Page 64 of Gryphon in Light

Silverfox’s office was empty, so either the kestra’chern was busy elsewhere in the Vale or he was on the sky-terrace with the rest of their guests. Firesong could have Mindcalled him, but why bother him?

They came up the last steps onto the terrace, which was little more than a platform rimmed with a low railing, and loaded with more of the ubiquitous cushions. There they found two more gryphons asleep, and a third who was talking to Silverfox. At the sound of their footsteps she raised her head, and pinned her eyes.

“A Firecat!” she exclaimed, and there was no doubt of the relief in her voice. “So the gods have favored us!”

:Nothing less than your due, Vindaria Lisson. But you should rest.: It looked as if the Firecat was about to say something more, when suddenly his eyes pinned. :Well. This will be interesting. It seems more than the Star-Eyed and the Sunlord have decided to take an interest in your quest!:

And before Firesong could ask what the Firecat meant, an entirely new Mindvoice spoke.

:Healing Adept Firesong, if you would be so kind, would you come to the entrance of the Vale and assure the guards there that we are not here to carry off any young Hawkbrothers?: the voice, which felt female, said in his head. And with that Mindvoice came a flash of somewhat agitated Hawkbrothers facing off against—

—two Companions.

He snapped off an oath and turned back down the stairs to head for the entrance. Things had certainly gotten a lot more interesting.

The Hawkbrothers called a halt to the weapons practice, largely because no one could really keep their mind on practicing when there was so much else everyone was aching to know about—the new gryphons, the Firecat . . . Hallock sympathized, but wondered if this meant that work loading the three barges had just stalled as well. Practice could wait. Loading could not. So as soon as they all broke up and went their separate ways, he headed straight for where the barges were kept.

But when he got there, he found that he needn’t have worried. Between Genni and Ammari, hertasi Jylan and a Tayledras named Bluewater, no one was slacking off. Ammari had even dragooned Jefti into helping, since he was small enough to get into places the adults couldn’t, and stow away small objects that were going to be needed eventually, but not immediately.

“. . . and they’ll all still be there when we’ve got everything stowed,” Ammari was saying to a chastened-looking Hawkbrother. “You won’t miss anything. It isn’t as if they all are going to vanish overnight. Besides, the new gryphons are probably sleeping, and do you really want to wake up a gryphon?”

Oh, dear. She’s using the “mother voice.”

She turned and spotted Hallock, and sighed with relief. “Oh good, here’s the captain. He saw both the Iftel gryphons and the Firecat. He can tell you all about it.” Then she turned and leveled a withering gaze on the Hawkbrother. “While you continue putting away those jars,” she added sternly.

But at that moment, Hallock heard something he had not expected to hear again for as long as this journey took them. Something that was familiar in Haven, but rare in this Vale.

The sound of bell-like hoofbeats coming toward the clearing where the barges stood.

Genni knew what that was, too; she whirled in place and stared in the direction the sound was coming from. But before either of them could say anything, two Companions danced their way into the clearing. One was wearing full Search tack, complete with the barding.

Now, Hallock knew for a fact they weren’t coming for him. In fact, there was only one likely person who could have brought them here—

Nightwind came to exactly the same conclusion and flew across the clearing to stand between the Companions and Jefti. There she stood, hands on hips, glaring, as her bondbird, a handsome kestrel, hovered above her head, matching her glare for glare.

“You are not taking my apprentice, horse!” she exclaimed, staring the Companions down. “Valdemar rejected him! I’m claiming him!”

One of the Companions started back. The other made a noise that sounded like snickering. :Peace, lady. I’m not here for anyone. Sherris is here for someone other than your apprentice.:

The smaller of the two Companions, the one who had shied slightly in the face of Nightwind’s accusation, flagged her ears and tail as she looked past the standoff to the second barge, where Ammari was bent over, back to them all, carefully packing up a box-shaped basket and oblivious to the drama going on behind her.

The female Companion somehow got herself across the clearing and behind Ammari without a sound—and put her very damp and probably cold muzzle right where Ammari’s blouse had ridden up, showing her backbone.

Ammari shrieked, jumped, and whirled, her hand open to slap whoever or whatever had “assaulted” her, and then froze, looking deeply into the Companion’s sapphire blue eyes.

“Bloody ’ell,” said Jefti in Valdemaran, staring. “How’s zat possible?”

Of course he recognizes a Choosing. What Valdemaran child wouldn’t? Hallock thought bemusedly.

:Oh, well, Jefti, it’s possible because until now, your mother wasn’t free to become a Herald. Now she is.: Now the other Companion stepped gingerly around Nightwind—who was, herself, staring at Ammari and Sherris—and nuzzled Jefti’s shoulder comfortingly. :Now you can take care of yourself. You have a good place, friends, and people you can call family. You have an important job to learn, and you are going to be very good at it. We don’t take people who have responsibilities they can’t leave.:

“But—what if them people never can leave?” Jefti asked, looking into the other Companion’s eyes—and clearly not becoming as entranced as his mother was.

:Then we wait until things change or Choose another. Sherris has been waiting a long time for your mother.:

Hallock could almost see the wheels turning in Jefti’s head. The boy was smart, and a quick thinker. Long before he had gotten over the shock of seeing two Companions in the Vale, Jefti had already come to several conclusions.

“So, she’s a-gonna go to the Collegium.” He made it a statement, not a question. “And she’s gonna be there in Haven for years. Safe.”