The gryphon first tried to move a wing, momentarily forgetting they were tied; when nothing came to hide his face, he retreated further back benaeth the shade of the tent, enough to cast his chimeric form into shadow and hide him more from Mary's sight. He looked to the ground at his feet, so that the glow of reflected light in his eyes could not be seen. Hunched and hidden, it almost looked ashamed.<br/><br/>"I am sorry, child; I did not mean to frighten you. Had I known one so young was here, I would have remained elsewhere until nightfall..."<br/><br/>He held himself in a tense, uncomfortable silence, only speaking again when he had struggled to overcome the natural intimidation of his monstrous voice.<br/><br/>"Brother Al is doing a very good job of taking care of me." He tried to put on the happy, sing-song tone appropriate for talking to a child as delicate as Mary, but there was nothing that could be done to remove the rumble from his voice, leaving it sounding as frightening as before. His ears swivelled back; even he was repulsed by how poorly such cheerfulness took to his voice. It was like swallowing crushed gravel that had been sweetened with honey. Still, for her sake, he continued.<br/><br/>"I will not hurt you. I promise. I will stay away if I scare you."<br/><br/>To both his relief and chagrin, she was quick to move off. It was then he turned to Al, sounding much angrier:<br/><br/>"I had come here in part because if I lost myself to this taint, I would be at... small risk of harming the innocent. Did you not think to tell me there was a child here until now?"