Children of the Wolves

by Jessica Starre

  Jelena would have already reached that conclusion, he thought abstractedly. She would already be wondering who had betrayed their vulnerabilities to the attackers and she would be positing the argument that the riders had actually been lured away in order to create such a vulnerability.

  He studied the faces of the elders for a moment and then he said, “I am, of course, sorry for what has happened here. But I was not aware that permission was required for an awakened citizen to go beyond the fence. In future I will be sure to apply for such license.”

  Cara’s head snapped up and her eyes narrowed at his words. Apparently this was not what she had expected him to say. Then, to her further astonishment, Michael rose and left the room.

  • • •

  Michael sat by Danielle’s pallet, stroking her face and holding her hand.

  “I blame myself,” she fretted. “Charmaine shouldn’t have had to command the riders. She wasn’t prepared for it.”

  “That is the most foolish thing I have every heard you say, my friend,” Michael said. “You can’t help that your babe was stillborn at that time.”

  “I should never have been carrying the babe in the first place,” Danielle said.

  “Oh, well, if we are talking about ‘should haves,’” Michael said easily, “I should have turned the command over to you a year ago, and you would have had time to train a second.”

  Danielle’s face relaxed a bit. “I did wonder about that. You had so much pressure on you.”

  “I liked being in command of the riders,” Michael said. “Hubris. Pride. Only I could do it all. Another thing I should have done. I should have recognized my own vanity.”

  “You don’t strike me as a vain main,” Danielle murmured.

  “But I am. Bertha tells me I’m in love with my own self image.”

  “Bertha should keep some of her opinions to herself,” Danielle said. “And I should have known better than to get pregnant by a man I was unwilling to partner with and you — you should have — ”

  “Ay,” Michael said to forestall her.

  “You should have told Jelena you loved her.”

  Into the silence that followed, she said, “You found no sign?”

  “None.”

  “Do not let that worry you unduly,” Danielle said. “I wager we have not seen the last of that woman yet.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The day dawned cold and miserable, the rain and mist reducing their sight. They plodded on through the wet, muddy prairie, hardly raising their eyes from the ground beneath their feet. Even the wolves looked miserable, sodden, and uncomfortable.

  “Should we erect a shelter?” Jelena asked Derek, who walked alongside Horse.

  “Look there,” Derek said. Jelena raised her eyes to see what he was pointing out. In the distance she saw a ridge of trees breaking through the mist.

  “Derek,” she said. “Those are the first trees we’ve seen in how long?”

  “Ay,” Derek said. “Jelena, we’ve found the river.”

  Jelena swung down off Horse, handing the reins to William, mostly out of habit. Horse, if he was going to run off, had already had ample opportunity and yet he had never seized the day.

  The trees grew in a thick rank alongside the river, the beautiful life-giving river. Jelena leaned her head back and laughed as the rain pelted her face.

  “We’re home,” she said, jumping into Derek’s arms and hugging him tightly. “Let’s start by putting some shelters up. When the rain leaves, we can decide where our permanent settlement will be located.”

  “Ay,” Derek said. He released Jelena gently and dipped his hand into the river. “We found it,” he said.

  “You found it,” Jelena corrected. “Derek the explorer.”

  “Nay,” said the man. “Say just, Derek, Child of the Wolves.”

  • • •

  They busied themselves erecting the Onaphile shelters of bone and buffalo skin. Jelena no longer thought of them as the One, nor of the outcast Wudu-faesten as the unawakened; they were all, to her, Children.

  She found a slightly sheltered spot and tethered Horse there beneath the trees. He did not seem much more comfortable than he had been standing out in the open in the rain.

  “Poor Horse. Ill-used from the beginning,” she said, patting his flank.

  Looking about her, she saw the wolves were gone. “Topaz,” she called. “Garnet? Where are you?”

  She didn’t hear a response. Following the shore, she called for them as she walked downstream. Here the river cut through a limestone hill, the rocky sides of the hill jutting far above her head. The water was deeper here. Because the shoreline had given way to rock walls, she was forced to wade through knee-high water. As she crept along, she kept one steady hand against the stone in case the river grew wilder or deeper.

  “Topaz!” she called again. This time she heard an answering howl close at hand. But no wolf was in the river. She tilted her head back to see if Topaz was on the bluff of the hill overlooking the river.

  “Topaz!” she shouted. The wolf howled again. Suddenly the rock gave way to nothingness beneath her hand.

  Leave it to the wolves to find the one dry spot in all the land. Jelena smiled, ducked her head and entered the cave.

  The cave opening led to a small room with tunnels branching off it. Topaz was pacing in the small room, pausing to shake water from her fur and looking for a comfortable place to curl up and sleep.

  The cave would make a nice den for the wolves, Jelena thought, then decided to take a moment to explore further. Although she had no lantern, the opening allowed just enough light in to guide her feet through the first tunnel.

  She walked along the passageway as it grew progressively darker. The air was chill and had a musty smell, reminding her of something, the memory just out of reach. She stopped to focus her eyes, then realized she couldn’t see anything. Turning to retrace her footsteps, she stumbled and put her hands out to brace herself.

  The smooth, cool metal beneath her palms shocked her. She pulled her hands away as if they’d been burned. She — or, in fact, Topaz — had found a cave of the saved.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Michael steadied the fence post as Rufus shoveled stones and dirt in the hole to fill it. The eastern paddock was nearly rebuilt. Emma and Colleen were repairing the roof of the main hall, scampering across the burned timbers with a confidence that made Michael want to look away so he wouldn’t see when they fell.

  Rufus tossed a last spadeful of dirt in the hole, tamped it down and leaned against the shovel, drawing a hand across his sweating brow.

  “The villagers are unhappy,” he said.

  “I know.” The unease built each day. In the dining hall, little laughter and few smiles punctuated the low-voiced conversations, and the people hurried in their tasks, jaws tight with strain, looking over their shoulders for the evil that might be drawing near.

  “They’re concerned about the next attack. They’re bracing themselves for it. But they don’t know where or when it’s coming.”

  “Ay,” Michael said. “We must have a stronger defense. But — ”

  “I know,” Rufus said, pulling his beard. “We are a peaceable people.”

  • • •

  Michael washed up and changed into a fresh tunic in the small makeshift room in the meeting hall where he now slept. He thought momentarily of the room he’d shared with Jelena when he’d been her protector. Shared now by Teresa and Rodrigo, who had no qualms about partaking of the most intimate of acts, despite those acts being expressly prohibited. And yet what could Michael do to stop them or persuade them to have a care for the future? It was not those two he needed to persuade, anyway. It was the elders.

  He sighed and went over in his mind what he would say to the eld
ers to make his case. Stronger fortifications, more riders, riders who were temporarily relieved of their other duties so they could train and guard the village. Basic training for all the people, so they could learn to defend themselves.

  Squaring his shoulders, he crossed the courtyard to the main hall. He knocked on the council room door and was granted permission to enter. He wasn’t surprised to find Teresa in his former place of honor and took his now-accustomed seat on the bench along the wall. Falling from grace had the peculiar result of helping him to understand why Jelena had been the way she was, and why she’d left the village the way she had.

  Though he had no intention of leaving.

  Archibald leaned over and whispered something to Maurice, his eyes never leaving Michael’s face. Maurice nodded and looked over at Michael.

  “Archibald says you have been repairing the paddock fence,” Maurice said.

  “Yes. Rufus and I — ”

  Maurice slapped his hand against the table. “We are threatened and attacked by raiders and all you can think to do is fix the fence?” His voice rose to an incredulous pitch.

  “I suggested we should place fortifications around the perimeter of the main encampment,” Michael said mildly. “But the council did not wish to waste precious resources that way.”

  Maurice leaned back in his chair, pulled at his lower lip with his fingers. “We are faced with a most pressing and imminent threat,” he said. “And you propose to spend months making sentry boxes?”

  “That’s not what I proposed.” Michael got to his feet, pacing the floor as he spoke. “But if you don’t want fortifications, then perhaps we could recruit a few more riders? And perhaps set up some training sessions — ”

  “A few more riders? Training sessions? Michael, you seem not to comprehend the severity of the situation. Of course,” Maurice said, as if the thought had just occurred to him, “You’re the one who said that initial attacks — on the trader and on Isolde — were the work of wolves.”

  “You know full well that I never — ”

  Maurice held up a hand to stop him. “We were foolish to rely on an incompetent leader of the riders. We have decided, effective immediately, to relieve you of your command.”

  Jelena would have known this was coming, Michael thought. She would have expected it and warned him about it, and he would have argued with her, for the elders would never do such a foolish thing.

  His hands curled into fists and he forced himself to relax. He’d been wrong about many things but he wasn’t wrong about wanting to protect the people. Now he must be careful and discern what this meant, and do what he could to prevent it meaning disaster.

  “Rodrigo will serve as the new commander of the riders,” Maurice said.

  Michael’s belly clenched. Anything but that. Any choice would be better. He slanted a glance at Teresa, who sat with her hands piously folded, head down, but a sly smile like the cat who got the cream played at the corner of her lips.

  “He isn’t awakened,” Michael said. “He hasn’t found his calling.”

  Teresa raised her head and looked directly at him. “We believe Rodrigo is the warrior,” she said. “And what more fitting role for him to play?”

  “He has no experience,” Michael objected, although he knew his objections must fall on deaf ears.

  “The council has spoken,” Maurice said.

  Michael returned to his seat on the bench, his mind working furiously. The elders had just decided this now, or he would have heard rumors. He wondered what Teresa had said to persuade them. Surely they knew an untrained, unawakened commander would be ineffective — not to mention soon dead?

  “There is, I believe, one other thing,” Teresa said softly. “Begging your pardon, dearest elders.”

  “What? Oh, yes, yes. Teresa reminds us that we have sometimes thought of moving our village. We may be forced to that eventuality if we cannot bring these threats under control.”

  “We can’t give up the saved,” Michael said.

  “We believe that other caves exist to the north of Wudu-faesten territory,” Maurice said. “We could undertake to move the saved to a new location.”

  “The caretaker has agreed that it might work,” Cara put in.

  Of course she had. That was the trouble with consensus. If no one was willing to stand up and create conflict, disaster might ensue. The Wudu-faesten had proven that in the past. Jelena was right.

  “You can’t risk our future like this,” Michael said. He tried to imagine moving the saved. How could it be accomplished without killing them? He couldn’t imagine how it might be done.

  “If these attacks continue unchecked, there will be no more Wudu-faesten,” Maurice exploded.

  Michael held up his hands in apology. There was no point in arguing now; they’d made up their minds. What he must focus on now was how to prevent the disaster and undo the damage. “Yes, of course. But how do you expect to find these caves?”

  “Why,” Teresa purred, turning to him, and he saw the full malice she bore him stamped on her face. “That’s where you come in.”

  “Yes,” Cara chimed in. “Since you so enjoy traveling beyond the fence, we thought you and Rufus would be our scouting party. You’ll find the caves and then report back to us.”

  Michael barely listened. His eyes stayed on Teresa’s face until her own eyes fell and she turned away.

  She would destroy the whole tribe to destroy me, he thought Why does she hate me so?

  “As you wish,” he said, rising to his feet. “I will inform Rufus.”

  • • •

  “They did what!” Rufus demanded, throwing down the shovel and taking a step forward as if he might go after them with his bare hands.

  “They relieved me of my command. But I don’t think anyone else knows it yet. Rufus, I need your help, and I need you to think. Can you think without wanting to rip someone’s head off?”

  “Ay,” Rufus said sullenly. “If I must.”

  “I need you to look as if you’re preparing to leave with me. Pack your bags. Grab two mounts and meet me at Isolde’s cabin, just as if we were obeying the command.”

  “Ay. I follow you so far.”

  “But you won’t go with me. You’ll stay here, ready to command the riders. I don’t like the feel of this.”

  “Ay. They’re sending you away so they can try some trick or another.”

  It wasn’t they so much as she. Michael didn’t understand it, but he felt the danger, like a living thing, and he must stop it.

  “But I don’t know what trick,” he said to Rufus. “The elders are listening to Teresa. She’s telling them what they want to hear. But why they want to send me away, I don’t know.”

  “Could be they’re hoping to shock Rodrigo awake.”

  “You’d think they’d remember how dangerous that is to the people involved,” Michael said. He remembered the taste of fear the day he’d tried to do the same with Jelena, when he’d given her the necklace she’d grasped in her hand as a newlyborn. It had taken him seven years to develop the courage to do it, and only when he thought he had no choice had he tried it.

  And he had failed, and nothing had changed, and everything had changed.

  “They’re desperate,” Rufus said.

  Michael had been desperate, too. Was that a reason or an excuse? And did it matter, in the end?

  “Surely you won’t be heading out alone?” Rufus asked. “I’ll bring the horses and pretend to leave. I’ll bunk at Isolde’s house tonight so it will be morning before the Elders know you’re a step ahead of them. But you can’t go alone.”

  “I won’t be alone,” said Michael. “I’ll bring Rodrigo with me.”

  Rufus’s grin grew wide with delight. “By all that’s good,” he said. “That’s the way, by all th
at’s good.”

  • • •

  Danielle had agreed to distract Teresa and keep her occupied while Michael recruited Rodrigo for the mission.

  He told Rodrigo that he was being considered for a very special privilege, a place on the team of riders, despite his unawakened state and his lack of calling. Rodrigo’s reaction — pleasure at the honor, doubt at his readiness — convinced Michael that Rodrigo had no idea that he’d been about to be promoted to commander of the riders.

  “To help prepare, you and I will set out on a scouting journey,” Michael said. “We’ll leave quietly — we don’t want a lot of questions. This is a private matter, and we don’t need to spend time debating it with the other villagers.”

  “I understand,” Rodrigo said, his eyes shining with excitement.

  “As you know, Teresa is privy to the council and fully agrees with the decision. She has handed you over to my protection.”

  “Of course,” Rodrigo said. He hesitated a moment, then added: “I’d like to say goodbye to her.”

  Michael had anticipated this. “She’s with the council just now and shouldn’t be disturbed. She asked me to convey her heartfelt good wishes to you. She wouldn’t want us to delay.”

  “Of course,” Rodrigo said again, then turned and made a pack out of his meager belongings. Michael grabbed the pack and swung it over his shoulder so that if they encountered anyone it would look as if Michael were the one preparing to leave, not Rodrigo.

  No one stopped them as they made their way to Isolde’s cabin. Rufus had already arrived with the mounts, which he’d saddled. He’d also packed Michael’s saddlebags for him.

  “It is the Way, my friend,” Rufus said, before ducking back into the cabin where he would spend the night.

  A tendril of cold fear wrapped around Michael’s heart. Was it the Way? He had no idea anymore. Even though he was the one who was supposed to know.

  He nodded to Rodrigo and they mounted their horses. No one would notice them this far north of the main part of the village. Michael turned his horse, heading for the river they would follow north.