Princess Elodi's Arc

Chapter 17 of 55

Morning broke clear. The clouds thinned, and sunlight fell across the wet sand. Elodi crawled out of the cave and looked at the sea. The waves had calmed to a slow roll. Damon was already loading the pack onto the griffin. Its tan feathers shone in the light. The blue harness sat snug across its back. "The water is still," Damon said. He tightened a strap and checked the buckles. "We won't get a better hour than this." He held out his hand. "Ready?" Elodi tucked the otter into the fold of her cloak. She climbed into the saddle behind Damon and gripped the harness. The griffin spread its wings. With two heavy beats it lifted off the sand, then swung out over the water. The shore fell away. Below them the sea stretched wide and green, unbroken in every direction. They flew for a long time. Elodi watched the water pass and saw no land ahead, only more sea. Her arms grew stiff. The otter pressed against her chest. She started to wonder if the far side was real, or only a story Damon told. Then a dark line rose on the horizon. It grew as they flew. Damon leaned back and touched her arm. "Look," he said. "There she is. My home." Elodi looked. A castle stood on the green coast ahead, built of pale stone. Turrets climbed high above its walls. Vines wrapped the towers, and pink blossoms spilled from every ledge. She had never seen a castle wear flowers like that. It looked less like a fortress than a garden that had grown walls. Damon guided the griffin lower. Elodi searched the walls for what she had always known: guards at the gate, closed doors, watchers. She found none. The great doors stood wide open. People moved through them freely, in and out, no one stopped. "The gates," she said. "They're open." "They always are," Damon said. "My father won't cage his people. Not even at night." The griffin dropped toward the courtyard and set down on the stone. Elodi's boots touched solid ground. She slid from the saddle and stood, unsteady after so long in the air. The otter climbed to her shoulder and looked around. No one seized her. No one asked her name or her rank. A servant nodded and carried a basket past. Two children ran laughing across the yard and out the open gate. Elodi turned in a slow circle and felt her chest loosen. For the first time she stood inside walls she could leave whenever she chose. "Come," Damon said. He led the griffin toward the stable. "My mother will want to meet you." Elodi followed him across the courtyard. She had crossed the sea. She had reached a place with open doors. But she was a runaway princess arriving at a king's castle, and she did not yet know how its rulers would answer for her.