She travelled toward Malvern though she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because it was the nearest city, or perhaps because it was the seat of the King. She didn’t have a plan, and Malvern seemed like the best place to go, so that was where she went.
Travelling in the North was far more difficult than it had been in the South. The road to Malvern was wide and well-marked, but there was virtually nobody else on it. Nobody, therefore, to beg or purchase a ride from. Nobody to trade with. Nobody to tell her if she was going in the right direction.
Under the circumstances, she did the only thing she could: She kept doggedly following the road, hoping to find someone or something that could help her.
Eventually, with her food running low, she came across what looked like abandoned farmland. Crops were growing wild, and she spent some time picking whatever looked edible before she moved on.
Finally, after nearly a solid week of walking, she came across her first village.
She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting a Northern village to look like, but now she saw one, she felt vaguely disappointed to discover it was barely any different from any farming community in the South.
But the people were different.
Laela walked through the main street, heart pounding, waiting for someone to single her out.
Nobody did. She garnered a few curious stares, but nobody shouted at her, nobody came up to accost her. There were no jeers or insults.
Laela felt all her anxiety drain away. Thank Gryphus, she had been right. She could blend in with these people.
Her confidence soaring, she approached a farmer busy unloading a cart.
“What d’ye want?” he asked-impatient but not hostile.
“I’m tryin’ t’get to Malvern,” she said, careful not to look him in the eye. “Could yeh give me directions?”
The farmer looked curiously at her. “I ain’t heard an accent like that before-where’re ye from?”
“Nowhere yeh’d know,” said Laela. “But I want t’get to Malvern. Just tell me if I’m goin’ the right way.”
“Well, the main road leadin’ out of here goes straight there,” said the farmer. “Just keep followin’ it an’ ye’ll be at Malvern’s gates in the end.”
“How far is it?” said Laela. “I’m on foot.”
“On foot!” the farmer repeated. “Ye gods. Ye’ll be lucky to make it there in two months, girl.”
Her heart sank. “D’yeh know how I could get there faster, then?”
The farmer scratched his nose. “If ye see anyone goin’ in that direction, ye could try an’ hitch a lift, or ye could buy a horse if ye had the money. . it’s playin’ with fire, takin’ horses into Malvern, mind.”
“Why?” said Laela.
“The place is swarmin’ with griffins, ain’t it?” said the farmer. “An’ we all know how much they like horses.”
Laela hadn’t heard of this. “Er. .”
“Griffins hate horses,” the farmer told her. “Mostly they kill the things on sight. Ye know, I heard this old story once how there was unicorns in Cymria once, but the griffins wiped ’em out.”
“Oh,” said Laela. “I never knew that. Can’t ride, anyway.”
“Well, I’ll tell ye what,” said the farmer. “Tomorrow I’m headin’ off on a jaunt northward meself. I might be willin’ to give ye a ride on the cart if ye can pay.”
“I can,” Laela said promptly. “An’ I’ll pay yeh extra t’let me sleep in yer barn.”
“How much?” said the farmer.
“Ten oblong for the ride, an’ ten more for the barn,” she said.
“Done,” said the farmer. “My name’s Mawrth, by the way.”
“Laela,” she said.
She handed over the money-keeping ten oblong back in case he decided to change his mind the next day.
“Thankye kindly,” said Mawrth. “I’ll give ye some food, too.”
Laela smiled. “Thanks.”
“Well, it ain’t every day I meet a lady as attractive as yerself,” said Mawrth. “No need t’look so surprised-I mean it! Ye don’t need t’be so shy, girl.”
Laela, keeping her eyes on the ground, blushed. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “Can yeh show me where the barn is?”
Her new friend obliged, and she settled down into the straw very gratefully. It was good to have something close to a proper bed again.
She slept, and dreamt of her father. He was trying to tell her something, but there was a scream in the air that made his voice impossible to hear.
Mawrth was as good as his word. The next day, his cart rattled out of the village, and Laela found herself riding on the driver’s seat rather than on the back, which was piled high with cabbages, while her host, apparently oblivious to her nervousness, made cheerful conversation.
“. . an’ they say that in Malvern, the King himself comes t’celebrate the Wolf Moon every month. I heard once the priests tried t’conduct a funeral for a friend of his without tellin’ him, an’ he showed up halfway through, punched the High Priestess in the face, an’ then finished the rites himself.”
Laela wanted to look him in the face, but forced herself not to. “Have yeh ever seen the King?”
“Once,” said Mawrth. “Not up close, mind. I was there when he announced that he was lettin’ traders come in from Amoran.”
“What was it like?” said Laela. “What was he like?”
Mawrth paused to wipe his nose on the back of his sleeve. “He looked ordinary, mostly. Young, but old. Wore a black robe, like a slave would. It’s said he never wears anythin’ else. An’ he had the Mighty Skandar with him, of course.”
“The Mighty. . you mean the griffin?”
“Aye. The dark griffin. ‘Darkheart,’ some call him. By the moon, but that was a sight t’scare any man. I’ve seen griffins. Not up close, but I’ve seen ’em. But the Mighty Skandar is the biggest I ever saw in my life. They say he’s killed more people than any griffin in the world, an’ that his magic is so powerful, it could kill a whole army in one go. They say,” he added darkly, “they say he eats people. Enemies of the King.”
Laela shivered. “People’re scared of him. The King, too.”
“’Course they are,” said Mawrth. “Ye’d have t’be an idiot not t’be. But they protect us, Laela. See? They might be scary t’some, but without them, we’d be lost. It’s thanks t’them we’re free, an’ it’s thanks t’them we stay free, too. The Southerners outnumber us, but they’d never dare invade again. They’re too scared to, after what Skandar an’ the King did to their friends here all them years ago. An’ it’s a damn good thing, too.”
Laela frowned to herself. It was odd to hear the King, who in the South was always spoken of with fear and hatred, referred to as a heroic protector. But, she supposed, it only made sense, after all. .
She travelled with Mawrth for nearly a week, and by the end of it she had come to like him. It was almost sad to say goodbye.
“Good luck, Laela,” he said as he pocketed her money. “I hope ye find the new home ye’re lookin’ for.”
She couldn’t stop herself from looking him in the face at last. “Thanks for everythin’, Mawrth. Yeh were a good friend.”
Mawrth nodded and smiled. “It was my pleasure.”
Laela walked away from his cart. He hadn’t shown any sign of noticing her blue eyes. Maybe he just hadn’t seen them. But then, who noticed the colour of someone’s eyes?
That part of her journey didn’t just bring her much closer to Malvern-it also gave her even more confidence.
And it showed her that her belief had been correct: Here in the North, she could blend in. Here, people treated her like an ordinary person-some of them were even friendly. Here she could make a new life-she knew it.
Her belief was confirmed over the next few weeks as a combination of money and the kindness of strangers made her journey quicker and easier. In one of the larger towns she passed through, she bought a new set of clothes-made in the thicker, warmer Northern manner. She even went so far as to enjoy a drink or two in a tavern, and aside from the usual drunken leering, no-one molested her.
By the time Malvern’s walls came in sight, she had all but lost her fear. In fact, she had come to love the North. She had barely been there any time at all, but it already felt like home. Even her misery over her father had begun to leave her. He would be happy to know that she was safe, and that thought cheered her up.
And then, at last. . Malvern.
She chose to go on foot for the last leg of the journey, wanting to see the famed city for the first time on her own. This was an experience she wanted all to herself.
It was bigger, far bigger, than she had expected. At first it looked like a black blob, squatting on the horizon, but as she drew nearer and nearer, she began to get an idea of how enormous it really was.
The city had walls around it, as she’d expected. They were enormous, built from stone, and she could see guards patrolling along its top-tiny from that height. But beyond the wall were the five towers of the royal Eyrie, rearing into the sky.
They looked like ordinary griffiner towers, but. . huge. Laela could see the openings in their sides and the banners flying from the tops. The towers varied in size-the one in the centre was the thickest and tallest. She could see what looked like bridges connecting them to each other.
The city gates were open, and travellers were passing in and out of them apparently unimpeded. Laela strode through, unnoticed.
So this was the big city.
She wandered through the streets with no particular destination in mind, staring in wonder at everything she saw. In most ways it was no different from the smaller towns she had already seen. . but so full, and so busy! The streets were simply packed-people were everywhere, walking in all directions. She had never seen so many people in one place. All of them, of course, were Northerners, and for the first time in her life, Laela felt like she was just a face in the crowd. Everywhere she looked were people with black hair. Wonderful, ordinary black hair. Long fingers, angular features, a tall and long-limbed build. . the features that had once singled her out, made her an outsider wherever she went. . here they were normal.
Exultation filled her.
Like one in a dream, she wandered the streets, going wherever she pleased. She found the marketplace and spent a few oblong on trinkets before her empty stomach brought her back to the present. She bought an apple and a few pastries from a stall and ate them as she walked along. But the gathering darkness quickly reminded her of her original plan. Find a job, and somewhere to stay, and quickly.
The former could wait.
She left the market district and wandered further into the city, hoping to find an inn or a tavern where there could be a room to let. But she had no idea where to find one, and the city was enormous. Eventually, tired and foot-sore, she stopped a passing woman.
“’Scuse me. .”
The woman looked at her. “What d’ye want?”
“I was hopin’ t’find an inn or somethin’ like it around here,” said Laela. “I ain’t been here long, an’ I need somewhere t’stay.”
A suspicious glare. “Where did ye get that accent?”
“Dunno. Found it lyin’ around somewhere,” said Laela, trying to sound nice and light-hearted though the woman’s unfriendly tones weren’t helping. “Look, can yeh help me? I’m in a hurry.”
“Try the south end,” the woman said briefly, and went on her way.
Laela glared at her back. “Hope that didn’t cost yeh life savin’s or nothin’, yeh bitch.”
Lacking anything but these brief directions, she headed in what she hoped was a southward direction. The streets darkened as the sun sank lower, and although the city guard were lighting the lamps, it had the effect of making the shadows that much deeper and gloomier.
Laela, beginning to feel nervous, sped up. Eventually, after much wandering around and with her belongings chafing painfully on her shoulders, she did come across a public building of some kind. She couldn’t read the sign over the entrance, but light and loud, cheerful voices spilled out of the windows, drawing her toward it.
The door was open, so she peered through. Her heart leapt. A tavern!
She strode in, ignoring the curious stares from the almost exclusively male customers. At the bar, a young and not exactly overdressed Northern woman was serving drinks.
Laela walked up and leant on the bar. “Oi. You.”
The barmaid shoved a mug of beer down the benchtop toward a customer. “What’ll it be?”
“I’m lookin’ to find a room,” Laela said, raising her voice over the chatter. “D’yeh have one here?”
The barmaid looked slightly puzzled. “Ye’re lookin’ for a place t’stay, is that it?”
Laela opened her mouth to reply, and shut it again as a chorus of shouts and clinking mugs from behind her drowned her out. “Yeah, I’m lookin’ t’spend the night somewhere,” she said rather irritably. “Have yeh got anythin’?”
The barmaid only increased Laela’s bad temper by taking a moment to sell several more drinks. Laela waited and growled under her breath until the woman’s attention was on her again.
“Sorry, love, what was that?”
“I said-” Another uproar from behind her. “I said, do yeh have any rooms here where I could spend the night?” said Laela. “I can pay.”
The barmaid gave her a look. “How old are ye, girl?”
“Nineteen,” said Laela. “Can yeh just answer me?”
There was a long pause, while the woman gave her a long, slow look. Then she put down the mug she was trying to clean and leant down toward her. “What sort of place d’ye think this is?” she asked kindly. “Does this look like an inn?”
Laela glanced around. The place was full of tables, and there were men everywhere, drinking and laughing among themselves. The few women were dotted around the room, some of them sitting in laps or pausing to caress a face.
She looked back at the barmaid. “Well, there’re men drinkin’ here, ain’t there?”
The barmaid laughed. “Well, yeah. We don’t get that many women here. Most of the girls what come here are lookin’ for a job, not a drink.”
“What does that have t’do with anythin’?” Laela snapped. “D’yeh have a room or not?”
“We got a few, upstairs,” said the barmaid, going back to her cleaning. “But I don’t think ye’d want t’stay in any of ’em. Pretty noisy up there, if ye get my drift. Them rooms sees a lot of use.”
Laela frowned. “What are yeh talkin’ about?”
“Good gods.” The barmaid wiped a grimy arm over her forehead. “Where’ve ye been livin’ all this time-under a rock?”
“I ain’t from around here,” said Laela, still thoroughly mystified.
“This ain’t an inn,” said the barmaid.
Laela turned to look at the clientele, and the scantily dressed young women walking among them. Realisation finally dawned.
“Oh, holy. .”
She almost ran out, her ears ringing with raucous laughter and lewd comments hurled at her, face burning with humiliation.
Outside, she flattened herself against a wall and breathed deeply. Then she let it out again in a string of swear-words. Her foster father had known plenty of curses and had never been shy about using them, but just now they seemed hopelessly inadequate.
She rubbed a hand over her face-it was actually as hot as it felt. Gods damn it. She swore some more, and then dusted herself down and walked away as quickly as she could.
Well, how was I supposed t’know? she thought furiously. I couldn’t read the damned sign. I was too tired t’notice. .
It didn’t make her feel any less of an idiot.
She stopped on the corner of the street to wipe the sweat off her forehead. It was completely dark now; how was she supposed to find anything in this twice-damned city?
A hand touched her shoulder. “Lost, are ye?”
Laela turned and saw a couple of men. “Yeah,” she said cautiously. “A bit. I’m lookin’ for a place t’stay.”
They glanced at each other. “Ye could stay with us,” said one.
His breath stank of beer. Laela tried not to gag. “No thanks. If ye know where there’s an inn or somethin’, though. .”
“We know a good one,” said the other man.
“Yeah,” said his friend. He hadn’t taken his hand off Laela’s arm. “C’mon, we can show ye.”
Laela tried to pull away from him as politely as possible. “Just tell me where t’go, an’ I can find it myself.”
“Oh, c’mon,” said the other, somehow managing to get behind her without seeming to move at all. “We’re all right; just a couple of friends lookin’ t’help a nice young lady like yerself. Nothin’ t’worry about.”
Laela didn’t trust them in the least. “All right then,” she said, deciding to play along for the time being.
They led her away up the street, keeping uncomfortably close. Laela had the feeling that they were ready to grab her arms if she tried to run. Her heart beat fast. But she didn’t want to risk making them angry-they were obviously drunk, and besides, maybe they were just being overfriendly.
She walked as quickly as she could, hoping to outpace them. They sped up, too, not moving away.
“Could yeh move back a bit?” she said at last. “Yer kinda crowdin’ me.”
“Oh, we’re sorry,” said one. “We din’t mean t’scare ye, girl. We’re just makin’ sure ye keep safe, like. Wouldn’t want anythin’ t’happen to ye.”
His friend sniggered.
The instant Laela heard it, she snapped. Without a sound, she twisted away from them and ran.
After her first mad dash, she began to look at where she was going, hoping to find somewhere she could lose them. But the crowds had thinned out by now.
And they were chasing her. She could hear their pounding footsteps behind her. Her heart pounded, too, as if it were trying to keep pace with the sound.
She sped up and darted away in a random direction, searching now for a place to hide. But the two men were fit and strong, and she was exhausted after days of long travel and too little sleep. They were gaining on her.
Finally, unable to run any further, she ducked into an alleyway and huddled into a shadow, hoping they would miss her.
She kept as still as she could, scarcely breathing, offering up a silent prayer to Gryphus that he would keep her safe, stop them from seeing her. .
For a few moments, nothing happened, and she began to think that maybe she had escaped.
“Where are ye, miss?”
The voice came drifting down the alley toward her, full of hateful confidence. Laela felt her stomach twist. She started to edge her way toward the end of the alley, but it was too late.
The two men stepped toward her, leering. They had her cornered now, and the sight of them sent cold despair through her whole body.
But not for long. Laela’s eyes narrowed, and she reached behind her and drew the sword.
“Stay away from me!” she snarled.
They backed off a little at that.
“Well, damn me!” said one. “A lady with a sword.”
The other looked unperturbed. “I’d put that down if I were ye, girl,” he drawled. “Ye don’t want t’get hurt, do ye?”
“I want you to get away from me,” Laela said. “I know how t’use this sword, see? So move away before I show yeh.”
The first one pulled a knife out of his belt. “Reckon we’re gonna have t’deal with this one together, Aled.”
The second, Aled, drew his own knife. “I reckon so, too. C’mon girl,” he added, almost gently. “Ye don’t want us t’have t’hurt ye, do ye?”
Laela felt her arm beginning to tremble, but she didn’t lower the sword. “I don’t want to kill yeh,” she said. “An’ I will if I have to.”
“All right, that’s enough,” said Aled.
He moved forward, along with his friend, and Laela panicked. They were too close, too close; she didn’t know how to fight like this-
She tried to make a thrust with the sword, but Aled sidestepped the blow and grabbed her by the forearm. He twisted, and pain rifled through her arm. She screamed.
Immediately, a hot, foul-tasting hand closed over her mouth.
“Just shut up,” Aled rasped in her ear. “An’ it’ll all be over soon, see?”
Laela struggled while the other man pulled her belongings off her back and rummaged through them. There was a rattle of oblong.
“By the shadows, look at this!” he said. He opened the bag. “There’s got t’be at least two hundred in here!”
Aled, holding Laela with his knife to her throat, grinned disbelievingly. “This is our lucky night! Quick, hide it away in case anyone sees us.”
Laela squirmed and bit his hand. He pulled it away for an instant, and she took her chance and screamed for help.
Aled hit her, hard, in the face. “Try that again, an’ ye’ll crawl out of here with one less ear.”
His friend stuffed Laela’s bag of money into his tunic. “Hurry it up, will ye? We don’t want no guards findin’ us.”
Aled ignored him. The hand holding the knife crept down Laela’s front. She struggled again, harder, trying to scream through the hand still muffling her, but there was nothing she could do. His hand slid inside her dress, down and down to clutch at her breasts, and she felt herself slide into an abyss of pure terror and despair. She was going to die. .
No. They weren’t going to kill her. It would be worse than that, far worse. .
Aled tensed suddenly, and his hand stopped.
“Who are ye?” Laela heard him grate out.
Someone else had appeared in the alley entrance. “What, ain’t ye gonna give me a go, too?” they asked.
Aled spat. “Sod off.”
The stranger came closer. “Selfish, ain’t ye? C’mon, give me a piece of the action why don’t ye?”
Aled’s friend pointed his knife at him. “Get lost, or I’ll stick this in yer gut.”
The stranger sighed and leant forward, until they were almost face-to-face. Laela heard him say something-she didn’t know what. Whatever it was, it had a terrible effect on Aled’s friend. The man jerked away from the stranger, paused a moment, and then ran.
That left Aled and the stranger.
“Found yerself a nice prize, haven’t yer?” the stranger said, in conversational tones. “Got any t’spare?”
“Clear off,” said Aled, though he was beginning to sound uncertain. He pulled his hand out of Laela’s dress and pressed the knife against her throat again. “Go on, get out, or-”
“Ye’ll do what?” said the stranger. “Ye want to be a murderer, too, do ye? Wanna know what that feels like?”
Aled realised his game was up. He abruptly removed the knife from Laela’s throat and thrust her toward the stranger before turning on his heels and running away.
Laela collided with the stranger and fought to get away from him as he grabbed at her, trying to hold her still. He caught her by the wrist, and held on. His grip was cold, and horribly strong.
“Let go!” Laela almost screamed at him, half-mad with fear. “Let go!”
The stranger looked past her, to where Aled had disappeared. “Coward,” he muttered.
Laela tried to hit him in the face. He avoided the blow easily and pinned her arms to her sides. “Calm down,” he said. “Calm down.”
She stilled, panting. The stranger was. . she couldn’t tell who he was. He wore a hood that hid his face in shadows, and his clothes were all-concealing. He was even wearing gloves. He smelled of cold.
“Let me go,” Laela said again. She started to shake. “Please, just let me go.”
“Keep calm,” the stranger advised. “I ain’t gonna hurt yer, see? I just wanted. . want t’know if ye’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” said Laela. “Let me go.”
He did. “I didn’t mean none of what I said; that was just cover. Are ye all right? Tell me for true.”
Laela backed away from him and tried to pick up her belongings, but her hands were suddenly clumsy, and they slipped through her fingers. She felt tears prickling at her eyes.
The stranger came toward her. “I can help. .”
“No. .” Laela tried to pull away from him, but in that moment the last of her strength slipped away, and she started to sob.
The stranger seemed to understand. He bent and gathered up her possessions, wrapping them neatly and efficiently back up in their blanket. “It’s all right,” he told her. “Ye’re safe, see? Safe. What’s yer name?”
Laela managed to pick up the sword. “L. . I’m. . I’m. . Laela. Laela R. .” But she broke out in a fresh wave of sobbing before she could finish.
“Here,” said the stranger, offering her his hand. “Let me help yer. Can ye tell me where ye live?”
“Not. . not here,” said Laela. “I ain’t. . ain’t from here.”
“Are ye with anyone?”
“No. I’m alone.”
“I see.” The stranger straightened up and looked from one end of the alley to the other, apparently checking if the coast was clear. “Well, I’m on my way somewhere. . If ye want t’come with me I can get ye some food an’ a warm place t’rest a while.”
Laela was too weak by now to argue, and she clung to her rescuer as if he were her only friend in the world. “Yeah. Yeah. I’d. . yeah.”