She grinned, the whites of her eyes showing as she rolled them. Without another word she disappeared back over the roof. For a few minutes there was silence, so I finished my pastry. Aella wiped her hands on the sides of her thighs, whether from nerves or to dust off crumbs, I wasn’t sure. A series of soft thumps came from around back. A few moments later, a slightly disheveled and out of breath Nai trotted out from the alley separating the two houses next to us. When she saw us staring, she paused in the shadow of the house behind her. She licked her lips and grinned.
“Pretty cool, right?”
“How didn’t I hear you?” Aella peered at her incredulously. “I heard you both back on your own rooftop, carrying on. How in the world did you make those jumps,” she gestured towards the gaps that were the alleys, “without me knowing?”
Nai shrugged carelessly, moving towards us once more. “One, you were very taken with yelling at my friend. Two, I am excellent at that.” She jerked her head back towards the direction she had come from.
“How is that?” I demanded. “You’ve never showed me that!”
She had reached us at that point. “The short of it is that you wouldn’t have liked it, and you would have told Michael.” She held a stalling hand up as I went to protest and met Aella’s eyes. “Do you want to get out of town, or do you want to hear why I know that Taryn can’t be trusted with half the secrets I keep?”
They shared an infuriating grin, and Aella shook her head. Her gaze flicked down the length of Nai’s form so briefly that I let myself hope I’d imagined it. “I’d like that secret passage please, and you can tell me when we’ve made it out.”
“All right, your horse is in the inn’s stable, right? Taryn, you’ll want to go out the regular way.”
I bit my lip and nodded hesitantly. “All right. I’ll meet you on the road?”
“That will work. I’ll move us as quick as I can.”
Aella smiled at me, and then she and Nai left. Feeling at a loss as the two of them moved off, I stared after them for a moment before abruptly turning on a heel and walking double-time. Aella’s smile had caused my pace to quicken uncomfortably. I only slowed when I became viewable from the guard shack.
As I was unlooping my mount from the post, my hand paused for a moment. Aella had heard Nai and me on the rooftop. My cheeks burned, and I felt woozy with embarrassment. Nadia took my sign out signature mutely. If she noticed my face, she didn’t let on. She wasn’t quite the talker that her husband was.
There was no sign of Nai or Aella near the gates. They hadn’t said if I was meant to wait for them, or if they were going to go a ways down to keep from being seen. I kept my pace slow as my thoughts whirled around the two women whom I considered my friends, even if the title was dubiously given to Aella.
Was it even safe for Aella to be let loose? I felt as though she could be trusted, but her mother had good reason to keep her in town, however unfair it was to Aella. If any of the women in town found Aella missing when it had been promised she would stay, they’d have more than a fit. They’d accuse Aedith of lying, and I doubted that their minds would come up with good motives for the disappearing act.
Nai had been adamant that the attack had to have been committed by a mercenary. If she didn’t trust the mercenaries why would she help the captain’s daughter? Was Nai trying to buddy up with the new girl to learn more about Lucas? Or worse, was she trying to sabotage them? I couldn’t think Nai would do that, but lately it seemed like everyone kept more secrets than they shared.
I stroked Hale’s neck lightly. That thought was too depressing. Perhaps this was a scheme with me in mind? Initially she had insinuated that whatever feelings I’d had were influenced by the alcohol and Aella’s skills as a flirt. Then she had told me to go for it.
My head hurt, and I shook it to clear it of the cobwebs of thoughts gathering. It was times like these that I missed the days when it was just Michael and me. People were too confusing, and they made me wish I had gotten more sleep.
I was about ten minutes out of town when Hale made a nervous noise in her throat. Something rustled in the trees to my right, heading fast in my direction. My blood burned cold in my wrists as I wheeled Hale to face the noise. She snorted and pawed at the ground beneath us, her body squirming between my thighs as she backed up a few paces.
A horse head broke through the leaves first. It was a chocolate flax mount, the pale fetlock contrasting sharply with the rich chocolate color of the horse’s snout. Next came the riders of the beast, perched on its back. Nai sat in front of Aella who had her arms looped around Nai’s waist to grip the reins. They both grinned, clearly pleased to have startled me.
My heart thudded in my chest from the adrenaline that had yet to leave my body completely. I lowered hands that shook from where they were poised over the crossbow that was strapped to my own mount.
“How did you make it out?” I demanded. “Did you lead the horse onto a roof and jump?”
Nai shook her head, her curls bobbing with the movement, and Aella reared her head back to avoid getting slapped with them. “There’s a cellar under The Black Gryphon. They use it for wine now, but Maude says it was originally built to hide the women and children when the town was first built. Back then we had a lot of problems with raiders—mountain-men—there needed to be a way to hide or get out of town fast. There’s a tunnel that comes out about a mile into the woods.”
“They don’t mind you using it for your own pleasure?” I raised my eyebrows at her in disbelief.
“Matthew—the inn keeper,” she added for Aella’s benefit, “He once told me his grandfather let him in on the secret back when he ran the inn. I guess it’s customary to leave the thing unlocked for younger folks to slip in and out of. There’s no clear-cut path once you get into the woods, so someone has to show you the way first.”
“Our parents probably used it too,” I mused.
“Well, not mine,” Nai giggled, “but yeah, probably your ma and da. I’m glad no one thought to lock it with everything that has been happening this past month.”
“They wouldn’t lock it for a gryphon.” I pointed out, “And whoever hurt Beth was already in town.”
“I think it’s nice,” Aella said, maneuvering her mount around the wall of shrubs to join me on the road. Her horse minced carefully, not stepping on anything taller than its ankle. It was a funny thing to watch. She was so much larger than Hale, and even my pony was more likely to barrel through the flora. “Back home we didn’t have a closed wall like this place, and people could mostly come and go in and out of town as they liked, but there was no understanding between the adults and children.”
“Aella is actually from somewhere north of where my family hails from.” Nai gripped the saddle horn to stay steady as we moved onward down the road in unspoken conjunction.
Aella nodded. “A little more to the west as well, but yes. The pastries your mother baked were so good. They reminded me of the ones my mother used to make when I was a girl. Sweet and spicy. Everything here in the north strays towards savory—salty.”
It was my turn to chuckle. “Well, it’s cold here, Aella. We need food to keep the winter from our bones.”
“It’s true,” Nai agreed, “I love my momma’s cooking, but no one here wants a curry—they want a thick piece of roast smothered in gravy.”
My stomach growled, and we laughed together. When silence fell, I found it wasn’t strained, and we road comfortably in it for a few minutes. The sun had risen to almost the crown of the sky, meaning I’d be late to relieve Michael again. He’d be mad, but perhaps not when he saw I had brought Nai. I blanched at my next thought. He would not be happy to see Aella. He might even tell Mother that she was out in the field with me.
I turned to look at her. “You two seemed to have found some common ground to speak on. Are you coming with me out to the field, or are you going to show her the forests closer to town?”
Nai twisted to confer silently with Aella. “Thr
ee is a nice group,” she said. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to see where you work. Besides, if the hunting party spooks the gryphon, it may flee towards you, and I’d be an outstanding asset in that scenario.”
My hand crept up to twist a braid around my fingers. Nai caught the nervous gesture and nodded in understanding. “You’re worried about Michael.”
I tilted my head in regretful ascent. “He’ll flip if he sees Aella.”
“Not a problem. We’ll hang back in the woods while you two say your hellos and goodbyes.” Nai looked backward at Aella who shrugged wordlessly.
“Just…” I paused to consider my words. “You have to be very quiet and still. I don’t want him to hear something strange and fire off a bolt into the woods. Or worse, realize it’s you and run to tattle. It would complicate things where they don’t need to be complicated.”
Aella snorted. “I promise not to let your brother catch us. I’m trained at concealment and so is Juniper.”
“And I think I’ve proven I can be quiet enough,” Nai said with fake haughtiness that seemed to be mocking Aella. Our new friend caught the jab; her mouth twisted into a self-conscious smile.
“We’ll be careful,” she amended in a softer tone. “We got out of town with none the wiser, didn’t we?”
“Ok, then it should be fine.” I wriggled my shoulders to try and shake the tension from their muscles and let out a sigh. “So why have you never told me about the tunnel?”
Nai shrugged, unfazed. “You don’t live in town. What were you going to use it for—sneaking into the walls?” She spoke as though such a thought was ludicrous, but I could remember many nights when I would have liked to have been able to sneak off to see my best friend.
“You could have smuggled some ale out to her and her brother. Drank yourselves silly,” Aella supplied.
I spoke at the same time Nai made a snort of derision. “Michael would never have gone along with that. He works in the morning.” I flushed in embarrassment.
“You see?” Nai waved a hand at me in dismissal. “So, you would have had no use for the tunnel, and it was fun to use it now in a big reveal.”
“We could do something tonight.” Aella’s voice was hesitant, and she glanced between us as though she expected to be rebuffed.
“What?” I asked.
“If you think your brother won’t approve, he doesn’t have to come. You could say you feel ill tomorrow morning and beg off for the day. I’ve some mint leaves you can chew so your breath doesn’t smell too foul. If your friend has never insisted on a reckless night out, then that’s something that needs remedied.”
Go without Michael? Well, I’d have to do a lot of things without him soon enough. “I could do that.” I said, a little hesitantly at first. Then more firmly, “That sounds fun. But, well, what would we even do?”
“The normal nonsense. Get ourselves tipsy in the woods.” Do dares, and tell secrets and stories.”
Nai laughed. “Yes, that’s about right. A few years ago, Beth, Claire and I found a nice spot for us to go to. Although we usually go in summer, not autumn. We’ll have to dress more warmly.”
Hale whickered at the trees, and I made a regretful noise. “The gryphon though. It’s only safe to go out if the mad gryphon is caught today on the hunt.”
“You see?” Nai scoffed. “This is why I never asked you to come along with the other girls. You’d always have a reason not to come.”
“A crazed gryphon is a good reason not to go into the woods at night! Not comparable to any other ‘excuse’ I might have given you if you had ever even asked me.”
Aella broke in before Nai could respond. “Taryn, Nai’s right, there’s always going to be a good reason not to go—but half of the fun is the excitement of what could go wrong. Plus, you and I have at least some weapons training, and from what I understand, this creature hunts in the daylight.” Nai nodded her agreement. “There has been no news of any person being mauled, not even travelers, so it’s likely that it is afraid of humans still, despite whatever else is wrong with it. A hunting party alone is often enough to scare off these smarter monsters.”
Nai and Aella, were fearless for such different reasons, and then there was me, Taryn the shepherd, who was going to spoil the only little adventure she’d ever been offered before it even began. It wasn’t as though I’d ever even seen a greater gryphon up close before, I reasoned. They did tend to stay away from people. My mother had only seen one once in her whole life.
A million “buts” ran through my head. Michael would be upset if he found out. Aella and Nai gazed at me expectantly, but neither girl rushed me. There’d always be a reason not to do the exciting thing.
“Ok,” I said.
Nai squealed and wriggled in her saddle causing Juniper to flick an ear back and huff. Aella looked amused, and patted the horse’s neck. “There you have it.”
My heart thrummed in my chest, and I made a concerted effort to keep my hands loose on the reins. I glanced at Aella, and when I saw her looking back at me an involuntary grin bloomed on my face. She returned it with a nod of understanding. The road was narrow enough that her bright eyes were easy to see. They were amazing, I realized. Despite how close we had been all of the night of the attack, it had been dark, and I’d been too drunk to properly see them. They were hazel. A starburst of gold surrounded the blackness of her pupils; beyond that was a green the color of oak leaves shifting to their fall colors, and all of that was ringed with a thin sliver of umber. They seemed to pull me in, and I had to tear my gaze away from them to better listen to what Nai was saying.
“… and it would be good if you brought an extra blanket, that way you have something to sit on.” She gave me a shrewd look. “You got that?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” I agreed hastily.
“Are we almost to your field?” Aella asked, clearing her throat. I thought she sounded dazed. Or was I only hoping that I’d had the same effect on her that she’d had had on me? I was too afraid to look.
I kept my attention turned straight ahead. “We’re close; probably about a half mile away.” I looked at the surrounding woods and hummed thoughtfully, trying to place exactly where we were. “Probably in the next few minutes you both should duck into the woods. After that, the trees start to thin out the closer you get to the field, and it’ll be harder to hide. I’ll continue on, and once Michael has passed, you can join me in the field.”
They both nodded, and once again Nai’s hair brushed against Aella’s face. She crossed her eyes at the back of my friend’s head. I caught a giggle in my throat, and Nai glanced at me.
“What?”
“You keep hitting Aella in the face, and she’s too polite to say anything,” I explained, giving in to my giggles at Aella’s noise of embarrassment.
“It’s fine. It’s to be expected with the cramped seating.” Aella said.
“You should have said something!” Nai whipped her head around to look at Aella apologetically, succeeding in having the whole of her hair fly across Aella’s face. Aella, for her part, sputtered, and I laughed harder.
“I can’t imagine why.” Aella picked a few strands of hair from between her lips.
“I mean—” Nai dug in the satchel that hung around her shoulders, procuring a leather strand, “I could have tied it back.” She did so, deftly twisting the bottom half of her hair into a loose fishtail braid.
“All right, well I think we’ll take this moment to pull off into the woods,” Aella said to me. “Better safe than sorry. Send your brother on his way quickly though, will you?”
“I’ll do my best.” I saluted her, and she chuckled and steered Juniper towards the shrubbery with the most space on the opposite side.
“Hold steady for a moment,” was the only warning Nai was given before Aella kicked Juniper into a quick trot, and the horse leapt over the foot of bush. Nai gave a tiny squeak as Juniper went airborne, but when they had landed and turned to face me again, her face glowed with
pleasure.
“We’ll see you in a little bit,” she said.
“Be safe in the woods,” I replied.
“So long as you do the same on the road.”
Aella just nodded to me, and I bobbed my head in return, then I road on, not waiting for them to disappear into the foliage. I pushed Hale a shade harder than when I was with the other two women, excited to get to my post and send Michael on his way.
He was peevish at my lateness and in no mood to chitchat with me. In fact, the most I could get from him that was more than a grunt were terse one-word responses. I was a little hurt, but much too excited about getting to spend my shift with friends to let it ruin my mood.
I was finishing setting up my blanket under the shelter that served as shade from the sun when it wasn’t a roof from the rain, when the sound of hooves piqued my attention. Aella and Nai were trundling up the short path from the road to the hill where I was perched. I waved to them, smiling broadly. Brooks stood, piercing the newcomers with a stern look. I reached down to stroke his soft ears.
“It’s all right, Brooks,” I murmured. “These are friends. You know Nai.”
Brooks sneezed and trotted to meet them halfway. I gnawed my lip as Juniper eyed my shaggy dog, but it seemed Juniper had experience with canines. After a moment’s pause, wherein Juniper graciously lowered her head and Brooks gave them all a good sniff, she continued towards me, undaunted.
“Hi puppy,” Nai cooed. When they had come to a stop, she dismounted and knelt to massage Brook’s head.
“That beast’s no puppy—he’s a full dog.” Aella protested.
“All dogs are puppies,” Nai replied seriously, then in a sugar sweet voice, “Aren’t you, sweet puppy?” Brook’s tongue lulled out of his mouth, and he half-closed his eyes at her ministrations; he was the picture of doggy bliss.
“You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?” I asked.
Aella shook her head
“Good—Nai, let Brooks alone, he’s working.”
Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1) Page 21
