A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(87)

I thought for a beat. “Griffin, I don’t think I know anything about you. At all, actually. What would you want?”

“A silent dinner tonight. If I have to play sitter for you two until we reach Siren’s Cove, at least make it tolerable.”

“You’re terrible. And boring.”

Now it was Griffin’s turn to grin. “It’s the little things.”

Before I could respond he came at me, sword flying. I parried as many blows as I could, but a few hits landed on my arms, abdomen, and back. Griffin had experience teaching, it seemed, as each blow was harnessed with such skill they would hurtle toward me with speed but land with nothing more than a sting. Griffin’s style was much faster and scrappier than Dagan’s, tossing his sword from right hand to left and jumping over my attempted low blows.

Ten minutes later, my legs could barely keep me standing up. “All right, all right,” I panted. “Enough.”

Griffin shot me an infuriating grin. I blew the hair out of my face like an aggravated horse. Griffin laughed. “Don’t be too glum. You’re much better than I expected. The old man taught you well.”

“Did Kane tell you?”

Griffin nodded, but behind his eyes was something I couldn’t place.

“Get cleaned up. We head out in an hour.”

I huffed. So much for strong, powerful, Fae-slaying Arwen.

“You could be decent with a bit more practice. Let me know if you want to keep working on it.”

I paused. “I thought you hated me.”

Griffin’s expression barely changed, but his eyes had grown solemn.

“No, healer. I don’t hate you.” He heaved a sigh and sat down on the barrel of hay beside me. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the flickers of light picked up golden strands in his hair.

A thought dawned on me, something I had been wondering for months now.

“Griffin, why did you chase after Kane that day in the infirmary? He wasn’t really an escaped prisoner.”

A rueful smile tugged at the commander’s cheeks. It was still strange to see him grin.

“He needed to be healed, but didn’t want to tell you who he was just yet. We argued about it,” Griffin’s jaw tightened at the memory. “He gave me the slip.”

A laugh popped out of me. “You chased him down?”

Griffin’s grin was gone, though. “My job is to protect my king. You are—” He scratched at his chin, trying to find the words. “Dangerous for him.”

I scoffed. “Right. The great Kane Ravenwood taken down by Arwen from Abbington. I’m terrified.”

Griffin stood. “It is no laughing matter. He cannot have a single weakness when he goes up against Lazarus, and yet, you are his. Nothing could be more perilous for Evendell.”

***

That night, after yet another suffocating carriage ride, we sat down at a different little inn. This one was owned by a sweet, plump family, and smelled strongly of pork.

Dinner was an awkward event. While the rest of the guards we traveled with sat around the inn’s dormant hearth—it was far too warm for even a single flame—drinking ale and telling stories, the three of us sat in aggressive silence, picking at our food. Mari was displeased, to say the least, about my silent dinner bargain. I had to sway her with the promise of three new books when we arrived in Peridot.

The silence was deafening, but the looks between my two dinner guests were even worse. Mari glared at Griffin with the fury of a soaked cat. Griffin was the embodiment of smug calm, which only made Mari angrier.

The minutes ticked by torturously. I ate as quickly as I could. Mari stared at Griffin until her anger seemed to shift into something else altogether. Her eyes shifted and his peace turned into suspicion.

I didn’t dare ask what was going on.

Suddenly Mari turned bright red and looked down at her food. It seemed the poorly cooked pork had become very fascinating in the last minute. I looked from my pork to hers but didn’t see anything of note.

I peered back up at Griffin. He was watching Mari’s averted chocolate eyes, with something like remorse.

He cleared his throat.

“Your hair is radiant. Like sunshine after a storm.”

Mari’s mouth fell open, and Griffin stood up abruptly, his too-long legs banging the table and making the cutlery jump. He left the table early for the second night in a row.

“What…was that?” I asked her. She looked even more shocked than I did.

“I have no idea,” Mari said, for the first time since I’d known her. Maybe in her life. She ran an idle finger through her curls and went back to her dinner.





TWENTY-FIVE


I knew we had reached the coast before I even opened my eyes. A salty breeze wafted in through our carriage window and the temperature dropped about twenty degrees.

“Oh, thank the Stones,” I mumbled, mouth still thick with sleep.

“Arwen, get up!” Mari’s voice sounded far away. I cracked one eye open to see her pressed up against the carriage side, head out the window, eyes squinting against the bright sun.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said.

I couldn’t help a smile, before I squeezed in beside her.

My heart shone in my chest at the sight, matching the bright sun outside.