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Gryphon Rider

I. The Fallen

The change in Hanna's life began with the drop of a feather. The drop of a quill pen to be exact, made from the flight feather of a gryphon. The drop of the gryphon quill pen, that she had mounted above the desk in her private chambers that had never nudged in the eight years before, only to fall in the evening of her eighteenth birthday.

She attentively watched it. The days were long past, when she would have expected it to stir on its own and relay a magical message to her, like it would have happened in one of the ballads she so treasured. And indeed it just kept lying there.

Eventually she brought her attention back to the matter at hand and finished putting on one of her upscale shirtwaists. She was so relieved to have gotten out of that opulent ball gown in which she had had to spend her birthday celebration in. It was so wide and unpractical and she had to cram her long tail into a tiny compartment in the back to make it fit. But what she disliked most was that she always felt like her delicate birch mouse frame would just vanish beneath all the layers of cloth.

That way she had spent the last hours, playing the role dictated by her attire nearly to perfection. The Lady in the Dress would dance the genteel dances and participate in the genteel smalltalk. She would be courteous but resolute with the guests that had come to ingratiate themselves with her father, the Baron of Lakebrand, and attentive and hospitable to the ones invited so her father could ingratiate himself with them. The Lady in the Dress would not be frank with their guests, call them shallow or point out their double-standards, or talk about unpleasant subjects like stuffy poetry, childish tales about chivalrous knights or their repulsive gryphon mounts.

Only once today the Lady in the Dress slipped up. It had been her birthday after all and outside of this very city of Aquila in the titanic structure simply referred to as the Arena the knights and their gryphons had gathered for one of their biggest regular tournaments. So she casually inquired to some random peers she had to interact with, if they had plans to attend any of the jousting events. She really should have known better. "Ah, gryphons! One of my favorite subjects!" a smooth and terribly familiar voice resounded from right behind her. Hanna would have fled right then, but the dress she wore would not allow such a blunder in manners. It was her betrothed, Henry, the son of the Duke of Aquila, whom she would marry in less than a fortnight to the great advantage of her family's status. He was a stocky gerbil, with a hard face and a proud military conduct as officer in the city's standing army.

She almost knew by heart the routine about gryphons he was about to share. He never failed to deliver it when she touched that subject, and it never failed to get to her. He joined her side and jovially greeted her conversational partners before he began. "Is it not a mystery indeed how creatures like these, so very cumbersome and of little drive, should have been the sole reason for keeping the peace for centuries, as childish stories make the naive among us believe? Please excuse the dedicated marksman speaking out of me, but after all a gryphon is little more than a big bird, of little more intellect than a partridge. And like with a partridge all that is needed is a bow and arrow to end one's worthless little existence. Just in the case of a gryphon a bigger bow and arrow is required, since they are a little more massive, you see.

"But that would be infamy, cries the oh so brave knighthood, because big arrows are banned by old tradition and as honorable nobility we have always respected tradition, even if it appears to be of such farcical content. However," as usual at this point in the routine, his expression changed from a frown to a cruel sneer, "leave it to disgruntled peasants and malcontent lizard folk. First chance they got they made themselves some good missiles and ever since those praised gryphons fall to the ground wherever their conceited riders think they can show off their supremacy." He looked around and received eager nodding and well-placed kind comments about his insightful assessment. Then he glanced intently down at the mouse, scanning Hanna's face for any reaction, for any quivering of her snout, for any moisture in her eyes.

"I beg your pardon, I must excuse myself for a moment.", she said in the most courteous voice she could muster and receded as calmly as possible. She knew he liked to make her falter whenever she brought up topics as this, like it was a game to him. Oh, it would have been a triumph to break her resolve at such an exposed event. Luckily for her, he knew better than to continue with the gory story about that only 'courageous' gryphon he had ever heard about, who, as he would continue to explain, had been man enough to take on a whole family of unarmed peasants without any provocation or reason. After all, descriptions of such savagery would be detrimental to his good colloquist image.

She spent half an hour locked inside a cabinet in the washroom, fighting against tears. Even a single one would smear a well visible line through the make-up that was used to give her otherwise unremarkable brown fur noble pallor and subtle shimmer. Even the face of the Lady in the Dress was not for her arbitrary use.

Hanna sentimentally glanced back at the feather. Oh, how she longed for someone she could just talk to! Someone to tell all her woes to and confess her stupid dreams that somewhere, somewhere there had to be a way out of her miserable life. But her mother, the only person she had ever known that would listen, really listen had long since gone and neither the feather nor the other trinkets or assets she had left her could replace her gentle smile, her soft voice and her inexhaustible fund of songs and poetry. Stupid girl, she chided herself for the hopeless fantasies that kept surfacing in her mind.

But just then she did notice one peculiar thing. A drip emanated from the quill and a small puddle had formed beneath its tip. A puddle of a light blue shimmering ink from a feather that should by all means have been dry for many years. Curious, the mouse stepped towards the desk and watched the strange spectacle. Drop by drop the ink spilled onto the desk. How could this be possible? She went on to pick up the feather, but as soon as her fingertip had touched the colorful pen she jerked her hand back, startled. The feather sprung to life and purposefully jumped onto a piece of stationery. It began to write lines in a delicate and oh so familiar hand all by itself, right before Hanna's amazed eyes.

The next morning.

An inhospitable dawn broke in the city of Aquila. Gray light filtered through drizzle and fog, and turned the cobblestone streets and crown glass windows into a forbidding spirit world. The early spring, which for the last days had embraced with endearing weather the manors of nobility and shelters of the poor alike, refused to get up this early and allowed the nightly frost to linger. All was quiet but for the occasional majestic cry of a gryphon from eastwards, where the Arena was.

Few were awake to hear it at this hour, and of those that were probably none listened for it so intently as Hanna. She sat huddled and shivering under a porch in a derelict yard, where she had spent the night. She had tried to sleep, but every slight noise in the distance had caused her to jump. Her shirtwaist was covered in dirt and ripped in several places and her make-up had run to form dark canals from her eyes down her cheeks. In her hands, the mouse kneaded a tarnished silver brooch which featured a stately but shattered emerald, it's green sparkle almost lost between numerous light cracks.

So she sat and listened to the creature's calls and stared wide-eyed into the gloom, where forbidding shadows marked the location of the Arena's luxurious towers. She kept filling her mind with the soothing ballads and songs she had learned by heart so long ago, only at moments disrupted when some urgent thoughts welled up in her about what she should do or where she could go. But those just delivered pangs to her and then receded unanswered. Eventually, when she could no longer bear the depressing view in the distance, she turned her sight to her depressing shelter.

Between a pile of garbage and a scurrying feral rat, a piece of paper, that lay soaked on the ground, caught her eye. There was a drawing of a gryphon on it and that alone was more than enough motivation for her to leave the somewhat dry hide-out and stumble towards it. She got onto her knees without any care for her battered dress, and grasped at the wet piece of paper like at the last stalk of straw.

It was a poster that might have been discarded here casually or maybe it had fallen from the wall, though she doubted that anyone would have considered this a good location to hang it in the first place.

In unseemly, hurried writing it read "To the working Madams of Aquila,

"A respected knight, honored by the Council, has come to the necessity of requiring the service of a PEALEX ALAE. Only informed applicants with able body can be considered. Your willingness to relocate to the knight's keep would be greatly appreciated. We will provide a pick-up on the second day of the tournament, before the first hour in the Skinner's Alley. Please make arrangements to be early, as contact beyond that time and place is not within our power.

"We respect the hardship of the destitute most sincerely, yet we beg that you do not appear if you do not know what it is we require of you or if you dare not attempt it."

Pealex... it rang a bell somewhere in Hanna's mind, something her mother had told her about long ago. She believed it to mean... consort! Could a knight be looking for a consort?

Her heart began to pound. Suddenly there was a mad glimmer of hope. How late was it? The sun had not risen yet, but it was not long before the first hour now, was it? Would she still make it in time? She knew the Skinner's Alley, it was right at the northeastern gate. She glanced at the arena's towers, judging from their treacherous shadows in the mist she was close to the east end of the city. Maybe if she hurried she had a chance. She quickly collected her purse that she had hidden in the gap under the porch where she had made camp, and ran out of the yard as fast as her sore feet would carry her.

The fog and cold still lingered, but the dreadful increase in brightness heralded the soon arrival of the first hour, as Hanna turned into Skinner's Alley - just in time to be nearly run over by a covered wagon. The driver, an old ferret with a heavily wrinkled face, cursed harshly at her and yanked on the reins. The horses neighed and came to a stand only feet from the panting and trembling mouse. "Get out of the way you stinking vagrant!", the ferret exclaimed. Next to him sat a silver fox in colorful clothes and a felt cape that contrasted the peasant garbs of the driver starkly.

"Perex Ale! Perex Ale!" she cried desperately, "I need to come!"

The fox looked her over, her lithe form, her ruined attire, her filthy, quivering face. "Do you even know what it is you are begging for?" he inquired in a quiet but intense voice.

She eagerly nodded, but did not speak up for the lack of words in her behalf. "We've gotta move now or never, don't get all fancy on me now," the ferret interjected. The fox glanced at her intently for another moment, then averted his eyes. "I'm sorry, please move."

"No!" Hanna spread out her arms and held her ground. "Perex Ale! Take me with you." She noticed a group of women standing at the corner a block up the road with colorful and indecent garbs and exaggerated make-up point at her and make faces.

"What do you think that even means?" the fox shouted back at her.

"It's..." she began to stutter and fought the upwelling of tears. "It's... your knight... he's looking for a mistress of sorts..."

The fox shook his head. "You just rhymed that together from the poster we spread. Look, I see that you are desperate and I am sympathetic to that, but believe me, whatever it is, chances are you will find that you are far, far worse off with us. Don't try to escape by throwing yourself into some stranger's arms, it can't be that bad."

Disheartened, the mouse took as step backward, yet glanced defiantly at the vulpine. With a nudge of the reins the ferret commanded the horses to go around her, yet before they could move more than a step she lunged forward and grasped one of them into the bridle. Alarmed, the horse neighed and reared up, flailing its hooves right in front of her face. She ducked and squealed in terror, but she did not move from the front of the carriage, no matter how much she trembled or how freely fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

The ferret sputtered more expletives and pulled hard on the reins to get the horse under control. The fox just stared at her with a strange look in his eyes. "I beg you once more, for your own sake. Move!" She did not. Finally he sighed. "Looks like I got no choice here. Get in the cart if you must." Hanna's face lightened up in a wide grin. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!", she cried and ran to the back of the wagon.

But as soon as she had stepped away from the front, she heard the ferret's "Giddyap" and quickly the cart began to move. With a desperate leap, which she would not have considered possible for her to actually make, Hanna got hold of the hatch on the back of the cart and pulled herself halfway up. Then her strength gave out and she hung on with one leg in and one out as the wagon sped along the bumpy road.

Two female wolves looked down at the mouse from the inside. "No vacancy," one of them shouted and sneered. She was old and scrawny and had a pinched face. Her comrade was fat and watched Hanna's struggle dumbstruck while sucking on her own finger. Both of them were at least one head taller than she was and beneath their fur the workings of big, ropey muscles showed with each movement. They wore the same kind of lowbrow dress as the women on the street and their faces were painted likewise. What decent knight would seek a companion along creatures like these, Hanna wondered.

A jerk of the wagon brought her back to more pressing matters. With each bump in the road and each curve she lost her hold bit by bit. Terror began to creep up inside her. Hanna breathed in panicky gasps and stared back at the wolves. In her mind she repeated one word over and over. "Gryphon. Gryphon. Gryphongryphongryphon," And to her own astonishment it helped to calm her down.

With a remainder of firmness in her voice she cried at them. "Please save me! Or are you going to let me fall?" They grimaced, as if they had difficult options to weigh against each other. "Well are you?", the fox's voice came from behind them. "Pull her in already!" His head was poking inside through the front end of the plane. Stupid girl, Hanna chided herself, she should have thought about getting in that way. He carefully entered the shaking, gloomy interior of the wagon, as the wolves rudely heaved the mouse aboard.

"I had it in my guts you would stay to trouble me," the fox sighed quietly and shook his head, then turned to the two applicants. "No one say anything she doesn't need to know, I still hope I can sort this out graciously. Anyway, we are approaching the city gate. Just lower the plane and be very quiet and everything should be fine." When he was not shouting his voice was quiet and he rather breathed each word to the point that she found it hard to hear him over the ratter and clatter of the cart on the cobblestone street. The old wolf went to undo the ropes that held the backside of the wagon's fold up, while the fat one got back to sucking her finger. The fox sat down with them, rested his head in his hand and looked from one female to the other with a worried expression.

When the plane came down, the interior of the wagon filled with darkness, save for narrow beams of light that fell in through a few crannies and threw spotlights on specks of dust that whirled through the air. Only then the rush faded from Hanna that had gripped her when she had first laid eyes on that poster. Her body felt sore and cold and she was so very hungry and tired. Yet her rummaging thoughts were even more painful - she had just ran out of her life and indeed had thrown herself at some stranger's arms. She dug up disjointed impressions of last night's events to her defense, yet they all seemed so surreal, right out of a feverish dream. Did all of that really happen? And also how could she have acted the way she had up to this point? That was not the Hanna she knew herself as at all.

In this state, shivering and teetering rhythmically back and forth, clutching her purse in her hands, she all but missed how the wagon reached the gate, how the ferret squabbled with a guard outside about them being late and about the watch having been reinforced because of some missing nobility, and how that complicated some arrangements considerably. Eventually the muffled jingling of coins in a bag marked the transaction that enabled them to pass unchecked.

When Hanna regained her grasp on reality, the plane had already been rolled up again and she registered with a sudden shock that the city had fallen well behind. She blinked in disbelief and for a while stared at the open fields that they drove through and marveled at the city walls and the high buildings behind them getting smaller and smaller. Whatever her future would hold, she had made it out of Aquila!

The two wolves whispered among themselves when they weren't looking at her out of the corners of their eyes or sniggering cruelly. Hanna tried to ignore them. The fox had taken place next to her and stared at them with a troubled expression. He was slender and would have been quite reasonable on the eyes except for several scars that streaked his pelt. Some were small and only noticeable by the queer direction his fur was growing above them, others large and nasty, like the one that went all the way from his elbow to his wrist or the one down his cheek and the side of his neck. Those were thick and bald and the bright scar tissue showed prominently. He currently featured a furrowed brow, but Hanna did not fail to notice the strange softness in his eyes and the gentleness in his movements. And she could not help to find the way he spoke endearing. He was somewhat older then her, maybe in his late twenties. In any case, that was the person she had to make do with for now.

"My name is Hanna..." the mouse began to address him, but trailed off, deeming it unwise to reveal her family ties to this stranger. The fox turned and fixed his worried eyes on her now, but only answered with a slight nod.

"I apologize for my earlier behavior. I am indeed unsure what it is you are looking for.", she continued. The two wolves burst out in callous laughter at her words. The fox just kept on staring. "But it is of substantial importance that I be received in audience by your knight. I beg you to arrange that and I promise I will behave and heed your bidding from now on."

Finally the fox spoke. "The knight...," he averted his eyes and trailed off, "He is a busy man. I will do what I can, but I can not give you the promise you are after."

"But is it not one of the most honored duties of knighthood to be a cavalier to those in hardship?", she retorted.

Something in the fox's look brightened for a moment, then he shook his head. "You don't have to convince me of that. Just be patient and I will try my best, ok?"

Hanna was not at all satisfied with that, but she was content that there was no use in prying with this person. She believed to have spotted in his words something like the chivalrous values of the knights of her ballads. But more prominently she was rather sure that he was a terrible liar. Whatever the true difficulty in her obtaining the knight's ear was, she was confident that the fox would put his effort into it on her behalf.

Soon a note of hay and animal perspiration filled the air and Hanna's heart jumped in delight. Of course, they were going to the Arena! Oh, how she loved the sight of its high, colorfully painted towers from afar and how long she had dreamed of returning to that place. She had not been there since her mother had left and she remembered how the two of them had watched with glee as the majestic gryphons flew by their tribune, and how strangely melancholic her mother had seemed at some point. Hanna had not thought of that day in years, yet right now the sights, the sounds and the smells all were so vivid in her mind.

Not long after the wagon drove into the huge shadow of the titanic structure that was the Arena. Here, she knew, the greatest gryphon knights had competed for centuries, as they did today, once every four years, to hone their skills in battle and present their majestic mounts. The insides of her hands were sweaty and a grin came to her muzzle. The Arena!

The wagon passed a derelict gate and entered a broad, murky-smelling tunnel. It would have been dark except for the sky-lights that were incorporated in the structure in regular intervals. After a while the tunnel branched out and branched out again until Hanna had lost any orientation. Yet the wagon did not slow even once nor did the horses stir in this unnatural environment. Eventually they drove through another gate into a room somewhere deep within the labyrinth and stopped.

"Well, here we are." The fox forced a nervous smile onto his lips. "After you, madams." The room was fitted to be used as a stable, with stray on the floor and departments for the horses. Balls of hay lay to the one side and riding instruments covered the other walls. Next to a flimsy-looking wooden door on the opposite side of the room an old female ferret in dirty stable hand attire sat on a footstool and watched the newcomers with a frown. As soon as he had jumped down from the wagon, the fox went straight to her.

"Hello Martha. How is he?"

The ferret looked back at him with lackluster eyes. "The same."

"Yes, I thought so." The fox answered. Hanna watched him attentively and did not fail to notice how his shoulders sagged. He lowered his voice, but she still could pick up every word - one of the few things the race of mice could take pride in was acute hearing. "Let's hope we get lucky this time, it's really starting to get difficult."

Then he straightened himself and the phoney smile returned to his lips. "My madams, if you would be so nice as to follow me and good Martha here." All of the sudden the wolves became quiet and tense and looked at each other for a moment before they stepped forward. Hanna was about to follow, but the fox motioned her to stay. "Please, Miss Hanna, make yourself comfortable for a moment here. You will be shown a better seat as soon as the carriage has been taken care of and I promise I will be there shortly to sort you out."

They stepped through the door and, after the fox had closed it behind them, she found herself alone with the old male ferret who had driven the carriage. He did not acknowledge her existence in any way as he went on to unharness the horses.

The mouse awkwardly took place on the footstool next to the door and occupied herself with assessing the damage the previous night had dealt to her dress. It was a total loss as far as she was concerned. Would the knight think less of her because of the rags she was in? All of her knowledge about knights came from ballads and stories and judging by these they were nothing but gallant to even the most humble servant girl in need. But would they really turn out to be that way? After all those years being the Lady in the Dress, Hanna had little hope anyone would look further than her title and attire to assess her merit.

A sudden tirade of hisses and angry squawks penetrated through the door and shocked her out of her thoughts. She looked over to the ferret, who looked grimly back in the direction from which the noises originated, and then finally at her. "You know, why don't you see for yourself what all that hubbub is about. Would suit you fine after you took all that trouble to get here in the first place. Don't worry about a thing, we keep him locked away good. Wouldn't want our precious guests to be in any danger here."

Hanna got up and stared at the door from beyond which the noises continued unabated. Oh, she knew only one kind of creature that uttered sounds like these. And, oh, a part of her strained to run right towards it. But there was so much rage in them, so much anger... what were they doing over there? Was it really save? Curiosity finally tipped the scale and she threw the door open enthusiastically and stepped right through. After all, when would she ever get the chance to see a live gryphon again?

The corridor beyond was narrow and dark but for a small point of light at its end and what came in through the door behind her. The screeching forcefully reverberated from the walls. With each step Hanna could feel her courage fading. She had always wished to see one of these magnificent creatures up close, to study its features and to see for herself if there truly was a noble disposition in the gleam of its eyes, like her mother had told her so often. But in the middle of this gloomy, dank corridor beset by these horrible sounds, she could hardly believe that a creature capable of such fury could be anything but a wild and mindless beast. But still she pressed on.

At the end of the way an oil lantern hung from a hook in the wall, right next to a metal door. The shrieks were almost unbearable to her delicate ears as the mouse crept the last feet of the way - as if anyone might hear her over this racket under any circumstance.

With a throbbing heart she pushed the door open just a little. The room beyond was nearly as dark as the corridor, but her eyes had already adapted. The first thing she saw was the fat wolf, slumped against the wall, somehow managing to press her hands against her ears and suckle at her thumb at the same time. Hanna opened the door further and next she saw the fox and the old female ferret standing right in front of her, both of them busy looking towards the source of the shrieks that came from deeper inside.

She slid the door open another inch, until she could also see the other wolf, staring defiantly at the causer of the sounds and growling something unintelligible back at it.

Everything in there looked perfectly dreadful and unwelcoming and the thought forced itself on Hanna that she was definitely not needed in there, and that this was a place she would certainly not like to be in. Yet... those sounds... only a gryphon could make such sounds.

Before she had even finished that thought the mouse stepped into the room and intently looked into the dark. The left part of the room was separated by thick iron bars, and beyond it even less light reached. Yet she could just make out a huge shape that agitatedly moved back and forth behind those bars. It was larger than any horse she had ever seen and twice as wide. And it had enormous wings, that it spread threateningly with each shriek. Flickers of light reflected in its staring eyes and shimmered on its flustered feathers. Hanna held her breath, captured in sudden rapture. This was indeed a gryphon, and if she knew anything it was a mountain gryphon, the greatest of all kinds she had ever heard about - the preferred steed of the greatest knights. It kept prancing and shifting its gaze between the two wolves and cried beastly at each of them in turn.

Somehow the fox eventually noticed Hanna's presence and turned to her, obviously displeased to see her here. He shouted and waved until he got her attention, then gestured for her to get out. At least he began to, but his hand froze in mid-air. They looked at each other and both their eyes widened in surprise. From one moment to the next the gryphon had fallen silent and all that either one of them could hear was the ringing in their ears.

They turned their heads towards the creature in unison. The gryphon stood perfectly still and looked directly back at them. No, Hanna realized after a moment, that was not completely true. It was not looking directly at them. It was looking directly at her. She slunk deeper into the room and its head followed her on every step. The fox said something and the old wolf cursed for some reason, but she did not listen, did not care at all. Her senses simply refused to register anything except this creature in front of her and the only thoughts Hanna was capable of producing at that moment were along the lines of "What a big beak it has!" and "Oh, such a beautiful sparkle in his eyes." And when it drolly tilted its head and gurred - a noise that sounded like a cross between the shout of an owl and the purr of a gargantuan kitten - there was no holding her back and she hurried towards the cage.

Someone had inconveniently spanned a rope across the room at waist height a yard away from the bars. She tried to crawl beneath it, but a hand on her shoulder held her back. It was the old female ferret. She told Hanna something. Hanna nodded and brushed the hand aside and tried again to crawl under the rope. The ferret got hold of her shoulder a second time and jerked her back with strength. The gryphon hissed at her, as if it was a warning. "Too dangerous!" Were the only two words of the ferret's shouting that managed to get through to the mouse.

"Yes, yes..." Hanna sighed and resigned to sit on the floor. It was cold and hard and some of the straw that laid around stung her bottom through the rips and holes in her battered dress. She did not care. Each new feature of the gryphon she could discern in the gloom, each of his movements were a new magical marvel for her, and to her delight the creature seemed to watch her with just the same giddy excitement. She began to croon to it "Hi, I am Hanna. What is your name? Don't worry, nobody here has told me theirs either. I've never seen a gryphon from so close and you are such a beauty. I think you are a boy gryphon, aren't you? You look like a boy to me." And so on. From time to time the gryphon would gurr or chirp and the mouse would extensively giggle in return and then continue to whisper sweetly to him.

She was oblivious to anything else that happened around her. She did not notice that the old wolf threw a tantrum and that the two canines were eventually led away by the ferret. And of course she did not notice that the fox intently watched her, at times his brow smoothed by a thoughtful expression, at times furrowed just as much as before.

Eventually the mouse stirred and the fox took the chance to step up to her. "Miss Hanna, may I have a word with you?" She turned to him, her cheeks ablaze and a wide grin on her muzzle, and nodded.

She walked slowly and rather clumsily. The fox kept close behind her, holding his hands up but carefully avoiding to touch her, and lead her on with concise commands where to turn. Once in a while the gryphon chirped melodically behind them and each time Hanna turned and sighed wistfully.

The fox did not take her far, just around two corners and up a soft slope, but it still took them long enough until they reached a sparsely equipped dining room. He closed the thick wooden door behind them, all but locking out the noises of the gryphon. Then he seated her on one side of the table that dominated the chamber, fixed her a glass of brandy and took place across from her. The mouse blinked dazed and smiled at him. Yet above all she looked so very tired. He recommended she take a sip several times before she gathered what he wanted her to do. It succeeded in bringing Hanna's wits back eventually.

"That was a gryphon," she whispered and looked at the fox in utter disbelief. "Since I can remember I always wanted to see a gryphon up close. By all means I cannot call this day but the best of my life." Her voice turned monotonous.. "However... with everything that has happened it has such a surreal appeal to it."

"What has happened to you, Miss Hanna? And for that matter, just who are you?" The fox inquired.

She shook her head. "I would really rather explain myself to your knight, if that would be possible at all."

The fox nodded, then sucked in his breath and laid back his ears. He opened his mouth and closed it, then opened it again. "There is one matter that I need to discuss with you and depending on your answer there might be some time-consuming arrangements ahead, so I'd love to get at it right away." She looked at him quizzically. He hesitated. "I, I just, it's just I want you to know, to remember that you force me here... you forced yourself on me... I didn't want to take you here at all and you just... you know what I mean?"

Hanna moved his words back and forth in her mind until they made some sort of sense to her. Indeed, her first impression on him must have been grim. "I understand. Please let me express my most heartfelt exculpation at the grief my demeanor must have caused you. I have not been in my own mind as of late. But in my defense, I have recently been subjected to extremely excruciating influences when perchance I found your notice and it appeared to me the only route I could take to better my lot. I will explain further in the presence of your knight if it is at all right with you. But please, continue with your inquiry."

The fox shifted uneasy on his bench during her speech and remarked, rather subdued, "You are very well versed." He paused, then started again. "There is just no way to say this so that it sounds sane, you know, so I'll just spit it right out. We have been looking for someone to..." he trailed off and averted his eyes.

Obviously he decided to take a less direct approach regardless. "Do you know anything at all about intercourse?"

She looked at him dumbfounded. "What a queer question. Well, of course.", Hanna answered, though at a complete loss what he could possibly be getting at. "I have witnessed the procreation of quadrupedal horses and canines on a few occasions."

"Good, good. Just checking. You know, there are ways... ok, I will tell you this way. When Jonathan matured..."

Hanna interrupted him with a surge of excitement in her voice "Jonathan? That is the name of the gryphon, is it not? That means you must be with Knight Balthazar of Cloudfall Keep! I get to know so preciously little, but I have heard that Jonathan has not appeared in the tournaments for years. Was he sick?"

The fox stared at her with a pained expression. "Yeah... very observant of you. Irregardless, about Jonathan. When he first matured there was a certain maid, who... well, she had intercourse with him." His eyes flitted anxiously across her face, but her expression stayed rather empty. "Aren't you supposed to be shocked by this?", he probed puzzled.

Had his words stirred anything in her? At this point Hanna did not know herself, it just appeared to her that with every passing hour the world around her became more and more absurd. "Oh... yes, indeed, that should shock me, I believe. Maybe I am currently somewhat numbed, but I also have never even considered the possibility. It positively does not appear to be practical." After a moment of thought she added, "Just what could have possessed her? I mean, what benefits could anyone hope to gain from such an act?" She watched the fox, who visibly struggled with this conversation. She found that nearly as odd as what he told her. He had not appeared to want her to be outraged at this unlikely revelation, but her calmness seemed to be troubling to him nonetheless.

"Well," he caught himself, "It can be pleasurable. But a lot of preparation and long training is needed before that." He continued before Hanna could even begin to wonder what kind of training he could possibly mean. "But arguably, it might have been foremost a sign of greatest affection. The maid was very fond of the gryphon."

That did cause something to stir in Hanna. "What you mean to say is, she loved the gryphon? As man and woman should each other in matrimony?"

The fox nodded and a hint of a smile played on his muzzle. "At least she was very dedicated. She spent most of her adult life with him. Thirty years from what I gathered."

"Oh my..." Just what was it that dug into her composure like that? "So, Jonathan is a senior gryphon then?"

"You don't know? Gryphon's do not age the way we do. They grow up and then they just stay adult for a very long time. I've heard of forest gryphons that lived for two hundred years and mountain gryphons get even older than that. Jonathan is in the prime of his years, so to speak."

Hanna thought about the ballads that had taught her most she knew about the gryphons. Indeed, she had been confused when in some of them a grandchild would inherit a mount from his grandfather who had ridden it for all his life. But she had dismissed that as hyperbole and embellishments. Who would have thought that could have been the truth! "So, what happened then?"

"The maid died two years ago. About that time... for now let's just say some other unfortunate events also happened that changed the life of Jonathan for the worse. Soon after her death he became unsettled and easily enraged, to the point where he couldn't be used for any purpose at all. Don't ask how we even managed to bring him here! His keepers, the ferrets that you have met earlier, tried to find a replacement for the maid in the hope it would calm him down, but instead he lashed out at any stranger that he laid eyes on. Like you've seen with those two wolves earlier."

"But he did not lash out at me.", she noted.

"Yes.", the fox emphasized, then stared at the mouse intently.

Hanna was not dumb, she plainly understood what he was getting at. At least she registered it, but the thought just wandered around in her mind disconnected from any feeling or context. "I see," she finally said. "So... Perex Ale... it means that those two wolves... they actually came here to..."

"Pealex Alae, yes. It's a phrase of the ancient emperial tongue. You call someone that who agrees to have intercourse with a gryphon for money. Those two were considering such an arrangement. Wolves, bears, big cats, those naturally sturdy creatures can get used to gryphons more easily generally."

"And if Jonathan would not have lashed out at them and one of them had... had become accepted as Pealex Alae, what then?"

"That depends on what her wishes would have been. If she wanted to just gain some quick coins on the side, that would have been acceptable. But I hoped I would find someone to return with Jonathan to the Keep to, well, keep him company for a more prolonged period of time." As soon as he had finished that response, the fox was startled by an afterthought. "Oh, no no no. I see what you must be thinking. Please, I could not live with myself if I had pressured you like that. Of course you can see the knight irregardless of anything we just spoke about. And if you need to leave the city behind I am sure the ferrets could slip you in as a stable hand, they have their plates really full and could use someone else that gets along with Jonathan... you know, in a purely... in a purely normal sort of way."

Hanna nodded and stared back at the him, lost in thought. Her mind was still blank about what he had brought up and no definite feeling stirred inside her about it - she was neither disgusted nor incited. But still, there was one question. It presented itself rather as an academical matter really. Nothing of any importance, but still she would regret if she did not satisfy her curiosity. But then again, she was at a loss how to address such a subject.

She hesitated. If it had not been for the way the fox squirmed awkwardly on the other side of the bench, she might have just thanked him for his frankness and graciously took his offer to decline his inquiry right away. "One thing is for certain, you ARE a very rude man." The fox's ears folded back and he looked at her dumbfounded. "After all you make me a most indecent proposal before you even had the most common decency to properly introduce yourself."

"I... my name is Rupert.", he stammered.

"And what is it you do Rupert? You implied that the ferrets were Jonathan's keepers without including yourself, so how do you fit in?" She felt sorry for him, he did not deserve to be grilled like that. But maybe, Hanna reasoned, if she could assert herself she would find the courage to ask him what was actually on her mind.

"I... I...", he squirmed and blushed under his fur. Then he tensed up all of the sudden and cast a defiant glance at her. She had not anticipated that kind of response. How very odd that he would be so sensitive about revealing the most basic matters about himself! After another moment he just spit the words at her. "I am a gryphon touched. That's what you call... what you would call someone like the maid who spent her life with Jonathan.

"The ferrets found me early in their search for a new mate for him. Luckily, or they would probably be in big trouble by now. I helped them find others like those wolves... like me." He clenched his fists and crouched into a defensive position and stared at her as if expecting the delicate mouse to come at him.

Hanna silently rung for her composure. She had not intended to provoke him like this. She looked uneasily down and about herself before she dared to meet his eyes. "You..." she began and noticed how he tensed up even more, "You should stand up for your convictions." She managed to keep her voice firm. "It does not behoove a good man to be sore about his place in the world."

She gave him time to let her words sink in. Suddenly she felt terribly alone. Just what kind of place had she intruded in? Where was all of this going? Hanna occupied herself with some ripped cloth that hung from her dress. Once again she began to notice the toll the night outside had taken on her. She was hungry and thirsty and tired and part of her just wanted to get back into the miserable routine of her old life.

"I'm sorry." the fox eventually whispered, even quieter than he had been before. She looked back up at him and waited, but he made no attempt to explain himself at all. He just sat there and looked at her sheepishly.

It was now or never. Her running start had fallen short, but somehow it helped to know they both were miserable. "Rupert, there is just one thing I would fancy to find out. After all, this might be the only possibility for me to learn about such an outlandish topic that I will never..." she faltered. 'Will'? Right now she did not know anything about what 'will' happen to her, not even what might happen. Her life had fallen back behind her. Surely there were many people currently engaged in seeking her out to bring her back to it - she shuddered at the thought - but right now the future held nothing but fog. And of all the things she could be doing at this critical junction in her life, Hanna felt most compelled to ask a question such as "How would it work?"

Rupert stared at her in surprise. " I mean," she explained, "how would a person of such little sturdiness and no expertise in these ventures go about to have intercourse with a gryphon like Jonathan? I cannot imagine how it would be possible to approach the subject in a manner analogue to what a mare and a stallion are accustomed to."

Rupert nodded and leaned forward. Much of his insecurity fell from him as he answered her with a new tone of seriousness in his voice, like he was an artisan about to pass on to the mouse an important lesson about his craft. "To do it like mare and stallion would be fatal for someone unprepared, make no mistake about that. There are ways, but they take time and discipline. Instead we would restrain Jonathan, so a person like you could, well, see what he was like and try out what was comfortable for her and for him and if things did not work out she might just scratch his head and walk away.

"But does that mean... are you actually considering my proposal?" He added incredulously.

"I am not certain at all. To be perfectly frank, right now I am too numb and exhausted to form any definite opinion about this matter. But earlier, in his presence... it appears to me now like I had been not myself at all then, as if I was someone else. I think she... me... that part of me, I reckon, might be susceptible to... attempt..." she trailed off.

Rupert nodded. Had his eyes a new spark to them that they had missed before? He began to rise. "As I said at the beginning, there are quite some logistics involved to get Jonathan ready. He still has to be fed and we will have to give him something to calm him down for the process which will have to take its effect first... it will probably take until early in the afternoon. So... I'd better get to work."

"One more issue... I desperately require three things or I might well collapse long before then - food, water and a bedstead of any kind."

He blinked at her, then laughed. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry, I am a terrible host."

Hours passed. Rupert had brought her stale bread and salty sausages and fruit that would have been disposed of at her house days ago. The mouse had eaten like a horse, then drunk more than her fill of murky water from a carafe. She had never known what it felt like to be really hungry before. Neither thirsty nor tired for that matter. Then he had taken her to a small room filled with several bunks with straw-filled mattresses that were hard and stingy and covered with linen that was rough and scraping. She had fallen asleep as soon as she had laid down.

The dreams soon set in. Hanna remembered incoherent moments of running through dark and narrow alleys from the always approaching sound of hooves and angry shouts. A small light flickered in front of her that she knew she had to follow, but time and again she lost sight, and with a pang of terror she suddenly found herself standing in front of a sinister gothic-style manor. She heard raging voices from inside and the rattle of someone trying to force the front door open. She turned to flee but found herself face to face with a towering cloaked figure. From beneath an ornamental hood a reptilian eye stared at her. "Ha-sa-sa-saaa."

She woke up screaming and flailing wildly about herself. She sat up straight and looked around in panic, unable to remember where she was. Again and again she fixated the door, expecting for some reason her betrothed to open it any moment and grin at her with his cruel gaze.

A familiar call from outside brought Hanna back to reality. She stood up on clumsy legs and stumbled across the room to pull back the simple drapes that covered the only window. Scattered clouds covered the otherwise blue sky. The sun was out and up high. In the distance there was a group of gryphons in the air, clothed in festive apparel dyed in crest colors. She could barely make out the forms of the knights on their backs but for the light reflected by their armor. And even further beyond she saw a small part of the city walls of Aquila.

The mouse sank back on the uncomfortable bed again and stared at the ceiling. Outside of the city. For a moment she tried to recollect what had transpired during the previous night, but her mind jerked back from the memory with a sharp pang. Instead more recent events came back to her. The wolves, Rupert, the ferrets, Jonathan. Oh, no, no, no! What had she agreed to do? But then again - she vividly remembered the powerful surge of bliss that had overcome her when she had first seen him.

Hanna knew, she would like nothing more than to meet Jonathan again, as soon as could possibly be arranged. But then again, she did not 'feel aroused' about him, as she had heard a maid call it once. The mouse had 'felt aroused' before, for a messenger boy from another family of nobles that had visited her father's house several times a few years ago. But then again the knights in ballads did not 'feel aroused' for the ladies they would by the end of the story have rescued and married. At least that was what she inferred - such a carnal impulse would surely ruin all the romantic. But then again he was a gryphon and not a knight. And in any case she would be the lady and ladies generally swooned at first sight of their savior. But then again... she just found it hard to decide to resolve this... this miscommunication. It was just beyond reason.

At least it gave her something to worry about... something palpable - Hanna giggled weakly at her own pun - something she could face. Yet, actually, she had no idea what to expect. Rupert had said they would restrain Jonathan. What did he even mean by that? Considering the reason for doing so in the first place, he would have to get the gryphon into some kind of bonds that would, well, allow her access between his hind legs. The only way she could come up with was if he tied his limbs together and lay him on his back. She pushed her arms and legs together and attempted how much she could wiggle about. Oh dear - if Jonathan would be able to squirm this much he could well just roll over her. And the fox could not just chain him to the floor now, could he?

And in any case - did a gryphon even resemble a horse or dog in that aspect? Would he even have a shaft and testicles? She had once overheard a falconer explain that birds did not have such equipment at all, and was a gryphon not essentially a bigger bird? But then again his back half resembled a mammal and his genitalia would certainly be located there. Yet, even if he was comparable to a stallion - what was she supposed to do with him? Rupert had told her, intercourse as she had seen it horses perform would not work. Well, she reasoned, the males she had seen all had moved back and forth quite eagerly, so it must have something to do with... friction. Indeed, that somehow seemed plausible. And perchance the female organs had some special properties as well.

She had explored herself before, an act which had caused her abundant feelings of shame and self-consciousness, especially since once in a while she craved to repeat the experience and once in a while she did. Nobody had explicitly forbidden her to touch herself - it was just so very ungenteel, so very unlike what the Lady in the Dress could possibly be allowed to do.

In any case - she knew how warm and slick her folds could become - maybe that was an agreeable feeling for a male creature as well. Was there a way for her to recreate that? She remembered she had once seen a dog lick himself between his legs - but no, that was just gross! As a matter of fact, all of these thoughts about dogs and horses were so weird to her, so alien. But then again, Hanna had to concede, she had never been a dog person nor a horse person.

She had been a gryphon person. How often had she daydreamed that a gryphon would come, behind which she could hide from her dresses and her family and her betrothed? Yes, it was a pleasant thought to actually get to be close to one, to stroke his feathers and look into his eyes. And to think that she of all people could do something to help a gryphon! No matter how, in a purely innocent way that just felt so chivalrous, so right. But then again - she had been thoroughly and harshly taught that there was nothing pure or innocent about intercourse. It was a resource that belonged to her family and that she was certainly not at liberty to arbitrarily pass out. After all, it was the needle and thread that great bloodlines were tailored with and that tied alliances together.

The image of her father appeared in her mind. The lady of Lakebrand missing! He would have them turn the city on its head to find her. Would he expect Hanna to get by the guards at the city gates on her own after last night? If so, would he think to look in the Arena? Her father knew how fond she was of gryphons. How could he forget to seek her here? Hanna's stomach cramped at the thought. She should have pressed to see the knight right away, but she had just been at the very end of her strength. In any case the Arena was huge and perhaps her hosts would have the wits to keep her presence a secret - after all, by the looks of it they had bribed the guards to get her out.

In retrospect Hanna wondered why, there must have been a good reason to go through so much trouble to get a few streetwalkers out of the city walls unnoticed. It was not like Aquila was a prison. Not for the common people. As far as she knew at least. Her case was certainly an exception. Her father had taken great care to spread the mouse's description among the guards after that incident when she was twelve. And he regularly informed her that he had updated it. For six years. He sure was dedicated to her safety. She giggled madly.

After a while the door was shoved open. Hanna jumped up with a start. The old female ferret stood in the doorway and sneered at her. "Fixed you a bath, lass. Y'oughta be clean. Good for th'nerves, too." She nodded dumbfounded and got up. Why were her hands shaking so - she just couldn't seem to hold them still. She tried to occupy them by adjusting her battered dress. How dirty and ragged it was. Surely her negligence to disrobe before she went to sleep must have thoroughly soiled the bed. A pang accompanied that thought - how far had she sunken that her own presence had become a pollutant! With a sigh she gave up on her dress, since her hands could do little in their current state anyway. She shot a last glance at the bedstead, where between the bunk and the wall she had hidden her purse, which the mouse had meticulously held on to through all the ordeals of this morning. It would probably be safer hidden away than on her person. At least she hoped so. Then she turned to follow the ferret, who was already wagging her foot impatiently.

As they went down a wide corridor, Hanna tried to start off a conversation. "My name is Hanna. I am pleased to meet you." There came no reaction from the ferret. "If I remember correctly, I heard you being addressed as Martha, am I correct?"

The ferret turned to her with a sullen look and growled, "That'd be Misses Upperthorn for you."

Now, there certainly could be no reason to treat her that sorely! Hanna came to a halt and put on the best firm voice she could muster at the moment. "I assumed you would be happier to find someone willing to help you in your unique crisis."

Misses Upperthorn spat out a bitter laugh and stemmed her hands against her sides. "There's been no shortage of 'helpers'. Just one gryphon too picky for his own good."

"Be that as it may," she began, but her voice already began to falter again. "Are you not at least glad that Jonathan has... reacted positively to me?" Come to think of it, how much did Jonathan's reaction mean? Had he found her endearing in whatever gryphon terms he had judged her by - or had it just been a fluke of his moods?

"Glad? You're just gonna break his heart, lass. You think you have what it takes to rut with a gryphon? Really, you are gonna be running as fast as your dainty feet can carry you, when you find out what it takes.", the ferret retorted. Hanna sighed miserably and walked on subdued.

She would have preferred to go the rest of the way in silence, but considering her situation that was a luxury she just could not afford. "Do you happen to know if Rupert had any fortune in contacting Sir Balthazar on my behalf?"

Misses Upperthorn grunted. "I'm no messenger for no lad. You can well enough wait to hear it from him later." But as she glanced at the mouse, who shuffled after her ragged and gloomy and helpless, something about her hit a less sore spot in the ferret. She added. "But what I've heard, the knight went to the city early today and he's expected back before dinner. The lad went and told his man that he needed a chat later on. So, guess you'll see Balthazar some time afterwards."

Hanna nodded and found herself smiling vaguely. Good news! "Thank you", she whispered.

"Bah!"

But there was something else on her mind and for a moment she thought about how she could address the issue without sounding too suspicious. "So... have you heard about that missing noble person, Misses Upperthorn? I wonder if they will think to look for her here."

The ferret laughed sourly. "Slim chance, lass. Jonathan's disposition has gotten us a whole wing for ourselves. Not that that was any trouble of course, half the Arena stands empty nowadays on the best tournaments. It's a damn shame really. If some city folks want to come nose around these parts they better bring supper, they're gonna be lost in here for a while. Worried about getting company during the nookie? Or do you fancy you could be taken for nobility? Should've better cared for that dress of yours, it looked like it was nice once."

"It had always been too tight.", Hanna retorted.

They arrived in a washkitchen shortly. A big tub had been placed in the middle of the room and filled halfway with water. The tub looked greasy and the water murky. Hanna bent her brow at the underwhelming bath. But, she reasoned, she was way dirtier than whatever was in there, so she would probably come out cleaner after all.

With the help of the ferret the mouse cast of the remains of her shirtwaist. As the two women worked on the battered fabric, Hanna found one last question that kept nagging at her. "Misses Upperthorn, could you please tell me how many applicants you had?"

"You got lucky that I am a good counter. With you we had twenty whores who said they would do the deed."

Hanna opened her mouth in indignation. Whore! But after another thought she closed it again in misery. Yes, whore, that was what she was degraded to. What she degraded herself to. Why would she do that? Why could she not just open her stubborn muzzle and proclaim that she was sorry for their inconvenience, but she had found upon further reflection that this arrangement was a most horrible idea?

The mouse silently got in the tub. The water was lukewarm at best and the curd soap in it itched on her skin. Misses Upperthorn watched her shamelessly all the while. "At least you must've taken better care of your fur than the others. Until late that is."

The ferret then got to work on the tougher stains that had taken hold in Hanna's pelt with a scratchy washing brush. Her methods were rude but effective and she kept them up when she later helped the mouse to dry herself and when she went on to bring the ruffled parts of her fur into shape with a stingy wire brush. Hanna squeaked and yelped under her rough care and at the end had tears in her eyes. But for the first time in what appeared to her like forever she felt clean again. What a single night in the streets could do to one, she found herself wondering, before her mind jerked away from the topic.

At that moment she noticed an issue she had hitherto completely overlooked. "Oh my, what am I going to wear?"

Misses Upperthorn handed her a large blanket to wrap herself in and sneered. "You think Jonathan cares much about fancy dresses, lass?"

"No..." she had however not expected to have to face him in such flimsy clothing. What if it fell off? Wait, why was she even worried about that? He was not an anthro boy, who would leer at her and then go around and tell his friends. But still... She sighed and let that thought slide for now before the ferret would become impatient enough to fall back into her sore mood. "But what about after? I do not assume it is customary to have an audience with a knight in this attire."

The ferret chuckled. "Tell you what, lass. You give me that pile of rags you came in and I let you have some of mine. You won't be looking that noble for sure but its better than nothing."

"That would be grand! Could I please trouble you to get me a set presently?"

The ferret's mine suddenly darkened. "One step after the other. Now you look the part to meet your customer and its about time, too." She ushered Hanna into the hallway before she had any chance to protest. The stone floors were so cold against her bare feet and small pebbles painfully wedged themselves into her bare soles.

But those discomforts all but vanished from her mind as the realization grew that she was on the way to see Jonathan. Inside of her a pale anxiety, that twisted her stomach and tightened her chest, fought against a feeling of euphoria, that urged her to start running towards the gryphon and throw herself at him, to hug and hold him and never let go. But to have intercourse with him... still no emotion came to claim ownership of that concept, neither positive nor negative. Only a rising concern followed in its tracks what that would make of her. A Pealex Alae - a whore, like Misses Upperthorn had frankly called it, a fallen lady, a perverted creature? Or... what did Rupert label himself as? ...a gryphon touched, whatever that really meant. Was there even a difference that mattered?

She blinked in surprise as the ferret yanked her out of her thoughts with an impatient "In here!". They entered another stable room, this one bigger than the one she had arrived in this morning. The wall across her was dominated by a barn door that stood slightly ajar. In front of it Hanna spotted the old male ferret that had driven the carriage standing together with Rupert. They were talking to a third ferret, a boy about her own age. All of them had bared chests, and their fur was ruffled and moist with sweat.

"...so you would end up putting all of the load on only two anchorage points. That's why I figured that, in this case, we were better off to trust the upper beams, since we had straps to spare. Oh, Miss Hanna, we have been expecting you!" Rupert broke his explanation and turned to the mouse. His eyes sparkled and he mustered an excited smile. "Have you rested well?"

Hanna noticed that scars similar to the ones she had seen on his face and arms earlier also covered his torso. Especially three wide parallel cuts that ran all the way across his chest made her flinch. What poor fortune lay in the fox's past that had left him with these markings? It appeared to her, that he knew exactly what was on her mind by the way he looked back at the her. Somehow Hanna felt like she had intruded on something most private. She pried her eyes away and instead chose to keep up some reputable courtesy. "Good day to you all. My name is Hanna, as I am sure you all know by now, but I would be delighted to learn yours."

The old male ferret took her delicate hand in his bony grasp and shook it firmly. "I'm Harold. I guess you know my wife Martha already. And this here is our grandson, Fredric." Harold was much calmer and of brighter disposition than he had been this morning - Hanna found him actually charming right now. His torso also had a fair share of scars, though most of them were small and roundish, except for one grim slash all across his stomach. "Peasant Uprising veteran.", he soberly informed her.

She shook Fredrics hand next. He had a sweaty palm and from time to time threw a sheepish glance at the body of the mouse. She felt rather self-conscious about that, but as Rupert cut the courtesies short she quickly forgot about it in the light of what lay just ahead. "So, while we are young. First, I arranged for us to have an audience later with Sir Balthazar. I would like to talk with you about a few details about that beforehand, but that has time." She thanked him for his efforts and gave Misses Upperthorn credit for having already informed her.

"So..." he continued with barely kept excitement in his voice. "We have prepared Jonathan. You know, you still don't have to do this... if you just want to turn around now or just go in and pet him... well, I just need you to know it's your decision and you shouldn't throw your life away to please some strangers. It's just... if it's not for you..."

Misses Upperthorn interrupted him as he began to trail off. "Bah! Enough talk, if she doesn't get it yet you won't make her with your babbling."

Rupert nodded and sighed. "Anything you want to say now?"

Of course there was! "Tell them that you won't do it, that you can't do it!" she screamed at herself in her mind. "They will still let you spend time with Jonathan. Everything is going to be fine, there is no reason for all of this! Just say no." Yet there also was a different message in Hanna's head, one that did not relay itself by thoughts, but she could clearly perceive it anyway. She did not completely understand what part of her it originated from nor even what its ultimate meaning was. But in the end it caused her to remain silent and just shake her head awkwardly.

"Ok then. So... Jonathan should not give you any trouble as he is. But if you notice that he gets angry or scared or irritated in any way: Run! Irregardless of what you think you know, you have no idea what a gryphon can do if he gets wild and Jonathan does have a track record of getting wild at the drop of a hat. So... just be careful, ok?" Hanna nodded uneasily.

"Oh, and just one more thought," Rupert went on. "It's really just a suggestion... if you are considering to go through with this in earnest... you might want to lose the blanket. You see, Jonathan will be at his most exposed and vulnerable in there and it would be a nice gesture if you were willing to meet him on somewhat equal terms. But really, that's just a thought, not really needed at all.

"Oh, and lastly I might check in on you," he added as a byline. "If you can, don't make a big thing out of it, I just might need to see if everything is all right."

Hanna kept on nodding and felt more and more burdened by all the details and concerns of the impending situation. And she more and more came to the appraisal that she had not given the matter enough thought at all. And yet... just why could she not retreat? It was beyond her!

An awkward silence set in. What was there to say in a moment like this? Rupert might just have seen her off with a "Good luck!" or something like that, but the fox just looked at her inquiringly. On the other hand, this was her crucial test. And although no one had told Hanna - and Rupert had gone out of his way to keep her attention from it - she realized that this was also the decisive moment in the quest all of these people had shared for many months. They had found twenty whores, twenty applicants, in two years since Jonathan's last lover died and only one of them he had not lashed out at right away. Such a chance might never come again for them. Surely, if she had been a chivalrous knight in a ballad she would have found some dramatic words, revolving around some concept like 'destiny' or 'hope'. But no matter how hard she tried to come up with something, it ended up sounding corny and did not reflect how she felt at all.

"I am going to see Jonathan now." Hanna simply announced, then turned around and strode straight towards the barn door.

She could feel their eyes on her back as she pulled the heavy door open, the tension palpable as she stepped through. This was it. She felt so confused and anxious. But she knew that right around the corner Jonathan waited for her and she would go and meet him. There was nothing left to say, no fitting farewell wishes that she could think of that would make this any easier for her.

"Have fun!" Frederic hollered behind her. She turned back to them and all of the sudden a wide grin forced itself onto her muzzle and she strained to suppress a sudden urge to chuckle madly. After a moment she managed to voice "Thank you!" then she shut the door behind her. That did nicely.

Here she was. The last window of opportunity to gracefully avoid her meeting with Jonathan had closed with the door behind her. For a moment Hanna rung with Rupert's last words, then she purposefully ripped the blanket from her body and threw it into a corner. That would not change anything, she reassured herself. Yet, as she felt the cool air touch her lithe rodent body and it caressed her breasts and thighs unhindered she felt so very self-conscious, so insecure and vulnerable. But still... with a deep breath she turned the last corner and stepped into the barn-like structure deep inside the Arena.

The barn smelled of hay and musk. It was bright as light filtered in through skylights at its sides, but it still took Hanna several moments to grasp what she was seeing. In the center of the barn there was Jonathan, but in how pitiful a situation. Rupert had not exaggerated when he had said that he would be at his most vulnerable.

The mighty gryphon had been tied up thoroughly. He stood on his feline hind legs, which were held in position by a massive spreader bar, while his chest was resting on top of his avian forelegs. Several thick metal chains ran over his upper back and were fixated with sturdy hooks on the floor. Several more chains ran under his belly and those were fastened high up on the walls and on broad wooden beams beneath the ceiling. All of them had been pulled tense with a system of winches. His wings were held tight against his body with thick, black leather straps that ran around his torso. His beak, as well as the talons of his front legs, which would otherwise have peeked out from under his chest, were wrapped with blankets of the same sturdy leather. Above the surreal scenery the gryphon's long, slender tail stood up like a candle, bound to a beam by heavy ropes. It appeared to Hanna that the gryphon could not possibly move a single muscle strapped down like this.

"Are... are you all right?" was the only thing she could think of to say. He just looked at the mouse and she looked back intently. His eyes. She had only seen schemes of his eyes in the half-dark of their first encounter. But here the light was ample to look into his eyes in earnest and for a while she just stood there and watched them. Oh, how many things she sensed in them, vivid intelligence, passion, anticipation, desire.

Instinctively she tried to cover her naked form with her arms, but still she could not avert her gaze from his. Eventually he gurred lowly and Hanna was hit by such a sweet pang. She had not realized how much she missed hearing that sound.

Still, she felt rather subdued. The giddiness she had fallen victim to this morning had not returned and regardless of all the chains and straps, this time there were no bars to keep them separated. With her breath held the mouse tip-toed carefully closer to his hulking form, which would dwarf even the proudest equine, until she stood right in front of him. Her heart pounded in her chest like a panicky bird, but still she just did not give in to the urge to run away.

Very slowly she went down on her knees, then extended a shivering hand towards the gryphon. Her nervous, probing touch was quickly answered by a friendly chirp. Hanna sighed in relief and finally remembered to take a breath again. After all of Rupert's warnings a part of her had nearly expected him to just shuffle off his restraints somehow and mangle her as she stood.

She went on to scritch the side of his head and take in all the colors of his feathers - red, green, azure blue, he was just so very beautiful to her. Especially those eyes, those cyan, alert, intelligent eyes.

"Oh Jonathan, what am I to do?", Hanna sighed. "If this was a fairy tale you would really be my savior. Because of you there had been a carriage to deliver me from my prison and because of you I now have a faint glimmer of hope for my future." The gryphon just patiently kept looking up to the mouse and contently submitted to her gentle touch. "But I had always assumed I would have my happy ever after with a knight... Oh, this whole idea is just so crazy, no lady could ever consider it, I am amazed any woman, however common, would consider it at all.

"But, within me there is this other me, this other Hanna. I somehow feel she would like to be with you and would not mind at all... Yet, is that even true? Perhaps it is just me, that glorifies your majestic frame as palpable symbol of my escape, my freedom. Breaking these fundamental boundaries with you - would that not just be a hedonistic fancy for me? Would that do honor to your true being?

"Oh, I wished I could just get to know you, to watch you and learn the secret language hidden in your every motion and the gaze of your eyes, to discern whether there truly rested a kindred soul within your bestial form that I could cherish - or whether you are little more than a mindless creature that only derives its chivalry from being used for chivalrous causes by its rider.

"But I am so very scared. There are people coming for me and I just know they will find me and when they do, that other Hanna will vanish again and I will vanish inside of fancy dresses and... and... I will never..." she trailed off as her body shuddered violently. The next thing she knew, she threw herself at the bound gryphon and bawled into the lush feathers of his back like a lost young.

She did not lose track of time, as the fair maidens in the ballads used to in such cases. Quite to the contrary the length between each of her heartbeats began to draw painfully long as she lay there. Surely Rupert would be roused by her sobbing any moment now and he would come and take her away from the gryphon's side. A part of her waited for him, to take this absurd choice off her back and let her graciously admit defeat. Another part dreaded his arrival.

But he did not come and eventually she cried no more. Absentmindedly her fingers found an occupation in exploring the gryphon's plumage, getting in touch with the different layers, from the large feathers on top, colorful and brilliant and firm to the soft and warm down close to his skin. Meanwhile Hanna's mind had flown far away to her vault of stories and poetry. Right now, one ballad in particular attracted her attention, but try as she might she could not remember. She knew it was one of those very old ones that bards would seldom sing today, but her mother would have known.

"It's about a princess, as most are I suppose," she began to speak and she was not sure if it was to herself or to the gryphon that patiently kept enduring his constraint position and her on top. "She was wandering by the great cliffs of the South coast one day, when a pack of feral wolves picked up her trail. Try as she might, she could not lose them and soon she was running as fast as she could from her pursuers. Eventually she became cornered on a precipice that hung above a great waterfall.

"I knew it by heart, but for the life of me I cannot remember the words now. She jumps so she will not get eaten by the wolves and as these things go I guess she dies anyway. But right now I understand what must have possessed her. There are such wolves on my heels that I have yet to find a crag I find scarier than them. Even one as majestic...", she trailed off. Yes, it actually did not fit her situation, as Rupert had assured her again and again. But still, she could not shake it, there was something about it, something she had forgotten that lingered as indefinite sentiment. After another minute she rolled off the back of the gryphon with a burning in her heart.

She knelt and bowed her head until her face was just an inch from the gryphon's. She looked him straight into the eye - that beautiful cyan eye - and whispered "Please, be gentle with me." Then, without any more ado Hanna kissed Jonathan on the cheek.

She stood back up and did her best to appraise the situation from a practical point of view. Then she giggled hysterically because of the sheer insanity. Eventually Hanna caught herself again with a sigh. "Just one step after the next until I lose the ground under my feet."

She began by stroking the firm outer plumage on his back, excess moisture reminding her where she had just risen from, and soon she was again caressing his soft down, her fingers nearly vanishing in the lush coat of feathers. Jonathan responded to this with short gurrs and his chains clattered as he vainly attempted to push his shoulder back against her touch.

Somewhat encouraged Hanna shifted her attention to his wing, stroking along its regal contours. His feathers were brighter there and shiny and some of them as long as her arm. The leather straps fixating them against his body made strained noises as he tried to flex the vast appendage. She sure hoped those restraints would hold right now, in the ballads gryphons could kill a man with just a flick of their wing. She scritched along the underside of it as she got her first good look at the back half of his body.

Short, stout fur, similar to a big cat's pelt, replaced the plumage around the middle of the gryphon's torso. His fur was gray with blue and orange markings strewn across it and Jonathan began to gurr again as she petted it. Because of his bound position his shoulders had reached just to the chest of the mouse , but standing on his hind legs she found his lower back to be a good bit above her head. She comfortably stroked his belly while standing upright. The pelt was softer there and he chirped contently at her touch.

With one hand on his underside and the other holding on to his hind leg for support, Hanna gathered her strength for her next step. "You know, I have dreamed of gryphons for all my life. I assume it is because you are so very strong and yet so chivalrous, at least that is how you are in the stories I know. I always turned to you in my fantasy when my life became especially grim. Also because you are such noble steeds. Maybe you would let me ride you some day?" She sighed and forced herself to kneel beside him.

"Oh my!" First she noticed the blue bit poking out of his swollen sheath. Behind that she saw his dangling orbs, each bigger than her fist. A powerful, musky smell radiated from the gryphon's crotch. Hanna felt it hard to concentrate.

Of course she had seen other genitalia before, on horses and dogs and some farm animals - all quadrupeds, mind you, she had been a lady after all - a few times erect or in use, too. But nothing had prepared her for this. As she looked at this particular set with a definite purpose in mind, her heart began to pound and her head to spin. Hanna suddenly noticed how nice his warm fur felt against her palm. With a surge of curiosity the mouse extended her arm for the head of the shaft that dangled out of its sheath right in front of her, but she stopped in mid-air, blushing. With a pang of shame she noticed how her folds moistened. Now she 'felt aroused'.

How very self-conscious Hanna was at that moment, kneeling there next to the creature, her fingers nearly touching his most private parts, and she so inexplicably attracted by them. Eventually her courage faded and she retracted her hand. Instead she hugged his leg and buried her face in his fur. Not even a village idiot would consider such a heinous act! Yet every thought, every look and odor intoxicated her, filled her with undeniable desire. "Oh, Jonathan..." she began and she would surely have found superb expressions to lament how the lust she felt only added to her predicament, but the words just failed her. All she could think of was how nice the short fur of his leg felt against her - her breast and belly, her thighs and her groin.

Before she realized it she began to rub herself against the gryphon's stout fur and her hands explored and kneaded the inside of his thigh. Jonathan responded by a series of exited chirps and his flesh shuddered under her hands.

Right then Hanna felt a vast wave of panic well up inside her. This was so very wrong, this was the exact opposite of what her life was supposed to be. Pictures of people from her past flashed up in her mind. Each of them would be so exceptionally disgusted if they saw her now. Then she thought of her mother. What would she think of her? She imaged her with a hurt look on her face, but all she would say was something like "Fight for your happiness, wherever you might find it." She had loved to express such dramatic sentiments.

And then - her mother would surely prefer to see her with Jonathan than with her betrothed - or in the clutches of her father or these people he had brought her to last night... she shivered and involuntarily pressed herself closer against the gryphon's leg. But by and by the pictures of her past faded away and were replaced by an overpowering feeling of safety, as if it radiated right out of the majestic form of the creature. Her mind cleared until there was only one thing left in it.

"Jonathan" Hanna whispered as she suddenly felt like she was falling and it filled her with a strange euphoria. The idle thoughts she had entertained earlier about dogs and horses returned as lewd fantasies about one gryphon. She welcomed every single one of them.

How his fur tingled against her lips as the mouse covered his leg in kisses. How warm and soft the inside of his thigh felt against her palms as she let them sneak higher and higher. How she quivered in excitement. And then she gasped as the back of her hand brushed against something firm and moist and she instantly knew what it had to be. Oh, she had to see!

Hanna slipped around his leg and stared at the changed view with her maw agape and her cheeks burning. Jonathan's shaft had left his sheath and hung free right in front of her. Its sheer size was dizzying. It was at least as long as a stallion's member, and yet it looked so very different. With a pounding heart she drank in all its details - the intricate blue-black texture, the greasy moisture it was covered in. The lower half was smooth except for veins that crept up on it like vines on a tower. Above that it featured four wide ridges which ran around the shaft like rings. And just beyond these the oval head throned, covered in rougher texture and armed with tightly fitted barbs.

It looked so alien, so unlike anything she had ever seen before. And yet everything about it thrilled her. Could she really learn to be to him like a mare to a stallion? Hanna quivered at the thought. Oh, she could not possibly wait another moment to get acquainted! She quickly slipped under the belly of the gryphon and nestled her back against the bottom of his chest. Jonathan's stomach arched above the mouse like a dome as she sat down onto the leather blanket, that was wrapped around his front claws, which poked out from under his chest, forced as he was to rest the front half of his body on his front legs. His musky smell filled the air down here and Hanna took it in with deep breaths.

Right in front of her hung his member. Without another moment of hesitation she reached out and tenderly her fingers made contact. How slick and hot that strange appendage was, and how wonderful each touch felt. She sent her hands on a delightful expedition along its length. The lower half was indeed as smooth to the touch as it had looked like, yet the flesh beneath the surface was deliciously firm. As she traced one of the larger veins with her fingertip she could feel his quickened heartbeat.

Jonathan reacted to her fondling with deep, rumbling gurrs, that Hanna could feel as much as hear through her back as she leaned against the underside of his chest. But when her hands probed further and she first touched the ridges he uttered an excited chirp and his member twitched against her exploring fingers. Hanna giggled, "Oh, is that your sweet spot?". She kneaded one of them gently between two fingers. It was still soft and so very warm and the great frame of the gryphon quivered under her caresses.

Yet there was still more to see. She let her fingers slide all the way down to the head of Jonathan's member and softly rubbed the flesh between the barbs. It was rough and moist and shuddered slightly under her touch, even as Jonathan reverted back to uttering somewhat less ecstatic gurrs. The barbs themselves were like small, fleshy spines that narrowed to somewhat blunted points. She lifted one cautiously with a finger and found she could move it around up to an angle. As soon as she let go of it, it sunk back to its old state tightly fitted against the head. An idle thought passed through Hanna's mind if these would not hurt if they stung her inside, but she quickly swept it aside. Rupert would surely teach her how to handle those. Also, there was a much more pressing issue at hand.

Now that she had come to know Jonathan's shaft a little better, she figured it was high time to give it a more cordial greeting. A devilish grin came to her muzzle - she had just the right idea for the occasion. It still drooped enough for her to lean forward and press her body against the upper side of the gryphon's shaft. Oh, the feeling of the smooth part sliding between her breasts alone was titillating. And yet the sensation of each inch of his member against her chest and her belly down to her waist added its unique part to the experience.

"Everything about you is just so beautiful.", she breathed and planted a gentle kiss near the base of Jonathan's shaft. A bit of the slimy moisture on it clung to her lips. She licked it off of them. The taste was tangy and musky and oh so sultry.

Now the time had come to see if Jonathan would like what she had in store for him. With one arm Hanna hugged his member and drew it into the cleft between her breasts. Then she began to rub her whole body against the shaft, slowly at first but soon her rhythm quickened. Her grunts and moans mixed with Jonathan's gurrs and chirps and with the creaking of chains and leather straps. The gryphon flexed against his restraints, vainly trying to push back against her. "You do like that", she murmured. The mouse passionately kissed his shaft and eagerly licked and sucked the moisture right off its smooth texture.

Oh, this was pure rapture, but soon Hanna began to pant with exhaustion. She was just so very unaccustomed to all this physical activity. Yet, before her strength gave out on her, Jonathan's member rose under her attention and pushed her backwards against the soft plumage of the underside of his chest, until its head poked right into her cleavage. Hanna recoiled slightly, as she noticed a wet spot forming between her breasts. She lifted the shaft and quickly discovered the source in a pulsing trickle of thick, translucent liquid that emanated from the tip. She bit her lip and quivered in anticipation. This new feature sparked her imagination.

With one hand she began to massage his ridges and delighted in how it sent languorous shivers through Jonathan's body. Meanwhile she cupped her other hand under the tip of his shaft and eagerly watched how the warm, slimy liquid collected in her palm. When she found she had enough, the mouse reached down and poured the fluid into her groin. The moment his precum touched her puffy outer folds a violent jolt of pleasure surged through her body. For a little while all she could do was to tonelessly breathe "Jonathan, oh, Jonathan" in between involuntary moans and jerks. When she finally regained some control she carefully began to rub the liquid between her outer folds and on her clitoris.

For some time she just relished her carnal sensations and enjoyed the way she and Jonathan twitched and uttered their respective love sounds under her caresses, but as fresh precum kept dripping from his shaft onto the floor Hanna soon fantasized about a better use for it. She arched her back and scooted forward, right under his erected member. She first felt his warm, sticky drip on her thigh, then directed it up her belly and onto her breasts. Oh, to feel his precum on her body sent yet another surge of arousal through her. She began to take breaks in between rubbing her folds to spread the liquid all over her chest and belly. When she returned her attention to her lower lips, she pushed her finger deeper and covered her hymen with his fluid.

Just then Jonathan groaned and the leather straps that held him made strained noises as he tried to flex under them. To Hanna's amazement, the ridges began to pulse in the rhythm of the gryphon's heartbeat and quickly grew and hardened to flares that surrounded the shaft and at least doubled its diameter. "Oh... what is this now?" Hanna crooned and eagerly explored the new feature. The flares were were firm and hot and stayed at least as sensitive as before, as Jonathan chirped in ecstasy when she caressed them between her fingers.

The trickle of his precum intensified and the liquid began to come out in gusts. The first one hit Hanna offhand square on her muzzle. She squeaked and giggled and casually licked some of the liquid of her lips. It was hot and bitter and tangy and, oh, how much it aroused her to have it in her muzzle. She rubbed it with her tongue all over the walls of her mouth. She barely noticed how the second gush hit her cheek and dripped down her neck as she sensually gulped and imagined she could feel his precum run down her gullet.

She eagerly awaited the next gush with her muzzle agape. Her aim was good and it splashed right onto her tongue. She so relished to have the sticky fluid in her mouth, to move it about inside and swallow it. Even before the next gush came she had sat up and licked the liquid right off the tip of the shaft. Oh, if his juices already felt so good in her muzzle... Hanna shivered in delight. She coated a finger in the liquid and pushed it through her hymenal opening. Her opening was small and it had always been uncomfortable to fit even a single digit in, but oh, was it worth it right now! As she rubbed the liquid onto her inner walls she was so very unprepared for her reaction. Her vagina clenched around her finger and intense jolts racked her body as orgasm struck her suddenly and flooded her with feelings of intense pleasure she had never known she would be capable of.

When her mind finally cleared to an extent she noticed how Jonathan's shaft throbbed under her massaging fingers. Also his chirps and gurrs were filled with a whining, a needful tone. He would not last long now, she concluded, and immediately a lewd thought came to her, about how she would like to receive his semen, that sparked yet another wave of arousal inside of her.

Up to this point she had been suckling the precum from the tip of his shaft. Now she opened her maw wider and slowly pushed the head into her muzzle. She and Jonathan quivered in unison. Oh, to have him in her, even if it was just a small part, was so exquisitely thrilling! Each rub of her tongue along the rough texture and the back of the barbs, each touch of him against the sides of her mouth was pure delight. Further and further in he went until the tip of her nose touched his foremost flare and she had to concentrate to keep herself from gagging. She bore the intense experience for a moment, then spread her jaws as far as she could and carefully released it from her muzzle. Once in a while she winced when a barb poked against the inside of her mouth and she had to fiddle with her tongue to get it loose.

Yet, once the head had completely emerged she eagerly repeated the procedure, and again thereafter. Each time she became more confident and quickened her pace. The barbs were easy enough to handle once she knew what to expect and the reaction on Jonathan was so delightful. The great beast breathed heavily between blissful chirps. His muscles tensed and relaxed rhythmically as he attempted to hump against her, held back by straining chains and leather. She did her best to match the speed he desired, but even as she fell short of that, his ecstatic utterances and the quickened beat of his heart that reverberated through her body told her she was doing fine.

Then, suddenly, as she had just taken his head in again, she felt all of the barbs spread out from the surface of Jonathan's member. She barely could throw open her muzzle to give them space when Jonathan's orgasm hit. It began with a violent twitch of his shaft and right after that the first gush of his semen hit her forcefully in the back of her throat. The sheer pressure threw her back against the underside of his chest. Squirming, she gagged on his first spurt, while the next ones powerfully hit her across her face and breast and belly. After a few moments she caught herself and even as her throat felt painfully sore and her muzzle throbbed with dull pain, her arousal rebounded with a jolt as she registered he was covering her in his hot, pristine white semen.

She wiggled under him as his shaft kept twitching and shot spurt after spurt onto her. She rubbed the milky cum into her fur with one hand while she savagely rubbed her folds with the other and shoved as much of his juices through her hymenal opening as she could. This way she was lying self-absorbed under him, rubbing herself, then licking up the bitter and tangy semen from her hand before continuing to pleasure herself until with a yelp she reached a second orgasm. She moaned and panted and twitched and jerked involuntarily under him until her body settled down in a languorous state of exhaustion.

Suddenly everything was quiet, except for their heavy breaths. She cuddled against the gryphon's chest. Hanna felt so close to Jonathan right now, so very secure under his majestic form. For these precious moments she just knew that everything would be all right in the end.

She leisurely turned her head. Rupert was standing there. How queer that he would suddenly grimace that way at her. Did she have something on her face? Oh... she grinned sheepishly at him. "I shink I cut my moush" she mumbled. Then she nestled against the gryphon and dozed off with a content sigh.