Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1)

by Shannon McGee

  I weaved my way through the chairs that had been pushed up against the ends of tables and had to apologize as I bumped into no small number of other patrons. I was not the best in crowds sober, and the wine had been strong. When I finally made it out into the night, I saw that the rain had soaked the streets thoroughly but had moved on as quickly as it had arrived. I took a gulp of the crisp air and reveled at its lack of taste, save for the faintest hint of wood smoke that swirled out of the chimney behind me. A wooden sign thumped against the door as I closed it behind me. It read, At Full Capacity, Thank You. The wood still had a few pieces of dust clinging to the grooves of the words scored into its surface.

  Leaves scraped along the road, pushed by a mountain wind that moaned. Accenting that eerie, yet so familiar sound was the plinking of the rain dripping from the awnings. There were low murmurs as well; I wasn’t the only one who had chosen to get some fresh air. Beth’s back was against the wall of the inn, and a mercenary whom I hadn’t been introduced to leaned over her, with one arm propping him up, the space between them negligible. She was blushing and fluttering her eyelashes coyly, with a hand pressed against his chest.

  So much for Corey, I thought ruefully. Corey was Beth’s current courter, or so I had thought. He was inside, as far as I knew. It’d be a fight if he came out and found her like this. He wasn’t the most levelheaded young man. I shrugged and turned away. Not my problem.

  On the other side of the door, Maude was puffing quickly on what I guessed was her usual roll of sweet leaf and tobacco, but the smoke was blowing away from me. There would be no more customers for her to seat, but still I couldn’t tamp down on my ire entirely. Nai was working when she ought to have been allowed to sit and eat, and Maude got to smoke outside in the cool night? I smoothed back a few strands of hair that had blown into my mouth, and shook myself. I’d tell Nai tomorrow. I moved out of the doorway. Rather than stand next to Beth and her “friend,” or Maude, I decided to take a walk around the block.

  Halfway down the road, I was shivering. I hadn’t planned on a walk when I had risen, naively assuming stepping outside would give me privacy enough. I’d left my cloak back on my chair. I exhaled gustily in exasperation. I’d look silly coming all the way out here and then going all the way back in, only to come out again. Plus, there was a huge chance that at some point in that production I’d get stuck talking to someone, and frankly I didn’t feel like it. I walked on.

  More and more I was thinking that it would be a relief when Michael left for the city. People were always saying we were alike, and we were in many ways, but being compared to him in terms of rudeness had given me pause. I shook my bowed head, as the wind blew against my back. Some of the folks in town had started to treat me differently in the past year. I’d thought maybe it was something I’d done, but I never meant to be hurtful when I erred. Could it have been because of something Michael had said? I chafed my sleeves against my arms.

  The sound of boots crunching on gravel and the creak of leather on leather caused me to turn quickly. Aella. My chest loosened. Silly—what danger did I think could befall me in town? She waved my dark cloak above her head. “Michael thought you might want this. He was going to bring it, but I said I’d do it since I had to run back to camp anyway.”

  I met her halfway, immediately accepting the cloak and swinging it around my shoulders. The instant blockade between my chilled body and the wind was a godsend, and I thanked her profusely, trying to squash my guilt at thinking poorly about Michael not moments before he came to my rescue.

  “I can’t tell you how ridiculous I felt in all this wind and just my dress,” I said.

  “Aw, the dress is nice.” Aella grinned at me, stooping briefly to pluck at my skirt. “It makes you look pretty.” I snatched the fabric away from her, blushing. Aella held up her hands in surrender.

  I tucked my hands into my armpits for warmth. “Well it is certainly fine for sitting in that roasting inn, but not so much for an autumn walk in the dark.”

  “I’ll agree to that. Why didn’t you come back for your cloak?” I made a face, and she began walking. I followed, keeping at her side. “Come on, tell the scary mercenary what’s on your mind.”

  She wasn’t looking at me, but I thought she was smiling. I didn’t think she was mocking me. “My brother is a horse’s rear more often than not these days, and I’m worried that I might be one as well,” I said, surprising myself with the truth.

  Aella’s lips turned down at the sides, like a fish’s mouth as she mulled this over. She linked her arms loosely behind her head. “You’re talking about what I said—about being rude as a family trait?” I nodded. She tilted her head to the side and made the fish mouth again. “Is this something you’ve been thinking about? Or do you have thin skin?”

  I slapped her lightly on the side with the back of my hand. “Don’t laugh!”

  She rubbed her ribs where I had struck, giving me an accusatory look. “There’s no need to get violent Miss Taryn.”

  “I thought mercenaries liked violence,” I teased, hoping to lighten the mood. “And it’s just Taryn, please.”

  “All right, Taryn. You probably do judge folks.” I stopped to gape at her, and she hurried on, “But I don’t think you mean anything nasty by it!”

  “That doesn’t make it any better.” I sighed, pulling the edges of cloak more tightly around me.

  We were at the end of the block now. Aella would continue forward to get to her camp site. I’d need to turn right to loop around the block. Or else I could turn around and go back the way I had come.

  There were some thin gray clouds scooting across the sky above us, but it looked as though the storm had sailed by us with only that small dousing. The stars were brilliant and a bright quarter moon beamed down on us. When my eyes came back down to Aella, she had a peculiar expression on her face.

  “I think,” she said, haltingly, considering her words, “that there is a great deal of difference between immediately assuming a stranger is lesser than you,” she paused again; she still hadn’t taken her gaze away from my face, “and meeting a person and assuming that they are like you, and then wondering if that’s good or bad when you find that they aren’t.” The wind blew her thick hair around her face, and I had the urge to push it away so that I could better see the way she was looking at me.

  “That’s nice to say. I think.” I put my hand to my throat. My voice was raspy. I hoped that wasn’t an indication of a cold coming on. I cleared my throat, and went on, my tone light. “Still, you’ve only known me less than a day. You could ask around and find that I’m the worst person in town, with a nasty habit of tripping toddlers.”

  Aella chuckled and turned away from me to dig into the pouch at her hip. From it she produced a skinny strip of leather. She wound that around her mass of hair, securing it back, but for a few shorter strands which could not be caught. Those danced merrily in the wind, tickling her cheeks. “That could be, but I doubt it.”

  “And why is that?” I asked.

  “Well for one, my mother thinks you have a certain something about you, and she’s rarely wrong when it comes to people.”

  I blinked, surprised and flattered that the mercenary captain had spared me a second thought. “A certain something? What does that mean?”

  “Like a spark.” She motioned towards the direction of her tent. “Walk with me a little ways farther?”

  I looked back over my shoulder at the bright light that was the inn, and then in the direction she was headed, lit only by the stars and a few street torches. The distance was about the same as if I were to loop the block. I started walking in answer to her request, and she joined me.

  “When did your mother mention a spark?”

  “She didn’t use the word ‘spark’ exactly. She just mentioned you when she came back to the tents. Not by name, but she said a braided blonde girl and her friend acted pretty bold for mountain girls. I assumed she meant you.”

  “Perhaps, but tru
ly it was Nai that wanted to see—” My boot caught in a divot in the road and I stumbled slightly. In the same moment, Aella put an arm out and I clutched it tightly. My fingers dug into the loose cotton of her sleeve. I was surprised to find the fabric was soft over hard muscle. Once I had righted myself, I dropped my hands and she resumed walking again. I continued, watching the ground for any more small pits. “She’s the one who has a ‘spark’ to her.”

  “Yeah, maybe if we had gotten to you a little bit earlier. Now you’re probably only good for herding and wedding.”

  I gasped indignantly and whipped my head around. She was smirking. I let my scowl wilt into a plaintive pout. “You don’t think that, do you?”

  “Does that bother you?”

  “Well, yes! Not because I want to go off and travel like Michael does, because I don’t. I love my parents and my work.” I felt like I was assuring people of that too much as of late. “But I don’t like the idea that I couldn’t if I wanted to.”

  “It’s not for me to decide that. Can you do anything else?”

  “Well I,” I bit my lip and thought quickly. “I’m a decent shot with a slingshot, and I’m learning the crossbow. My father says I’m going to be great. I’m an ok reader, though I’m nowhere near as good as Michael. I can sew, I can cook, and I can fish. I’m fantastic on horseback—or rather, pony-back.”

  “But those are basic skills for anyone who minds herds and homes,” Aella pointed out. “What sets you apart?”

  I let my hand creep out from under my cloak, to stroke a braid. “I don’t know.”

  Aella raised a shoulder and let it drop. “So, marry a farmer boy, and herd your sheep. As you said, you like it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh yes, it is so simple. Let me pick one and get on with it.”

  “I know that I saw the serving boy giving you looks across the table. He’s pretty, as boys go. Marry that one,” she said, as though it was as simple as picking a piece of meat at the butcher’s.

  “Nai says he likes me, and he is fine looking, but she sees goo-goo eyes where there are none.”

  “Nah, Nai is right,” Aella interjected with a wicked grin. “He looks at you like you’re ‘a plate of very fine roast.’”

  “I think there must be something I’m not seeing in him… and the rest of them,” I said, my voice gloomy. I punted a stone a few yards ahead of us, and the echoing noise of it bouncing forward filled the silence that followed my statement.

  “Do you think you’re too good for them?” Aella asked finally. “Isn’t that why your brother hasn’t found a steady sweetheart?”

  I glared. “No. It’s not that. I mean, I don’t think it’s that.”

  “For you, or for your brother?”

  “For either of us. Or, all right, at the very least, for me. Trust me, I’ve agonized over that thought, especially watching Michael these days. It’s more than that though. Thomas, for example, is handsome and kind. I like his family. I can tell Mother likes him. I can see why he would make a good match. I can see that. It’s just…” I trailed off, suddenly self-conscious.

  It was too easy to talk to Aella. Naturally I had said these things to Michael, but I hadn’t even confessed any of these thoughts to Nai, and she was my closest friend. She was so in the dark that I allowed her to set me up several times with boys I knew I had no interest in, to avoid the conversation.

  “Maybe the person you’re destined for is from elsewhere,” Aella suggested, oblivious to my thoughts. “Some fine lad could ride into town any day now looking to try his fortune at sheep herding. Your ma and da will be thrilled. Your brother will take him for a pint at the inn. Beautiful wedding. Beautiful babies. No more worries.”

  “Maybe,” I said glumly.

  “Or maybe you’ll wake up one day and realize what you wanted was here all along. Don’t ask me. I move around too much to know anything about waiting around for someone.”

  “I don’t want to leave Nophgrin, but if I’m honest I can almost understand why you like that sort of life and why Michael is itching to be somewhere else. There’s no work I’d rather do, but you’re right, I don’t even know if I’m missing someone great because I don’t know what else is out there.”

  “I think lots of people feel that way.”

  Nai didn’t. Nor did Beth or Claire. My mother hadn’t, and even Gladys had married twice from the crop provided. Aella had been all over though. Perhaps she could provide some insight, and if not, well, wouldn’t she be gone in a week or so? Who would she tell?

  “Aella do you have a beau? In the company, or that you write to?”

  Aella’s voice was sly. “No, I most certainly do not. Why?”

  “Do you ever feel…” I stopped again. This was hard.

  “Yes?” She prompted me.

  I found I couldn’t look at her and say this. I ducked my head as it came out in a rush, “When the other girls in town talk about a boy they’re interested in, I can tell how much they like him. They can’t wait to see him again. They exchange notes. They pine over him when their parents keep them too busy to see him every waking moment. I never feel that way. The few times I’ve kissed a boy it’s as though there’s a wall there. When I get through the wall then the kissing is fine, but I always think… this can’t be what they’re mooning over.”

  “Perhaps you just haven’t been kissing the right boys?”

  “I’ve kissed all the boys in town I’d care to,” I said sourly.

  “Then I suppose you’ll just have to wait until someone new moves to town. Since you don’t want to leave.”

  I groaned in frustration. “I wish I was like you.”

  “What do you mean?” She sounded genuinely curious.

  “No one expects anything of you. All you have to do is follow your captain on great adventures. If you marry? Wonderful. If you don’t? No big deal.”

  “But that’s not so for you?”

  I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “My life is supposed to go a certain way. My family is meant to stay together, and take care of one another. We’re supposed to take care of the farm together. I’m supposed to marry and have children.”

  “Well, why can’t you?” We had reached the stone I had kicked before, and this time Aella shot it forward.

  “Michael already wants to leave, so that’s one thing out the window. Nothing I say is changing his mind.” I scowled. “What if that person that would make me feel the proper way never rides into town? If they don’t, then how will I ever get my life … right? Will I have to leave like Michael, if I want to find love? It’d break my parent’s hearts if we both did that.”

  We were in the housing quarter of town towards the south side, and there were far fewer torches to light the way. I found myself grateful for the lack of light. At the very least it made it difficult to discern what Aella thought of my confession, which was just as well, because I didn’t know what else to say. The only other person I had admitted these fears to was my twin, and even we hadn’t spoken of it since he had started talking about leaving. These days he only ever used it to prove that it was ok for him to leave.

  We walked in silence until the tents came into view, taking turns kicking the rock. Aella was the one who finally spoke. “I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t speak to your problems with Michael. Have you tried hitting him?”

  I snorted and shook my head. “I’m not supposed to.”

  She grinned, but continued on in a more serious tone. “I do understand when it comes to courting the wrong people … It’s sort of like wearing a fancy gown that’s made to someone else’s measurements. It’ll fit in a pinch. It’s pretty on your friends. You’ll be pretty, and you’ll probably be fine for the night, but it wasn’t made for you. The shoulders don’t set right, and the hem is too short. It’s not comfortable.” I looked askance at her ruggedly outfitted body. When she noticed, it was her turn to take mock offense. “I do know about lady things, thank you. These aren’t my only clothes. Sometimes we get hired b
y nice gentle people and have to attend dull dinners.”

  I laughed but didn’t respond, taking a moment to survey the mercenary camp as I thought over her remark. The tents themselves were a thick canvas, and stretched at an angle over each one was rectangle of skin, which I assumed had been water-proofed. Most of the structures were not tall enough to stand in. The mercenaries would have room to kneel or crouch inside. While there was room for them to spread out lengthwise when sleeping, clearly these were not places in which they spent a great deal of time. Only one differed from this, and that one was in the back row on the far right. Tall enough to stand in and big enough around to hold two of the other tents was the commander’s tent.

  Aella nudged me. “I’m two down from my mother’s tent. Come on, and try to step lightly. A few of the men had an early supper and came back to pass out already.” A ragged snore sounded from one of the tents, confirming her statement.

  We strode quickly down the aisle between the left-most and middle tents, without speaking. There were no torches lit in their camp, so we had to rely on the light of the moon and stars, and the straightness of the mercenary’s rows. I winced as my boot stuck for a moment in a particularly wet patch of mud; I could feel the chill of it through the sides of the shoe. Francine had been right, they had churned the yard with their horses and heavy feet. A glance at the base of the tents to my right and left proved that they had linings underneath them as well, to keep them from getting soaked.

  When we reached the last tent in the line, Aella crouched. She set about undoing the tiny hooks that secured the front flap shut with practiced fingers. Then she crawled inside, leaving me in the dark.

  “What did you have to come out here to get?” I whispered.

  She popped her head out, beaming. “My flask. I figured we could drink it on our way back to the inn. It’ll keep us warm.” She disappeared back into the recesses of her tent.

  I blanched. “You had us walk all the way out to your tent so that we could get something that would make coming back from your tent slightly more pleasant?” I bent over to peek into the dark shelter. “Are you joking with me?”