When they returned to the inn the boys, Llew and Aris set about preparing the horses and hitching up the carriage. Llew’s horse was a solidly built, gold and white-patched hack, far too beautiful for some highwayman to run into the ground. He dozed quietly while Llew attached her bedroll and canteen to the saddle.

“Here.” Alvaro offered a wide-brimmed hat. It was rumpled, as though it had been shoved in the bottom of his belongings. “It’ll keep the sun out of your eyes. And rain, if we get unlucky.”

“Thanks.” Llew took the hat and pushed it down on her head. Her eyes instantly relaxed from their squinting in the bright morning sun. She headed across to help Aris with the final check of the pack animals while the cousins carried on some sort of game between them, throwing punches and feigning injury.

“Hey!” Jonas exclaimed as something kicked up the dust at Llew’s feet. She stooped to gather up the small object which, on inspection, proved to be a gryphon carved from a hard, dark, oiled wood. A shadow fell over her and she looked up. Jonas had an expression similar to the first she had ever seen on his face: this time his attention was focused on the object in her hand, not on her. She held the wooden creature out to him.

“What is it?” she asked as he took it.

“Nothin’,” he said, returning to his own horse and pushing the object deep inside a saddlebag.

A gryphon, again: same as the design on the handle of his knife.

“Cut your foolin’, boys,” Aris admonished. “We’re late enough getting on, anyways. Go, and help the ladies down.”

Cassidy and Alvaro scooted indoors, still trying to beat each other at whatever game they played, and Jonas steadied Llew’s horse while she figured out getting the correct foot in the stirrup and boosting herself into the saddle. Settling in place she felt pretty proud of her accomplishment. Then she watched him vault effortlessly onto the back of his own bay and white horse. She vowed to teach herself the same trick as she watched Cassidy and Alvaro repeat the feat moments later.

The group nudged their horses forward and soon they were on the road north. Alvaro and Cassidy took the lead again, followed by the carriage and the pack horses, with Jonas and Llew taking up the rear.

Glancing over at him, she could see the scar that extended around his throat. It was as though someone had gripped him with a burning hand, leaving the marks of their fingers. But if they had been burning, how had he not been more injured by the fire? She took a breath to ask him but thought better of it. Instead, she made idle comments on the weather. After a taste of winter’s chill a few mornings earlier, summer had come knocking once more, and the heat was almost stifling. She had no need for her new jacket just yet. Jonas stared straight ahead, outwardly acknowledging little around them, much less Llew’s chatter.

“How old were you when you lost your folks?”

For a moment longer she thought he was still ignoring her. Then he gave her a glance and started talking, still watching the road ahead.

“I was seven,” he said.

She was about to ask what happened when she realized he was already preparing to tell her.

“We lived in Aldia, in northern Quaver. Turhmos, south of Quaver, had taken to raids targeting families on farms and isolated homesteads instead of facing us on the battlefields.” He paused. “I was outside playin’ with— I was outside playin’ when riders came to our house. This knife was my pa’s. But the Aenuks turned its power on him and my ma. By the time I realized what was goin’ on and ran back to the house, it was too late. They drained them.”

She watched him a while, imagining the little boy seeing his parents like that, drained of life like the man in the Cheer alleyway.

“How long you been on your own?” he asked.

“If I tell you, will you tell me about your gryphon?”

“No.”

It had been a long shot, anyway.

“Alright. Five summers, maybe.” She shrugged. “I stopped counting.”

“What happened?”

She shrugged again. “My pa took to regular evenings in the saloon. I woke one morning, and he hadn’t come home. And he wasn’t at the saloon, either.”

“So, you don’t know he’s dead.”

“I don’t know how I’d feel if he isn’t.”

Jonas nodded.

When she gave herself the time to ponder on it, she knew exactly how she’d feel and, if she was honest with herself, she felt anger more often than she’d care to admit.

“Phew! It’s hot,” she said, taking off the hat and fanning her face with it before returning it to her head. The wet band was cool to the touch, at first. She pulled at the front of her shirt, trying to get some air on her skin.

It was hard to walk after her first few hours in the saddle. Muscles she didn’t know she had cried for her attention until she sat in the lush grass to eat her lunch and all her minor aches and pains eased.

They took an extended lunch, sheltering from the relentless midday sun in a tree-lined clearing just off the road. Horses and riders were struggling equally in the heat.

“How was your first ride?” Cassidy asked with a broad grin.

“Good.”

He shrugged, evidently disappointed by the response.

No one noticed the two hand-shaped patches of dead grass where Llew had been sitting.

They traveled late into the night, taking advantage of the cooler evening air and making up for time lost in the middle of the day. When they stopped, it was for a quick meal of jerky strips and staling bread. The night air cooled rapidly and Llew slept curled up tight in her bedroll with her jacket on and the collar drawn up.

Jonas woke her a couple of hours later for her turn on watch, and she woke Cassidy a couple of hours after that, glad of the chance to return to sleep.

She felt she had barely slept at all when she was roused by the morning cacophony of a fire being lit, horses nickering for attention, and metal plates hitting the ground. Jonas, Cassidy, and Alvaro each took their turn to shave by the shallow creek a few minutes away through the trees. Alvaro, the first to go, brought back a potful of water to be boiled for breakfast. When Jonas emerged clean-shaven, Llew’s breath caught in her throat and she forced herself to concentrate on giving her horse a rubdown. The animal appreciated it and she hoped it would encourage him to be good to her as they continued their journey together. She just had to think about something other than Jonas. She had heard girls gushing over this boy or that young man and had always been dismissive. What girl needed some boy to like her? What girl gave up her own dreams just to follow some spotty youth around? But Jonas wasn’t a spotty youth, and she didn’t need him to like her, did she? Well, besides the kind of liking that might keep him from putting his knife in her if he ever found out what she was.

They rode together in a companionable silence, and she found that riding came quite easily – her horse had a desire to follow the others, and so long as she relaxed and let her hips swing with the movements of her mount, he relaxed and carried her comfortably along the road.

The sun was not conducive to their comfort, however. Clear skies dominated the next several days, cooking the riders by day and freezing them at night. It wasn’t so bad on the one night they spent in a small inn (Darus: Population 474), but settlements were few and far between and most were too small to have an inn.

By mid-afternoon on the sixth day out of Orn they were all exhausted and sweating profusely, and Llew was relieved when Aris announced that, since it would likely do more harm than good to continue, they would make camp early that afternoon and be up and moving before sunup the following day.

Much to everyone’s delight, they pulled off the road close by a river with a deep, slow-flowing swimming hole. There were just enough trees between where they would make camp and the river to afford privacy while the women, and later the men, took their swims.

“We’re in the heart of Zaki territory here, boys,” said Aris. “So, I need you all to be vigilant. They’re not known for unprovoked attacks, but who can judge what they count as provoking?”

“What’s a Zaki?” asked Llew.

“Why, they’re your natives.” Aris sounded surprised. “They’re Aghacia’s first folk, before the new settlers discovered gold. They live in tribal communities and don’t bother your folk, so long as your folk don’t bother them.”

Llew felt a little stupid for having to be informed of her country’s history by an outsider. She had never had cause to think on it before. She nodded, embarrassed.

Aris looked at her appraisingly. “Your folks weren’t too fond of lessons, huh?”

“My pa taught me plenty! He taught me metal shaping, he taught me how to handle horses and he taught me bookkeeping. That I haven’t had to use any of that since he left is not his fault.”

Aris raised a hand, chuckling. “Alright. Sorry I said anything.”

“And he told me about the Aghacian Alps. How they’re not all just mountains, some are volcanoes and a lot of the Aghacian rocks came from there.”

“Well then, he certainly knew his geology. But didn’t he tell you about where you came from?”

“I came from Quaver.”

Aris paused a moment, taken aback. “Huh. Interesting. Then I suppose it’s by the by to tell you that Aghacia was originally settled by folk from way off to the west. You’d think Phyos would’ve got here first, wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose.”

“Yes, well, it might not matter much to you, but to someone such as Anya, it can matter a great deal. Her ancestors came from the motherlands. Same place a lot of Phyos folks came from, especially Brurun. I can trace my family back out west. And probably Cass and Alvaro can, too. Jonas, well, he’s all Quaven. But for the rest of us, it’s good to think about where we came from now and then.”

Llew didn’t know what to say. She knew nothing beyond her parents having moved to Quaver before she was born. Beyond that, she was ignorant. She’d never felt bad about it before, though.

“Right.” Aris clapped his hands together. “Ladies first. You boys settle the horses while Anya and Emylia take a swim. Jonas, scout the area, make sure we aren’t steppin’ on any toes. Take Llew with you.”

Alvaro’s face fell so fast Llew caught the flicker out the corner of her eye. She ignored him. Jonas was the one who would kill her. Jonas was the one she needed to stay on the right side of. What she really needed from Alvaro was to forget what he’d seen so she could get to Rakun alive, receive her payment from Aris and strike out on her own.

Jonas caught her attention and indicated for her to follow.

“Guess you’ll be swimmin’ with the boys, then,” he said as they stepped among the trees surrounding their camp, and then laughed at Llew’s surprised expression.

She followed him, stepping over ferns and ducking under low lichen-covered branches while he checked the area for tracks or signs of Zaki dwelling nearby. Her thoughts of what would happen when they returned to camp for their turn to swim tripped over themselves. It was too hot to sit on the sidelines, but she couldn’t risk swimming with them all.

“What do I do? Just strip off and say Surprise, everybody, I’m a girl?” she said, looking around keenly, but having no clue what they were looking for. ”Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner?”

“If you like,” Jonas said over his shoulder, ducking past another tree and peering into the gloom of a forest-choked bank.

“Well, thanks. A lot of help you are.” Llew scowled at his back and kept scowling when he turned to carry on their approximately semi-circular route around the camp.

“I ain’t seein’ the problem.” He stopped, turning to face her. “Alvaro knows already, and he don’t have a problem with it.” She scowled even more. He was mocking her. He wasn’t taking it seriously at all. “So, you swim with Emylia and Anya. Maybe even bunk with ’em when we stay at the next inn.”

“But they’re girls. And I haven’t been a girl in such a long time. I don’t know if I can handle it. Besides, I don’t even know them.”

“You don’t know me, Cass or Al, either.”

“I know you pretty well, don’t I?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know, Llew.”

“Then, tell me. You know about me.”

Jonas considered her a moment. “That’s not helpin’ you make up your mind ’bout takin’ a swim.” He returned to scouting.

“At least tell me about that gryphon. Where did it come from?”

Jonas stepped around another tree, peering into the depths of the forest once more.

“It was a gift.”

“From who?”

“Nobody.” He pushed between her and a tree to continue his scouting.

“How can I get to know you better if you won’t answer a simple question?” she asked, following him.

“Maybe you should tell them. I’m sure Anya would be glad of the company.”

“Urgh!” Llew couldn’t even voice her distaste for the idea. “But Anya’s such a... a girl.”

“That is the idea.”

“So we’d sit in the carriage together discussing dresses and boys, and what stories she’s going to write to her future husband along the route?” she said. “No thanks. I’d rather take my chances sharing with boys, farts and all.”

“You sure make it sound romantic.”

“Well, I don’t know much about romance. Sex, on the other hand...”

Jonas’s eyes widened, as Llew had expected. It always made her giggle; how bashful boys – and men – could be over that which they seemed to covet so much, and pin their self-respect on.

They turned at the sound of feet scuffing through the undergrowth.

“There you are,” said Alvaro, emerging from the trees. “I hope you’ve done more scouting than yakkin’. Aris said if it’s clear, we men—” He looked at Llew. ”—can cool off in the river before dinner. I said I’d come get you.”

“Yeah, alright.” Jonas started off back to camp. Alvaro hung back to walk beside Llew, and she focused firmly on the uncertain footing. Alvaro was dangerously close to being a problem.

Minutes later, she was lying on a rock, carefully not quite watching as Alvaro and then Jonas ran up from behind her and leaped, naked, into the swimming hole. She’d decided not to join them, despite Alvaro’s pleas. He came up first, standing chest-deep and shaking the water from his hair. Jonas stayed under for a little longer, finally emerging near the water’s edge. When he stood, the water level nearly left nothing to the imagination. Llew would have admonished him for teasing her yet again, but she was awestruck by the huge tattoo curling up the left side of his torso. A collaboration of swirls in varying lengths and thicknesses contrived to fool the eyes into seeing a gryphon rising up and wrapping about his ribcage, the beak just sitting over his pectoral muscles and the wings sweeping down his back.

Alvaro looked up to see if Llew had been watching the display and his expression turned dark when it was clear she had not only seen it but was failing to hide her appreciation. Then a smile touched his lips.

“Hey, Llew. We were all scrawny teenagers once.” Llew turned to see Cassidy running straight at her, naked as the forest critters, but with no fur or feathers to cover anything. “You got no excuse!”

“What—” She gasped and rose to move from his path, but he extended an arm, grabbed hers and pulled her with him – off the rock and into the air above the water, backwards.

Any other time, she might have enjoyed the moment of flight before she plummeted down. She fell deep into the water and had to put all her effort into suppressing the need to take a panicked breath while still under. She floated for a moment, gaining her bearings, and then kicked and clawed her way to the surface. Exploding out of the water, gulping air, and scraping hair and water from her eyes, she tried to move to where her feet reached the bottom. She fought blindly across the current, figuring that would take her closer to one shore.

Still gasping for air and fighting to regain her temper, but with her feet now safely supported underneath, she stood and wiped her eyes clear. Alvaro was off to one side, a finger wiggling at his ear.

“That was a scream, alright,” he said.

“It certainly was,” Cassidy agreed, mirroring his cousin, and squinting in exaggerated discomfort.

Anger flooded through her. Now what was she supposed to do? If she left the water, her clinging clothes would give her away immediately. But she didn’t feel like staying in the water, not now. Evening was coming on and she would freeze as soon as the sun lowered...

There was nothing for it. She simply could not enjoy a swim in the mood she was in. She turned for the bank and, letting herself feel as incensed as she thought she deserved to be, waded to the shallows, water cascading from her.

“Llew!”

She chose not to acknowledge Jonas and kept pushing her feet through the last few watery yards.

“Aw, come on, Llew. It’s just a little water,” said Cassidy.

She turned and must have looked a sight because both cousins drew back. “Just a little water? Just a little water?!” Cassidy leaned forward again and glanced at Alvaro. Alvaro smiled. Her wet shirt clung to every bit of her. It was white, too. No doubt they could see everything. She might as well have been as naked as them. “Happy, now?”

“Llew—” Jonas took a step closer.

“Don’t you dare come near me until you have pants on!” She turned on her heel and exited the river. She really wanted to go back to the camp and see if Aris and the women had got the fire started because her stomach was protesting, and she hoped dinner wasn’t far from ready. But she didn’t want to return to camp in her wet, clinging clothes. Aris would see her. She’d had enough old men ogling her to last a lifetime thanks to her father’s drinking buddies. So, she turned from the direction of the camp, storming through the undergrowth. Now everyone would know. Aris would wonder what they needed her for, another useless girl. They probably wouldn’t let her keep the horse, even if he hadn’t been theirs to start with, because how else could she pay for the clothes Aris had bought her?

Rage was turning to tears when Llew found herself face to face with a dark-skinned, black-haired man carrying a spear; his body, naked but for a skirt, was covered head to toe in black swirls. The tattoos were like the one Jonas bore, except that they didn’t hint at any sort of animal. That made them no less impressive, nor the man any less intimidating. His pectoral muscles protruded further than Llew’s breasts. Sure, they weren’t much to look at, but they were undeniable through the wet shirt.

He looked her up and down, until his eyes settled on her wet shirt. A smile crept onto his lips. Llew folded her arms across her chest, but her forearms were too long to cover her small breasts without being, and looking, decidedly uncomfortable. She didn’t know where to look, other than not at him, looking up, then down and finally settling on somewhere past his left shoulder. He spoke, but she didn’t recognize the language. Then he laughed.

Leaves rustled behind her, much to her relief: one of her party had caught up.

The man spoke again. Another man answered in the same tongue behind her and Llew’s nerves constricted. Then the head of the man before her swiveled on his enormous neck and his face went from anger to surprise to guarded in moments.

Jonas appeared beside her, now wearing trousers and carrying the dry clothes Llew had stolen on her way out of Cheer.

The man said something, but Jonas didn’t seem to understand either.

“She’s with me,” he said. To Llew he added, “Zaki.”

The man repeated himself, more angrily, gesturing at Jonas. Jonas stood listening, and then straightened to his full – not particularly intimidating – height and placed an arm across Llew’s shoulders, pulling her into him.

The man bristled, making himself look even bigger. Biceps and triceps bulged, thigh muscles heaved, neck and temple blood vessels swelled.

“Alright.” Jonas removed his arm from Llew, unbuckled his knife belt, and handed it and the clothes to her. He started to turn away and then turned back, as though gaging whether he could trust her with the precious weapon. Then he nodded and faced the man, indicating that he should put aside his spear. The man’s lips twitched and then he laughed an open-mouthed, hearty laugh. If Llew had been hoping for a different outcome, she might have found the fact that Jonas was half the man’s size funny too. But Jonas merely gave the man a nod and crouched, ready for combat.

With a quick, confident glance at Llew and then past her to his companion, the Zaki leaned the spear against a tree and mirrored Jonas’s movements. Llew moved to the side, leaving as much of the small clearing to the men as possible as they circled one another. Llew didn’t know which had moved first, but, at some cue visible only to them, both men lunged. Jonas twisted, the gryphon writhing, and the Zaki flew over his shoulder and into a tree. He made it look easy.

Jonas turned and waited for the man to right himself. He appeared calm, though every muscle in his body seemed to have a life of its own, constantly moving under his skin, making it appear even the black gryphon was alive, and ready to pounce.

Growling through his teeth, the Zaki lunged again, his powerful legs launching him at incredible speed. Llew gasped and flinched, ready for the crack of flesh on flesh, bone on bone. But it didn’t come. Instead, Jonas simply caught the man, guided him over his head and sent him into another tree. Blood trickled from grazes inflicted by the tree bark and the man looked dazed; but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.

This time the Zaki feinted one way but went the other, swinging a huge arm around. Llew bit her lip, unable to tear her eyes from the massive fist aiming for Jonas’s head. Jonas spun out from the fist’s trajectory, but both men went down, Jonas on his back, crushed by a mountain of Zaki warrior. Llew looked at the other Zaki, who grinned from ear to ear. But Llew didn’t want to be a Zaki prize. She pleaded with whatever deity might listen to push the fight in Jonas’s favor. A dead branch from above... Anything.

Animalistic grunts came from both men. Muscles pressed and strained. What more did those muscles have to give against a vastly superior opponent? She looked down at Jonas’s knife, balanced on the clothing in her arms. She could use it if she must. But when was the time? When Jonas was beaten to a bloody pulp?

She didn’t see what Jonas did, but suddenly the Zaki went flying again, hitting a tree trunk with a crunch before sliding to the roots with a dull thud.

The second Zaki moved to attack Jonas, but the first stopped him with a short, breathless command. He stood stiffly and, a hand pressed to his bruised head, he conceded the victory, before giving a puzzled, appraising look at Jonas and then at Llew. He collected his spear, and he and his companion left the clearing.

Jonas hadn’t even broken a sweat. Llew had. Her own muscles tensed, as if it had been her in the fight.

“You alright?” he asked.

“No.” Llew pouted. All the tension she had held during the brief battle flooding out, leaving her feeling crabby. She supposed she shouldn’t feel so bad about a little water, nor needing to be rescued from the Zaki, but she was realizing that it wasn’t all that was upsetting her. It hadn’t just been Cassidy pushing her out of her depth; she had been out of her depth ever since Kynas pointed his finger at her in the streets of Cheer. She no longer had a home. The closest thing she’d had to a friend was dead – and served him right, the bastard. She was surrounded by strangers who didn’t know who, or what, she was – and her new friend would kill her if he ever found out. And he wouldn’t even admit to being her friend first.

Jonas tilted his head, giving a sympathetic grimace, and put a hand on her shoulder.

Llew broke down. She lowered herself into a crouch, hugged her knees, and let the tears come, soaking into her already drenched forearms. She sensed Jonas crouch beside her but didn’t look at him. She kept her head bowed until the tears subsided and her head cleared a little. She rested her chin on her arms, catching her breath, and shared a small, wet smile with him.

“Come on. Put these on.” He pressed the dry clothing at her, then stood and stepped behind a tree.

Llew sighed and began peeling the wet clothes from her skin.

“You think Aris will let me go on with you all once he knows?”

“I’d say he already knows. And why wouldn’t he?”

“Because we’re meant to be keeping Anya safe. And I’d be just another girl.”

“You’re not just another girl, Llew.”

Llew caught her breath and swallowed. Her initial reaction, What did he know? gave way to pondering just what else he might mean. Llew had no time for romantic temptations. She had to get to Phyos, strike out on her own. Then again, there was more than romance between a man and a woman...

She wondered what he might be thinking now that he had seen her almost naked. She certainly knew what kinds of thoughts she was having after seeing him.

“You ever seen a woman before?” she asked when she finally had the dry trousers up around her damp waist. She wished she could lounge around in a sunny patch to dry before getting dressed, but this wasn’t her Spot back in Cheer, and she wasn’t alone.

“A woman, yes,” he said. “I was married.”

She stopped, the shirt halfway over her face. It wasn’t that he wasn’t old enough to have married. But to have been married? Past tense. A year ago...

“What happened?” She pulled the shirt down, and re-strung the trousers, trying to get them to stay up.

“She was murdered.”

She stepped around the tree to stand before him. “I’m sorry.” She almost surprised herself with her sincerity.

The briefest smile illustrated his appreciation before it broke into a full grin.

“There’s a difference between a woman and a girl, though.” He stepped around her and began the trek back to camp.

Llew’s jaw dropped. She ran after him, intending to begin her assault with a poke in his side, or, perhaps cold, soaking, clothing on bare skin, but his arm flung out and wrapped around her waist, lifting her from the ground and swinging her across him. Then he plonked her back to earth on his other side. He put an arm across her shoulders and drew her close, making it difficult to maneuver into a position of attack: not that she felt inclined to all of a sudden.

“What does it mean?”

“What?”

“The gryphon. It’s on your knife, the carving and your...” She waved a hand at his torso and, once again, found herself having to study the forest canopy, fearing that to look at or speak of the battle-hardened muscles might send her tumbling into the undergrowth.

“It’s a family emblem, of sorts.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She smiled at him. He returned a half-smile, and they continued in silence.

Everyone turned to watch as the pair emerged from the trees. Anya was wide-eyed, and Llew couldn’t tell if it was because of her own revelation or the sight of Jonas’s bare chest. Emylia was more difficult to read. She tried to discourage Anya’s stares, but she was not immune to assessing the pair herself. Cassidy gave them a brief grin and a suggestive nod and continued tying his shoe. Alvaro watched them; eyes narrowed. Aris, too, watched with a flat, unreadable expression. Under the latter’s appraisal, Jonas removed his arm from Llew’s shoulders and took a step away from her.

“I think you and I need to have a word,” Aris said, approaching Llew.

“Surprise. I’m a girl.” She smiled, weakly. “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner...” Her voice trailed away. She folded her arms, trying to make herself small, and failing. She was the same height as Jonas, slightly taller than Aris.

Jonas chuckled. Llew resisted firing a glare at him. Aris didn’t.

He looked back to Llew, and she waited for the onslaught of accusations and reasons why they should leave her behind to start, but it didn’t come. Instead, Aris folded his arms and looked her up and down. “I suppose I can understand a girl not wantin’ to look like a girl travellin’ on her own.” He pursed his lips. “No more secrets?”

Llew considered and dismissed telling him she could heal a scratch in little more than an instant. She shook her head.