WE PACKED UP THE LEFTOVERS and Alek took a different route back into the castle to show me the Armoury. Not knowing what to expect, I stepped through the door and stared in amazement at the display of weapons in the room. To begin with the room must have been as big as the ballroom. It had huge rows of shelving stocked full of items. On Earth it would have been a red-necked, gun-toting male's dream come true, except of course, no guns. Instead there were rows of crossbows, long bows, bows I didn't know the names of, and swords of every length and manner imaginable. I made my way around the room and felt a shudder of disgust at the sight of heavy maces that hung from racks. I paused in front of a shelf covered in light, delicate looking daggers and moved closer for a better look.'Careful,' Alek warned. He reached past me to pick one up.'These are exceptionally sharp and can even cut through dragon scales. The blade is made of a rock that's only found within active volcanoes.'But
ALEK SLIPPED PAST THE WOMEN, leaning over the pup pen and gave a low whistle. There was a frantic scrabbling and then an excited noise that sounded like a cross between a chirp and a yelp. Cat, Sian and Laura all turned in time to see a larger griffon pup hurtle into the pen from the other room. Ageip reared and flapped his wings hard, startling the younger pups in the women's arms.Loushka poked her head through from the other room.'He wants to show you how well he can fly now, why don't you come out and see?'THE PLAYFUL PUP ENCHANTED ME; he spun and reared at Alek, showing off his lovely wings. Much darker than those of the older griffons we'd met, the pup's feathers glinted violet in the glimpses of light from the other room.'Who is he?' I thought to Loushka.'His name is Ageip,' she replied and I could hear her affection for him. 'He is Phroma's son.'Aha, of course he was, Phroma's feathers had violet in them too.'Would you all come outside for a moment?' Alek turned
LOI WOKE BEFORE THE OTHERS the next morning and rolled onto her back. Rain buffeted the windows. That sounds really heavy, she thought, and rolled onto her side to peek out of the window. Sure enough, rain hit the courtyard with clouds gathered thickly overhead. Might as well get up and have a shower, at least I don't have to wait for anyone else, she thought and hunted for her slippers. Tiptoeing through the room, she was astonished to see they had an over-stayer. Audrey and Nnelg lay curled up together on the dog's generous bed. So cute. Wish I had a camera to capture it. She smothered a giggle as she slipped into the bathroom.Awhile later she lay sprawled across her bed fussing over Lucky while the others sorted themselves out. Nnelg and Audrey had played up as soon as everyone woke so had been banished from the room, which left little Lucky all by herself, not that she seemed to mind. Loi gently rubbed the cat's tummy while Lucky, in the throes of pleasure, alternated between cur
KASSIE ENJOYED THE RIDE NOW, her arms around Rumal's waist. The pangs of nerves she usually got when the horse galloped didn't happen this time and she laughed, feeling a thrill of excitement at the pace. Rumal laughed with her, urging the horse to run faster before allowing it to drop to an easy walk. The utter ease and confidence with how he rode felt intoxicating. While the horse recovered from the run, Rumal told her about his home life on Delanta. His family raised horses, which explained his obvious skill and until he'd linked with Ofelaan he had trained with his father and Uncle, learning how to break horses.'Our breed of horse is considered one of the top in the world,' Rumal's rich voice was full of pride.'Are your sisters training too?' Kassie wondered if women would be allowed to.'Vecina is, but Breena has decided she wants to be a messenger, so she's training for that instead.''How does that work? Being a messenger?' She remembered Melanite talking about it.'Breen
I HEARD SIAN GRILLING DARON about the magick shop but didn't turn, too busy studying a dress in the window of another shop. Something about it seemed wrong. But I couldn't place a finger on what. The dress, a lovely soft rose colour, had graceful bell sleeves with a mandarin style collar. It fitted the mannequin like a glove, but there was still something wrong about it.KASSIE NOTICED CAT FROWNING AT a dress in the shop down from where Sian gushed over a wand to the very happy shopkeeper.'What's wrong, Cat? Are you trying to memorize the pattern?' Kassie teased. Cat's head snapped round to her, her mouth dropping at Kassie's words.'That's it. How the heck did they do that?' she cried.ALEK PUSHED THROUGH THE CROWD of idolizing females and headed to Cat's side without thinking.'Do what?' He touched her shoulder, wondering what had her so excited.'There are no seams. It's not possible, how on Earth could you do that?'Everyone watched when she dashed inside the Tailor's,
I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING and lay there, feeling a horrible sense of loss followed by overwhelming fury.Why am I letting this bother me? So he'd turned out not to be who I thought he was; it wasn't the first time this had happened to me. And I liked being single. I loved it. No-one to have to report to or think about and I LIKED BEING SINGLE!Tears welled in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. I stuffed the sheet in my mouth to stop any sounds. Why? What had I done?He'd seemed so sweet and thoughtful and I thought the chemistry was there. The weird pain in my chest wouldn't go away. It hurt to breathe. I curled into a ball and pulled the covers over my head. Yanking the sheet out of my mouth, I wept into my pillow. I couldn't decide what was worsethe sensation of loss or the feeling of self-deception at allowing a mere male to affect me like this.A STRANGE NOISE WHISPERED INTO her dream. Kassie thrashed about, wondering at the whimpering sound and woke disorientated, staring ab
ELENA WATCHED THE GIRLS RELAX further and further into their seats and continued.'I want you to become aware of your hands. With your mind's eye feel your way around and through them, until you are intimate with them.'LOI FELT THE TINY HAIRS on the back of her hands prickle when she traced over the skin in her mind, the creases and cracks, even the roughened edges of her nails. She focused her mind on them until she could see how the nails were woven together. Then moving inside, followed the veins and pricked at the nerve endings. Her fingers jerked and her muscles twitched as she tugged and probed at them. It's fascinating, she thought, I can truly see how my hands work. She pushed deeper until she came to the bones, seeing the cartilage between the joints and the tendons which fastened them together.ELENA SMILED AS SHE WATCHED their hands twitch and the frowns they wore while they studied them.'I can see you are aware of your hands, so I want you to focus on your heart.
THE SIGHT OF THE FOUR women shocked Sabyn when he and Daron arrived for lunch. They looked ages older and whiter than ice sprites. He gave Elena a concerned look.'They need to eat and rest, that's all,' Elena said reassuringly.Sabyn nodded and hurried over to help Kassie to the cloth, then Loi, both gave him a brief nod in thanks and fell to eating.DARON WATCHED, ASTONISHED BY THE amount of food the girls consumed. Elena must have expected it, he realized; she'd packed enough for at least twenty. The colour came back to their faces and they started to look more alert. Cat seemed to take longer than the others to recover. Perhaps she's weaker than them, Daron thought, surprised. Or maybe it's the result of Alek's behaviour toward her. He watched her then glanced at Sabyn who watched her too. They exchanged a concerned look.IT TOOK A BEWILDERINGLY LONG time to feel normal again. Especially after the rush you got from first handling the energy. The food began to make me feel