Leslie Moore - Griffin's Daughter

“ Hikui,” Ashinji replied.

“ Most everyone I’ve met has been nice to me, or at the very least, they’ve not been rude. I’ve gotten far better treatment here than I ever got back home.”

“ I am happy to hear that,” Ashinji replied, then said, “Your father most likely comes from a border family. He probably would have been raised with more liberal attitudes, which is why he could fall in love with a human woman. So, there is a good chance he will accept you.”

Acceptance was all Jelena had ever wanted. Still, she determined that, no matter what, she would make a life for herself somewhere, even if that meant spending it alone.

“ I think my parents will be ready to see you now,” Ashinji said. “Shall we go?”

Jelena allowed Ashinji to take her good arm again as they descended the stone steps down to base of the wall. She felt surprised and pleased when he did not release his hold, and she permitted herself to lean on him a little as they walked. She imagined she could feel the pressure of many curious eyes bouncing off the back of her neck as she and Ashinji retraced their steps toward the upper gate.

They passed through and crossed the upper yard to the main entrance of the keep. Magnes stood waiting for them, just out of thrusting reach of the door guards’ spears. He appeared freshly scrubbed, wet hair plastered to his head. He had changed clothes and now wore a deep green tunic that appeared one size too small for him. Jelena tried to suppress it, but an unintentional giggle escaped her tightly closed mouth.

“ I know, I know,” Magnes grumbled. He tugged futilely at the hem of the shirt, which hit him just above the crotch.

Ashinji also tried to look sympathetic, but he, too, could barely suppress his laughter. “I am sorry, my friend, but you are so much taller and wider than most of us. It has been difficult finding clothes that will fit you.” Magnes nodded his head, hand raised in a gesture that signaled his understanding of the situation. “Follow me, then,” Ashinji directed. “I will take you in to my parents’ private sitting room.”

The guards snapped to attention as Ashinji passed between them and stepped over the slightly raised threshold. Jelena followed closely, with Magnes right behind. They were now in a large entryway with corridors running off before and to either side of the door. Jelena, raised in a world of stone and brick, found the smells and sounds of a large wooden building to be new and intriguing. She delighted in the springy give to the floor beneath her feet.

Ashinji led the way down the left-hand corridor. Naturalistic murals decorated the walls, each depicting landscapes populated with animals, birds, and insects. Jelena slowed to admire a scene of a falcon stooping to strike a rabbit partially hidden in a thicket. The detail of the work was both painstaking and breathtaking. She could almost see the delicate twitch of the terrified rabbit’s nostrils as it awaited the deadly embrace of its killer.

Duke Teodorus had never had much use for purely decorative objects; artwork at Amsara had been limited to practical things like carpets and tapestries. To hang paintings purely for their aesthetic value would have been a wasted exercise as far as he was concerned. For the first time that she could remember, Jelena pitied her uncle.

They came to a staircase and ascended four flights. Jelena had to pause at the top to rest and catch her breath. Another corridor stretched before them, this one hung with silk banners of brightly woven floral patterns, waving sensuously in the breeze from the large open windows in the opposite wall. At the far end of the corridor, a door stood open. The sound of laughter, high-pitched and full of merriment, drifted through. Jelena’s excitement and apprehension surged as each step brought her closer to the one man in Kerala who could possibly help in the search for her father.

Ashinji paused just outside the door. “Wait here a moment,” he said, then slipped inside. Jelena groped for Magnes’s hand and felt him seize hers in a firm, steadying grasp. They waited in silence, listening to the musical interchange of words between Ashinji and his family.

The squeak of approaching footsteps heralded Ashinji’s return. He beckoned them to enter with a sweep of his arm. Jelena held on tightly to Magnes’s warm, callused hand, as if, by letting go, she feared she would be cast adrift on a stormy sea, to be swept away and drowned.

The room, like the corridor, was large and airy, but Jelena saw none of the details. Her attention fixed immediately on the little knot of people sitting in the center of the chamber-a man and woman seated in low chairs, a young girl standing behind the man, hands resting on his shoulders, and two children sprawled on the floor at the woman’s feet.

“ Jelena, Magnes,” Ashinji said softly, nodding to the man and woman. “These are my parents, Lord and Lady Sakehera.”

Jelena sank to one knee.

“ No, Jelena.” Ashinji stepped forward to take her elbow and gently pull her back to her feet. “You are a guest in this house. A bow of the head is sufficient to show my parents respect.”

“ Welcome to Kerala,” Lord Sakehera said in heavily accented Soldaran. “Please to sit.” He indicated that Jelena and Magnes should seat themselves upon the large cushions resting in front of his chair. Magnes helped Jelena find a comfortable position before he settled down beside her, looking vaguely disconcerted. It dawned on her that her cousin was not used to sitting on the floor at another man’s feet.

Ashinji perched on a small padded stool beside his mother. The two children-twin girls-immediately crawled over and attached themselves like climbing vines to his legs. They stared boldly, first at Jelena, then Magnes, their huge gray-blue eyes shining with frank curiosity. The older girl, who looked to be about fifteen years of age, remained standing behind her father, regarding the two visitors with cool interest.

Ashinji spoke up. “These two monkeys are Jena and Mariso,” he said, stroking the children’s silky blonde heads. “That young beauty over there is Lani.” He looked at the older girl, who met his glance with a smile. His voice brimmed with affection.

“ We hope all has been good for you since came you here to Kerala,” Lord Sakehera said.

“ Your hospitality has been exceptional, Lord Sakehera,” Magnes replied. “I owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude. If not for your doctor, my cousin would have died. I only wish that there were some way that I could repay you.”

Jelena fiddled nervously with the hem of her tunic. She glanced up to find Lady Sakehera staring intently at her, a tiny horizontal line creasing the skin of her otherwise smooth forehead. Jelena began to feel a strange pressure behind her eyes again, not unlike the peculiar sensation she had felt twice before with Ashinji. She rubbed at her temples to relieve the ache. Lady Sakehera’s eyes narrowed slightly and the corners of her mouth turned downwards in an almost imperceptible frown. Jelena’s heart thumped painfully.

“ My son tells me that you come here for to seek your elven kin and that there is ring belonging to your father. Have you now this ring?” Lord Sakehera leaned forward expectantly.

“ Yes, my lord, I do.” Jelena withdrew her father’s ring from its hiding place beneath her tunic. Her awkward attempts to slip the chain over her head one-handed only succeeded in tangling it up in her hair. Magnes came to her rescue, deftly unsnarling the chain and pulling it free. He then stood and dropped it along with the attached ring onto the palm of Lord Sakehera’s outstretched hand.

Lord Sakehera brought the ring up to his face and examined it closely. His daughter Lani leaned over his shoulder, craning her neck so that she could get a look at the ring as well. With their faces side by side, Jelena saw clearly how much of the father was in the daughter. Lani’s almond-shaped eyes, generous mouth, and well-formed cheekbones were a feminine mirror of her sire’s, while Ashinji, by contrast, strongly resembled his mother.