The hand I held stretched out tingled and throbbed, a giant warm pulse.
The silver dagger flew to my hand, the hilt resting warmly, securely in my palm.
Time continued to move slowly. I saw the shock and fear in Mona Louisa's eyes. Felt my own murderous rage at what she had dared. And knew with sure certainty that I could send that dagger flying straight back into her heart as swiftly as I had called it to me. And I wanted her dead so badly I trembled with the desire of it.
A voice mellowed with age and hardened with innate authority reached me. It was a voice I could not ignore or block out. "Mona Lisa. Attend to me."
Time snapped back, moving swiftly forward once more. I put away the dagger and looked almost blindly to the one who had called me, the august Queen Mother. I dropped to my knees before her and felt Gryphon's warm, tingling presence as he knelt beside me.
"Rise," the Queen Mother commanded.
I stood and lifted my eyes to that proud visage, to those blue eyes that had faded neither in color nor in intelligence or perception.
"You have great gifts, child," the Queen Mother said. "You shall need great control to wield them wisely. Content yourself that Gryphon is yours for however much longer he may live."
I bowed and looked into those wise neutral eyes, neither cold nor warm. "Is there no way to cure him, Queen Mother?"
"What they say is true. There is no antidote for silver poisoning."
My heart wept at her certain words.
With considering eyes, the Queen Mother studied Gryphon and I. "But perhaps there is a way to cure him."
"How?" I whispered.
"You called the silver blade to your hand, did you not? Call the silver out from within his body."
My mind reeled at the simple idea and my heart pounded faster with excitement, with possibility. I could not heal the poison within him, but maybe I could draw it out.
I turned to Gryphon, to his blank face that showed neither hope nor expectation, and traced my eyes down to that gaping, festering hole in his belly that had widened as his flesh had softened and been eaten away. Touching that rotten flesh with my palm, I thought again of silver—the taste, feel, and smell of it. I thought of the silver in his body. And thought of it coming out.
My hand warmed and trembled and the Goddess tear imprinted in the heart of my palm suddenly came to life. It throbbed, pulling on my nerves, pulsating all the way up my arm, shooting to my heart. The embedded tear in my palm began to emit radiance of the purest white light. Light that penetrated into Gryphon's skin. Infused with that light, his skin began to change colors, from deadly gray, rotten, to living color once again.
In that critical, fragile moment, I called even more power out from within, penetrating even deeper into him. With the pull of my palm, one massive blackened clot of blood was sucked out from the wound. Gryphon let out a raw cry of pain. Now with the passage free and uncluttered, I could see. Deep in the gaping hole of his flesh in his waist was a tiny puddle of liquid silver.
My hand pulsated. Vibrated. Shook. A sullen, silvery blood-tinged drop oozed from the hole, growing fatter and fatter until it dropped to the floor with a tiny wet plop. Another drop welled, this one almost pure silver. It, too, kerplunked to the ground. Two more fat, sluggish silvery drops dived to their timely demise, then the light faded and my hand cooled. I dropped my hand, drained, trembling now with fatigue.
Gryphon's rigid body softened. His eyes opened as if awakening from a deep sleep, refreshed. The wound was still there but the violaceous streaking was gone. His presence felt better, stronger, and I knew that Gryphon's body would heal itself now with time.
Gryphon's parched trembling lips brushed mine in silent gratitude. I ran my fingers lovingly through his tousled hair, comforting him. I bowed in deep gratitude to the Queen Mother. She acknowledged me with a kind smile that softened her face for a moment.
Lord Thorane cleared his throat. "Queen Mona Lisa, I could not fail but notice that one…" He narrowed his eyes, concentrating for a moment on Gryphon. "… er, two, actually, now… of your men have reached a high enough level of power to…" He paused, then continued doggedly on. "Is it your wish, milady, that the court recognize Amber and Gryphon as Warrior Lords?"
"Warrior Lords?" I asked, forcing myself to attend his words despite my tiredness. "Like yourself. Lord Thorane?"
"That is correct, milady."
"If they have the power, why do you ask me?"
"They can only be recognized if their Queen requests it."
Oh. Some dark emotion in those aged eyes of his compelled me to ask, "How many Warrior Lords are recognized by the court, Lord Thorane?"
"Myself alone."
Just one. Some Queen had loved him then. But what had become of the many other men that must have reached that same level of power?
"What is the significance of becoming a Warrior Lord?" I asked.
"First of all, it means that through their servitude to their Queens, they have attained enough power—that is, the power they have siphoned off through a Queen's Basking and, of course," he cleared his throat, "through mating—yes, well, in any case, it means they have attained enough physical power to live up to the promised age of three hundred years solely by their own life force. They no longer need to depend upon a Queen's power to sustain their viability, and they can roam free from your control. They can be independent, which brings us to the second point. Because they have attained the above physical power, this rare status allows them to have the privilege and right of ruling their own territories like a Queen, directly serving the Queen Mother."
So Warrior Lords were as powerful as Queens. My two strongest warriors, my mother had called Gryphon and Amber. No wonder Mona Sera had tried to kill them. Not only would they no longer serve her but they would become her direct competitors. Was that the reason why Queens slaughtered their best men or drove them away to become outcast rogues like the ones in the forest?
Lord Thorane was asking me to free them.
Should I? Could I? But I'd only just found them. How could I give them up? Should I make the choice my mother and the other Queens made? Should I chain them to my side forever in servitude? Should I be selfish, treating them as my slaves? Or should I do what was right and free them to stand as equals among us all? Would my heart be broken?
I looked at my beautiful Gryphon, at my strong Amber.
"Yes," I said. It came out a harsh whisper. "I wish to have them recognized."
Lord Thorane exhaled slowly in relief. "Thank you, milady. You are a most unusual and generous Queen. Amber, Gryphon, you may approach the Queen Mother."
I stepped back. Amber moved to stand beside Gryphon. They both knelt before the Queen Mother. With slow care, she slipped over each of their bent heads a gold medallion chain proclaiming their new status.
"Rise, Warrior Lord Gryphon, Warrior Lord Amber," the Queen Mother's strong voice commanded, "and tell me what is your desire." She waved her bejeweled hand to a huge map on the wall behind her, displaying all the sprawling Monère territories scattered around the face of the continent. "All is yours just by asking."
Gryphon didn't even look at the tantalizing map and the promise of his own fiefdom. His eyes were on me. In a clear voice he said, "My heart's greatest desire is to continue serving Mona Lisa, revered Queen Mother."
The Queen Mother raised one eyebrow. "Laudable, laudable, laudable. Such a gallant spirit. What about you, Warrior Lord Amber? You have suffered long and hard. I have quite a few lucrative territories for you to rule. Now is the time for you to reach out and take your glory."
Amber's face remained expressionless, an innocent giant. "It is my desire as well to continue serving Queen Mona Lisa, honored Queen Mother."