Even in the depths of winter, they did not suffer from the cold. Why should he bother to wear an overcoat?
Iosef pulled open one side of the coat, revealing rows of pistols and daggers concealed inside.
“We go to hunt,” he said.
* * * *
When Varanus arrived at the stables, she found them busier than she had ever seen them. Grooms hurried about readying the horses and tack while the soldiers—Shashavani who still walked in the shadow of death—readied their weapons and ammunition. They were all dressed like Iosef in warm chokhas and greatcoats, with fur hats pulled down tightly over their ears. From that alone, Varanus knew that the night was frigid, though she no longer felt the cold. She was not concerned, and she came dressed for the occasion in a riding habit of crimson and black, which the household tailors had made following the English style. She was secretly delighted to be able to wear it in the dead of winter.
“Hunting?” she remarked to Ekaterine, who walked at her side bundled tightly in a high-collared coat of sable. “I have seen less preparation of arms for a military campaign!”
She saw Iosef and Luka standing by a table of weapons, and she watched in astonishment as Iosef selected a double-barreled elephant gun and checked its aim. Satisfied, Iosef nodded, and Luka handed him a bandoleer of paper cartridges. From the size of the bullets, the weapon had to be a six bore at least.
“All this to hunt wolves?” she asked Ekaterine.
“You have not seen our wolves,” Ekaterine said. She gave Varanus a quick looking over and made a noise. “Your collar is crooked,” she said.
“Nonsense,” Varanus said, but she allowed Ekaterine to fuss over her for a few moments.
“I have grave misgivings about that hat,” Ekaterine added.
“The hat stays,” Varanus said sharply. She was quite proud of her lady’s top hat, a dozen of which had been imported from France a few years before. “It is the style.”
“I fear for the future of France if that is so,” Ekaterine said.
Varanus saw Iosef motioning to them, and she led Ekaterine across the room to join him. Without a word, Iosef selected a heavy, twin-barreled howdah pistol and handed it to Varanus along with a pouch of cartridges. Varanus looked at them and tucked them into her coat pockets.
“Tell me, my lord,” she said, “why are the men arming for battle? I thought this was to be a hunt.”
“It is,” Iosef said. “But our quarry is quite unlike anything you have encountered.”
“I have encountered wolves before,” Varanus said.
“Not like these,” Iosef replied. “These creatures have breached the valley many times over the years. There are common wolves in the pack, yes, but they are led by something…else. And unlike ordinary wolves, these will not flee at the sight of men. They will not wait in the wilderness for the weak or the old. They will haunt our villages and assault our people, even in broad daylight. We must find them and break them at once.”
“I am intrigued,” Varanus said, “but not convinced. Still,” she added, “I enjoy a good hunt. Give me a rifle, and it will please me to accompany you.”
“You will need more than a mere rifle,” Iosef said. “Luka, give her the ten bore.”
Luka nodded and selected a smaller elephant gun from the table. It was still a huge weapon compared to the rifles of the soldiers. Varanus took it from him and tested the weight. She could lift it as easily as a pistol, but firing it would be another matter.
“Are these truly necessary?” Varanus asked.
“They are,” Iosef said. “Can you manage the weapon?”
“Easily,” Varanus said. “I only wonder at using guns intended for big game. Are we hunting wolves or rhinoceroses?”
Iosef smiled a little and said simply, “You will see, Varanus.”
Varanus hesitated for a moment.
“My lord,” she said, “if I may crave your attention for a moment, there is something I must discuss with you.”
“Can it wait until after the hunt?” Iosef asked.
“I would prefer now,” Varanus replied. “It is a matter of some urgency.”
“Of course,” Iosef said. “Luka, if you would be so good, see to it that the horses are ready.”
Luka nodded and took the elephant guns from both of them.
Iosef turned back to Varanus and asked, “What is it that concerns you?”
“I have just received a letter from France,” Varanus said. “My grandfather has died.”
Iosef nodded but said nothing.
“My father begs me to return,” Varanus continued, “to help him settle the estate. I ask you permission to leave.”
“You have it,” Iosef said. “You may leave first thing in the morning, if you wish. Ekaterine will go with you, of course.” He looked at Ekaterine, who nodded in agreement. “And I will send Luka as well. He is accustomed to traveling in Europe.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Varanus said.
“No need,” Iosef said. “We Shashavani, of all people, understand the importance of family. You will leave in the morning, but tonight, we must hunt. If the wolves are not broken now, no one in the valley will be safe.”
* * * *
Varanus rode out with the soldiers into the cold, moonlit night. She rode with Iosef at the head of the company, with Luka and Ekaterine following close behind. Before them ran a dozen hounds, tremendous creatures the size of mastiffs with thick fur coats and fearsome jaws. Varanus thought them powerful enough to slaughter the wolves on their own.
The hounds had caught the scent even before leaving the castle grounds, and now they led the hunting party across the fields of snow toward the forest. Varanus understood the urgency of the hunt. The forest was old and thickly wooded. If the wolves were allowed to ensconce themselves among the trees, there would be no getting rid of them.
“Luka!” Iosef shouted as they neared the forest. “Continue on with the dogs! I will take a third of the men and flank our quarry! God willing, you will be able to drive them against us!”
“As you wish, my lord!” Luka answered. “God be with you!”
Iosef sounded his hunting horn and motioned for one of the three groups of riders to follow him. Varanus turned her horse to keep pace while Ekaterine remained with Luka. Varanus and Iosef plunged into the dark forest with their soldiers close behind them.
Varanus rode for what seemed like an age, onward through brush and branches. She heard the barking of the hounds and the howling of the wolves, but she could see neither. Somehow Iosef kept them on course, tracking both their allies and their quarry seemingly by sound alone.
The forest was dark around them, the thick canopy of branches blotting out all but a trickle of moonlight that painted everything in a spider web of silver. In the muddled shadows, Varanus’s senses began to play tricks on her. She half fancied that she could smell something unwholesome in the air, that she heard something running all but silently alongside them. Once or twice she even thought that she glimpsed it out of the corner of her eye—a hulking, misshapen thing running along on all fours—but each time she turned to look, there was nothing.
Finally, Iosef held up his hand and called the command to “Halt!”
The riders pulled their horses around and stopped. Varanus did likewise. To her astonishment, she realized that they had somehow passed their prey. The barking of the dogs and the howling of the wolves now came from the same direction, moving steadily toward them.
“Ready yourselves!” Iosef shouted, drawing the elephant gun from a scabbard by his saddle.
Varanus drew her own weapon as the soldiers readied their rifles. They fanned out into a mounted firing line, long and curved to envelope the wolves when they arrived. Varanus braced her gun against her shoulder and waited, stomach knotted with anticipation.
The noise of the wolves and the dogs grew louder and louder until finally the shape of the pack appeared from the darkness before them. The pack of wolves was larger than any Var
anus had seen before, larger than any pack that should have been possible in nature. Dozens upon dozens of lean, ferocious wolves, haggard and hungry looking, surged toward them in a wave of teeth and fur.
“Fire!” came Iosef’s command.
The soldiers opened fire into the oncoming wolves, shooting round after round with discipline and precision that would have made an English officer proud. The first rank of wolves broke almost immediately, but the next came on, and the one after that. Soon the wolves were all around them, snarling and snapping. The horses reared and kicked, two of them unseating their riders. The hapless men fell screaming into the mass of wolves. More men were grabbed and dragged down by the beasts massed around them.
Her weapon empty, Varanus lashed out at the wolves, swinging the elephant gun like a cudgel. She struck and kicked at the howling mass until she could see only blood and fur and teeth. Suddenly, the hounds appeared from the darkness with Luka’s riders behind them and smashed into the wolf pack. The animals went mad, wolves and dogs tearing at one another viciously. The soldiers fired round after round into the wolves as they enveloped the pack.
Varanus’s eyes caught movement in the darkness, and she turned to look in its direction. A creature emerged from the shadows, a towering mass of fur and muscle. First, it walked on all fours, but when it stormed into the fray, it did so on its hind legs in a dreadful aping of a man. Jaws split wide in a hideous snarl, the beast lashed out with its claws, tearing man, dog, and horse to pieces with equal impunity. Varanus’s breath caught in her throat as the creature turned toward her and fixed her with an unwavering stare.
It was almost identical to the beast that had assaulted her and Korbinian in grandfather’s forest twenty-five years ago.
At her side, Iosef fired both barrels of his weapon at the beast. The sound of the weapon was almost deafening, easily heard even over the noise of the fray. Iosef’s shoulder shifted backward ever so slightly from the force of the shot, but he showed no sign of pain.
The beast roared as the massive bullets tore into its flesh. It turned to look at Iosef and dropped to all fours, preparing to pounce. Varanus snapped her gun open and shoved a new round into the breech. Rather than waste the time to raise the weapon, she fired from the hip. The shot hit the beast in mid-lunge, just below the collarbone. It was knocked sideways and stumbled, crushing one of the dogs beneath its bulk as it lost its balance. It was up again in an instant, but now, bleeding and doubtless in pain, it seemed to recognize that the tide had turned against it. While neither the rifle bullets of the soldiers nor the teeth of the dogs could do it any real hurt, the shots of the elephant guns had inflicted terrible wounds.
Roaring, the beast turned and dove back into the forest.
“Luka!” Iosef shouted. “Their master flees! I must pursue! Break the wolves now!”
Luka, armed with revolver and sword for close quarters, looked up and nodded.
“As you wish, my lord!” he called back. “God preserve you!”
Iosef turned his horse and gave chase to the beast. Without hesitation, Varanus kicked her horse and headed off in pursuit. The beast in France had been no isolated phenomenon, and now Iosef went to kill its twin as if nothing were out of place.
Varanus would have her answers, monsters be damned.
* * * *
She rode after Iosef through the darkened wood, pushing her horse hard to keep up with him. It was not a matter of speed but of maneuver, for though they easily outpaced the beast, it gave them a wild chase, dashing this way and that through the trees. More than once Varanus lost track of it, only to see it run across her path from the opposite direction.
At last, she and Iosef broke out into a clearing. The full moon shone brightly above them, lighting the snow with a bright glow. Varanus pulled her horse to a stop and turned about in the saddle.
Where had the beast gone? They had been close upon its heels for so long, and now it had vanished.
She watched Iosef reload his gun. He looked at her and said:
“You are wondering where our quarry has gone.”
“I am,” Varanus said.
Iosef sniffed the air and replied, “It is here. Somewhere.” He paused. “And another.”
“Two?” Varanus asked. She sniffed the air as well, but she smelled little but cold and snow. There was a faint hint of the beast’s pungent musk, but it was too weak for her to locate its source. “Are you certain?”
“Completely,” Iosef said. “They are hidden in the brush nearby, but I cannot determine where.”
“What are we to do?” Varanus asked.
“We must kill them,” Iosef said. “If they escape alive, they will return with a new pack in a few years. If we kill them, the valley will be safe for a generation.”
“You know this?” Varanus asked.
“Indeed,” Iosef said. “This incursion is no isolated occurrence. There have been many such attacks over the years, dating back long before my birth. The archives are filled with accounts of these creatures. Vanquished, they flee, only to return once they have gathered another host of wolves. Slain, the valley is left in peace for decades.”
“That would suggest a prolonged maturation period,” Varanus said, most intrigued by the idea. “Something comparable to humans, in fact.”
“You will have to read Konstantine’s treatise on them,” Iosef said. “His research is extensive. The volumes are buried somewhere, but I will ask the archivists to find them for you.”
“I would greatly appreciate that,” Varanus said. She looked around the clearing, searching for the elusive beasts that lurked in the darkness. “What are we to do now?”
“Look at me,” Iosef said.
Varanus turned back to him and asked, “Why?”
“The beasts cannot understand us, but they are intelligent.” Iosef slid his gun back into its scabbard. “We must lull them into overconfidence. We must make them believe that we think ourselves alone.”
“Of course,” Varanus said, lowering her own weapon and placing it across her lap. “So that they will attack us.”
“Precisely,” Iosef said. “They are hunters by nature, and they mistake us for prey. We must cultivate that misconception.”
Varanus studied Iosef for a little while, mulling over the germ of an idea. Placed within the context of a lure, certain points that had seemed strange to her now began to make sense.
“My lord,” she said, “forgive me for speaking plainly, but you are not really Lady Sophio’s sycophant, are you?”
Iosef looked at her curiously for a short time, and Varanus suddenly questioned whether she should have spoken. Certainly not so candidly, she decided, inwardly kicking herself. She had grown overly familiar with Iosef over the years. She had forgotten their respective places.
Iosef’s laugh interrupted her.
“No, I am not,” he said. “But I am flattered to know that you were fooled by it. Sophio’s mind is so muddled by now that she is easy to mislead, and those Shashavani who are not with me are too focused on their studies to notice anything that I do. An outsider, however, is a true challenge. It pleases me to have passed that test.”
“Why do such a thing?” Varanus asked. “I thought you loved her.”
“I do,” Iosef replied, “with all my heart. But love is not leaving a person in the grip of madness. I tried for many years to ease Sophio’s mind, to bring her back to sanity. But she is too far gone, too enchanted by her own power. I realized long ago that the only way to cure her is to remove her from her throne. And that is the only way to save the House of Shashavani as well.”
“You intend to overthrow her?” Varanus asked.
“I do,” Iosef said. “You have seen the rest of our order. It is like the time of Basileios: they are too absorbed by their studies to notice the madness that sits upon the throne. All those with the will and charisma to replace her were killed or sent into exile centuries ago. Many are willing to see her removed, but only I am willing to act.”
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“Then why do you not act?” Varanus asked.
“Sophio is powerful, Varanus,” Iosef said. “Far more powerful than I am. And she is no fool. I cannot raise the standard of rebellion before things are ready.”
Varanus felt something shift in the wind. She eyed the trees cautiously. She saw nothing, but she sensed movement. The beasts were still there, and they were growing bold.
“She seems like a fool to me,” Varanus said. “Forgive me if I speak out of turn, my lord, but her mind has gone from her.”
Iosef shook his head and said, “Do not be mistaken about Sophio. Hers is one of the greatest minds the world has ever known, even now in the grip of madness. Indeed, it is her intelligence that has destroyed her sanity. It clouds her perception and overpowers her reason. She is misled by thoughts that are brilliant and yet have no bearing on anything of present concern. She remembers events from a thousand years ago with perfect clarity, but she forgets that they are not taking place today. She is blinded by her very genius.”
“And that is the one weakness you can exploit,” Varanus said.
“Indeed,” Iosef said. He sniffed the air and smiled. “They are coming.”
Varanus heard the snapping of branches from opposite sides of the clearing. She saw the trees behind Iosef flung aside as the wounded beast leapt from hiding and made for them. Twisting in the saddle, Varanus looked over her shoulder and saw a second beast, this one unharmed but its fur wet with fresh blood, charging from the darkness in her direction.
“Go to the right!” Iosef shouted. “Ride!”
Varanus turned her horse and kicked it hard. The creature, already frightened by the smell and sound of the beasts, needed little encouragement. It bolted for the trees, and Varanus pulled on the reins to force a turn and keep them in the clearing. She did not fancy her chances with the beast in the depths of the forest.
As she turned, she saw Iosef fire both barrels of his gun into the second beast as it charged him. The force of the recoil made him twist sideways, but he kept his seat. Both shots hit the beast in the chest, causing it to stumble and its charge to falter. It let out a howl and bounded away a few paces only to charge again. Iosef turned his horse and kicked it into a run, circling the clearing opposite to Varanus.
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