Chris spoke up. “We’re going back to the mountains. We’re going back to our old house where Taig and Tara were born.”
“And we’re going with them,” Marissa replied. “We’re all going up there to live together and leave the village and the rest of the faction to the younger generation.”
Renier sat up. Carmen ran her fingers through his shaggy mane and smiled into his eyes. “We’re not going back, either. We’re staying here.”
“Staying here?” Anna repeated.
“But Reina....” Aria began.
Renier shook his head. “Reina’s a better Alpha than I ever was. The longer I stay away, the better she’ll be. I already told Leflin I wasn’t coming back. He’ll smooth things over so there is no handover ceremony.” He snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reina stays in the colony for a while. By the time she gets back to Melnili, she’ll understand the situation and it will be ancient history.”
Aria shook her head. “This is.....What will you do here?”
“I’ve been down to the Labor Pool,” Renier replied. “They’ll find a job for me, I’m sure.”
“I’m sure,” Donen added.
Aria glanced at Carmen. “You never said. All this time you’ve been staying here, you never told me.”
Carmen smiled. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Do you really have to leave your home?” Aria asked. “It seems like a drastic step.”
“We’ll find plenty here to keep us busy,” Renier replied. “There’s nothing for an old ex-Alpha to do but hang around and get in the way of the new Alpha. I’m much better off here. The whole Felsite faction is better off with me here.”
“I’m not going back, either,” Aquilla chimed in.
The others spun around to face him.
“You’re not staying here, too, are you?” Aria asked.
Aquilla chuckled. “No, I could never live here. I could never live anywhere other than my own home forest. I’ll go back to Avitras territory, but I’ll never live in the same village as Roshin again. He needs to establish himself as Alpha, without my influence hanging over him.”
The others cast anxious glances at Piwaka, but the old Captain made no remark. He frowned at Aquilla the way he always did at any mention of Roshin’s name.
“Where will you go?” Aria asked. “Will you go back to your home village?”
Aquilla shook his head. “We’re going to Utmost, the new village being built on the Felsite border.”
“That’s the village built on the site of the city our colonists just vacated,” Renier added.
Aquilla nodded. “The farther we are from Roshin, the better, and Utmost will need every hand to make it work. Not many Avitras want to live that far away from the faction. It’s the perfect solution for us.”
Carmen turned to Penelope Ann. “Are you happy about this? You’ll be so far away from your family, and isolating yourself from Roshin and Talya can’t be easy.”
Penelope Ann threw back her head. “I never cared much for the easy road. I’ll make new friends in Utmost, and after Roshin establishes himself, we’ll come back to visit. Besides, I won’t be completely alone.”
“We’re going to Utmost, too,” Aimee told them. “We’ll be neighbors.”
Aria stared back and forth between Aquilla and Piwaka. “But you two.....How did you....What about.....?”
“You mean, what about Roshin?” Penelope Ann asked.
Aria turned bright red and clasped her hands in her lap. “I only meant.....”
“Handing over power to a younger man can’t be easy for you, Piwaka,” Carmen remarked. “That younger man being Aquilla’s son must make it that much harder.”
“Harder?” Piwaka chuckled. “I can’t wait.”
The others whirled around to face him. “Really?”
“Why did you think it would be hard?” he asked. “Who else would I hand over power to?”
“But we all thought.....” Aria began.
Marissa finished her sentence for her. “We all thought you would resent handing power back to Aquilla. We all thought Roshin taking over would make you hostile to him.”
“I have to hand over power to someone,” Piwaka pointed out. “I’m not young anymore, and politics is a young man’s game.” He cast a glance toward Renier. “I mean, it’s a young person’s game.”
Renier smiled and bowed his head.
“I’m delighted Roshin is taking over,” Piwaka went on. “Aquilla’s shadow always clouded my ability to lead our people. Everyone knew I wasn’t the real Alpha, and they kept waiting for Aquilla to take over again.”
Aquilla sat up straighter. “They did?”
Piwaka nodded. “You never knew. You kept out of it, the way you said you would, and no one ever told you. Everyone will be thrilled Aquilla’s son is Alpha, and no one will be more thrilled than I will be. I don’t have to tell any of you, being Alpha is no picnic. The responsibility crushes you to the ground. You never know when some crucial tidbit of information you chose to ignore turns out to be the most important information you needed to do your job. Thousands of lives depend on every decision.”
Aimee and Emily glanced at each other. Could Piwaka have discovered the secret they all kept to themselves? Could he have learned, by some means they didn’t know, that Roshin was right about the Outliers threatening the Avitras border? Maybe that’s why he rejoiced to let Roshin assume the responsibility of leadership.
“What about you, Donen?” Carmen asked. “I know you won’t leave Harbeiz. You won’t disappear from Mirin’s life.”
Donen stared into the flames. “I already have.”
Aria pressed his hand. “He’ll always need you.”
Donen sighed. “I won’t leave Harbeiz, but he won’t need me ever again. I’ll go through the motions of handing over power, but I’ll never go down to the Council chamber again for any serious business. As far as I’m concerned, he’s already Alpha. The Council feels the same way, though none of them will say it to my face.”
“It can’t be as bad as that,” Aria exclaimed.
Donen waved his hand. “Ask Aquilla. He was there. He saw the way they treated Mirin. He saw the way Mirin handled meeting the Alpha of another faction—and a hostile faction, at that. Tell them, Aquilla.”
Everyone waited for Aquilla to respond, but he only gazed into space.
“Tell us, Aquilla,” Chris urged. “Tell us what you saw when you went to the Council Chamber.”
Aquilla shrugged. “Donen is right. Mirin is Alpha now.”
Aria gasped. “He can’t be.”
“I hesitate to put it in those words,” Aquilla replied. “I don’t want to offend Donen, but he said it himself first.”
“It’s true,” Donen replied. “You won’t offend me by speaking the truth. I’m glad it’s my son we’re talking about. He’ll be a good Alpha.”
“Just like his father,” Caleb added.
Donen turned away. “He’ll be a lot better than I was. He already is. He could have kept Aquilla as our enemy. It was easy for me to keep the Avitras as our enemies and fight war after war with them. It takes a lot more tact and skill to make peace with them.”
“You made peace with them,” Marissa pointed out. “Mirin is inheriting the peace agreement from you. You had the vision to make peace, and you didn’t quit until you accomplished it. No one did it for you.”
“Piwaka did it,” Donen replied. “And Aquilla did it. I didn’t do anything.”
A signal sounded from across the room. “What is it?”
Aria checked the notification panel near the front door. All of a sudden, her face changed. “Quick! Follow me!”
Chris struggled to her feet. No one wanted to leave the comforting glow of the fire. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Aria raced across the room. “Hurry! This is the absolute capper. We can’t miss this.” She tore open a cupboard door and pulled unidentified garments out
of it. She heaped them on the floor in a frenzy. “Come on! What are you waiting for?”
No one moved. Marissa sat back against the seat. “At least tell us where we’re going.”
“Outside!” Aria cried. “Come on. We’re going outside. It’s snowing! There’s snow falling all over the mountain. Come on!”
Emily rocketed off the long seat first. “Snow!”
The room exploded into a gaggle of excited conversation. People hurried first one direction and then another in their haste to get out of the apartment. They collided with each other. Then they ran back the way they’d come. Aria threw heavy winter clothing at them and as fast as she could fitted everyone with as much protective gear as she could heap on them. By a miracle of diplomacy, she managed to avoid loading Caleb and Turk with them. The Lycaon brothers stood back and watched the proceedings with wry amusement. Snow in winter wasn’t anything to get excited about. Renier scowled at the coat Aria tried to get him to wear. “Do we really need all this?”
“Put it on,” Carmen told him. “You’ve never seen snow in your life. You’ll want it.”
“What’s the big deal?” he asked.
“It’s cold out there,” Carmen told him. “Now stop arguing and put it on. Here. Wrap this scarf around your ears and neck.”
He grumbled, but in the end he suffered her to wrap him in a layer of clothing to keep him warm outside. “You Felsite live in heat. You’ve got thin blood.”
After much ruckus, the whole party trooped up to the observation deck. Fluffy snowflakes swirled on the wind. Cakes of snow weighed down the tree branches and covered the ground in a layer of powdered sugar. The women raised their faces to the sky. Emily tried to catch snowflakes on her tongue.
“It’s a white Christmas,” Penelope Ann exclaimed. “This really is the capper.”
Aquilla frowned. “What does that mean?”
She laughed. “It means it’s the best. It’s the best thing that could happen.”
He only frowned and hunched his shoulders deeper under his coat. “I’m cold. Let’s go back inside by the fire.”
Penelope Ann laughed out loud. “Listen to you. You never sat in front of a fire before, and now you want to go back to it.”
He cast his eyes toward the ground. “It’s starting to make sense to me. We don’t have snow in Avitras territory.”
She lifted her arms to the iron-grey clouds to embrace them. “I know. I haven’t seen snow since I left home. This is like coming home for me.”
Chris grabbed her hand. “Come on! Let’s throw snowballs.”
Penelope Ann ran after her. Emily and Aimee giggled and followed in hot pursuit. By the time they jumped off the observation deck, Chris scooped up a handful of snow, packed it between her fingers, and sent it flying. Penelope Ann barely had time to protect her face with her arms before the snowball shattered against her shoulder.
The men stood in a line across the observation deck and stared at their women gone mad. Snowballs flew thick and hard in every direction. Female laughter rang against the high peaks, and still the silent snow drifted down from heaven to blanket them all in its downy softness.
Renier tucked his hands under his arms and shivered. “Is it like this in your territory?”
Turk stood next to him wearing not a stitch of protection. He chuckled. “Only in the winter.”
“How can you stand it?” Renier grumbled.
Turk squinted up at the sky. “Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”
Renier grunted something under his breath about the Felsite plains.
“Winter is my favorite season,” Turk replied. “I love to go running in the new-fallen snow. Then you come back home to a blazing fire and a bowl of hot soup. Nothing feels better than that on a cold winter day.”
Renier stamped his feet. “It’s too cold.”
“Running warms you up.” Turk gazed out at the snow-laden trees. “I can’t wait to get back up to the mountains. We won’t have all the responsibility of politics to worry about. We’ll have all the time we want to run and hunt.”
Renier studied him. “You must be very proud of Taig.”
Turk nodded. “He’s the best man for the job. I would say that even if he wasn’t my son. Even before we went to the Aquinas world, I knew he’d make a better Alpha than Ari. Fortunately, circumstances made sure he became Alpha in Ari’s place. You ask Caleb. He’s happy about it, too. We all knew Ari was too wild to make a good Alpha.”
Caleb spoke up. “He’s not wild anymore.”
Renier nodded. “I’m glad he came to Melnili. Reina needs him.”
“What about Leroni’s family?” Turk asked. “They aren’t still upset about losing him, are they?”
“Losing him?” Renier asked. “They haven’t lost him. He lives in the apartment down the hall from them. They see him every day.”
“Their daughter loved him,” Turk pointed out.
“She loved the helpless young man she called Sooss,” Renier replied. “She doesn’t love the Ari living down the hall from her. He’s Reina’s mate. Mala understands that.”
A shriek interrupted them. On the slope beyond the deck railing, Carmen and Penelope Ann tackled Aimee and shoved her to the ground. They sat on her and drove her face into the ground. Emily whirled around. “Hey! No fair!” She barreled downhill toward them and hit Penelope Ann broadside in a flying tackle. She knocked Penelope Ann off and they rolled farther down the hill. Snow flew from their flailing limbs until they struck a support beam under the deck and stopped.
Aquilla peered over the rail. “Should we intervene?”
Turk and Caleb held their sides with laughter. “Stay where you are. They’ll work it out for themselves.”
Piwaka knit his brows. “I’ve never seen them like this. What’s gotten into them?”
“It’s called cabin fever,” Turk replied. “It happens when people stay inside too long in winter. They need to get outside and expend some energy. Leave them alone. They’ll get tired soon, and then they’ll be back to their normal selves.”
Piwaka craned his neck to watch the women running around in the snow. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure,” Turk replied.
Piwaka put his head on one side and blinked his eyes. “Have you seen this behavior before? It isn’t dangerous, is it?”
“I’ve seen it a million times,” Turk replied, “and it’s perfectly harmless.”
“You said it was a fever,” Piwaka pointed out. “Maybe we should contact Faruk.”
“It’s just a name,” Caleb told him. “It’s a way of describing when people get frustrated and bored indoors after long periods of time. They need to get out and run around.”
Piwaka called down. “Come back up here, Aimee. It’s too cold. Let’s go back inside.”
None of the women heard him over their shrieking laughter. Turk waited until Piwaka withdrew from the rail with a resigned sigh. “You see? I told you so. They’re enjoying themselves.”
“Do you play like this back in Lycaon territory?” Piwaka asked.
“Not anymore.” Turk shot a glance at his brother. “Not since we were children.”
Caleb returned his glance, and the brothers laughed. Turk scooped up a handful of snow and plastered it into Caleb’s face. Caleb pushed his brother away with a laugh.
Chapter 12
The whole gang burst back into the apartment in a hubbub of laughing, talking, jostling, and teasing. Their cheeks glowed from the cold, but big grins lit up every face. They kicked snow off their shoes and shook it out of their clothes. As soon as they walked in the door, Emily adjusted the controls on the accelerator to make the flames blaze up. Everyone crowded around the fire and held out their hands to the flames to warm their fingers.
Aria brought out an enormous pile of soft brown towels, and the women dried their hair and changed into dry clothes. The men talked and made jokes until everyone converged on the fireplace again.
The tree twinkled in the corner. Aria handed around hot drinks and bowls of snacks. The conversation ebbed and flowed in a continuous stream with no end.
Aria sat down next to Donen on the long seat. “I can’t believe you’re all leaving in the morning. These last few days have gone by so quickly.”
“We’re not leaving,” Renier reminded her.
Aria waved her hand. “You know what I mean. It’s Christmas. It goes by so fast, and then it’s all over and everybody goes back to their normal lives.”
The women looked around at each other. “None of us is going back to our normal lives.”
Aria started to explain what she meant. Nostalgia threatened to overwhelm her with sadness, but Chris jumped to her feet with a clap of her hands. “There’s still one thing to do before we leave. We have to open the presents!”
Fresh blasts of excitement exploded around the room. Some jumped up while others grabbed seats on the chairs or the floor as their taste dictated. No one sat silent. They shouted orders and speculation and urged one another to go first. In the end, Donen rose to his feet and held up his hands for quiet. “I can see someone has to take charge here. This is my house, so I’m in charge.”
Protests greeted him, but he only smiled. “Be quiet, all of you. You’ll have your chance.”
When the shouting simmered down, he turned to face the tree. He picked up the wrapped gift closest to his foot and read the label, “Penelope Ann.”
She could barely stay in her seat. She wriggled back and forth and gave silent claps with the tips of her fingers. “Goody!” She snatched the package from Donen and set it down in her lap. “Now who could this be from?”
Donen took his place next to Aria, and everyone watched in rapt fascination while Penelope Ann tackled the thick twine holding the wrapping in place.
“This must be from some Lycaon,” she muttered. “No one else would use this string to tie a package closed.”
Titters ran around the circle until Chris blurted out, “It’s from me.” Turk jabbed her in the ribs with his elbow, and Chris rounded on him with her hackles raised. He jerked his head toward Penelope Ann. “All right. It’s from both of us.”
Angondra Holiday Special Page 8