“That’s one way of putting it.” The wide, dark hallway gaped open before us, pulsing with oppressive menace. Nothing like the castle in Visimperum that was all light and bright white marble and shimmering diamonds. “Follow me.” I took the lead, and we lapsed back into silence, passing the old, familiar statues, tapestries, and doorways I’d spent my entire lifetime with, but now experienced anew, as I tried to imagine what Sharmaine thought, how she saw the only home I’d ever known.
I took her to the back staircase, not wanting to pass the destroyed doors of the main entrance to the citadel—or the hole in the hedge looming beyond it. When we passed through the exit nearest the dilapidated but still usable stables where the Paladin had put their gryphons, I finally ventured the question that had been hounding me ever since I’d seen Sharmaine and her gryphon burst through the glowing doorway in the Hall of Miracles with the others who had come to Vamala.
“Why did you do it?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew she heard me by the way she stiffened beside me. “What made you come here?”
She had to have known what a risk it was to come to Vamala—where, as she knew, Paladin were feared, hunted, and murdered for what they were. Why, then, had she steered her gryphon toward the gateway and come?
There was a heavy pause, as though she were weighing her words, or perhaps considering me—trying to decide what to confide and what to keep to herself. Though she had always treated me kindly and helped with my training, we’d never really spoken about anything of importance. It had been rash of me to ask such a personal question. Especially when I feared the answer had the power to shatter my heart: Raidyn.
“I came because I had to,” she began slowly. “People I loved were in danger, and I am trained to protect those I love—or any innocent lives, for that matter.”
People. Raidyn, yes, but not just him. I nodded like I understood her bravery, like I could possibly comprehend what must have gone through her mind in the moments it took between seeing Barloc burst through the gateway, attack them—including my grandmother—then leap back through it into Vamala, and her decision to follow after him. And not only her, so many others. At least seven or eight Paladin had come through, and possibly more that hadn’t come back yet, knowing they were likely risking their lives. Not only from Barloc’s stolen power, but because of the death trap they knew Vamala to be for their kind.
We reached the door to the stables and Sharmaine pushed it open. It was shadowed inside, almost too dark to see.
“We should have grabbed a lantern,” I commented.
Instead of responding, Sharmaine lifted her hand. A split second later, her veins lit up with her power, until a small ball of light hovered above her fingers, illuminating the space around us. She glanced at me and smiled. “I think you know I can create a protective dome with my power,” she said before I could ask, and I nodded. “That’s what this is, only much smaller.”
“That’s … remarkable.”
She shrugged. “It’s a parlor trick. But it is useful sometimes.”
A parlor trick. Even though I knew I had power now, her casual disregard for something so wondrous to me stung. My father and Raidyn had seemed awed by the fact that I was an enhancer. But I’d never even be able to do a “parlor trick” with my power—I could only make someone else’s abilities stronger. It had saved my sister, and I knew I should be grateful for that … So why did I look at the light Sharmaine lifted as she walked toward the stalls where the Paladin had put the gryphons for the night and feel a pang deep inside?
A soft hooting sound came from nearby, followed by other noises of gryphons moving and acknowledging our presence.
“It’s all right, Keko girl, I’m here,” Sharmaine murmured as she stepped closer to the nearest stall.
A gryphon with golden feathers lifted her head over the tall door and made another soft noise deep in her throat.
“Is she yours?”
Sharmaine nodded as she lowered the hand with the ball of light and lifted up on her tiptoes to press her forehead against Keko’s.
I watched rider and gryphon silently. Keko closed her eyes and made a low noise deep in her throat. Sharmaine rubbed her hand down the gryphon’s neck a couple of times, then pulled back.
“Sleep well,” she said with one last brush of her fingers over the gryphon’s beak.
“What are we going to feed them?” I asked as we moved down the row, Sharmaine peeking in on each stall. I wondered which one Raidyn’s gryphon, Naiki, was in, or Taavi, my father’s. But none of the other gryphons pushed their heads out to greet her, as if they knew it wasn’t their Rider in the stable.
“I doubt you have anything for them here … so we’ll have to take them out hunting. At least you live near these mountains. They should be able to find enough to eat without causing too much of a problem with the people of Vamala.”
It was true, the mountains were uninhabited—with their sharp, unforgiving peaks, tangles of wild bushes, and trees clogging any possible path through them. I’d spent countless hours staring at them from my window. Trying to picture a flock of massive gryphons flying through them, hunting for dinner, was almost beyond the scope of my considerable imagination. If anyone in Gateskeep did notice them, who knew what they would think—or do. But that was a problem for tomorrow. We still had plenty to focus on for tonight.
“They all seem fine,” she finally commented, after peeking into the last stall. “This place needs some work, but … it’s better than being outside in the elements.”
I glanced up at the cobweb-filled rafters, barely illuminated by the glowing blue light hovering over her hand. A gust of wind rattled the walls, but though it sounded questionable, the structure held firm against the onslaught.
“It’s survived some terrible storms,” I felt compelled to assure Sharmaine when her eyes widened, a flash of worry crossing her face. “It should be fine.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” But she didn’t look sure when another bout of wind sent the stables trembling beneath its might.
“Really, there have been a few times when it seemed like the citadel wouldn’t make it, so I thought for sure we’d wake up to find the stables destroyed, but it hasn’t collapsed yet.”
She glanced back at me. “I really do believe you. If there were any danger of it collapsing, the gryphons would sense it and be agitated. But they’re all calm. Well, as calm as can be expected after what they’ve been through.”
“Right.”
“We’d best head back in.” She strode through the stable to the door we’d originally come through. In the brief time we’d spent inside it, night had settled more firmly over Vamala, shrouding the citadel and the grounds in darkness. I struggled to subdue a shiver as we hurried back the way we’d come. Sharmaine kept the light hovering above her hand and even brightened it a bit—as if she, too, felt the foreboding weight of nightfall pressing in on her.
Once we reached the security of the citadel, the door shut firmly against the oncoming storm, I sighed. If Barloc returned there was seemingly nothing and no one that could stop him, but being back in the citadel with all of the Paladin now residing within its walls felt like the safest place I could hope to be until they somehow came up with a plan to stop him.