Duach. “The Mighty Skandar and I are going back to Malvern, and Lady Laela and Oeka are coming with us. I want you to stay here and organise transport for our new citizens. Feed them well, get clothes for them. Keep them warm.”
Some of the slaves had already come off their ship. Arenadd had personally removed their collars, and their hair had begun to grow back, but they still looked strange. They huddled together, staring blankly at this new land they found themselves in.
“They ain’t so different from how I was, once,” Laela remarked to Arenadd.
“They’re not so different from how I was, either,” said Arenadd.
Laela smiled at him for the first time in months. “They’ll find a way t’live. They’re Northerners, after all, an’ if we survived, so can they.”
Skandar nudged her heavily in the back. “Come,” he rumbled. “Come now. I carry.”
Arenadd climbed onto his partner’s back, and helped Laela up behind him.
Oeka watched resignedly. “I am nearly large enough to carry you.”
Laela caught the hint of resentment, and smiled inwardly. “There’s no hurry.”
Oeka rasped noncommittally, and took off a few moments after Skandar.
Skandar flew over the vast snowy reaches of his kingdom, his wings beating powerfully. Below, everything was white, darkened by trees and the occasional brown cluster of houses. To Laela, it looked like a country she’d never seen before-as strange to her now as Amoran had been.
She and Arenadd spent the rest of the journey back to Malvern close together-flying on Skandar’s back during the day, and sharing their quarters at night. But it was a joyless kind of closeness. They rarely spoke to each other unless it was necessary-Laela talked to Oeka, and Arenadd didn’t speak at all. He seemed less upset than preoccupied; Laela often caught him fixing her with a penetrating stare, as if he were looking for something. She pretended not to notice.
And then, finally-Malvern.
Skandar saw its walls approaching first. He opened his beak and sent out a ferocious screech, sending his own name ahead of him. A little while later, he screeched again, and again, as Malvern drew closer. By the time he reached it, the griffins circling over the towers had long since heard him. They began to gather, flying out to meet their lord.
Skandar screeched again at the sight of them. It was a sound full of challenge, but none of the oncoming griffins answered it. They circled and flew behind him, riding on his slipstream back toward the Eyrie. He’d been away a long time, but they still recognised him as their master.
Skandar flew straight to the Council Tower and landed on its wide, flat top. The human inhabitants had had plenty of warning, and by the time his talons had touched stone, Saeddryn was already there, with Aenae, and Iorwerth and his partner Kaanee were with her. The other councillors were just arriving.
Arenadd slid off Skandar’s back. He landed awkwardly and nearly fell, catching himself by grabbing his partner’s wing. Laela got down, too, and quickly handed him his walking stick. He took it and leant on it while Skandar went forward to meet his son and the other griffins there.
Kaanee bent his forelegs and put his head down, displaying the vulnerable back of his neck to Skandar in a sign of submission. The other griffins did likewise, and Skandar acknowledged it with a quick huff through his beak.
Aenae faced his father arrogantly, with his head held high. He was a head shorter than him, and not as powerfully built, but he was bigger than Kaanee.
Skandar’s feathers puffed outward, making him look even larger. He opened his wings, holding them above his own head, and hissed.
Incredibly, Aenae didn’t back down. He raised his own wings and hissed back, his tail twitching like an angry cat’s.
Skandar’s hiss swung around into a snarl. He rose up and hit his son hard across the face, throwing him to the ground. Aenae landed on his belly and stayed there. Blood glistened on his feathers. Skandar stood over him, huffing his aggression.
Very slowly, Aenae got up. He made no sound, and only bowed his head.
Skandar rasped in satisfaction, and turned his back on his son with a dismissive flick of his tail. “Am home. Am master.”
Arenadd laughed rather unpleasantly. “Getting ideas above your station isn’t a good idea when Skandar’s about. Now.” He limped toward Saeddryn, leaning on his stick. “Dear cousin, you look younger every day.”
Saeddryn smiled and bowed to him. “Welcome home, Sire.”
Iorwerth bowed, too. “It’s good to see ye home, Sire. We’ve already begun preparing a feast in yer honour.”
Arenadd inclined his head. “I’d love that. Thank you, Iorwerth.”
The Master of War had obviously been expecting a refusal, and he looked pleased. “So tell us, Sire-how was Amoran, and the Emperor? An’ how are ye?”
“The visit went well,” said Arenadd. “We got everything we were hoping for. But we have Laela to thank for that.”
Iorwerth smiled with genuine warmth at her. “Lady Laela, forgive me. Ye look well.”
Laela nodded to him. “Iorwerth. Same thing to yeh.”
“So the slaves have been freed?” Saeddryn interrupted.
“Yeah, they have,” said Laela. “We both saw t’that. Arenadd an’ me, I mean.”
“There’s no need to be so modest, Laela,” said Arenadd. He turned to Saeddryn and Iorwerth. “I had. . an accident, while we were in Amoran. It was none of the Emperor’s fault-it was nobody’s fault. But while I was unwell, Laela completed the treaty and bought our brothers and sisters their freedom. We’ve brought a hundred of them with us, and the rest will follow.”
Iorwerth laughed aloud. “Ahah! I knew it, Sire! I knew we’d see them come back! An’ Lady Laela was behind it, ye say?”
“Yeah, I was,” said Laela. She shrugged. “I was only doin’ my duty t’the King an’ to our friends.”
“The first group of them are on their way here now,” said Arenadd. “But we’ll discuss that later. For now, we all need rest.”
“Then I shall see ye later,” said Saeddryn.
Arenadd caught Iorwerth as he started to leave, and muttered something to him. Iorwerth nodded back, and a moment later they were both walking off as if nothing had happened.
Laela had seen it. She frowned, then shook her head and walked off after Oeka, deciding that she was too tired to wonder about it for the time being.
She didn’t know whether to be surprised or disturbed to find that her room hadn’t changed at all since she’d last seen it. Someone had obviously been in to clean it up and put fresh sheets on the bed, and there was a bath ready and a good fire in the grate, but this could have been her room at the end of an ordinary day-not after more than nine months away.
She yawned and stripped off her clothes before climbing into the tub, while Oeka went into her nest.
The hot water felt good. Laela sighed and relaxed into it, feeling it soothe her sore muscles. She actually fell asleep, and woke up to find the water cold. Shivering, she gave herself a cursory wash and got out. There was a new, warm woollen gown waiting for her on the bed. She put it on, her mind suddenly full of one person.
Yorath.
Laela realised that she hadn’t thought about him in ages.
Guilt made her shiver. Poor old Yorath. Did he still miss her? Was he waiting now, expecting her to come and see him?
The guilt only lasted briefly, though, before she started thinking of the feast instead. The thought of food made her stomach gurgle, and she sighed to herself and pulled on her boots before going to fetch Oeka. The griffin was awake, and just as eager to go-though more to find out what had been happening while they’d been away.
