"I can only promise to do my best to protect you," I told him solemnly, "but I cannot guarantee it. If the Council rules otherwise for what you have done…"
"Then so be it. I have lived long enough. It would be a good way to go, an honorable way, serving you."
"Then I gladly welcome you," I replied informed acceptance.
Aquila took a deep breath, let it out in a gentle gust, and placed a light kiss upon my hand. Standing back up, he bowed deeply. "My Queen."
"How far back are the others?" Amber asked him.
"Several hours' distance," Aquila replied. "But they will close that length rapidly once they change." He paused and smiled. "None other than I, however, can fly."
Amber turned to Mona Carlisse. "Do you have another form, milady?"
"No," Mona Carlisse said with regret.
Amber turned back to Aquila. "If you are able to carry Mona Carlisse and Casio in your eagle form, I shall see to Mona Lisa."
Aquila nodded and I saw the look of unspoken understanding pass between them. Amber would not entrust my safety to Aquila just yet.
Shoes and clothes were wrapped in blankets and hung around my neck and Mona Carlisse's. I looped Amber's sword and belt over my neck and one shoulder, allowing the blade to rest behind me. It was much heavier than it had looked in Amber's hand. Aquila shifted once more into a majestic eagle and waited patiently for us.
"He does not feel bloodlust?" I asked.
"He is a bird," was Amber's simple reply, "and he has not just battled."
Amber hesitated before shifting. "Do not fear me when I change."
I lay my hand upon Amber's chest and smiled up at him. "I won't."
He pressed a tender kiss into my palm and shifted. Wild amber eyes lined in black kohl stared back at me, eye-level with my standing self. I reached out and stroked his furry head. He lazily blinked those golden eyes and turned his head so that I could scratch behind his ear, making a deep rumbling sound, purring.
The great cat crouched down before me and I clambered onto his back, my arms twining securely about his neck. A few gliding steps to make sure I had my seat and then he was running in smooth, loping strides through the thick brush, darting among the trees.
Aquila soared above us, his sharp talons wrapped carefully around Mona Carlisse and Casio. The little girl lifted her hot face to the cool blowing wind and smiled wonderingly as they flew over the trees above us.
I clung and buried my face in Amber's tawny fur. inhaling that feral musky fragrance that was him. Powerful muscles bunched and uncoiled beneath me in a smooth, steady rhythm. Leaves and branches whipped rapidly by us. He ran on tirelessly in that loping, ground-covering run that did not falter, did not slow, even as hour after hour passed and darkness descended fully, and his breathing grew harsh and labored.
Amber finally came to a halt beside a pool of water. I slid off him, unburdening him, and let him lap the cool water. His flanks heaved in and out, panting, as he rested fully upon the ground, those golden eyes blinking tiredly in that lazy-cat way.
Aquila glided down, dropped Mona Carlisse and Casio gently to the ground, and came to rest on a nearby stump.
"How are you doing?" I asked the other Queen.
Mona Carlisse rubbed her waist. "He grips us tightly but carefully. The wind, at least, feels good upon our faces." She bent down and scooped up some water to drink, then splashed water over her face. It was less alarmingly red than before, I saw with some relief.
"Are you having fun, Casio?" I inquired.
The little girl nodded. "It is fun to fly."
I smiled. "I shall have to try it myself one of these days."
I stretched out upon the wonderfully cool ground, relaxed my muscles, and closed my eyes. It seemed but a brief moment later when a cold wet nose nudged me. I reached out and stroked Amber's white whiskers. They felt like thin wires but his muzzle was surprisingly soft and silky. His panting had slowed.
"Time to go, huh?" I climbed back on top of him.
The wolf howled again, much closer. They were covering the distance faster than we were, unburdened, unhampered. How much longer, I wondered, did we have to travel? It would be a close race, determined solely by the remaining distance.
We broke out of the forest into the safe familiar clearing several hours later. Lights around the compound and from the main building brightly welcomed us.
In the forest behind us, so close that it made me shiver and hasten my pace, animal howls of gnashing rage lifted and filled the sky.
We were back at High Court.
Chapter Fifteen
The yard milled with a sea of people—an overwhelming number of guards, maids, footmen, and healers who looked curiously upon us, ragged lot that we were and much the worse for wear. The other Councilmembers had arrived, it seemed.
Murmurs were loud and continuous as we made our way up to the Great House. I could imagine what they saw: two guards, one of them shirtless; a wild dirty child; and two Queens, one dressed in a ragged, torn gown, one whom all had long thought dead, the other wearing only a man's shirt. It covered all that needed covering, really. But all those many male eyes made me vividly aware of the long bare length of leg I was showing. Frankly, I was too tired to care much. They could look as long as they did not touch. Amber's flashing sword ensured that they did not. Heeding the blade's warning, the watching men stayed back, giving us a clear path up the most welcomed steps.
We were met within by Mathias, the impeccable steward, who did not even bat an eyelash at our less than regular attire, although his eyes did widen impressively upon seeing Mona Carlisse.
"Mona Carlisse and her daughter, Casio, shall be staying with us until other arrangements are made," Amber announced.
"Very good, sir," was the good steward's reply.
"Has the Council met yet?" I asked.
"They began their session a short while ago, milady."
I heaved an inward sigh. At least it wasn't over yet. "For how long do they usually meet?"
"Several more hours yet."
"Good. So we have some time to wash up. Mathias, would you be so kind as to rummage up some clothes for Mona Carlisse, Casio, and my man, Aquila, and have it brought up to our quarters immediately?"
"Of course, milady."
I smiled as I ascended the steps, amused at the bristling edge in Matthias's reply that I dared doubt his efficiency. "Oh, and could you have something brought up for all of us to eat as well?"
"Yes, milady."
Amber stayed behind a moment and bent down to whisper into the steward's ear. The little man's eyes grew even wider. "I shall make Lord Thorane aware of this immediately," Matthias uttered faintly.
Back in my splendidly comfortably furnished room, I grabbed my one other black gown from the closet, detestable though it was, and hit the shower immediately, leaving Amber to sort out the bedding arrangements. Under the shower's spray, I groaned with deep appreciation. I'd forgotten how marvelously good it felt to be clean. The tiny pellets of water hitting me were wonderful. I washed myself twice and shampooed my hair thoroughly.
My little group was standing around stiffly when I emerged from the bathroom. Mona Carlisse hovered in one corner with Casio. Amber and Aquila claimed the other end of the room, a wary distance between the two men. I lifted my brow but forbore saying anything other than "Please feel free to use the shower next, Mona Carlisse. There's a robe in the bathroom you can use until they bring up some clothes. The men will shower after you and Casio are done."
She nodded and escaped into the bathroom without a word, Casio in tow.
Someone knocked on the door. Amber opened it and three footmen bore in several trays of delicious-smelling food. Two maids entered behind them, their arms filled with clothes.
Rare meat didn't taste that bad, I decided a short time later, my stomach blissfully full. I'd eaten half my steak and pressed the other half on Amber. He wolfed down three steaks in addition to that. Gryphon restrained himself to two large pieces of the lightly cooked meat.