“How do you know this?”
“The hound had the face of her hound, but was white and shining and when it came close to her, she could see its eyes were red. She screamed for help then, but her father and brother could not kill the hound. They chased it from her, and have since not been seen. The white hound is still at large.”
Fierce could not look at Red. She held her hands tightly twisted together.
“But it is the white creature, not the princess, who has done this,” said Red. “The Xaon is not the same as the wild magic.”
“No? So you think I should believe it is only a coincidence that this tragedy happened at the same time that she appeared in our midst? She did not make it and send it out to us to prove her power?”
Red looked to Fierce, but she did not know what to tell him.
“Not to prove her power,” he said desperately. “It was an accident.”
Lord Ahran shook his head. “She tells you it was an accident and you believe her? It is the taste of wild magic that makes you think of nothing else. It draws you to it. That is what the Xaon does. It draws us all.”
He looked at Red, but Red would not soften his stance. Lord Ahran spat. “I should have listened to those who told me you were tainted by the time I found you. You crave the wild magic, no matter the danger of it.”
“That is not true,” said Red. “It is you who do not see clearly. My parents died by the wild magic. But not all who use it are the same. And it does not taint those who see it used. Perhaps it teaches us something important instead.”
“Your parents,” muttered Lord Ahran. “You still think they are your parents?”
“What? What do you mean?” asked Red.
Lord Ahran turned away from Red. “Do not listen to any of them!” he declared, waving to both humans and animals surrounding the princess. “They have all been tainted by the woman’s wild magic. Who knows what they truly are? Or if they are real at all.”
“Tell me about my parents,” demanded Red.
Fierce tried to think of something to say to comfort him. But she knew who her parents were. Though her mother had left her, she had been nearly grown by then. And her mother had returned to answer her questions, if she had any. Fierce did not know what it would have been like to grow up without parents at all. She had always thought Red very strong, but now she realized he was even stronger than she had suspected.
Fierce watched as Red stepped toward Lord Ahran, but Lord Ahran struck first, landing a fist hard across Red’s mouth.
Red reeled back.
“Animal,” said Lord Ahran in a low voice. “I will say nothing to you. You deserve no words from me.”
What it meant, Fierce did not know, and Red was too struck by pain to tell her. He would not meet her eyes, but clutched at his stomach as if to comfort himself.
The princess moved forward and pulled Red back from Lord Ahran. For the first time, she seemed to focus on the humans who had come against her. “You say it for the sake of this child’s injuries that you have come?” There was a hint of disdain in her voice.
Lord Ahran lifted his head. “Of course. I do all that I do for my people.”
Fierce struggled not to snarl at this.
“And if I tell you that I can heal her?” asked the princess. She stretched a hand out to the girl, who was held now by one of Lord Ahran’s men.
Lord Ahran stepped between her and the girl. “You are as like to kill her as to help her, so far as we know of you. And what of the Xaon? What if you bring more of those white creatures to us.”
“I swear to you I will not. I will use my own strength to give power to my wild magic. As I should always have done.”
“And why should I trust you?” said Lord Ahran.
“What other hope does she have? Do any of you have?” asked the princess.
Lord Ahran pressed his lips so tightly together that they turned pale. He looked at the mob of humans around him, all focused on him, silently waiting on his decision. Then he sighed and nodded. “If there is any hint of Xaon, I will kill you immediately,” he warned.
“Of course,” said the princess. “I expect nothing less from you, defender of your people as you are.” There was only a hint of irony in her tone.
The girl was brought forward and the princess put a hand to her face. Immediately, the girl began to breathe easier and her injuries stopped bleeding.
No one but Fierce seemed to see how the princess grew old again as this happened. Her hair went gray and her face sagged. She had kept her promise to give her own strength to her magic this time. Fierce could feel that there was no breech into the Xaon now.
But as the princess worked, the ribbons of cuts across the girl’s face healed one by one, as if they had never been made. Her eye grew back inside the socket, for once the flesh around it had healed, Fierce could see that it was gone. Her ear did the same, and the girl was as beautiful as ever, if not more so.
She blinked at the now-hunched princess and clapped her hands together. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you.”
The princess did not speak for a long moment. Fierce might have been mistaken, but she thought she saw a tear well up in one eye and trickle down her cheek, but it was quickly wiped away with a finger and the princess stood clear-eyed and calm once more.
The man who had carried the girl forward led her back to her mother. Fierce could hear her sobbing and thought of her own mother, walking away from the pack. She should not envy a girl so badly hurt, but she did. She had not admitted to herself how much she missed her mother until now. She had felt no pain for her loss until now, and it was a pain that could not be healed with wild magic.
The princess turned to Lord Ahran. “Now what do you think of wild magic?” she asked.
“I think it is a danger to us as it ever was,” said Lord Ahran. “Just because you can use it once without opening the Xaon does not mean that you always will. And you are still the source of the white creatures. If we kill you, then your wild magic and the white creatures will be at an end.”
“No. If you kill me, there will be no one to destroy the white creatures. They will grow larger and more powerful. You have seen already that you have no power against them. Only the wild magic can save you now!” the princess declared.
“Do you refuse to admit that the white creatures came from your wild magic, then?” said Lord Ahran.
Fierce held her own breath, waiting for the princess’s answer. It would be easy for her to lie.
“I did not create them. But I did open the door so that they might come here.”
It seemed that the whole crowd let out a sigh with Fierce.
The princess had admitted her guilt in the matter, and while Lord Ahran looked at the crowd expecting to see them all angry with her, the opposite happened. The crowd saw her as one of them, as human.
“The white creatures are from another place, and we must return them there, where they belong. If not, they will wreak havoc throughout your world until it is utterly destroyed,” said the princess.
There was a long silence from the crowd.
“And now you think that we will let you go free to follow your supposed plan to destroy the white creatures?” said Lord Ahran. “What if you make even more of these creatures?”
Fierce could see the princess move forward a few inches, so as to put her face closer to his. She was as tall as he was, if not as broad, and she had her magic. Now, she also had the goodwill of Lord Ahran’s mob. If her hair had gone gray and limp and she had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, it did not matter. She was more a princess now than Fierce had ever seen, though her wild magic was at an ebb.
“No, I do not think that,” said the princess. “That is why I ask—who among you will come with me? Who will dare to face the white creatures at my side?” The princess turned to the crowd for this and raised her arms above her head.
A number of humans began to cheer and call out for the princess and for the wild magic. Not all of th
em, but enough to make a difference.
The princess nodded to them. Then she retreated and waved at Fierce to attend her.
Fierce was there just in time to catch her as she fainted.
Chapter Twenty-two:
Red came to the princess and brought water and a mash of berries that he trickled into the princess’s mouth until she opened her eyes once more. Then he held the princess as Fierce and the other former hounds sniffed around the great fissure. Lord Ahran had sent away many of the people, but he had remained with his men to help the princess. Or to guard her.
“You are a hound, then,” said Loyal quietly to Fierce.
“Yes,” she said. It was less difficult to have this discussion with Loyal and Broken than with Red. They understood. “My name is Fierce.” It felt good to say it aloud now, as much like a hound as she could manage.
“I always thought you were a hound,” said Unbroken.
Loyal nudged her with his head, baring his teeth. “You did not.”
“I did.”
“How did you guess it, then?” asked Fierce.
“It was in your eyes.”
“I think you have very human eyes,” said Loyal.
Fierce did not know if she should take this as a compliment or not.
“Also, she smells like a hound,” said Unbroken.
“She definitely smells like a human,” said Loyal, wrinkling his nose. “We all smell like humans.”
“I mean, she sniffs like a hound,” said Loyal.
“Oh. That is true. I thought at first that was only because she was intelligent.”
Fierce smiled and put a hand out to scratch at the place between the shoulder blades on Loyal.
He wriggled in delight.
“You are disgusting,” said Unbroken. “You will do anything to get a female’s attention.”
“And what is wrong with that?” asked Loyal.
The two hounds—humans—chattered on after that for a while, until Fierce stopped them with a question.
“Would you be happy to be hounds again?”
“Of course,” they said in one voice.
“There is nothing you would miss about being human?”
“Well, there are some humans I would gladly see as hounds,” said Loyal.
Fierce nodded in agreement, though the thought for her was too painful for words. Then she said, “There are hound packs here, in this forest.”
“Oh!” Loyal’s tongue spilled out of his mouth for a moment. “I had not thought of that. You must know them all. Or some of them. Are there pretty females here?”
“Pretty females who will chase you away the moment they see you,” said Unbroken.
“I know one pack very well,” said Fierce wistfully.
“Your own pack,” said Unbroken. “Because you are from this forest, aren’t you?”
Fierce nodded.
“You could introduce us, then. When we are all hounds again. We could have a new pack. There is nothing to being a hound if there is no pack. Might as well live with humans,” said Loyal.
But there was no hope for any of them being hounds again. Fierce did not say it aloud, but she knew it was true.
Unbroken looked at her for a long moment. “A pack is not everything,” she said.
“It is. It is everything,” said Loyal.
Unbroken nipped his shoulder again.
They were circling the fissure when suddenly Fierce heard a cry from one of the humans. Fierce and Loyal and Unbroken immediately leaped toward the sound and saw Red and the princess with a great white bear above them.
It lumbered at times on two feet, at times on four, as if it did not know which was right. It made strange sounds, not growling, but a kind of scratching rumbling sound. Its red eyes were empty and hungry and every time Fierce caught a glimpse of them she wanted to run away. This was not an ordinary bear, and even those were very dangerous.
“Stay behind me,” said Red. He pulled her to the side and put his face close to hers. “Do you understand?”
Fierce understood that he thought a hound could not help him against this white bear. She understood that he did not think of her as an equal partner.
One of Lord Ahran’s humans ran forward with a spear and threw it into the chest of the shining, white bear. There was a thick sound of metal meeting flesh, and for a moment Fierce thought that the bear would fall.
But the bear simply cracked the spear shaft and threw the wood to the side. As for the point itself, it stood out plainly on the bear for a few moments, and then seemed to be absorbed, becoming another part of its whiteness.
Two more of Lord Ahran’s men rushed at the bear, both males again. Fierce watched as one stood directly in front of the bear while the other hung back. The bear took the bait and attacked the one in front. He fell, and the other human ran—or tried to. The bear caught it and began to toy with it,
“Let me get closer,” said the princess. “I will kill it.”
“No,” said Red. “You can’t. We have to get it to the gap.”
“Of course you are right,” she said. But as soon as he had turned away from her for a moment, she ran ahead.
Fierce did not try to stop her. She thought she understood the princess better than she did Red. He had told her nothing and now was not the time to ask, of course. But still, it seemed a barrier had grown between them, as large as the fissure itself.
In a moment Fierce saw the princess standing in front of the bear, which threw down at her feet the human it had held in its paws.
“You!” shouted the princess in her most imperious tone.
The bear stared at her, head turning to this side and that, as if it were examining her. She took a step back, closer to the fissure that was behind them both.
The bear took a step with her.
She took another step back. And another.
She held its eyes with her own.
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Red asked Fierce, his face red, his voice harsh.
She opened her mouth but could not speak. She could see the rapid beat of his heart in his neck. She could smell him, his fear and his courage at once. His concern for the princess and his discomfort around her.
Then he moved away, trying to position himself to get between the bear and the princess.
“I am sorry,” Fierce muttered to herself. Was she the one who should say that? She did not know anymore. It was this human body, she was sure. It made everything unsure.
“Would you like me to bite him for you?” asked Unbroken, now at her side.
Fierce smiled at the offer, then shook her head.
“He would make a fine hound,” said Loyal. “With that hair of his, think how distinct he would be. No one would dare to challenge him, for he is strong and courageous as well.”
“He is not a hound,” said Fierce. “And I would not wish him to be one.”
“He would not be a good fish,” said Loyal. “Or a good bird. I do not think he has the grace for the one or the technique for the other.”
Fierce did not know what to say to this until she realized that Loyal was teasing her. It was a very hound-like joke. Fierce laughed heartily, and found that she hurt a little less.
The closer the princess took the bear to the gap, the more the bear tried to escape from her. She was using some part of her power to lock her hold on him, but not enough to harm him. He lunged at her, swatted at her, and she moved aside each time.
She was dancing as only a human could dance, ducking and twisting with no loss of balance. Fierce admired her very human grace. The bear was her partner, but it was not a friendly pairing, nor a natural one.
To Fierce’s surprise, Lord Ahran came near, gesturing to a man behind him. The man took out a bow and arrow.
Fierce thought that Lord Ahran meant to shoot the bear, and make it fall into the fissure. But she saw the arrow land instead in the princess’s back. Blood seeped into her gown, but she paid no notice. She continued to draw the bear forward.
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Fierce watched it carefully, and saw its shape begin to blur. Then she looked down and she saw that there were white worms on the ground beside the bear.
And the worms were moving toward the princess.
Loyal and Unbroken saw them, and they rushed forward, bending down to push the worms back into the fissure. A few of the worms tried to stick together and formed half of Unbroken’s face, but there were not enough of them to join together to make a full human.
“Watch out!” said Fierce as the princess stepped over the fissure.
She teetered, and then slipped forward, one leg dangling into the fissure.
Fierce could hear as the fissure seemed to shift around the princess, like a mouth moving its lips to suck her in.
“No!” Red called out.
The bear fell in, one paw snatching at the princess and pulling her after him.
In a leap she would have thought only a hound could accomplish, Fierce threw herself toward the princess and caught her arm. She had never had her strength or her will so tested as she fought with the Xaon of the fissure for the princess’s life. Her shoulder burned and she could feel the socket begin to weaken. In a moment it would pop. Her legs anchored her on the ground, but she could feel the pressure on her knees and her ankles.
As a hound, she would never have done this. She would have accepted that the princess would die. But there was something about being in her human body that made her fight it. She gritted her teeth so hard she thought they would break.
“Hold her!” shouted Red. She could feel him moving around to the right of her vision, but she had no attention to spare on anything but the princess. She began to make a pleading sound and it grew louder and louder until it seemed that the fissure itself could understand her and obeyed her.
The princess slid out, whole and intact. Her leg was covered with dirt, and she was gasping in pain and fear. She looked—human.
The princess crawled forward to Fierce. She breathed heavily. “Thank you,” she said. She stopped, and swallowed. “Thank you. You are a better human than I deserve. You have served me truly.”
Fierce got to her feet and brushed at her skirt. She did not know what to say in return. She bowed her head.
The Princess and the Horse (The Princess and the Hound) Page 15