Page 95 of Ties of Dust

Within minutes, an enormous shape appeared in the darkening sky. It hurtled toward them, requiring Flora to jump back as it came to a graceful landing on the stone balcony.

Cassius drew in a sharp breath. “Is that…”

“A griffin,” Flora finished, beaming at it. “My griffin.”

Cassius stared at the creature before him. It had the back half of a lion, complete with swishing tail, and the head and taloned legs of an eagle. It was folding its enormous wings, its mismatched feet prancing forward so it could nudge Flora with its beak.

“It’s…bigger than I expected,” Cassius said faintly.

Flora nodded, idly fending off the griffin’s beak as it pushed her backwards in its enthusiasm.

“Yes,” Flora agreed sagely, “people talk about griffins as lion eagles, but they’re far bigger than either of those creatures.” She beamed at the half-bird, half-feline. “I’ve missed you, Griffy. It’s been a long time.”

“Griffy?” Cassius raised an eyebrow.

“In my defense, I was ten when I first found him at the cliffs and started befriending him,” Flora said. “They don’t trust you quickly, griffins. It took close to five years before he decided to recognize me as a friend. But once they accept you, they’re loyal to you for life.”

“Is this how you fled last time?” The indignant question came from Flora’s mother.

“Sure is,” she said cheerfully, stroking the creature’s feathers as it craned its neck for a better angle. “He carried me all the way into Torrens. He didn’t much like it, though. They prefer to stay within Dernan, I think. I did once try calling him from Siqual, but I could tell that my whistle didn’t reach him.”

“I knew we shouldn’t have allowed you to accompany your brothers on all those surveying trips to the clifftop mines,” the queen said in frustration.

“It was the only freedom you ever allowed me,” Flora agreed. “And it was enough for me to unlock my cage.” Her boldness was returning as the prospect of departure neared. “See you when it’s time to finalize the alliance, I suppose.”

With that heartfelt farewell, she climbed onto the railing of the balcony, using it to scramble onto the griffin’s back.

“Come on, Cassius.”

“Surely it can’t hold us both,” he said, staring at it uncertainly.

“Of course he can.” Flora’s hand was extended in an invitation. “He’s a magical creature, Cassius. His strength and speed don’t follow the normal rules of the animal kingdom. He’ll get us where we need to go.” She flashed him a grin. “Just don’t fall off.”

On those encouraging words, Cassius seized her hand and hoisted himself up onto the griffin’s back. Ignoring her family’s vehement protests, Flora murmured to the beast, and a few moments later, it had launched itself back into the sky, carrying the two humans southwest at an impossible speed.

Chapter

Twenty-One

Flora’s heart felt as light as one of Griffy’s feathers as they hurtled through the air. The sensation of Cassius’s arms around her was delicious, even if his grip was more alarmed than comforting this time. She didn’t mind. She was in no need of reassurance on her griffin’s back. Especially now that she’d escaped the castle in Dernan so smoothly.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” she called over the violence of the wind. They were moving at a speed that made her eyes stream like miniature rivers.

Cassius just grunted, and Flora found herself grinning into the wind. After all, it wasn’t every day one got to show off one’s secret pet griffin to a foreign prince. The release Flora felt at revealing her true identity to Cassius bordered on euphoria. His attempts to figure her out had woken such desperate longing in her. She’d been surprised by her desire to be known.

And now she was. Fully and without fear.

The trip to the Siqualian capital would have taken days by horseback, but riding the wind with the magical propulsionof a griffin, it was only a couple of hours. Darkness had fallen by the time Griffy started to dip into a descent. Flora was cold and weary, her battered body in full protest, but she felt triumphant. She’d wondered at times if she would ever make it back to Sindon.

At her direction, Griffy carried them all the way to the castle courtyard. Flora watched nervously as the archers on the walls primed their bows. She raised her arms and waved them frantically in a warning and thankfully no one fired. They did, however, find themselves surrounded the moment their feet touched the cobblestones.

“We’re not a threat!” Flora called, raising her hands in a gesture of peace.

“Flora?” One of the approaching guards squinted at her in the lantern light. “Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she said. “And I’ve brought Crown Prince Cassius of Carrack with me. Plus Griffy,” she added, introducing the griffin as an afterthought. “I really need to speak to Princess Miriam or one of the princes.”

The guard’s mouth had fallen open, but another more senior one stepped forward. His eyes were on Cassius, clearly wondering whether he could really be who Flora claimed.

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