I’m sure she’ll be far more pleasant after she’s had the moments to adjust. Are all the women from your Earth like her?”
Sam had responded by saying, “Only the ones worth keeping. I have to admit, I find her attractive. I like her sassiness. She’ll grow on you, Mosley. She’s just stressed right now, that’s all. But I am glad you knocked her out.” The king remembered smiling. The last thing he had said to try to convince the wolf was, “Just trust me on this, Mosley, you’ll grow to like her. I’m sure of it.”
“I hope you’re right. I find her annoying ... like a tick on my tail.”
He grinned at the pleasant feeling of the memory and pulled Shalee close. He was kissing her when Soresym crested the ledge of the cliff. The king reacted. He grabbed the railing surrounding the platform as the massive wings of the griffin stirred the evening air. As Soresym’s majestic form lowered to the landing area, Shalee could not contain her excitement. She ran to the griffin and stroked his feather-covered neck.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. It’s good to see you, Soresym. I think of you often.”
“And, I you, young one.”
The Griffin Lord, Soresym
“Thank you for this, Soresym,” Sam said as he approached the griffin. “I cannot express how much I appreciate you.”
“You’re welcome, King of Brandor.” The griffin lowered to the platform. “Please, climb up.”
Sam lifted Shalee onto the griffin’s back and then jumped up to take a seat. He tied his queen in with the heavy leather straps that were attached to the padded saddle, and then he pulled her to him. The beast walked to the edge of the platform with his head held high and wings spread. Shalee lifted her arms into the air and screamed as the griffin folded his wings and jumped from the ledge.
Soresym kept his wings tight to his body as the ground approached. He waited until the last possible moment before the griffin allowed the wind to funnel beneath his feathers. The coolness of the mist shrouding Siren’s Song was refreshing as they swooped out over the terrain.
Shalee shouted, “Oh, my Lord in Heaven, Sam! This is the best date ever!”
Sam reached around Shalee’s waist and gently squeezed. He admired the countryside as it passed swiftly beneath them. After a while, he leaned in and put his mouth to the queen’s ear. “I’ll always love you.”
Turning to taste his lips, Shalee responded, “I love you, too, ya big lug.”
Meanwhile, Western Luvelles
The Lands of Kerkinn
The Dark Chancellor’s Tower-palace
The Dark Chancellor, Marcus ID
The Dark Chancellor stormed into the highest level of his tower-palace. Marcus Id threw his black cape, marked with the Order’s symbol, and watched it fly across the room. Despite the chancellor’s desire for the cloak to hit the wall, the cloth refused to be abused. The cape adjusted its course and peacefully hung itself on a hook near the door.
Marcus grunted his disappointment. His brown eyes were cold. Tension filled his lanky limbs beneath the confines of his golden shirt. His long, brownish-black hair fell across his elven features as he shouted at the top of his lungs, “My brother’s self-righteous attitude is becoming tiresome!”
After a moment of silence, Marcus realized he was yelling at an empty room. He grunted again and then lit his pipe. “Gage, get in here before I have you skinned!”
Another few moments passed before a dark-brown badger, covered in a short, fitted, red robe entered the room, walking erect. He ignored the chancellor’s threat and tapped his tiny, wooden cane on the cold stones of the tower-palace floor. “Would you stop shouting? Just relax. Stick to the plan. Your tirade will accomplish nothing.”
“Careful, goswig, I’m not in the mood.”
“You’re always in a mood. You created me for confrontation. It’s my obligation to tell you when you’re being absurd. If memory serves me right, and it always does, you created me to speak our mind when you have these idiotic fits. You know you’re acting rash, or I wouldn’t feel the need to bring it to your attention.”
Marcus slammed his bony hand on the stone table that rested at the center of the room. The table was large and its stone surface held many chiseled markings that represented the ways of dark magic. “Then you know what I’m thinking!” Marcus barked as the smoke from his pipe drifted past the anger in his eyes.
Gage’s furry face cringed. He hurried across the floor—a task hard for