“I have. I thought the occasion called for it.” She gave her russet colored skirts a quick twitch with her free hand.
“What occasion? They’re only mercenaries, and they’re not staying.”
She shrugged, smoothing the front of her dress with her free hand. “That doesn’t mean they won’t want to enjoy a little bit of the local culture while they’re here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nai, don’t you know by now that I have my heart set on you marrying my brother?”
Nai put a finger to her lips and hummed thoughtfully. “Michael? I think I’ve better luck getting a mercenary to stay in this place than your brother.” My smile fell, and I let our arms fall apart. “Oh, Taryn, has he finally told you lot that he’s going?” She stopped walking, pulled me to the side of the road. Grabbing my hands to stop me, she searched my face earnestly.
“He told you?” I tried to pull my hands back, but she held on firmly.
“No!” She wrinkled her nose. “Only,” she paused again and I cleared my throat with some impatience. She obliged in a rush. “You know how I’m so good at being in the right place at the right time. I was helping in the pub when he met with that creepy character who rolled through a few months ago. I was refilling Fred’s tankard behind them when I heard him make the offer. It was all hushed tones. Michael turned around and saw me eavesdropping and he made me swear not to tell.” She bit her lip. “Please don’t be mad.”
I tugged at my hands again and this time she let go. I rubbed my itchy nose. “So, the man was creepy?”
Seeing I wasn’t upset with her, Nai’s pinched features relaxed marginally. “He was completely sinister, but it was because he was old, you know, bearded and hooded, I think. He tipped fine, and it’s not like he killed anybody.” We started walking again.
“Do you know anything else about him?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. It was spring and we were busy with travelers. I didn’t even get his name. Hey!” We were at the corner by the butcher and instead of turning left she spun me right. “Want to see if there’s any of the mercenaries at the inn now?”
I moaned. “Nai, I have to get back to the house, to help Father scent-ward.”
“Not for another three hours or so! I know your schedule. So, we pop in, and if someone is there, we buy a round and then you leave when it’s over.”
She was already dragging me in the direction of the inn, and I wasn’t fighting her hard. I was curious who would be skulking the lands around the pasture. I wanted to know if they were as fierce as everyone was saying. Besides, it was past breakfast, and not quite lunch, so it was unlikely that they would be eating at the inn. It would also have set a fairly bad precedent if they were drinking, so I couldn’t imagine they would be doing that. In fact, it was doubtful that they would be present at the inn at all.
We wound our way down the street, our boots crunching on the dirt and rock road. Our conversation ranged from who Nai had seen that morning to what it was like for me, living and working so close to the forest right now—Nai lived inside the town, a solid wall between her and true deep forest. Usually the idea of being trapped behind the walls each night was not something that I envied. Yet, those drawbacks didn’t seem so bad with the recent gryphon attacks.
When the inn came into view our talk stalled and we glanced at each other. Children who were still going to daily lessons were forbidden from going to the pub on their own—the rule was meant to keep youths focused on their studies, rather than on socializing. Or perhaps the owners didn’t want the messes that children tended to leave. Either way, Nai and I had been allowed on our own inside The Black Gryphon, since we had turned fifteen a few years ago, but going without our families was still so rare that it had yet to lose its charm.
The inn was modest compared to one which might have been found in a city, but it was a large building for our town. Nai’s mother ran an eating establishment in town called Sweetlings, but it was much smaller in both menu and size. If a person wanted to hear news from out of town or host a large gathering, The Black Gryphon was the place to go. It was two stories, with small staff quarters on the first floor situated next to the stables that protruded out the back side. The outer walls were white and received a fresh staining at the end of every winter, so the deep walnut of the whirling detail work on the carved wood stood out crisply in the morning light.
The front desk, where a person could check in to stay upstairs, also served as where locals could request an eating table. As Nai and I came inside the bell attached to the door jingled cheerily and the woman posted there came plainly into view. Maude was sound asleep and snoring. At the noise of our entrance she bolted upright and wrested herself from her chair with some difficulty. With great suspicion, she squinted blearily in our direction.
Maude was the sister of the inn keeper. Old, and more than a bit crotchety, she was the kind of woman whom the young children in town lived to play pranks on. I never had, but I had heard stories. I didn’t know that I’d have her manning the front door if this place was mine, I thought as she glared at us over her spectacles.
“Are you ladies here to eat, or do you need a room?” she asked imperiously.
My chin jutted forward in automatic irritation, but Nai elbowed me squarely in the ribs before I could say anything. “Maude, you look wonderful this morning. Have you been getting extra rest?”
Maude’s gaze darted to the chair she had been dozing in and then back at Nai’s sweet smile. “We’re serving lunch. I’ll show you two to a table.”
“That would be great.”
Nai and I followed Maude out into the dining room. It branched off from the front entryway and was filled with several long tables, as well as a few small round ones tucked into the corners. A few of the smaller tables held patrons and as we walked by those, people pointedly avoided looking at the largest table. There sat the hunting party, my father and Nai’s father Anwar were included, as well as three strangers. None of them took their attention away from their conference as we entered.
Maude sat us a fair distance away from the hunters, at the leftmost side of the room. The small table was as near to the fire as a table could be. Even in the middle of winter the low ceilings confined the heat so well that no table could be within five feet of it.
“We’ve mutton and beans for lunch, or I’m sure there’s still eggs and toast from breakfast if you like it.” Maude spoke through a smile that looked like it hurt.
Nai waved her off. “Give us a moment, please?”
“As you like.”
If looks could have killed, we would have been stone dead. I ducked my head to focus on the table, tucking my lips under my teeth to contain my grin until Maude had stomped back to the front room.
“She is going to spit straight into your mutton!” I hissed when she had gone.
“She won’t,” Nai said dismissively. “She’s going back to bed, and we’ll probably have Thomas coming out to serve us. He’ll be nice. He likes you.”
I shushed her and cast a covert glance over at the long table. A couple of the men from town had noticed our arrival, and gave us friendly nods of acknowledgment. Anwar and my father were bent over a map. It was spread open, facing the woman who they sat gathered around. On either side of her were two other newcomers.
Nai and Willy had been right about Aedith—as this must have been her. She was intimidating to say the least. Somewhere in her mid-thirties, she had the aura of someone who was used to being obeyed. The skin of her face was weathered and tan; a three-pronged scar ran from the right corner of her thin mouth across her cheek and disappeared down the collar of her leather jerkin. Her brown hair was wavy and coarse, and she wore it long and braided down her back. Small eyes moved quickly from the map to each man as he spoke. She did not speak, though her two men asked many questions.
Both of those men were younger than their leader, though by how much it was difficult to say. The impression I got was that they were in their late
twenties, but like Aedith, they each bore lines and creases on their faces that bespoke a hard life. The man to my father’s left was clearly tall—he sat higher than anyone else at the table. His thick muscles were covered in mahogany skin. He wore his curly hair cropped close to his skull, and when he spoke the words seemed to rumble from his belly.
The man on Anwar’s right, seemed to hail from the Spiral Islands to the south west. He had hooded eyes, and his hair, blacker than any I’d seen before, was caught back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His comments were more sparing than the first man’s and harder to catch.
Neither man had any obvious scarring on their faces, but the man closest to my father had a few elsewhere; they stood out starkly against the skin on his forearms. More talon marks, at about the same stage of healing as the woman’s. Still pink, but no longer painful looking.
“That’s the man who was driving the wagon,” Naieed mouthed at me behind a hand which she pretended to rest her cheek on. She pointed to the man next to her father with a less than subtle finger.
I nodded my acknowledgment. “He is handsome,” I mouthed back, though I didn’t know that I would call him handsome. Impressive perhaps—both men were, but not handsome.
The kitchen was located through a small door behind their table. Constantly swinging open and shut when The Black Gryphon was busy, it was best to be avoided at all costs in the evenings unless you wanted a black eye. When it was flung open now, I watched with interest as the two men shifted ever so slightly so that they could see who had entered without ever seeming to take their focus from the conversation.
It had been Thomas. Not Claire’s grandfather, but the innkeeper’s son. He made his way to our table, a pitcher of water in one hand and a basket of bread in the other. When he caught my gaze, he smiled earnestly, and I smiled back. Thomas was a year my junior, and like many of the locals he wore his fair hair braided back in multiple strands. The tunic he wore was an unobtrusive faun that matched his leggings and boots.
Nai was giving me a knowing smile, clearly thinking I was looking him over. I had not had a chance to tell her that, nice boy though he was, Thomas was not my type. I had thought perhaps I’d change my mind, but now I was certain that I would not. In that moment, with Aedith and the other mercenaries in view behind him, something about him came across plain, in an unpleasant way which I had never before experienced.
“Hey, you two, don’t usually see you this time of day.” Thomas set his burdens down on the table. As the pitcher thunked my father looked our way and raised an eyebrow at me. Thomas swore. “Rats! I need to grab you two cups. I’ll be right back!” He hustled back towards the kitchen, and Father beckoned me with a tilt of his head.
“Nai,” I said, “I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve been spotted.”
“Is that so?”
Nai searched until her eyes found my father and then she gave him a big cheerful wave. I saw him shut his eyes for a brief moment as if to gather strength, and then he smiled thinly and nodded at her as well.
Anwar followed my father’s look, and his expression was far less welcoming, but still Nai rose with me as I made my way towards them. She knew better than I did that her father’s serious countenance masked a man who doted on his family.
The talk at the table slowed to a halt as we approached, and Aedith raised her eyebrows high. When she spoke, her gaze did not shift from the map, which seemed to include ours and Glenn’s lands. “Is there a reason that you have stopped explaining the last kill, Master Anwar?” Her voice was higher than I would have expected, with the faintest rasp.
“My apologies. May I introduce my daughter, Taryn?” my father started.
“And my daughter, Naieed,” Anwar added.
The weight of the rest of the table looking at us was nothing compared to when Aedith turned and fixed us in her stare. I felt about two inches tall, and I shifted, waiting for Nai to say something clever. When she didn’t, I glanced at her and was nearly floored. She was studying the ground, looking for all intents and purposes like a child that had been caught spying on something she shouldn’t.
“It’s nice to meet you ma’am,” I squeaked out. Emboldened by hearing my own voice I managed to continue. “Is it all right if we sit and listen to what’s happening?”
“I’m not in the habit of feeding the gossip farm,” Aedith said crisply, “and I’ve doubts that what we are discussing here would be deemed suitable for your ears regardless.”
My cheeks warmed at this rebuke, but Father’s expression told me he didn’t necessarily disapprove of me asking, and I managed to push on. “Please, I work the same fields that Glenn and my father do. I probably helped to birth the sheep that was lost. I’d like to know what your plan is.”
The stranger at Anwar’s right chuckled throatily. “Let her stay, Aedith. There can be no harm if they are quiet and their fathers do not mind.” He smiled at me, his wide nostrils flaring with amusement. I mustered up a grateful smile for him in return.
Aedith looked at him skeptically, and then shut her eyes and shook her head as if to clear it. “Fathers of these girls, do you mind if they join the table?” Our fathers both responded in the negative. “Then, I honestly could not give two turns beneath the dirt. Sit or don’t, whichever you please, but be quiet either way. If you need anything from me,” as we hurried to follow her orders, she jerked a thumb first left and then right. “These are Dai, and Kaleb. You talk to them. They’re my seconds.”
We nodded without speaking, eyes huge in our faces. Thomas returned and deftly noticed the change of seating. As the topic of the slaughter resumed, he moved our bread and glassware to our new places. Though he smiled at me, he didn’t dare say another word while the hunters were speaking. The bread basket at this table had been emptied. My guess was it had been for a long time, as our new dining companions reached blindly for our pieces as they listened. We had to move quickly or risk going without, filling our glasses with water after we had served ourselves.
We were at the end of the table, farthest from the fire now, not to mention Aedith, but it allowed me a better view of who was there. Counter-clockwise from Aedith there was Anwar, Dai, Glenn, Martin, Fred, Robert, Daniel, who was a farmer with pigs, as well as his son Corey, then Kaleb and my father. I wondered if Laura and Willy knew about this meeting, but I had to assume that Father would have told him on his way in, if they hadn’t been the ones to send for him to start with.
“Now, from what I understand, all of the animals were killed in a fairly similar way.” Aedith steepled her finger in front of her mouth. “Could you tell me about that, Glenn?”
Glenn started. “I’d have thought Martin would have told you all about that,” he stuttered as he spoke, and he quailed under Aedith’s stern gaze. “Yes. It is best I tell it. You see, my cows, when I got to them, they were on the ground. They had—they had been laid out on their backs and their ribs had been cracked apart. It was like the gryphon started eating and then moved on to the next one. The same went for the sheep and the deer.”
“But in each instance the animals were grouped together.”
Dai hummed. “It is strange. In the forest it makes sense, if that clearing were a den where the beast was dragging each prey back to before feasting. Out in the open field…”
“It’s not how they operate,” Aedith agreed. “It would have had to have killed them all at once and then fed on each one in turn. Or else it killed one then chased down the next, brought it back and so on and so forth. Are the bodies still there for us to inspect?”
“Certainly not!” Glenn sputtered.
Aedith could raise one eyebrow. That was a skill I wanted. “Well where have you buried them? Or where were they killed? I’d like to look at that land.” Kaleb shook his head. Something about the way his lips pulled down in the corners bespoke amusement at her mistake. Aedith redirected her glare to him. “Yes, you have something so say?”
“He’ll have burned them and th
e land they were killed on. Nophgrin is a town that burn things that are unlucky. Yes?” Kaleb looked around for confirmation.
“Well don’t say it like we’re strange for it,” Fred muttered.
“He’s right though,” Robert said. “Otherwise there’s no telling what kind of evils something like that will attract.”
“It is the belief that like attracts like, but it can be purged and cleansed by fire,” Anwar agreed. He knew and abided by Nophgrin’s ways as well as anyone, even if he had been raised with the different customs of the lands to the south.
“It is unlucky for us that you did not have the forethought to save something we could have used to gain a better picture of the situation. Tell me, are the sheep and deer also ashes?” The hunting party exchanged guilty looks and Aedith rested her head in her hands. When she spoke again, her slow speech was too controlled to be confused as anything but incensed. “All right. In the future, if before this is over another animal is found—your pig for example, Daniel. I must kindly ask you not to burn it or the land it is found on before I get a look.”
The men, save Anwar, grumbled unhappily. It was one thing to call in a stranger to help with the gryphons. It was another thing entirely for those strangers to deny the rituals that kept us safe year-round.
I looked at Nai through the corner of my eye. She was already doing the same to me. Her lips pressed tight, her eyes crescents. It wasn’t surprising that she thought this was funny. I rolled my eyes away from her and up to the window. The sun was climbing higher. Though it seemed we would not be scent warding today, I knew that I would still have to leave soon if I wanted to reach my watch in good time.
Nai seemed to sense my thought and reached under the table to grab my arm. She shook her head in an almost invisible sign to stay a little longer. I leaned back into my chair with a sigh that might have been permissible if the chair hadn’t creaked in chorus with it. Aedith was on me in a flash.
“Do you also have something to say against not burning evidence young—Taryn, was it?”
Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1) Page 11
