactly what we need.”
“Are we still goin’ there?”
“Probably. If my negotiations with Lord Vander go well. In fact, if everything goes to plan, we’ll probably go back to Amoran with him.” He paused. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah,” Laela confessed. “How long’re we gonna be there?”
“Well, first we’d have to travel to the coast. . then a few months of sailing to get to Maijan. . We’d have to follow the entire island chain, and then cross the Amourfish Sea to get to Amoran itself, and then when we get there, the negotiations with the Emperor would take some time, and we’d have to stay a bit longer to be polite. .” Arenadd trailed off.
“How long?” Laela pressed.
“Probably more than a year.”
She stared at him. “A
“That isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” said Arenadd. “I’m sure I can teach you a lot while we’re on our way.”
“I guess so,” Laela mumbled.
“And you haven’t really been here long enough to have to worry about homesickness, so what’s the problem?”
“Yorath would. .” She trailed off.
“Yorath?” Arenadd put his head on one side. “Oh yes, your tutor. What about him?”
Laela started. “Oh. Uh. . it’s not important. Never mind.”
Arenadd gave her a knowing look. “You
“Well. .” Laela felt inexplicably ashamed.
“Not to worry,” Arenadd said briskly. “I’m sure he can come along with us. After all, I won’t have time to teach you
Without even thinking, Laela stepped forward and hugged him around the neck. The dragon shrieked and leapt off her shoulder, but she didn’t pay any attention.
Arenadd jerked away from her, as if in fright. “Laela!”
She let go and backed off. “I’m sorry-”
He shook himself. “It’s all right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to. . You took me by surprise.”
“Haven’t been hugged in a while, have yeh?” said Laela.
“No,” said Arenadd, his tone as matter-of-fact as hers. “Dark Lords aren’t very huggable. So,” he added, suddenly awkward, “are you ready to start your first lesson?”
Laela went to stand by Oeka. “Yeah, I am.”
17
Laela spent the rest of that morning with Arenadd, learning her first lessons. To her surprise, Arenadd wasn’t her only teacher-Oeka taught her, too.
Arenadd began by lecturing her about the habits of griffins-what they liked to eat, the best materials to give them for nest-building, and even the times when they preferred to go to sleep and wake up. Oeka then helped him show her how to clean her partner’s talons, how to treat fleas, how to remove a bone lodged in the throat, and a dozen and one other things about griffish health and medicine.
Laela took it all in, paying close attention not just because of her renewed interest in becoming a griffiner but also because most of it was fascinating. Learning so much about griffins made her feel like she was being brought into a secret circle of knowledge, seeing things only a select few were allowed to see. That feeling of pride and excitement kept her so enthralled that she didn’t even realise how much time had passed until Arenadd announced that they should stop for lunch.
After lunch, Laela had to go to the library again for another lesson with a wary Yorath, but the next morning she was with Arenadd again. Now he began teaching her something she was particularly determined to learn-the language of griffins.
It was much harder than she’d thought. Griffins had a completely different language structure than humans, and the sounds they used were far away from anything humans used. Arenadd explained that griffish was a primitive language that had never really been meant to express complicated ideas, and that humans weren’t built to speak it. The best that Laela would be able to manage would be a crude approximation of griffish sounds, but the important part of knowing griffish was learning how to interpret what Oeka said. Griffins could indeed understand human languages even if their beaks stopped them from speaking them properly, but they preferred to be spoken to in griffish.
As far as Laela was concerned, knowing griffish was another and even more important part of being a member of the secret world of griffins and griffiners. One day, she would be able to talk to Oeka and know what she
