After the meeting was over, and after Alrik had secured a promise from her to come by the wood bears' encampment, she dallied for a while. She couldn't take her mind off of Ulfrik, but she could take her eyes off of him, at least, and so she spent a bit of time talking with the Aquila, a woman of middle years who wanted to take pains to welcome her back, and a bit more time talking with the head of the weasel clan, whose clan had a tradition for trickery much like her own clan's storied exploits.
The head of the weasel clan was a man just a few years older than she was, and she wondered if she had found a kindred spirit in him. There was something that fell just shy of flirting in the way he spoke to her, something that was intimate and familiar in the way he touched her hand. She smiled, and she agreed when she felt like it, but when he moved in to ask if she wanted to discuss matters further in his tent or hers, she declined.
He accepted it with grace and walked off whistling, and she realized that she had been dallying longer than she thought. The hall was quite empty now, and she sighed as she walked toward her own encampment.
Night had fallen, but there were plenty of stars to see by. All around her were the sounds of shapechangers, and she felt safe and secure in a way she had not felt since she assumed the position of clan chief.
“You look happy.”
She was jerked out of her reverie by a voice from the darkness, and immediately, she fell back into a defensive crouch. Tonna quickly stood up when she realized that it was Ulfrik, leaning against an old oak tree, his arms crossed over his wide chest.
“Is there a reason I shouldn't be?” she asked, surprised, and he looked away.
“I suppose not,” he said, his voice deep and unreadable. “Forgive me. I simply thought to make conversation, and... I suppose I have done it badly.”
She was ready to say that he had done nothing of the sort when he spoke again.
“I suppose Oran of the weasel clan does much better than me.”
He turned to stride off, but Tonna's angry cry brought him up short.
“What in the seven hells is that meant to mean?” she asked. “Don't speak in riddles if you expect anything but anger and irritation, Ulfrik!”
“I mean that you are not yet back a full day and you have found a young man who will fall head over heels in love with you,” he snapped.
If he expected her to tuck her tail between her legs and slink off, he was wrong. She stepped straight up to him, looking up into his eyes with eyes that were snapping with fury.
“I will accept no such talk from you, not when I am the head of my clan,” she snarled. “I am the leader of the fox clan, and I will make my alliances and take my lovers where I choose. I will not be bound by your taunts or your insults.”
“What about my love? What about my blood?” he demanded, and at that, Tonna went still and shocked. She knew how her heart yearned for his, but the last time they had seen each other, everything had happened so fast. There had been no time to think before things had fallen apart, and then she remembered Bors standing between them, telling her she had done enough damage, that things were bad enough because of what she had done.
The look of shock on her face cut through his demands, and as quickly as he had flared up, he subsided. If he had been in his wolf form, his ears would be drooping and his tail would be held low.
“Forgive me,” he said, his voice strangled. “Oh, Tonna, forgive me. I know I have no right to speak to you like this. I know you must blame me for the death of your brother. I know you swore never to look at me again, but please, at least forgive me for my rudeness if you cannot forgive anything else.”
The words hung between them, strange and foreign to Tonna. Never forgive him? Never look at him again? She was the one who had been sent from his side, and she shook her head, taking a step back. There were strange things at work here, and she knew she could not move ahead without learning more. She had a fox's natural bravery, but she also had the fox's natural caution, too. There was something strange in the air between them, and she would not proceed until she knew more.
“I never blamed you for my brother's death,” she said softly. “Never. I know you, and there is no malice in you, Ulfrik. For your rudeness, well. Perhaps you can make it up to me another time.”
He stared at her, and there was enough of the trickster to her to laugh as she slipped by him, heading for her encampment.
Ulfrik did not follow her, though she wondered if he would, and when she lay down in her bed, she took thoughts of him into her dreams.
***
The next day, she awoke late, and when she wandered out to the cook fire dressed only in her simple green linen gown, she took the bowl of food that was offered to her with a grunt of thanks. It wasn't until she was halfway through it that she was able to taste it, and she was almost done when she realized that Alrik was sitting next to her, an amused expression on his face.
“So you and Oran,” he began, and she rolled her eyes, spooning herself another generous helping of stew.
“Don't you start,” she grumbled. “I've had an earful from Ulfrik, already.”
“Well, I'm sure that Ulfrik has a great deal to say on the matter,” the bear agreed. “So should I ask about you and the wolf chief?”
“Perhaps I should be the one asking,” Tonna said thoughtfully. “He said some things to me last night... Alrik, you've known his clan for years. Will you tell me something?”
“Of course.”
“Bors, what happened there?”
Alrik made a face at the mention of the name. Tonna remembered that Bors had not been much liked among the other tribes. He had been Ulfrik's father's adviser, a lean red wolf from the south, and she remembered his face, twisting with disgust, as he stood between her and a bleeding Ulfrik.
“That's a bad bit of business. He incited a battle between Ulfrik's people and a group of human mercenaries by whispering poison into the old king's ears. Ulfrik, who was only a wolf prince at the time, had to go and do his father's bidding, killing people and laying waste. He won, but it was only by a miracle of luck that he did, and when he was finished with that business, the wolf clan's reputation was in tatters. The rest of us saw them as madmen.”
Tonna shivered. The wolf clan was always known for its ferocity, and she didn't want to even think of Ulfrik in a battle rage. The fact that they had been warring so much that the other clans refused to meet with them was chilling.
“Well, the old wolf finally died, and I will say this for young Ulfrik, he knew where the problem was. Bors was stupid enough to think that the wolves would follow him, and he challenged Ulfrik for the kingship. Instead, Ulfrik beat him into the dust and banished him, and nothing's been seen of him since.”
“Good,” Tonna said with feeling. There had been something very, very wrong about the wolf from the south, and she would not weep if she never saw him again.
“After that, Ulfrik's been going around, meeting with the other clan heads, and he's been slowly repairing the damage that his own father and Bors did. They are gaining their standing again, though it is slow, but he is working hard. There's some speculation that he will marry another clan head to seek some alliances.”
“Who?” asked Tonna, suddenly stiffer than she had been, but she realized she had been baited because Alrik laughed at her.
“Peace, peace, young one,” he chortled. “It is only speculation after all.”
Tonna was just on the verge of telling the old bear what he could do with that speculation when she realized that there was another visitor waiting on her favor close to the edge of the encampment. It was Ulfrik, standing with his hands open and without weapons, and she felt a moment of self-consciousness.
Alrik nodded slyly at her, and she wondered if the bear had some fox blood in him somewhere. “I shall go engage our friend in some conversation, yes? You can come out to see him when you are ready.”
Tonna watched as the old man ambled toward Ulfrik, and she made a dash for her tent.
She combed her hair and put on a fresh dress, and then she hesitated. Biting her lip, she reached for a small silk pouch that she had carried along with her for years, and when she opened it, she found the little silver ring set with a golden sparkling stone that Ulfrik had given her years ago.
She wavered, and then before she could change her mind, she put it on.
Alrik was just taking his leave, and Ulfrik turned to her. He wasn't the nervous youth he had been five years ago, but she wasn't the careless girl she had been either.
“Are you looking for me?” she asked politely.
He nodded, never taking his eyes from hers. “I had thought you may wish to go for a walk. I am out and about greeting the clans I do not see often, and I would enjoy your company. I assume that you were going to do the same?”
Tonna quirked an eyebrow at him, falling into step by his side. “I'm sure that having the head of a clan that is still in good standing with you as you do so has nothing to do with your offer?” she asked sweetly, and there was still enough of that gawky boy in him to blush.
“Am I so obvious?” he asked plaintively. “I truly did wish to see you.”
“You are that obvious,” she said kindly. “However, I want you to think about the fact that I am coming along with you anyway.”
***
That day was very strange for Tonna. In some ways, it was extremely easy to feel as if she and Ulfrik had had no time apart at all. She teased him, he took her too seriously, and they were immediately at ease with one another in a way that felt perfectly natural. However, there was something dark between them. The death of her brother and the scar on his face. The way that he would only touch her with the lightest, most perfunctory of hands, and the way he stole looks at the ring that she wore, but would not say a word.
It was like having a good friend back from the dead.
It was like being teased with something she couldn't have.
It was heaven, but there was a hellish cast to it as well, when she wondered if it was all that they would have.
When night fell and the shapechangers put aside their work and the meetings to celebrate by the great fires, she took her leave from him. He looked a little hurt to be so summarily dismissed, but Tonna's thoughts were in a whirl and she couldn't concentrate.
She needed some time with her own people, and so she ended up going to the river to bathe with Aja.
“So do you think you'll leap the bonfire tonight?” Aja asked. She was referring to the fire leaping game that many of the shapechangers favored. It was great fun to leap over the fires, each leap going higher and higher than the last as the bonfires were built higher and higher.
“I might,” said Tonna, shivering as Aja scrubbed her back. “I was quite good at it.”
“I'm going to,” Aja said, and if there was something too innocent about the way that Aja said it, Tonna was too preoccupied to notice.
“That's nice,” Tonna replied.
Aja giggled. “I might even do it with that fine and handsome wolf chief.”
“What? You would never!”
Tonna's outburst was sudden and violent, but her cousin only laughed in her face. Tonna blushed because she had been fairly caught, and Aja hugged her tightly.
“You're obvious,” Aja said, not without kindness. “Jump the bonfire with him. I can tell you want to.”
Jumping the bonfires alone was good luck. Jumping the bonfire while holding hands with another, that was a promise, a hint, a flirtation... it could mean a dozen different things, and Tonna realized that if there was someone she wanted to jump with, it would be Ulfrik.
“Maybe,” she responded, and Aja sighed at how stubborn her cousin was.
***
Tonna dressed in a short sleeveless tunic that was daringly cut above her knees. The night was unseasonably warm for autumn, and she was perfectly comfortable in her attire. Some of the shapechangers wore even less, and it did not shock her to see a middle-aged man who she recognized as a silversmith from the elk clan wearing nothing at all. Children darted through the fires, overfull on the harvest food and thrilled at the excitement, and all around, there were people flirting, chatting, making connections and having a wonderful time.
Tonna was doing her fair share of all of it, but she always looked for Ulfrik. He showed late, and when he did, he was wearing less than she was. Aja, standing by Tonna's side, joined her cousin in staring at the wolf chief's fine body, clad only in a linen kilt wrapped around his waist.
“I might not have been joking when I said I wanted to jump with him,” Aja muttered, and at Tonna's growl, she gave her cousin a shove.
“Go get him, Tonna, or someone else will!”
Tonna was prepared to do just that when her hand was seized, and she was swung into a wild dance. Oran smiled at her with his eyes bright and mischievous, and though she wanted Ulfrik, she couldn't resist the rhythm of the dance, set by skilled pipers and a steady drumbeat. She knew the dance well, and she challenged Oran to see how fast he could dance it.
Their competition was noted by the people around and a circle cleared as their feet moved faster and faster. She was dripping with sweat but still smiling brightly when Oran gave up, throwing up his hands in defeat and bowing to her graciously. The people around her raised a cheer, and when she turned around, there was Ulfrik, a half-smile on his face.
“For the victor,” he said, and he crowned her with a wreath of autumn flowers. She couldn't see their color in the darkness, but she could smell their scent, something heady and wild and sweet, the last gasp of summer in their petals.
“The victor,” she mused, when she got her breath back. “If I am the victor, I want a reward.”
“I already gave you a crown,” Ulfrik teased.
She shook her head petulantly. “I don't want something that you would have given to Oran,” she said. “I want something else.”
Ulfrik raised an eyebrow, and there was something there that was so much a challenge that she knew exactly what she wanted.
“Jump with me,” she said, and a slew of emotions rush over his face. There was doubt and wariness, but it was washed out with hope, and adoration and yes, love.
“Yes,” he said, taking her hand.
The fires were already high, but Ulfrik lead her to the largest blaze, the one set away at the edge of the meadow. The people around it were cheering each other on, and Tonna grinned at the flame and then at Ulfrik.
“That's a very high blaze, wolf king,” she said teasingly. “Think you can leap it with me?”
“The higher the blaze, the better the luck,” he said, nodding with mock solemnity.
“The higher the blaze, the truer the love,” she offered, and he smiled. They would have kissed just then, but someone shouted a challenge to them, that the wolf king and the fox chief couldn't leap the fire.
That was all it took, and with her hand clutched tight in his, they were running for the fire. Just when the flames were growing unbearably hot, they leaped, leaving the ground like one being and vaulting over the blaze.
For a moment, Tonna thought that they were not going to go far enough, but then they landed on the ground on the other side. She stumbled a few steps, but Ulfrik caught her, wrapping her up in his arms as they gasped for breath.
She steadied but he didn't let her go, and she looked up at him with wonder in her eyes. They were on the far side of the blaze, and most of the people who were watching were separate from them now on the other side. To her right was the fire, and to the left was the forest, deep and secret. Private.
“I want you,” she said, the words falling from her lips as if they had been waiting five long years to be uttered. “Please. I need you.”
Ulfrik took a deep breath, and he nodded. There was a great deal of fear in that gesture, of making himself open to her, of taking what she offered, but he did it, and they walked together, hand in hand still, into the darkness.
***
He didn't take her to the hollow by the ri
ver again. Instead, he led her to a flat dry cave nestled far off in the woods. There were natural sandstone cliffs nearby, and the cave itself was a warm niche in the earth, rock on all sides and cozy. Tonna thought about wolves that came to den in such places, and she thought about her own experiences in the earth, when she had been away from home and had had to dig herself a den.
“Does it please you?” he asked. “We could have gone to my camp or yours...”
“It pleases me because you are here.”
He smiled at that, and because he looked inclined to be shy, she stepped lightly to him and cupped her hand around the back of his neck. When she drew him down for a kiss, it was a light gentle thing. It was slow and exploratory, and above all gentle.
We were different people when we did this last. I was a girl, and he was little more than a boy himself. This is better, I think...
Their kiss deepened, and slowly, they sank to the ground. There were dry pine boughs close to the cave that they brought in, and with their clothes over them to act as sheets, it was comfortable enough. Now they were naked, and Tonna sighed as she felt Ulfrik's hands glide over her body. She could feel the gentle tremors of pleasure as he touched her, and she snuggled even closer to him.
“Have you done this with anyone since...since last we were together?”
She opened her eyes to look at him, but there was no challenge there and no jealousy. His hands on her body were steady, and she smiled at him.
“A few times,” she said. “One or two of them I thought might make a mate, and they were good men, all. They just weren't...”
“Weren't right for you?”
“Weren't you,” she said simply. Then, fearing she had revealed too much, she looked at him. “Have you been with anyone?”
Tales of the Golden Judge: 3-Book Bundle - Books 10-12 Page 4