by B N Miles
“Tar Wan,” she said. “Oh, goddess. Wen Bet is going to be miserable.” She looked up at her father, who let out a sigh.
“What happened here?” he asked in a booming voice.
Dagan stepped forward. “I don’t know, Haesar,” he said. “This man was on the late shift last evening. No struggle was heard, no fighting was seen, and there are no tracks leading to or from this spot. But it’s clear that there was a struggle.” Dagan gestured at the area, which was plainly disturbed.
Haesar nodded as he scanned the surroundings. Gwedi stepped forward, anger in her eyes.
“That’s not clear at all,” she said. “What I see is a highly skilled and trained Elf dead on the ground and a bunch of Humans standing around him.”
Dagan tensed. “We had nothing to do with this.”
“Who else could have? You really think a wolf with a knife did this?” Gwedi glared at him then turned to Haesar. “Lord, I believe the Humans are behind this murder. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
Haesar let out a sigh but his expression remained neutral. Miuri stayed down next to the body, frowning at him, her hands still on the dead man’s chest. Cam watched her closely and could tell she was upset by the loss. He wondered how well she knew him, and decided he’d try his best to be a comfort to her if he could.
“I’m inclined to agree with you, Gwedi,” Haesar said.
Dagan took a step closer. “You can’t be serious,” he said. “Look around you. This Elf was clearly assaulted.”
“And yet you heard no such assault,” Gwedi said. “You heard nothing by your own admission.”
“That doesn’t mean…” Dagan trailed off, looking around. “We’re far from camp. It was late at night. If there were no screams—”
“Lies,” Gwedi said, interrupting him. “You and your people have hated us from the start, when we’ve done nothing but make sacrifices to try and save you. This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Sow dissent and discord until you had an excuse to attack us?” She stepped up to Dagan, her eyes wide and wild. She placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. “I bet you sacrificed your own man to make you look innocent.”
Dagan’s nostrils flared in rage.
“Enough,” Miuri said, standing. “Enough of this, Gwedi. You’ve gone too far.”
“I haven’t gone far enough.” The Elf woman gripped her pommel tight and made to draw the blade.
But Cam moved faster. He stepped between her and Dagan. He stared down Gwedi, two hands gripping the shaft of his spear in a fighting position. The pine trees sang in the early morning wind, the needles rustling and dropping like drifting snow.
“Draw your blade,” Cam said, “and everything we’ve worked for will be ruined. Do you really want that?”
“I want justice,” Gwedi said, not backing down.
“Enough of this,” Haesar said. “Gwedi, you come here. Release your hand from your weapon.”
Gwedi hesitated for only a moment, still staring up at Cam. But she spun and marched to her Lord and stood a foot behind him at attention, her back straight, her hands clasped behind her back. Cam relaxed a fraction of an inch and released his spear with his second hand, letting it lean back against his shoulder.
Haesar let out a grumbling sigh. “Shaman, if you think your people had nothing to do with this, then provide an alternative explanation.”
Cam glanced at Miuri. She frowned back but nodded her head. He took a breath and gestured down at the fallen Elf.
“I believe his blade tells the full story,” Cam said. “Look at the weapon, Haesar. It’s covered in blood. Do you really think one of your trained warriors would fall without injuring his opponent?”
Haesar grunted in response to that. “Perhaps,” he said. “But these things can be faked.”
“Not that much blood,” Miuri said.
“She’s right, not that much blood,” Cam said. “Look around us. There was a fight here, no doubt in my mind. The pine needles and the trees muffle any sound, and your warriors fight quietly to begin with. I believe several wolves assaulted your warrior at his most vulnerable, and he still managed to injure or kill at least one of his attackers. But the wolves were smart enough not to leave any bodies and to clean their tracks as they slipped away.”
Haesar stroked his chin and Gwedi looked around with fury in her eyes. “You don’t truly believe this Human, do you, Lord?” Gwedi asked.
“His words ring true,” Haesar said. “Daughter, what do you believe?”
Miuri bowed her head. “Cam’s conclusion is also my own, Father.”
“She’s pledged to him,” Gwedi said. “You can’t believe a word that blood traitor says.”
Miuri reared back in shock and Cam saw the other Elves react like Gwedi just stabbed Haesar in the chest. The Elf Lord slowly turned to Gwedi, who stared up at him in shock, like she couldn’t believe the words that had tumbled from her lips. She held up her hands and took a step back.
“Lord—” Gwedi said, but Haesar moved fast. He whipped his hand across her face, backhanding her across the chin, his knuckles making a dull thwack. She staggered and touched her face, the skin at the peak of her right cheekbone broken and dripping blood from the rings on Haesar’s fingers.
“If you speak of my daughter like that again, Gwedi, I will cut off your hand,” Haesar said. “Now return to camp and do your duty. I want the tents broken down and the men ready to move.”
Gwedi bowed, trembling. “Yes, Lord.” She turned and walked off, slipping through her silent and shocked comrades and disappearing through the pines.
Haesar let out a breath and turned to Cam. “I apologize for her,” he said. “Gwedi has her own issues to deal with, and her distrust of Humans runs very deep, though for good reason. Still, she should never have spoken to my daughter in such a manner, and never implied that you were anything but honorable.”
Cam inclined his head. “Thank you, Lord. But the only thing I care about right now is that we keep the peace between our people.”
Haesar nodded and looked across the space again. He took a deep breath and gripped the pommel of his sword.
“Miuri, bring Tar Wan back to camp,” Haesar said. “I agree with the shaman’s assessment. This was the work of the wolves.” Haesar turned to Dagan. “But I request that you keep an eye on your people. I believe you’re an honorable man that does not want to see bloodshed. If there are any among your own with a fresh wound, please alert me and deal with them as necessary.”
“I will, Lord,” Dagan said. “You can have my word on that. The last thing I want is for our relationship to break down.”
“Good.” Haesar inclined his head. “Thank you, Elder Dagan.” Without another word, Haesar turned and strode off. Two of the Elves followed him, and the other three lingered where they were, watching Miuri.
Cam moved to Dagan. “Get the men out of here,” he said. “Let the Elves handle their fallen.”
Dagan nodded and turned to the men. “All right, back to your posts. Get moving, you lazy ox bloods, you thick shits. Get moving right now.”
The Humans turned and filtered back to camp. Cam turned and saw Key standing close to Miuri, her hand on the Elf Princess’s shoulder as they stood over Tar Wan’s body. Cam walked over and joined them.
“Are you okay?” he asked Miuri.
She nodded. “I’m okay,” she said. “Tar Wan was a good man and a good fighter. His cousin is one of my father’s Blades, and he’s going to be very upset about it.”
“I’m sorry,” Cam said. “But I promise, it wasn’t my people.”
“I know,” Miuri said.
“Can we do anything?” Key asked.
Miuri shook her head. “We’ll prepare the body and return it to camp. Thank you both, you’ve done enough.”
Key nodded and slipped her hand down into Miuri’s. She squeezed her fingers then released her and stepped away. Cam lingered for a moment as Miuri turned her head toward him and tilted her chin in his
direction.
“I’ll make sure none of my people are wounded,” he said, his voice low. “And if they are, I’ll come to you.”
“That’s best,” she agreed.
“And that thing Gwedi said—” Cam started then stopped himself. “I’m sorry for that, too. I don’t fully understand it, but I get the feeling it’s my fault.”
Miuri gave him a sad smile. “Just a hold over from the old days when Elves mistrusted and hated all other races, especially Humans. To some people like Gwedi, the fact that I’m pledged to you is an affront to the natural order of things.”
“The natural order?” Cam asked.
Miuri waved a hand in the air. “Elvish garbage,” she said. “Something about how we’re immortal, and the mortal races are nothing but cattle to us. It’s the old way of doing things, Cam. Don’t let it bother you.”
Cam nodded then gave her a tentative smile. “It’s a shame training got interrupted. It was just getting interesting.”
Miuri smiled back at him and touched his face. “Don’t worry. I have a feeling we’ll have more time for that later.”
“You better make a true swordsman out of me by the end of this.”
“I will.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Now go. We’ll handle it from here.”
He nodded and left her there beside the fallen body. He joined Key and together they walked back to camp. Key didn’t speak, and Cam didn’t need her to. His thoughts were dark, trying to decide if their people had murdered an Elf in some foolish retribution. He didn’t want it to be true, but after seeing the body, he knew it was a possibility.
He’d look into it and keep everyone from splitting apart. If the Elves left them, his people were doomed.
36
The afternoon march was tense, and Cam patrolled the column to make sure nobody stepped out of line. The Elves kept their distance from the Humans, patrolling the edge of the trees. Cam saw more than one villager throw the Elves uncertain, angry looks.
Word was spreading about the deaths, and rumors were rampant. Cam couldn’t do much about those, even though he knew they could get out of hand at any moment.
But no violence broke out, and the patrols were quiet as the ground began to slope upward even further. The landscape shifted again, away from the forested pine region to a sparser and rockier terrain. The cart path turned to the right and began its long trek along the base of the mountains, and Cam knew they were at least one more day away from their destination, despite how hard they were pushing. With the carts, the injured, and the villagers, they just weren’t making enough progress. Still, they were close, and the Mansion was almost within reach, but this would be the slowest and most difficult part of the trip.
Once they reached the mountain’s base, hopefully at the end of the day, the path would begin a switchback trip up into the rockiest reaches. The Mansion itself was carved into the face of the mountains, the halls chiseled into solid rock with the weight of more stone resting down on top of it. Cam had seen it a few times over the years on trips with his father when they brought the harvest for accounting.
Each time he’d marveled at its construction, at the detailed carvings of antelope and deer and wolves and even stylized lions, although Cam had never seen a lion in person. The interior was just as magnificent, with huge oil lamps hanging from high ceilings and perfectly smooth and polished stone floors that somehow retained heat despite being so high up. Rooms branched off from varied hallways, an anthill of Humans living in the rock.
Around midday, Dagan called the column to a halt for a short break just fifty yards from a meandering mountain stream. The village sat down to eat, and the Elves pulled away from the Human camp to make their own. Cam was tempted to seek out Miuri just as a display of solidarity, but he was caked in sweat and grime from days of marching and fighting, and he hadn’t been able to properly clean himself for a few days.
So he carried his spear and went down to the stream. He followed its path for a little while, thinking about Key and Miuri during training, their bodies lithe and sweating in the morning sun, until he came to a section where the water slowed and pooled around a series of large sunken boulders. Cam stripped off his sword, his armor, and his clothes before wading into the slow-moving water, the crisp mountain air cool on his skin.
He took a deep breath and smiled to himself. The sun shone high in the sky, and although the water was freezing, it still felt good to splash it up over his head and let it roll down his back and shoulders. He scrubbed away the dirt and grime and watched it fall from his skin and pool in swirls in the clear, slow moving water.
As he cleaned himself, he let his eyes wander around the riverbank and the thin, tall trees with their heavy needles. They smelled fresh and bright, and he liked to pick clumps of needles off, chew on a few, and toss the rest one at a time on the ground at he walked. He always liked the mountains, the sweeping crests of stone jutting impossibly high, like no man could ever reach the peak. And yet he knew there were men that spent their time exploring the mountains, climbing as high as their bodies allowed, searching out new passes for traders to follow. During calmer times, the Mansion would send out hundreds of men like that, searching for new trade routes over the mountains and into the fertile southern lands.
He finished washing himself and stepped toward the bank. He stood in the sun for a long moment, letting the water dry from his sun-tanned skin before pulling on his breeches and tunic. He sat and put on his boots last, and as he stood, feeling fresh for the first time in days, he caught sight of something moving in the woods.
At first, he thought it might be Key trying to sneak up on him. He ignored the motion, strapped his sword around his hip, and tested his movements. He was still getting used to the weapon, but it felt better with each passing hour.
But the motion happened again, catching his eye, and he looked up to find a naked woman standing twenty feet in front of him.
“Felin,” he said, the name easily coming to his lips. She stood next to a tree, her breasts bare, her lean, muscular body unabashedly naked. She didn’t seem to notice that he was staring at her chest, at her pink nipples, her round breasts, her flat and muscular stomach, her long, lean legs. She didn’t seem to mind his eyes lingering on the mound between her legs.
“Cam,” she said, and stepped closer, moving gingerly toward the riverbank. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
He frowned and tilted his head. He had to resist the urge to pick up his spear, which was resting on the ground only inches from his right foot. “Waiting for me?”
“For a chance to talk.” She stared at him and her eyes were unnerving. They were beautiful, an almost unnatural shade of blue, but her intensity set him on edge.
“I want to thank you,” he said. “For your warnings. I think you might have saved our village. If your people had attacked us in those numbers while we were on the path, I don’t think we would’ve survived.”
“No,” she said. “You wouldn’t have. Even with help of the Elves.” She came closer, drifting to another tree. She stood with one hand on its trunk barely ten feet away from him. “I saw what you did in the fighting.”
For one insane moment, he thought she meant his sleeping with Miuri. But of course that wasn’t it.
“The magic,” he said.
“You’re a shaman.” She stared at him, her pretty lips parted just enough to show a hint of her pink tongue and white teeth. “I thought you were special, but I didn’t know just how special.”
“My father was a shaman,” Cam said. “You saw what he could do.”
“And now you can do it too.” Her fingers tensed on the tree trunk. “I’m not here to warn you this time, Cam.”
“What are you here for?”
“I’m here to tell you how to break my people,” she said.
He took a step back in surprise. Her face was still flat and serious, but those words were too intense for her expression. He took a sharp breath and let his hand fall to the po
mmel of his sword.
“Why would you do that?” he asked.
“You don’t understand us,” she said. “That battle was hard on our small pack. Many men and women in leadership roles fell beneath your fire, and now the pack’s structure is fragile. Without strong leadership, the pack will crumble and break apart, and right now we’re being held together by the thinnest of strings.”
“You want me to break your pack apart?” he asked. “I don’t understand, Felin. I may not know much about Weres, but that sounds like a bad thing.”
“It is,” she said. “But it’s better than the alternative. Ragni and Sithan are thirsty for revenge, and I believe they will throw every member of our pack at your people in order to get it. They don’t care about how many more lives will be lost in that fight. What I’m offering you is a way to break apart my people without slaughtering them in the process.”
Cam frowned at her for a long moment, his fingers tense on his sword. She was so damned hard to read. Her face was flat and emotionless, despite her words. She was offering him a chance to destroy her people, though she wanted him to do it with minimal violence. Truth be told, it was a tempting proposition, even if he wanted to march down on the wolves himself and burn them all to cinders for what they’ve been doing to his people.
But if there was a chance to preserve more of the village, he had to take it, even if that would mean fewer dead Weres.
“How?” he asked.
“Kill Ragni and Sithan,” she said. “Once they’re gone, the pack won’t be strong enough to stick together. There might be infighting, some few lives might be lost as some of the lower pack tries to take control, but it will be better than the alternative.”
“I don’t understand you, Felin. Why do you keep doing this?” He stepped toward her, his heart beating fast.