Page 161 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

And I tried most of all not to think about Morgana and Meera.

Rhyan took my hand as we entered a clearing. The sun was unusually bright, but in that moment, a dark shadow soared from the horizon, casting shadows over us.

I squeezed his hand, but he laughed.

“Lyr,” he said, genuinely smiling again. “Look up. It’s a gryphon.”

Wind blew against my face as I stared up in disbelief. Its massive form flew directly over us, its feathers and fur a beautiful rippling mix of bronze and brown.

“Gods,” I laughed. “They’re enormous. You weren’t exaggerating.” Three seraphim could have fit on its back.

He lifted his good eyebrow. “I never exaggerate about size.”

I felt a wave of desire in his aura. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.

Rhyan smiled ruefully and turned his gaze back up, watching the gryphon soar, its tail trailing behind it.

“Are they all that big?” I asked.

“They are once fully grown.”

“They’re beautiful.”

“They are,” he said again, his voice hoarse.

“We’ll see more, won’t we? Maybe even see one up close?”

He nodded. “Once we hit the Glemarian border, you’ll see so many, you’ll be sick of them.”

“Were you ever sick of them?”

He made a noise low in his throat. “Never.”

We continued on until the temperatures fell so low with the setting sun that we were forced to make camp inside another cave Rhyan had discovered.

The next day panned out much as the first and ended in another night in a cave. The farther north we went, the colder it grew. We’d just had our coldest winter in Bamaria, yet it was mild compared to Aravia. Nothing had prepared me for the true cold of the north or how thick the snow fell. I had to actually lift my legs up and down as we walked through a clearing that contained two feet of snow—and this was the more walkable trail that Rhyan had scouted. To combat the frigid temperatures, I doubled up my riding leggings, added a second pair of socks beneath my boots, and wore a second shirt beneath my tunic.

Still, I couldn’t stop shivering through the night and barely got any sleep. It felt like the cold was in my blood. Rhyan seemed fine, of course. Even when Bamaria was cold, it was still too warm for his liking. This was comfortable weather for him.

By the end of our fourth day of hiking through the freeze, I was fantasizing about the feeling of the sun on my skin. I was also fantasizing about showers. Long, hot showers. Now that we were no longer staying at inns or brothels, bathing was starting to become an issue. But Rhyan swore he knew a cave close to the Glemarian border with a hot spring.

However, it was not the cave he brought us to that night. We hadn’t gotten as far north as he’d planned, partly because I was slowing us down—my leg just now healed, and partly because he didn’t want to risk us being exposed.

“Wait right here,” he ordered at the mouth.

Unfamiliar with this particular cave, Rhyan wanted to do a quick sweep to check for danger or other inhabitants. He’d done the same every other night, as we could never be sure if we were truly alone, but he’d always been quick, retaining intricate knowledge about their layouts.

This time, I found myself growing uneasy as the minutes passed. I burrowed into my hood, leaned back against the stone wall, and hugged my arms to my chest. I even shook my hips in an attempt to create warmth.

“Lyr?” Rhyan’s muffled voice came through the vadati under layers of my clothing.

“Rhyan?” I yelled back, trying to squeeze my hand through my layers of armor and clothing to find the stone.

“Lyr!” Rhyan said, his voice more urgent. “Are you there?”

“I’m trying to be!” I’d just managed to pull the golden chain out from my multiple shirts and tunic when Rhyan appeared right in front of me.

“Gods!” He gripped my shoulders.