The Shadow's heir

Early the next morning, the King and his travelling companions went down onto the docks and boarded the ship that would take them to Amoran. The vessel, called Seabreath, was the first ship Laela had ever seen, and she stared with slight bewilderment at the masts.

“What in the gods’ names are those for?”

“To catch the wind,” one of the griffiners explained.

“Yeh can’t ‘catch’ wind!” said Laela. “It ain’t solid.”

The griffiner looked slightly uncertain at that. “Well. . that’s how it’s meant t’work. Don’t ask me; I’m not a sailor.”

The concept of “sailors” was another new one to Laela, but the helpful griffiner had already gone up the ramp ahead of his partner, and she decided to follow everyone else and try to work things out as she went.

Oeka hesitated before stepping onto the thick planks connecting the ship to the dock. Laela gave her a puzzled look, which was met with one of the griffin’s impenetrable green stares. “It’s all right,” she told her. “I think.”

Oeka hissed and stepped onto the ramp after her human.

The decks were bustling; Laela, discomfited by the rocking motion of the ship, leant against a mast and watched the group of men whom she assumed were the “sailors” run here and there, trying to avoid the agitated griffins while doing various strange and mysterious things with ropes. Most of the griffiners looked slightly bewildered-Laela guessed they’d never been on a ship, either. Arenadd, calm as always, was talking to the man who looked as if he were in charge. Skandar, less collected than his human, crouched in the middle of the deck, ignoring the sailors who were less than happy about it and hissing to himself.

Eventually, some kind of order returned after Arenadd called Skandar over and a couple of men opened the large trapdoor he’d been sitting on. Underneath was a ramp leading down into what looked almost like the inside of a barn. Laela couldn’t believe that there could be a space inside the ship-when she’d first seen it, she’d assumed the whole thing was a solid lump of wood. She wanted to go and have a look, but stayed by the mast-everyone around her was speaking either griffish or Northern, and she felt more than a little lost.

Arenadd seemed to be trying to persuade Skandar to go down inside the ship. After a while, the giant griffin huffed irritably and loped down the ramp-the space was large enough for a couple of oxen walking side by side, but Skandar only just fitted. The other griffins followed him with obvious reluctance-one or two refused outright and instead took off to circle over the ship, safely out of reach.

Laela glanced uncertainly at Oeka. “Are you supposed to go with ’em?”

The griffiners were leaving too, now-using another, smaller trapdoor set closer to the pointed end of the ship.

“Am I supposed t’go with them?” Laela mumbled, as if hoping someone would answer.

“My lady?”

“Huh?” Laela turned distractedly. “You talkin’ to me?”

The speaker was one of the junior griffiners-Laela thought his name was Penllyn. He bowed to her. “My lady.”

“Yeah, what?”

Penllyn looked slightly bewildered for a moment, but pulled himself together. “The captain says yer quarters are ready for ye.”

“Oh, good. Where are they?”

“Toward the. . back of the ship. The captain’s standing next to the door-see?”

The back of the ship had a raised section on it, as if a small building had been put on top of it. Steps led onto the “roof,” but there was indeed a door. Laela made for it without another thought, already excited to see what would be on the other side.

The captain, a heavyset Northerner, bowed low, and said something in Northern.

Laela tried not to grimace. “Is it through there?”

He gave her a slightly affronted look. “Yes, my lady. There should be room enough for all of ye.”

“‘All’?” said Laela. “Why, am I sharin’ with someone?”

“There’s only one cabin other than the captain’s and Lord Vander’s, my Lady, an’ the King insisted ye be allowed t’share it with him.”

Laela went red. “I ain’t-” She stopped herself. “Right.” She waited until the captain had opened the door for her and went in, with Oeka skittering after her.

The cabin was surprisingly roomy, and even more surprisingly well decorated. There were even tapestries hanging on the walls.

Laela noted that there was only one bed. What was Arenadd playing at?

The King was sitting at a small table by the fireplace with his feet up. “Ah, hello. Nice quarters we’ve got, eh?”

Laela folded her arms. “What’s this about?”

“What’s what about?”

“We’re sharin’ a room all of a sudden. What are yeh thinkin’?”

Arenadd looked surprised. “There’s only one cabin. I thought you’d prefer this to sleeping belowdecks with everyone else. They’re all packed into bunk-beds with the sailors. They won’t like it much, but we didn’t have any other options.”

Laela caught herself mid-anger. “I-oh.”

Arenadd glanced at the bed. “I’ll put up a hammock. I don’t mind. It’s not as if I sleep much any more anyway.”

“Well. What about Oeka, then?” said Laela, embarrassed. “Where’d all the other griffins go, anyway?”

Arenadd took his feet off the table. “This ship was meant to carry livestock to Maijan. We’ve had the stalls modified for griffins. But Oeka’s small enough to stay here with us if she’d prefer. It’ll be easier for when we start our lessons again.”

“Suits me fine,” said Laela.

Oeka flicked her tail and rasped briefly.

“She said-”

“‘I am happy,’” Laela interrupted.

Arenadd grinned. “You’re a fast learner, aren’t you?”

The Seabreath set sail not long after its passengers had settled in. Laela went up on deck with Arenadd, and the two of them watched his Kingdom slowly fade into the horizon.

“I’ll be back, Tara,” Arenadd murmured. “Don’t lose faith in me.”

Most of the griffins had come up out of their stalls, but there was nowhere near enough room for them all on deck, so they took to the sky instead, lazily following the ship as a healthy wind drove it eastward over the waves.

Arenadd pointed northward. “Hey, look at that.”

Laela squinted. “Looks like a. . blob.”

“It’s land,” said Arenadd. He frowned. “I didn’t know there was an island there. Oh well, it’s probably nothing important. Now, where were we?”

“I dunno,” said Laela. “I don’t think we’d started whatever it was yet.”

“Oh, that’s right,” said Arenadd. “I remember now.” He flicked his sickle out of his belt and flourished it. The blade flashed in the sun, and he grinned.

“Whoa, hey, wait a moment-” Laela backed off, holding up her hands. “What’re yeh doin’?”

Arenadd raised the sickle. “Catch.”

It flashed through the air, straight toward her. Instinctively, Laela lashed out at it to protect herself. The handle bounced off her wrist, and she grabbed for it and managed to catch it.

“Good reflexes,” said Arenadd. “Don’t lose it.”

Laela turned the weapon over, admiring it. The handle was made from some dark reddish wood, reinforced with gold bands. The blade, notched in places and slightly tarnished, was etched with a triple spiral surrounded by five small stars.