Page 27 of The Beauty and the Griffin

Where was Auntie Bella? I would have worried more if I hadn’t sensed her reinforcing spells woven through the Gamekeeper’s protective magic. She was still alive and active and not far away.

Wrapped in a fluffy robe, I plopped down beside the east-facing windows and gazed into darkness. There was no moon, and icy mountains made sharp silhouettes against the stars. Somewhere below lay the rose garden.

Why was the Gamekeeper’s power fading? Where was he? Off somewhere, fighting to stop whatever this trouble in the world might be?

Did he leave the resort to avoid meeting me? What if I never saw him again?

I sensed how worried the brownies and dwarves were. Of all times for Prince Briar and Rosa to leave on their honeymoon! Did no one ever think of the Gamekeeper’s needs?

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Auntie Bella was ordering me to wake up and get dressed. “How can you sleep when all allies of Faraway Castle and the civilized magical world need your help, young lady!”

Arabella

I finally had a plan.

Just before midnight, Falwin, a griffin I’ve known since he hatched, arrived at our secret fortress beneath Faraway Castle with startling news. “Vlad and Mirka have been brooding agold egg!” he roared, wings thrashing, beak snapping while he paced the floor. “It was a wondrous secret in our community, but we’ve been betrayed. Mirka was captured early this morning, and the mages are chasing Vlad right now. They want the egg!”

“Why? What’s so important about a gold egg?” Someone at a table behind me asked.

Falwin shook his head, making every feather stand on end. At first, I thought he wouldn’t answer at all, but then he snapped his sharp beak. “A golden griffin appears in times of great change.”

The gold egg was some kind of portent, I realized. Time for some serious research in the castle library, such as it was.

Everyone within hearing distance jumped into action. If the Mirror were to gain control over that egg, our world might never recover.

“Is there a nanny?” I asked, plotting our next move.

“Yes, Arabella. I glimpsed it once.” Falwin dipped his feathered head to me. “It’s a human female, not yet full grown. The eggs are near to hatching.”

Griffins have a tradition of snatching a human girl, forcing her to egg-sit for the better part of a year, then rewarding her with a small fortune in gold coins and jewels. Luckily, I knew exactly where Vlad and Mirka nested—practically on the Gamekeeper’s doorstep. I also knew that because foul-tempered Mirka was even more paranoid than the average brooding griffin, or “griffiness,” Vlad always drilled their nannies on escape routes and set snares for egg-nappers.

This situation could lead us into either glorious victory or unimaginable disaster. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.

If any human could win over a golden griffin and comfort a traumatized human girl, it would be my great-great-grandniece, who wielded a magic she didn’t understand and a loving heart that might help rescue the world.

12

BEATRICE

“Beatrice! Wake up, girl.”

I sat bolt upright on the sofa, wincing at the crick in my neck even as relief rushed through me. “Auntie Bella! You’re all right! What’s going on? Where have you been? I was starting to worry!”

“So worried that you fell asleep,” she retorted with one of her most annoying grins. “I’ll explain while you’re dressing. Get up and put your snow gear on—yes, the overalls, jacket, hat, and boots. You’ll need the warmth where you’re heading. And don’t forget your backpack—you’ll need it. No, not another word! Close your mouth and get dressed.”

I did as I was told but with a scowl, which amused her . . . which increased my irritation until she began to explain: “A few days ago, some of the very mages who swore solemn oaths to protect our world from magical tyranny betrayed a fellow mage and stole a powerful magical artifact. To the best of our knowledge, they then used the artifact to take over the entire Magic Council.”

“A coup,” I whispered. “A magical coup with the Mirror that tried to kill Princess Eddi.”

“Indeed. And, aware that the greatest impediment to their goal of world domination dwells in these mountains, they have launched an attack on the magical barriers surrounding the Gamekeeper’s territory, which includes this resort. Just moments ago, I learned that a griffin has been captured—exactly the creature the traitors require to pinpoint our protector’s location from the air.”

“The Gamekeeper?” I echoed. “Are you sayingheis the greatest impediment to—”

“Yes. He has been the Trollkarl, head of the World Magic Council, for several decades now. It is largely due to him that our world lives free of magical domination. But many power-hungry mages resent his benign rule, and in the Mirror of Alviss, they have found their means to challenge his supremacy.”

My Gamekeeper was the most powerful enchanter in the world, the champion of ordinary humans? TheTrollkarl? My mind reeled.

“Is he . . . all right? Is there anything I can do?” To help him, I meant, but she already knew.

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