Gryphon's Glenn

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The ship was in mourning. Training had been postponed as everyone tried to process the injustice of Sienna's death. Jason was refusing to leave his room. Sphinx wasn't doing much better, but he was trying to fake it for everyone else's sake. Everyone was keeping to themselves. Doe knew she had an opportunity she couldn't waste.

She took Nat aside. "Private session time," she said.

Nat smiled. "Really? I thought all training was cancelled," she said in surprise.

"All official training is. You and I have been working privately, too," Doe reminded her.

"Great. Let's do it!" Nat replied enthusiastically.

Doe brought the Princess to the room she'd been using to train her one-on-one, without Luna or Jeremiah's knowledge. They immediately began to spar with swords. By now, Doe knew Nat's fighting style well. She waited for the right opportunity before striking, slashing Nat's shoulder with her blade.

Nat cried out of pain. "Oops! I've spilled Royal blood!" Doe said in mock-horror. "Better charge me with treason... Oh, right, they already did that." She laughed.

Nat, as usual, mistook her comment for harmless sarcasm. "This one's the worst one yet," she said with a laugh as she tended to her wound. It wasn't serious, but the blood on Doe's sword was deeply satisfying to her. She moved to strike again.

Nat squeaked in surprise as a small statue flew at Doe's head. It connected pretty hard. Doe was dizzy for a moment as she rubbed her right temple.

"Sorry!" Nat said.

"It's fine. I guess we're even," Doe replied while internally cursing her name. She had been doing so well... She had let Flynn, the half-wit Girard trusted so deeply, kill Ranger and had even let him escape while she slaughtered a bunch of innocent Knights instead of him. She might have killed them all, but Marta had taken her hand. Doe could have grown it back, but then the others would know she had powerful magic inside of her and years of hiding that fact would be for nothing. They all thought she was purely a warrior, and she preferred it that way. She didn't really need the hand anyway.

She'd also sent the Pirates into a frenzy while they were trying to rescue Sienna, ensuring the girl would meet her end in front of everyone, traumatizing them all. She hadn't been the one shooting at them, but had instead used magic to leave them too confused to help their friend. She also hadn't been the one to reveal Sienna's location to the Knights. Flynn and Marcus had no idea she was working with Girard. Their inside contact was someone else, and even though she'd overheard Chris discussing a traitor, she knew they didn't know there were actually two aboard the ship.

"Doe? Are you okay? Did I concuss you?" Nat asked in alarm.

"I'm alright, Princess," Doe replied sarcastically. "I think that's enough training for tonight. Go get some rest."

Nat obediently left. Doe took a deep breath before heading off the ship to procure a special ingredient for a very important spell. While Girard was locked in a box, someone had to keep up his hard work, and Flynn and his other followers were useless without someone to give them orders. She laughed to herself as she went in search of her next victim knowing no one on the ship was paying enough attention to notice her sneaking someone else on board.

+

As soon as she had an opportunity, Marta ran to her husband's office. She cast a quick charm on the room so no one could hear them before blurting out, "They're alive, Terros."

"Who is, my darling?" Terros asked in confusion.

"Our sons!"

Terros stared at her in disbelief. "Marta... My love, you know what became of the children. They perished the night of the storm."