Salene's Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

At first she’d thought it was part of her grief, but that didn’t feel right.  It was something else.  She just didn’t know what.
    With a heavy sigh she glanced toward the sun, and then started for the house.  It was just about time for breakfast and while she wasn’t in the least bit hungry, this newly extended exercise in normalcy was for her parents’ sake, not her own.  She would show up for breakfast, she would join whatever conversation her parents engaged in, and she would eat whatever was put on her plate. 
    Just when she reached the deck she noticed one of her three fathers standing at the living room door, watching her.  She arched a brow in silent question and he nodded, so she changed direction and crossed the deck instead of taking the back stairs to her room to wash up as she’d intended.
    “Good morning, Ata ,” she said when he opened the sliding door and joined her on the deck.
    “Good morning, Salene,” Garen replied, trying not to react to the deep scar on her face, though it did look better thanks to Jareth’s healing.  It was thinner, smoother, and no longer red, but it was still a large scar that couldn’t be hidden.  The scar was difficult for him to look at not because it marred his eldest daughter’s beauty, but because the courage and sacrifice it represented had been for naught. 
    “I’m sorry, Ata ,” she said softly after they’d both turned to face the garden, leaning their arms on top of the deck railing in unconsciously identical poses. 
    “For what are you sorry, Daughter?”
    “That my scar is a reminder to you of something that makes you angry.”
    “You’ve nothing to apologize for.”
    “What is it you wish to tell me?” she asked, and Garen smiled.  Of all their children Salene was the most straightforward, the most serious, and the most practical.  In short, she was more like him than her mother, which sometimes made him sad.  Salene could use some lightheartedness in her life.
    “I spoke with Olaf Gryphon last evening.”  Salene’s fists clenched, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of her feelings.  “Do you wish to hear this?”
    She considered her answer while she watched several horses, small in the distance, cavort on the blue grass covered hills.  On the first morning after her arrival home she’d asked her parents for two promises.  The first was that they leave the Gryphons strictly alone, initiating no contact with them whatsoever.  The second was that they not ask her any questions about the Gryphons, including what had happened between them.
    The second request had been the hardest for them to agree to, but it was also the most important to her because she didn’t want to have to lie to them.  She wasn’t even sure that she could lie to them.  But they could never know the truth. 
    She knew Rayne had told them about the initial confrontation between all eight of them aboard the Armadura because they’d discussed it before reaching Jasan.  Since some story had to be told, and since that story was true, if incomplete, Salene had agreed.  It was best that everyone thought she was angry at the Gryphons because they were going after the Doftles and refused to take her.  It made her appear petty and childish, but the alternative was too horrifying to contemplate. 
    The horses disappeared from view and she made her decision.  As long as he didn’t ask her any questions, she saw no reason not to listen to what Ata had to say about the Gryphons.  She still loved them, would always love them, and she couldn’t help wanting to know how they were, and what they were doing.  She blew out a slow breath, relaxed her hands, and nodded.  “Yes, Ata , I’d like to hear.”
    “They have a new ship, the Aegl , which they plan to use in their effort to seek out the Doftles.” 
    Salene hesitated, but she had to know.  “Do you know when they’re leaving?”
    “All Jasani ships are being mandatorily retro-fitted with