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Chapter Nine

'Were you aware there are dragons in this realm?' Alek stared questioningly at us. Sian nodded enthusiastically making everyone smile. He continued, 'Dragons have the ability to leap through space and time, allowing them to think of a place, then, appear there.'

We sat up, intrigued. What a fantastic ability, I thought, so griffons can do it too?

ALEK SMILED AT the sudden change of mood. The women went from polite interest to complete fascination. He continued to explain while he watched Catherine's green eyes.

'Griffons don't normally leap, but when the Griffon Guard was formed the late King and Elena decided to see if they could be taught. The five of us came into our abilities within several years of each other and, with the exception of Rumal, have been with our griffons since then. You must understand Loushka isn't a pet like your Audrey is.' He spread his hands in a calming gesture when Catherine's eyes narrowed. 'I mean no offense, Catherine, but Loushka is a citizen in her own right. All the griffons of the guard are. The care of griffons in our society is a vital duty. Griffons don't reproduce often, very rarely in fact and only have one pup at a time. Anyway, Elena befriended a green dragon named Orion who spent quite a few years training us. Tragically Orion was murdered by Jenviet who didn't want us to succeed. At first we thought she'd won.'

Laura jumped in at his pause. 'Who's Jenviet? Why didn't she want you to succeed?'

Alek smiled at Laura and held up one hand. 'Let me continue with this first.'

She flushed. 'Sorry.'

'Then Kerak joined us and finally it began to work. We practiced traveling distances and increasing them slightly each time. The only downside is that it's incredibly tiring for the griffons and they can only leap once or twice a month, hence we'll be traveling back to the castle at normal griffon speed.'

I LOOKED OVER at the griffons, a bit concerned now. Loushka lounged on the ground, sunning herself. Kerak and Audrey played a game they'd invented which involved Audi trying to nip Kerak's paws while he whipped them out of the way. It created a decent dust cloud but they both seemed to have a lot of fun. Gredel had Phroma's enormous head cradled in his lap and gently scratched her above the eyes and around the top of her beak. She had a dopey look on her face, like Audi when I scratch behind her ear. Gredel looked in sharp contrast to the nervous wreck from before. I studied the man for a moment; he seemed so happy and content with Phroma, it made me smile. I hope his wife is lovely.

LOI WAITED FOR Alek to answer her questions but he didn't. She took the opportunity to get closer to Sabyn's griffon. She'd covertly watched the man since their arrival. She didn't usually go for blonds but he had such an aura of quiet confidence and self-sufficiency that she felt intrigued. It made quite a change from the boys she'd met on Earth.

The dark, almost black griffon twisted its head to look at her, the gesture just like that of a hawk spotting prey. Loi stilled, feeling her eyes widen. 'Hi Tomiar,' she whispered, feeling self conscious. The griffon made the softest warble, a hint of melody and turned her body to face Loi, watching her with sun sated, half-lidded eyes. Shuffling, Loi inched closer, staring in fascination at the beautiful deep green that almost appeared to emanate from the griffon's dark wing feathers. Keeping a respectful distance, she sat back, enjoying the sun too.

SIAN WATCHED THE griffons relaxing in the sun and turned to Daron, seated on the ground near her. 'So we fly on the griffons with you?'

He nodded. Now curious, she began to question him about it; where they sat on the griffons, how the saddles worked, and if they needed special clothes for flying.

DARON SMILED DOWN at the enthusiastic woman and offered her his hand. 'Come, I'll show you.'

She gave him a brilliant smile and placed her small hand in his. Daron felt a jolt pass between them when his hand closed around hers. Sian appeared to feel it too and kept her grip firm while she stared into his eyes curiously.