Leslie Moore - Griffin's Shadow

Jelena pursed her lips in irritation and snapped, “Stop fussing, Eikko!” Immediately, she regretted her ill temper . Eikko is only concerned for my well-being and that of my daughter, she thought. Chagrined, she apologized. “I’m sorry, Eikko. I didn’t mean to be cross with you…I miss my husband so much and I want to be right here when he rides in.”

“‘Course you do, Highness,” Eikko replied. “I understand.” She flashed a quick smile.

“We’ll wait just inside the door.” Jelena waved toward the castle’s entrance. “There’s a bench we can sit on.” Eikko nodded and the two young women retreated out of the chill wind into the relative warmth of the entrance hall, where they settled on the bench to wait.

They sat for a time in comfortable silence. Jelena tried to relieve her anxiety by practicing the meditation taught to her by Princess Taya. In recent weeks, the Kirians had stepped up her training, and Jelena was now proficient in many of the basics. She could mindspeak with ease, perform a simple surface scan on another person, and maintain a shield against unwanted mental intrusions by any non-mage-trained attacker. Her swift progress had surprised her.

Jelena’s dreams of learning to control her Talent, and more specifically, the blue energy the Kirians referred to as the Key were being realized, but she now found herself in a strange and tense situation. Jelena had known for some time that Taya and Sonoe were, if not outright enemies, then rivals, for sure, and each one believed she knew best how to conduct Jelena’s training. Consequently, they often clashed, and only the moderating presence of Amara kept a lid on things.

Ever since spotting Sonoe standing below her bedroom window, Jelena had felt uneasy in the presence of her father’s Companion. The red-haired sorceress had offered no explanation for her behavior; in fact, she had said nothing at all about the incident. Soon afterward, however, Sonoe had become very solicitous towards Jelena, going out of her way to offer gestures of friendship. She did seem genuinely interested in Jelena in a sisterly way so, in time, Jelena’s unease abated. Lately, she found herself more and more in Sonoe’s company. It felt good to have the friendship of an older, more experienced woman.

“Are you warm enough, my lady?” Eikko inquired, breaking the silence and recapturing Jelena’s attentiton.

“Uh…Yes, Eikko, thank you.” Jelena turned to gaze with speculation at the hikui maid. “Eikko, do you have any Talent?” she asked.

Caught off-guard by the question, the other girl stammered, “I…I don’t know, Princess…I mean…I’ve never thought about it.” She shrugged her plump shoulders. “I s’pose I must have, at least a little. Our elven blood gives us all a touch. Both my parents, though, are hikui, as were their parents, so it’s been a few generations since there’ve been any purebloods in my family tree. I suspect most of the Talent’s been lost in us.” She regarded Jelena with a puzzled expression. “Why, if you don’t mind me asking, would you want to know?”

“I’m curious, I guess. There must be some hikui who have strong Talent,” Jelena mused.

“If they dared show themselves, you can bet the okui wouldn’t allow them to use their abilities. They might even be killed.”

“You can’t mean that, Eikko! There’re laws against murder. Even the hikui are granted that protection.”

Eikko snorted. “There’re laws for okui and laws for hikui, Princess. Surely you know that by now.”

Jelena sighed, realizing the futility in arguing the point; besides, Eikko’s frank statement contained an undeniable kernel of truth. “I’ve been working hard on my father, Eikko, to get him to see the injustice of having a different set of laws for hikui,” she said. “The good news is that he is listening to me. How could he not? I’m hikui and his daughter.”

Eikko looked dubious. “Begging your pardon, Highness, but okui folk have lorded it over us since…well, since always! It’ll take nothing less than a miracle to change ‘em.”

“Then get ready for a miracle, Eikko, because it’s going to happen. I’m determined,” Jelena replied.

The heavy main entrance doors of the castle stood ajar. From somewhere outside, faint shouts drifted in on a chilly breeze that swirled around Jelena’s toes. She shivered and pulled her cloak more closely around her. An instant later, a messenger burst though the doors and pelted across the broad hallway to the sweep of the staircase, heading up toward the king’s private quarters.

Jelena sprang to her feet. “They’re here! Ashinji’s home!” she cried and rushed out into the cold, Eikko hard on her heels. The wind whipped back the cloak from her body and snapped loose coils of hair about her face as she stood gazing out across the parade ground toward the upper gates of the castle. The strange apprehension building within her crested until she now shook with anxiety.

Where are you, Ashi?

“Daughter, I see you’re already here.”

Jelena spun around to see the king descending the broad steps, Sen and Prince Raidan flanking him on either side. Sonoe, resplendent in a green velvet cloak lined with fox fur, followed Keizo. Jelena ran to her father and clung to him, on the verge of tears.

Keizo looked startled, then concerned. He folded his arms around Jelena and asked “What’s all this now, child? Why are you in such a state?”

Jelena looked into her father’s winter-grey eyes.

“I…I can’t explain, Father. I just feel like something’s terribly wrong with Ashi. I’ve felt this way for a while now.” She shook her head in irritation, angry with herself for her emotional weakness. She pulled away from Keizo’s embrace and drew herself up straight. “I’m being silly,” she stated. “Ashi is well and he’s riding home to me.”

“’Course he is, my dear,” Sen chimed in. “If anything had happened to him…to either of my sons, I’m sure we’d have heard already.” He looked back over his shoulder and muttered, “Hmm. I wonder where Amara and Misune are?”

“Misune is not feeling well, Father-in-law, and Mother stayed behind with her,” Jelena explained. “She’s had such a hard time, you know.”

Despite Misune’s excellent health, her pregnancy had not gone well, and she often could not rise from bed. Jelena actually felt sorry for her. She and Misune would never warm to each other, but of late, they had arrived at a peaceful coexistence, due, Jelena felt, to their shared condition.

“You’re right, of course,” Sen replied. “We men can be incredibly insensitive at times.” He scratched his head, looking a little sheepish.

“Oh! I think I see them!” Eikko burst out, then covered her mouth with her hand and shrank back behind Jelena.

“Yes, here they come,” Raidan confirmed, glancing at the hikui girl with a frown.

Jelena ran down the last steps to stand on the cold gravel of the parade ground, ignoring the chill seeping through the thin leather soles of her slippers. She focused her entire attention on the company of riders, just coming into view.

Three riders detached themselves from the vanguard and galloped ahead, sliding to a stop before Jelena, the hooves of their mounts spitting gravel. Sadaiyo, in his distinctive black-lacquered armor, dismounted first. He handed over the reins of his horse to the man on his right and approached Jelena. Something in the way he carried himself set off a wave of fear that rushed from her head down to her toes and back again, leaving her dizzy and a little sick.

Ashinji isn’t with him!

Sadaiyo halted in front of her and pulled off his helmet.

“Where is my husband?” Jelena demanded.