you somewhere safe.”
The owl purr intensified until Ciardis could feel the sound like a vibration in her heart.
Seraphina raised her voice. “It’s all right now, Lady Weathervane. You can come closer.”
Ciardis hesitated for a full five seconds. She’d been slashed once. She really wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
Seraphina tilted her head, her cheek still on Skarar’s head. Patiently, she said, “He’s calm.”
Ciardis almost rolled her eyes at the youthful impatience in the tone. It was filled with the confidence only a youth who thought they knew everything could bestow in two words.
She reminds me of me , she thought ruefully.
Then a second later her thoughts turned. Her poor father . Ciardis wouldn’t wish herself on the most well-meaning of parents, let alone a good father like Jason looked to be. He must worry himself sick.
With a sigh, she edged forward and brought the knife up. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t really keep it out of Skarar’s line of sight. But it would have been improbable unless she was coming at him from a different angle. But she resolved to do her best, to keep it semi-hidden. Wrenching her shoulder so that the blade rested close to the middle of her back. It rested flat against the back of her tunic like a cold shiver. Her other hand was raised high overhead. Whether by design or luck, the blood only flowed down her arm in a trickle, which meant the cut had been shallower than it looked.
Let’s hope my luck holds , she thought grimly.
The beady eyes of the young griffin watched her while she knelt down and swiftly cut the ropes that bound Skarar. Standing up and moving away quickly, she watched as he stood on strong legs with chirps coming from his beak. Chirps of gratitude, she guessed, but the arrow in his wing still needed to come out and she wasn’t the one to do it. Ropes were one thing. Flesh-piercing weapons that might make a muscle lame forever if she yanked it out wrong were quite another.
Still she and Seraphina exchanged nods as the young woman stood up as well. Her hand still rested on Skarar’s head protectively.
Ciardis pursed her mouth into a thin line. “Now what?”
Seraphina gave her an irritated glance. “Now we talk to the soldiers holding my father.”
Ciardis was already eyeing the gathering of soldiers around them. There were many more than the ones who had Seraphina’s father in their grasp. Now that they were close, she could see badges of the imperial court on their breast. Six men had arrayed themselves around the shield in a circle.
Like a protective detail...or prison guards.
Ciardis turned a sharp eye to Jason SaAlgardis. He eyed her back. The soldiers couldn’t get to the three of them inside the shield. But they couldn’t escape from it, either. It wasn’t a mobile dome that would move and rise with them. It was stable and bound to the area of casting. So they were at an impasse.
Farther off, Ciardis noted Vana, Sebastian, Thanar, and the griffin’s father standing in a tight group. They were facing their own group of soldiers. But none of them looked dead or injured. If these soldiers had wanted any of Ciardis’s group dead, they would have killed them already. That made up her mind. Well, that and the fact that when she turned to look back at Jason SaAlgardis, the man who had originally approached their party came up and kicked Jason straight in the back of the knee. Once on each leg. Then again. Forcing him to fall to his knees. Then he took out a knife and held it to the man’s throat. Strain showed on Jason’s face.
It can’t be easy to hold this shield under torture , Ciardis thought.
From the gleam of intelligence in the knife-wielding leader’s eyes, he knew it too. Straightening her shoulders and dropping her arm to hold it across her chest like a makeshift sling, Ciardis walked forward. She went to the very edge of the interior of the shield. Then she dropped to her knees.
Eye level with Jason
The owl purr intensified until Ciardis could feel the sound like a vibration in her heart.
Seraphina raised her voice. “It’s all right now, Lady Weathervane. You can come closer.”
Ciardis hesitated for a full five seconds. She’d been slashed once. She really wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
Seraphina tilted her head, her cheek still on Skarar’s head. Patiently, she said, “He’s calm.”
Ciardis almost rolled her eyes at the youthful impatience in the tone. It was filled with the confidence only a youth who thought they knew everything could bestow in two words.
She reminds me of me , she thought ruefully.
Then a second later her thoughts turned. Her poor father . Ciardis wouldn’t wish herself on the most well-meaning of parents, let alone a good father like Jason looked to be. He must worry himself sick.
With a sigh, she edged forward and brought the knife up. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t really keep it out of Skarar’s line of sight. But it would have been improbable unless she was coming at him from a different angle. But she resolved to do her best, to keep it semi-hidden. Wrenching her shoulder so that the blade rested close to the middle of her back. It rested flat against the back of her tunic like a cold shiver. Her other hand was raised high overhead. Whether by design or luck, the blood only flowed down her arm in a trickle, which meant the cut had been shallower than it looked.
Let’s hope my luck holds , she thought grimly.
The beady eyes of the young griffin watched her while she knelt down and swiftly cut the ropes that bound Skarar. Standing up and moving away quickly, she watched as he stood on strong legs with chirps coming from his beak. Chirps of gratitude, she guessed, but the arrow in his wing still needed to come out and she wasn’t the one to do it. Ropes were one thing. Flesh-piercing weapons that might make a muscle lame forever if she yanked it out wrong were quite another.
Still she and Seraphina exchanged nods as the young woman stood up as well. Her hand still rested on Skarar’s head protectively.
Ciardis pursed her mouth into a thin line. “Now what?”
Seraphina gave her an irritated glance. “Now we talk to the soldiers holding my father.”
Ciardis was already eyeing the gathering of soldiers around them. There were many more than the ones who had Seraphina’s father in their grasp. Now that they were close, she could see badges of the imperial court on their breast. Six men had arrayed themselves around the shield in a circle.
Like a protective detail...or prison guards.
Ciardis turned a sharp eye to Jason SaAlgardis. He eyed her back. The soldiers couldn’t get to the three of them inside the shield. But they couldn’t escape from it, either. It wasn’t a mobile dome that would move and rise with them. It was stable and bound to the area of casting. So they were at an impasse.
Farther off, Ciardis noted Vana, Sebastian, Thanar, and the griffin’s father standing in a tight group. They were facing their own group of soldiers. But none of them looked dead or injured. If these soldiers had wanted any of Ciardis’s group dead, they would have killed them already. That made up her mind. Well, that and the fact that when she turned to look back at Jason SaAlgardis, the man who had originally approached their party came up and kicked Jason straight in the back of the knee. Once on each leg. Then again. Forcing him to fall to his knees. Then he took out a knife and held it to the man’s throat. Strain showed on Jason’s face.
It can’t be easy to hold this shield under torture , Ciardis thought.
From the gleam of intelligence in the knife-wielding leader’s eyes, he knew it too. Straightening her shoulders and dropping her arm to hold it across her chest like a makeshift sling, Ciardis walked forward. She went to the very edge of the interior of the shield. Then she dropped to her knees.
Eye level with Jason
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