A Pride of Gryphons

by Kristen S. Walker

  In moments, a shadow passed over her. Korinna looked up. A golden marewing came gliding in and landed on the street, folding in her wings to avoid the nearby buildings.

  There was no saddle or bridle, but Korinna had managed without them before. It took extra effort to hoist herself up onto the marewing’s back—she was grateful that Sungold was smaller than average. Then she wrapped her legs around the marewing’s middle and wound her fingers into the pale white mane. At a signal, the marewing took off galloping down the road, building up enough speed to launch back into the air.

  Behind her, the guards burst out of the door, followed by Galenos waving his arms. “Korinna, stop!” he cried, his voice breaking.

  It broke her heart to hear the pain in his voice, and she almost told Sungold to turn around and go back. But she’d already made her choice. Beneath her, the marewing gathered her haunches and jumped. The hot air rising off the city streets carried them swiftly up into the sky, and her pursuers were left behind on the ground.

  Her husband wouldn’t be able to follow at her speed. Her ability to communicate with Sungold from a distance appeared to be unique—no other rider, Galenos included, could call their marewing to them. Whether he got to Nightshade and flew, or chose to follow her on foot, it would take him some time to catch up.

  But she didn’t have far to go. The messenger had said Varranor was already on his way to the city, and she knew just where to meet up with him. It was only a few minutes’ flight to the military compound along the west wall.

  Sungold glided smoothly, aware of her precious rider, and Korinna felt no strain or discomfort on the marewing’s back. In fact, she felt the most freedom she’d had in months, with the wind slipping through her hair and the city and the port stretched out far below her. There was nothing like flying. She ached to just keep going, to soar on down the coast and let the ocean spray cool her skin, but this wasn’t a ride for pleasure. All the same, she was disappointed when Sungold touched down again all too soon, alighting like a feather in the field to keep from jostling her.

  A flight of marewings, sixteen half-wild monsters and their riders, had just landed in the field, too. There was a commotion when Korinna appeared unannounced. She hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say, but she didn’t have to wait long before Varranor hurried forward to her marewing’s side.

  He held his arms up, and she let him lift her down to the ground.

  She looked up at him with a smile. “It’s good to see you again—ahem, Warlord, sir.” She caught herself and saluted properly to the commander.

  “What are you doing here?” Varranor burst out, looking her over worriedly. “Is everything all right? I thought you weren’t allowed to fly?”

  She turned back and patted Sungold, who was waiting patiently despite the number of strangers around her. Marewings rarely tolerated close proximity to any human other than their bonded rider. “She was very careful with me,” Korinna explained. “I had to come. Tatiana interrupted the Council meeting to say that we’re under attack, and you needed every marewing to help defend the city.”

  Varranor waved away the rest of his riders, who drew off across the field to care for their own mounts. Then he bent over Korinna with a stern expression. “I didn’t mean for you to come. Where’s Galenos?”

  She folded her arms. “He tried to forbid me from coming, but he can’t stop me. I feel more than able to fight. So I’m reporting for duty, sir.”

  Varranor groaned and covered his face with his hand. “I can’t let you come with me! My brother would kill me.” He whirled back to Korinna. “Even if you weren’t the duchess, there’s no way I’d let a woman in your condition fight. Any soldier who isn’t careful not to get herself pregnant has her contract terminated immediately.”

  Korinna tilted her chin up. “What about marewing riders, who serve for life? It’s not the same as fighting on the ground. Sungold can keep me from any injury.”

  He shook his head. “Marewing riders don’t get pregnant, end of story. You may still have a marewing—” He gestured at Sungold. “But you ceased being a rider the day that you married and chose to start a family.”

  She sighed. “You sound just like your brother.”

  “Because I can’t cross him on something like this!” Varranor threw his hands up in the air. “You need to leave right now, before he gets here and strangles me with his bare hands. I can’t let you be part of any military action. I’m sorry, Korinna, but that’s insane.”

  She saw in his eyes that he was serious. The last hope died. “Fine, I’ll leave.” She turned back to Sungold and reluctantly signaled the marewing to return to her paddock alone. One flight would already get her into enough trouble.

  Varranor stared after her, as if he didn’t trust her to leave on her own, as she walked across the field to the compound’s exit. She didn’t look back at him.

  At the gate, city guards were waiting for her, just outside of the Storm Petrels’ area. They surrounded her. “We’re to escort you home, Your Grace,” one of them said in a stern tone.

  Korinna dreaded the welcome waiting for her at home, but she didn’t argue. She’d tried her rebellion and been turned away. Now she felt suddenly drained by her defeat. She walked slowly, with her head hanging down, back to her house.

  Galenos caught up to them in the street halfway there, huffing from running after her. A year ago, that kind of run would barely shorten his breath; now, she noticed, he was growing around the middle just like her. Had becoming duke made him so soft already?

  Korinna feared a public lecture, but her husband just looked her over and nodded once. “I’m glad to see you safe,” he said stiffly. “I’ll call the physicians and the midwife to meet you at home. Then I must return to the Council business.”

  He turned away without giving her a chance to respond, and walked back in the direction of the government buildings.

  ***

  The rest of the afternoon was filled with midwives and physicians examining Korinna, poking and prodding at her every which way and making various recommendations for her health. A midwife said she should be eating more fresh vegetables, while one physician argued that red meat would be better for the baby’s health, but a second physician declared that she’d been gaining too much weight already and prescribed her a limited diet of milk and bread. A hedge witch dangled a crystal on the end of a chain over her belly and said her ‘energy lines’ were blocked, with some garbled explanation of what that meant—but she could unblock them by drinking an herbal tea three times a day, which the hedge witch offered to sell her at a hefty price.

  In the end, the general agreement was that none of the specialists could detect anything wrong with the baby for sure, but they recommended that she spend the following day on bedrest just to be sure. Korinna was too drained to argue with them. She was grateful when they finally left her alone, and she drifted off for a nap.

  She opened her eyes later to find Galenos sitting on the bed next to her with a tray. “I’ve brought your supper,” he said gently. “Egina wasn’t sure what you wanted, so she made you a little bit of everything.”

  She pushed herself up to a sitting position, propping herself up with the pillows, and looked down at the variety of dishes. “Oh, my.” She reached for a plate of plain rice and chicken first, the mildest thing she saw. Rich and spicy foods continued to bother her stomach. She glanced up at her husband. “But what are you doing here?”

  He put a hand on her leg. “I wanted to check on you, so I ended the meeting and let the councilors go home. There’s enough issues to cover that will fill at least one more day, so there was no sense in working late tonight to try to finish it all.” He nodded at the window. “It’s already dark out.”

  She glanced at the darkened window, then looked back at her food and continued eating quietly. She wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t spark another argument.

  A knock came from the open door. They both looked up, and Aristia stepped into th
e room, holding another tray. “Sorry to interrupt, m’lord, m’lady,” the girl said, bobbing her head to each of them. “My ma said you might want to eat up here, too, so I brought your food.”

  Galenos smiled and held his hands out for the tray. “That was very kind of her.” He glanced back at Korinna. “If you don’t mind the company?”

  She smiled, keeping her lips pressed closed over a mouthful of food, and shook her head.

  Aristia, now with free hands, dropped into a curtsy. “Please, call me when you need me to take the dishes away.” She turned and hurried away.

  Galenos made room for both trays on the bed and started on his own food. “You didn’t miss very much at the afternoon meeting,” he began conversationally. “The announcement about the gryphon attacks derailed a lot of things, I’m afraid. The councilors wanted to review the city’s current defenses and our emergency rations, all of which you already know. I didn’t get the chance to bring up your proposal for the rebuilding fund.”

  Korinna nodded but still said nothing. She couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes, fearing that she would see his anger there again. He still hadn’t given her a lecture on her actions that day.

  After several minutes of silence, he sighed and shook his head. “Look,” he said, putting his hand on her leg again. “I know how strongly you feel about protecting our people, and that’s an admirable quality in a ruler. But you need to realize that the way we protect them has changed now. We can’t go directly into battle any more than we could rebuild every road in this city with our own hands.” He looked over at her wall hung with riding tack. “However much we care about our marewings or want to be involved, that’s just not our role now.”

  His words weighed more heavily on her than any angry shout. She bowed her head, hiding the tears filling her eyes. She seemed to feel every emotion so much stronger now that she was pregnant, but she didn’t like being that way. “You’re right,” she murmured. “I’m sorry that I ran off today instead of listening to you. I just felt so helpless, I wanted to do something. I thought when I became a soldier, I would never be left behind and forced to let others fight for me again.”

  He frowned. “I never told you that learning to fight would mean you would never be powerless again.” He put a hand on her chin and gently tipped her face up to look at him again. “You made me feel helpless today when you took off and I couldn’t stop you. I was afraid that something terrible would happen and I’d lose you.”

  She put her food down and pushed her tray aside so she could scoot closer to him on the bed, putting her arms around him. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I didn’t stop to think how it would affect you.”

  He hugged her close, pulling her up onto his lap and cradling her against his chest. “I’m just glad to know that you’re safe now. But promise me that you’ll never do something like that again.”

  “I promise,” she said fervently, pressing her lips against his in a tender kiss. She realized if she wanted her husband to trust her, like she kept reminding him, then she needed to be more mindful of his feelings. He had a gruff exterior but she’d learned to see the emotions that ran deep within him, so she couldn’t act so recklessly again.

  They finished their supper, and then at her urging he spent the rest of the night in her room. He brought the day’s paperwork in to review, sitting beside her on the bed, and she fell asleep curled up against his shoulder as he worked late.

  Galenos IV

  The next day, Galenos woke in the pre-dawn grayness. He slipped out of Korinna’s bed slowly, careful not to disturb her, and tiptoed out of the room.

  In his own chambers, he dressed quickly. When the middle boy, Krymeios, came in to assist him, he was already finished with his morning routine.

  “I’ll take something small for breakfast, whatever I can carry with me,” he told the boy with a nod. “It’s going to be another long day.”

  Krymeios dashed off to the kitchen and returned with two hand-sized meat pasties wrapped in a cloth. “Ma thought you’d be busy, so she baked these last night, m’lord.” He hopped from one foot to the other. “Oh, and I’m s’posed to ask if you’ll be home for supper tonight.”

  Galenos sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know yet.” He glanced down the hallway in the direction of Korinna’s room. “I’d like to come back and check on my wife if I can, but it depends on how things go. I’ll send word if I can make it, but don’t expect me.”

  Krymeios bobbed his head. “I’ll tell ‘er. Have a good day, m’lord.” He was off and running before Galenos had a chance to say farewell.

  Galenos wished that he still had that much energy. He checked his satchel a final time to be sure that he had all of the paperwork he needed, then set out for City Hall.

  The sun was just peeking over the horizon as he strolled down the street. The houses near his were quiet, but when he turned onto a major thoroughfare, he saw stirrings of the first activities in the city. Pedestrians bustled back and forth to their daily jobs, children ran to school, shopkeepers began to open their doors and call out their wares.

  For the most part, it was business as usual, but there was tension in the air. The number of guards on patrol from the City Watch had increased, and citizens kept glancing up to the sky as if they expected to see a gryphon coming down at any moment. Priests stood on many street corners, calling out for donations to help those affected by the attacks.

  Aid for the gryphons’ victims—that was just one more unexpected cost he would have to account for in the budget, Galenos realized. He’d need to get estimates of how many people had already been affected and the extent of damage done. They wouldn’t know the total until Varranor had dealt with the gryphons, but it was best to start preparing as soon as possible.

  When he reached City Hall, he found the activity level had reached a frenzy that could have rivaled a military camp during a battle. Clerks scurried back and forth with arms full of reports, while more guards had to hold back a sudden influx of petitioners from flooding the entrance. All this and the Council wasn’t set to meet for another two hours.

  Diokles spotted him and hurried across the crowded room, huffing and holding up the edge of his long kattar to keep it from tangling in his legs. “Oh, thank the Allfather, you’re here.” He waved him toward the nearest meeting chamber. “I was going to send someone to your house soon. Come, I need to speak with you privately.”

  Galenos saw several other people waving for his attention, but he held up his hand for them to wait. By the serious expression on Diokles’s face, he was wary of what the councilor had to say, and knew he would have the highest level of information.

  Diokles closed the door and gripped Galenos’s arm. “The attacks are continuing, as you’ve no doubt heard by now. We have to figure out what to do about the refugees at the gates. So far, the guards have kept the gates shut and let no one in, but the crowds outside are getting anxious.”

  “What?” Galenos’s head snapped toward the window, but he could see no sign of conflict from the middle of the city. He shot a stern glare at Diokles. “Let them in! If our people are in danger, we must protect them.”

  Diokles sighed. “I thought you would say that, but where will we put them? A large portion of the city is still under repair.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it over. “As you can see, it’s not just people who have been attacked that are coming to the city, because these are more than could have lived in just the affected areas. People who live anywhere near the river and the surrounding lands are panicking, afraid that their village will be next to fall.”

  Galenos scanned the paper. It wasn’t an official report, but a hastily-scribbled group of numbers: one for the wounded, another for the elderly and those requiring extra care, another for families with small children, and a fourth category of everyone else. The amount was staggering.

  So many mouths to feed and bodies that needed shelter. He shook his head in disbelief. “Do we know how far the attack
s have spread?”

  Diokles pulled out another paper, this one a map with several villages marked in red. “This is the dispatch from last night, sent by your brother.” He held up his hands helplessly. “We haven’t heard anything new today. It takes time for a messenger to get here from the front lines—longer if it comes by a runner instead of a marewing rider, as this one did.”

  Galenos studied the map with a frown. So many villages in one day? That seemed impossible for a single pride of gryphons. But then he saw more markings on the map, coded symbols used by the Storm Petrels to note the estimations of the enemy’s numbers and positions. His eyes widened in shock. If these were correct, there were at least four separate prides attacking the river lands—the heart of Kyratia’s farms.

  Varranor must be confused by conflicting scouts’ reports or something. Gryphon prides didn’t work together in coordinated attacks like this. He folded the map and handed it back to Diokles. “Be careful who sees this,” he said firmly. “It may be inaccurate, and we don’t want to give any more cause for panic. I need to send a message to my brother.”

  When he stepped out of the room, he was bombarded with more messages, but most of them only repeated what Diokles had already told him. He sent off orders for the gates to be opened and refugees placed anywhere that space could be found.

  “At least the weather is clear,” he said with a shake of his head. “We can place most of them in parks and other open spaces without too much worry. Contact the temples to see if they can take the wounded or anyone needing special care.” If they wanted to give aid, they could do it directly in the city.

  He wrote a quick message to Varranor, asking for clarification about the warlord’s report, and sent it to the military compound. “If any riders are still here, tell them to fly it out, otherwise send it with a runner,” he instructed the page who carried it. He hoped Varranor was wise enough to leave at least one rider behind in the city to speed up communications. But after his brother’s desperate plea the day before, he didn’t expect that Varranor was being that organized. He was impulsive and it seemed that he was forgetting all of the careful preparations that Galenos had demonstrated when he was commander of the Storm Petrels.