Gryphon's Eyrie

13 Joisan

We rode together from The Setting Up of the Kings, Sylvya behind me on Arren, Elys on Nekia with Kerovan, and Jervon and Guret astride Vengi. As we picked our. way north, down the ancient mountain road, I looked to the east, whence we had come so long ago, to see the first flush of early dawn. So many dawns since our journey had begun… so many, and yet at this moment, all the world felt fresh and new, as though this were the first of them.

I looked longingly at a brooklet that ran beside the road for a space, thinking that the first thing I would do upon my return to Kar Garudwyn would be to find an isolated spot in the valley stream and bathe—or, perhaps we would find something to serve as a tub in one of the unexplored rooms of the citadel…

I heard a soft, sad breath from behind me and turned, to see Sylvya’s wide eyes fixed on the tiny rivulet of water. “What is it, sister?” I asked, concerned.

“The brook…” Pain overwhelmed her for a moment. “Only yesterday, or so it seems to me, I challenged my brother to step across that running water and he failed.”

I reached back to clasp her hand. “He is safe now, and at peace,” I told her. “Try to think of him thus… and remember that you saved the valley.”

She nodded, and I turned back to guide Arren, seeing the first touch of scarlet and orange lap over the mountain peaks, spilling down their granite bones in washes of glorious color. It would be a beautiful day—

I sat up suddenly, feeling a tiny stirring within me. It was the strangest sensation, one that I had heard described many times before but had never understood until I felt it for myself… a small quiver, as something within me wriggled and stretched and lived.

Our child … I looked ahead to my lord, seeing him talking with Elys as he expertly reined Nekia along the ancient roadway. For a moment I considered making the effort to mindshare this new happening, then I decided to wait until we were alone. There would be time, after all. Time for all tellings, and for many, many dawns…

The road ahead warmed and brightened, as the sun rose.