about it,” said Eluna. “I have heard you in your sleep. Crying out. Does your back still hurt you?”
“Sometimes.”
“I saved you then,” said Eluna. “I will not let you fall now. I promise.”
Arren calmed down. “I trust you.”
But he didn’t completely relax for the rest of the journey. They flew out over the edge of the city until they were above Eagle’s Lake and the large village built among the hills on its shore. Technically it was part of Eagleholm, but the village went by the name of Idun.
Eluna landed not far from the lake, among some houses built on a hill. Arren slid down off her back, very grateful to feel solid ground beneath him again.
The white griffin dropped the roll of leather and shook herself. Once Arren’s head had stopped spinning, he noticed the squashed feathers on her neck and shoulders. “Sorry.”
Eluna preened herself wordlessly.
People were already coming to meet them, bowing to Eluna.
“Sir!”
“Sir, can I do anything to help you?”
“Sir, please, can you spare a coin? I have no money for—”
Arren rummaged in his pocket and flipped an oblong toward the speaker. He picked up the roll of leather and tucked it under his arm. “I’m just here to visit someone. No need to be concerned.”
Several people followed him as he walked off down the hill, but they gave up and left him alone soon enough. He sensed that some of them just wanted to look at Eluna. Griffiners and griffins didn’t come into the village very often. To many of Idun’s inhabitants, griffiners were just as unreachably distant as the griffins that circled over their city. Out in the countryside, he could expect even more excitement. In places where griffiners almost never went, they were regarded almost as demigods.
Arren’s parents lived at the bottom of the hill, in a modest wooden house. They had seen him coming and hurried out to meet him. His mother threw her arms around him. “Arren!”
Arren hugged her. “Hello, Mum, how are you?”
She let go, bright eyed. “Oh, we’re fine. Hello, Eluna.”
Eluna sat on her haunches and regarded them with an almost benevolent expression.
Arren held out the roll of leather toward his father. “Here, Dad, I brought you this.”
His father felt it and whistled. “This is top-quality stuff. Where did you get it from?”
“Seized it from some smugglers. I thought you’d probably be able to use it.”
Arren’s mother smiled and waved a hand at him. “Come on, come in, don’t stand around out here.”
They entered the house, leaving Eluna outside to wait.
Arren sat down at the table in the main room with his parents.
Arren’s father, Cardock, stowed the leather away in a corner. “Thanks. There’s at least twelve pairs of boots in this if I’m any judge.”
“No problem,” said Arren. “I’d have brought some other things but I couldn’t carry anything else. I’ll send them down with one of my assistants. So, how’re you doing?”
“We’re fine,” said his mother, Annir. “Your father’s thinking of taking on another apprentice.”
“And what about you?” said Cardock. “How are things up in the city, Arenadd?”
“Arren will do fine, Dad,” said Arren.
Cardock, who had the same angular features as his son, frowned. “I don’t see any reason for you to be ashamed, Arenadd. It’s a fine, strong name. A Northern name.”
“A stupid name,” Arren said flatly. “Things are fine in the city. There was a bit of bother this morning, though. Seems I’ve—”
“You are ashamed, though,” Cardock interrupted.
“Cardock, please,” said Annir.
“You are,” said Cardock, ignoring her. “You don’t want to remind people you’re a Northerner. Arenadd isn’t Southern enough for you, is it? Well?”
“Dad, I’ve told you before. I changed my name because I didn’t like it. That’s all.”
Cardock shook his head. “I am proud of you, you know. When you first became a griffiner I wasn’t happy. After what the griffiners did to us—but there are worthy griffiners, and you’re one of them. But you can be a griffiner and a Northerner as well.”
“Dad, I’ve never even been in the North.”
“But the North is in your blood,” said Cardock. “I’ve seen it, Arenadd. Ever since you moved into that city you’ve been trying to change. Wearing Southern clothes, using a Southern name. You won’t even speak our language any more. What are you so ashamed of?”
“Dad, our ancestors came here in chains,” said Arren. “They were slaves. I really don’t see why that’s anything to be proud of.”
Cardock rubbed the livid scar on the side of his neck. “A slave collar can’t take away a