tail, turning herself toward it. “Rivermeet,” she said simply.
It took a while longer to complete the journey. Arren watched the village approach. It had taken a day and a half to get here from Lansdown, and by now he found he was much more confident in the sky. He couldn’t stay frightened forever. It was simply too exhausting. And he had begun to appreciate how complex and beautiful everything looked from above. He was glad. His fear of heights had always been a secret source of humiliation for him; what sort of griffiner was afraid to fly? It was just good luck that his job hadn’t required him to travel much; if anyone had found out about it he would have been a laughingstock. And he knew Eluna didn’t like it, either.
Nevertheless, his stomach lurched when they began their descent. He closed his eyes and held on until Eluna’s paws hit the ground with a sudden bump, and then he straightened up, sighing in relief.
People were running toward them as he dismounted. Eluna started up instantly, hissing and opening her beak wide. Arren put his hand on her neck and watched the villagers approach warily. But in spite of their fear of Eluna, there was an eagerness about them, and an urgency, too. They stopped at a safe distance and watched him, afraid to come closer.
Arren surveyed the rows of faces. “Who’s in charge here?”
Silence, and then a middle-aged man came forward. “No-one, really, sir, but thank gods you’ve come. We were starting to think—never mind. Welcome to Rivermeet.”
Arren nodded to him. “Thank you. I’m Arren Cardockson, and this is Eluna.”
The man bowed. “Roderick Kennson. I’m the local reeve. Sir, may I ask . . .”
“What is it?” said Arren.
Roderick looked at him, then scanned the sky. “Sir, why have you come alone?”
The question caught Arren by surprise. “Because I’m all they sent,” he said. “Why, is there a problem with that?”
There was another silence, and then Arren noticed a small huddle of people at the back of the crowd. They were trying to comfort a woman who was crying.
Roderick followed his gaze. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said in a low voice. “The beast took another victim last night.”
Arren went cold. “How many people has it killed?”
“Seven, sir. Two of them were only children.”
“Oh gods. I’m so sorry. I would have come sooner, but I only just—well, I was asked to come and deal with it only a few days ago. I flew here as fast as I could.”
“It’s all right, sir, we don’t blame you. Please, come with me. We have prepared rooms for you and your griffin. You can rest from your journey, and then I will tell you anything you want to know.”
Arren nodded and started to remove Eluna’s harness. “Thank you.”
He allowed Roderick to lead him through the village toward his lodgings; the crowd parted to let them through, like water flowing around a stone. He could almost feel their hopeful gazes fixed on him. But he could also hear the soft sobs from the woman grieving for her lost husband. It made anger boil inside him.
His lodgings turned out to be at Roderick’s home. Eluna had been provided not with a stable to sleep in but an old storeroom, which had been filled with hay and even decorated with dried flowers and carvings. It almost made Arren sad when he saw it.
His own quarters were equally grand; everything was scrupulously clean and decorated, and the house’s occupants surrounded him the instant he appeared, asking him if there was anything he wanted or whether anything was unsatisfactory.
Arren couldn’t bring himself to tell them that they were overdoing it just a bit. They probably thought it was a sacrifice for a rich griffiner like him to stay here. It was quite embarrassing, but he did his best to look as grateful as he felt.
He wanted to get down to business straightaway, but Roderick insisted that he get some rest first, and he had to admit that he needed it. He’d spent a very long time in the air and he was still slightly dizzy. His knees kept wanting to fold up.
Once he’d emptied his pockets and put the few things he’d brought with him down on the table in his room, he took his boots off and flopped down on the bed. It was wonderfully soft, and he relaxed almost at once. I’ll just have a quick lie down, he thought.