Nameless (Nameless #1)(38)

“What? You’re not happy to see me too?” Gryphon said.

“Not as happy as your mom. She’s pretty upset, though.”

Gryphon sighed. “So you told her, did you?”

“I had to when she saw you coming up the hill with the Wolf slung over your shoulder.”

Gryphon felt the healer stiffen at his side. “Help me inside, Joshua.” He turned back to see the pale girl. She looked like she might be sick. “Come with us,” he ordered.

Gryphon leaned his spear against the wall and dropped his shield next to the mat. “Mother?” he called. The ghosts of voices that once filled the house haunted him. He refused to look up at his father’s shield.

“Gryphon!” cried a woman in the next room. Her steps came quick and light. She stopped three feet before him, and like all proud Ram woman, let him close the remaining distance.

In two steps he pulled her under his good arm. “I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t plan to fight.”

His mother wiped a tear from her eye and swatted the back of his head. “Why? Why did you do it?”

Gryphon shrugged. “He didn’t deserve execution, Mother.”

“I didn’t deserve to lose my husband,” she said flatly. “War is war. We do what is required for us to survive.”

“I had everything under control.”

She eyed him like he was a kitchen mouse pretending to be a breadcrumb. “Look at yourself! Under control?” She closed her eyes and kneaded her forehead with her fingertips. Heavy frown lines permanently pulled down the corners of her mouth.

Gryphon tucked her deeper into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, Mother.” The woman had endured more than her share of heartache. He hated to add to her pain.

Her fiery golden eyes whipped up to meet his. “If you leave me without grandchildren, I swear I’ll jump up and down on your grave.” She almost smiled before her eyes rested on the healer. “Who is she?”

Joshua put an arm around the girl. “This is the healer who saved my life.”

“A Nameless healer?” Gryphon’s mother narrowed her gaze. “Why would the Seer place a Nameless as a healer?”

“It’s a long story.” Gryphon sighed. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning.”

Gryphon’s mother stepped around her son and grabbed the girl’s chin to get a better look at her face. “Turn,” she ordered, gesturing for her to do a slow spin. Zo obeyed.

“Give me your hands.” His mother made a tsking sound and let them drop, shaking her head all the while. “You haven’t worked a day in your life, have you, child?”

The girl kept her head cast down. “Not in the fields, madam.”

“Madam, nothing. You’ll call me Mrs. Drea like the rest of our Nameless.”

“Yes, Mrs. Drea.”

Gryphon found that he’d held his breath through the entire exchange. The girl had never submitted to him with such earnestness. Obviously his mother was more intimidating.

“Mother, we’ve had a long day—”

“If this pretty thing is a healer, have her patch you up tonight. I won’t have you bloodying another set of linens. The girl can sleep in the barn until I find a place for her with the others.”

Gryphon’s mother grasped Joshua’s hand. “Look after my son, Joshua. He seems to be losing his mind.”

When they were alone, the healer started unloading glass jars filled with brown and green liquids onto a small table in their front room. “Wait.” Gryphon scratched his head and took a step toward the door. “I—I need to check on … something. I’ll only be a minute or two.”

“I’ll come with you,” said Joshua. The boy moved to follow him.

“No!” Gryphon inwardly cringed at his own abrupt tone. The last thing he needed was to pique Joshua’s curiosity. “Stay with the girl.”

“Zo,” Joshua emphasized. “She has a name, remember?”

Gryphon couldn’t help but look at the girl. She met his gaze for a moment then looked away. Gryphon cleared his throat. “Zo.” His deep voice struggled around the word.

It was the first time Gryphon had ever spoken her name out loud. A minor rebellion compared to the other mistakes he’d made over the past weeks, but somehow it felt intimately worse. Like an admission of the way he truly saw her. She was Zo to him as well. The thought made him even more lightheaded than before.

“I’ll be back soon.” Gryphon snatched one of the room’s two lanterns. He stumbled on the doorframe and left to greet the dark night. A light rain mixed with the sheen of sweat on his skin, as if the sky tried to clean away his sins. But even an angry storm couldn’t wash away the film of guilt lining his stomach. How had a string of rational choices led to this?

“Idiot.” He spoke aloud. Someone had to say it.

He took a calming breath before carefully opening the door to the barn. He held the lantern aloft as he searched the stalls. Gryphon felt naked without his shield. Exposed. After double-checking the stalls, a horrible reality settled upon him. The Wolf was gone. He pumped feeling into his fingers as his search became more frantic. Gruesome possibilities clenched at his gut like iron pinchers.

Gryphon tried not to panic, taking a long moment to think like his enemy. Where would he go? He might be able to scale the wall, but that would take a great amount of effort and he was seriously wounded. He’d need time to heal before any escape would be possible.