Zenora, The Dragon's Fury
9. All Happy Things

Emily’s point of view:

Nicolai had just left my room, we had been discussing as to why I couldn’t read her mind. He had said that I maybe couldn’t replace a good enough relation with her, to establish any connection. So, Nicolai would join us at dinner and he would try to read her mind as well. Maybe he could do it, if not, we would conduct some research about it. Asking Cirilya about it also, maybe she knows something about it.

“How is she? Have you been speaking with her?” I asked Natalya when she came into my room. I had asked her to get in here, once she was done helping and talking with the mysterious woman.

Natalya told me about all the scars the woman has, the open infected wounds on her back, the vaginal irritation and the mental loss of shame for her own body. She told me that she didn’t care about who saw her body naked, and that only made me feel sick for her. As she is mentally abused by probably a lot more men, instead of only her ‘master’ if you can call that son of a bitch that.

Luckily, the fucker was dead now. If Tyler didn’t do that, this afternoon, then I would have finished his unworthy life. Now I’m feeling a bit stupid, because I let the other man go.

Soon, I tell myself. Soon, William will return from his quest with three more men, to let me know how many more slaves there are in the surrounding towns. I hope not many, but how naïve can I be? There must be a lot, as this man was acting so casually about it.

I was feeling guilty as well. How could I not know about this? I mean, I have been here for almost five years, was I really that selfish, only thinking about my own problems? No, I shouldn’t think like that, I’m going to take care of it, once and for all.

“Ruth is her name, if you like to know.” Natalya said, clearly she noticed I was in thoughts and she chuckled.

“Yes, little sister, of course I would like to know.” I scrunched the hair on her head, and she screamed.

“Not the hair! Not the hair!” She begged me and we both laughed.

We had spoken about her pregnancy, and mine as well. Natalya was due soon, and she felt the baby kicking all the time. She was complaining about how hard the boy could kick, and that she had to run to the toilet every half hour. Yes, she knew it is a boy, of course Kaden had read his cousin’s mind as well. According to him, the boy liked it when Tom spoke to Natalya’s belly. It seemed to turn him to sleep, so as a result, Natalya was spending a lot of time with Tom.

“I can fall asleep from Tom’s talking too, if he spends his time talking about financial things, I’m soon off to the dreamworld!” She joked and again we laughed a bit.

I told her to get some sleep before we went to dinner, she had that idea already, so went off to her room.

It would take about two more hours for dinner, so I went to see Bastet and her hatchlings. Well hatchlings? Some of them were bigger than their mother! Amazing creatures of nature they are.

We had an aviary nesting place, build on the clearing of the forest, behind the shed where Bastet was living in before. There, the untamed gryphons could live until they were strong enough to be given to their new owners. Axel was in the lead about that part, and luckily just as I always wanted to change the way we tamed our gryphons, he wanted to tame the gryphons in a good way too. So, no aggressive means, to force them to break down, and accept whoever was going to ride them. No, the owners were chosen by the gryphons themselves, through a yearly tradition of a ceremony. Of course Axel got chosen by one of Bastet’s first children, the moment he laid eyes on the black gryphon, and named him almost the same as his father, Nighthawk.

His father, Nightwing, was a proud dad, and he loves Bastet a lot. So much so, that they got a litter of eggs each year, so the aviary was not only filled by ‘normal’ gryphon hatchlings from other motherly gryphons, but also a lot more rare coloured ones as well.

Melina and Jock both got chosen by their gryphons too. They both got brown coloured gryphons, Melina got a female one from one of the other gryphons, and Jock also got a female one from Bastet’s second litter. So, he had been waiting for her, for over a year, but that is how it works now. Hence, it had made him even prouder of himself, when she chose him that moment.

Bastet’s first born, a feisty red coloured diva, was still not tamed by a master. She was present during each year’s ceremony, but never found a worthy person to become her tamer. Gryphons live a long life, so I guess she was just taking her time.

I greeted all of the gryphons in the aviary, and the new hatchlings came flying towards me. I felt this familiar pleasant burn in my eyes, giving note that they were burning blue.

“You grow up so fast!” Angelica’s litter of sixteen hatchlings had been a handful for the young mother. Axel was at the aviary almost day and night, to help her with the feeding and raising them. Since the father of the litter died during a raid on a small rebel group a few months ago. Angelica had been slightly depressed due to mourning about her lost mate, but with Bastet at her side, she could manage herself.

A litter of sixteen hatchlings is quite a lot, actually extraordinary even. As it is normal to have between four and twelve hatchlings, sixteen exceeds that number by quite the few. When she was about to lay the eggs, I had Nicolai come over, to help with the eggs. We worked together, I looked with my vision, where they got stuck, and he read my mind and pulled them out with a shield.

Axel came to me from the back of the aviary, covered in blood. I sniffed the air, and the smell was relieving to me. Luckily it wasn’t from one of the gryphons. I could smell what kind of animal the blood came from. Don’t ask me how I do it, I just know.

“Cutting up rabbits and ferrets for the hatchlings, are you?” I said to him and he looked at his clothes. Apparently he hadn’t even noticed that he was covered in blood, at which I smiled.

“Emily, I’ve been meaning to talk to you, but I’ve been busy with helping Angelica.” Axel said to me.

“What is it? Nothing serious I hope?”

“No not at all, I was just wondering if you knew that Tyler comes to visit here every day? Maybe you should put him up for the next ceremony, because I’ve got the feeling that a certain gryphon is becoming attached to him.”

“Oh really? Which one?” I asked him, while looking around the aviary.

“Not gonna tell ya, and you are not allowed to read my mind! You will have to replace out for yourself in a few weeks.” He said to me while pointing a bloody finger towards me.

“Okay, alright, I’ll talk to Brock about entering him for the ceremony. Although I think he is really young to have a gryphon though!” I said to him, but he just smiled.

I don’t think that I have a choice. Even if he wouldn’t enter the ceremony, a gryphon already chose him, from what Axel told me. So, it would only be a matter of time, before he got his gryphon. Besides that, I have to talk to Brock anyway, about Tyler. I was proud of my son being so strong, but we need to make sure, that he doesn’t kill every single person that he doesn’t like.

I have helped Axel a bit with his rounds, and told him that his new apprentices should be mixed up in the schedule to take care of the gryphons as well. Axel needs some more sleep at night, and the apprentices could learn from it too.

He nodded, but I could see the reluctancy in his eyes. He loves taking care for the gryphons a lot, and I smiled to him. “If you don’t do it, then I will force you to. So, arrange for it, alright?” I asked him sincerely.

“Yes my Queen!” He said with a teasing tone, and I nudged his shoulders with my fist.

“Good boy!” I teased him back.

I went off to the castle again, and Ursai actually came to greet me for a moment. He licked my face and walked very happily.

“What’s going on with you?” I asked him, while laying my hand on his head.

I saw a small image of his mate, with a new cub! I didn’t even know she was pregnant!

“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” I said to him, and hugged him dearly.

“I’ll come by tomorrow, first thing alright? But now I’m off to the castle.”

He growled cutely in response and turned around, towards his den and mate.