by Claudia King
Caspian made a habit of visiting the trading area several times a day, keeping his eyes open for any seers who might be willing to part with the kind of seeds Adel needed to grow her herbs. Much to his luck, there were many such women in attendance that year, but they proved cagey and distrustful when he attempted to bargain with them. They only shared the sources of their magic with other seers, they said, not dark witches like Adel and her kind.
When he shared their words with the den mother she seemed curiously perplexed, but not as angry as he had expected. Some scheme was at work in Adel's mind, and she told him only to wait until the alphas had made their decision on whether she would be allowed to sit with them or not.
Despite the comforting bustle, Caspian was ill at ease with the uncertainty the gathering held for them. He needed time to rest and settle, and that was difficult while the others still regarded him and his clan with such wariness.
On the evening of the second night after their arrival, a stirring of voices on the southern side of the clearing reached Caspian's ears. He was making his way back to Adel's small camp after another fruitless attempt at bartering, and the lack of progress he had been making was beginning to grate. Netya would probably be wondering where he was, and he did not relish the prospect of returning back with nothing to show for his efforts yet again. She and the other women had been sharing out the last few herbs they had managed to save from the flood, seeking visions and insight into what might await them. He, on the other hand, was stuck with the concerns of the physical world, reminded yet again of the differences between him and the clan of women he now served. He recalled the man they had seen following along behind Octavia's procession, humbled and subordinate to the females.
A frown furrowed his brow, bringing his feet to a halt. Netya would likely still be in the strange haze of some vision. There was no need for him to hurry back already like an obedient puppy.
Reversing course, Caspian directed his attention toward the disturbance happening on the other side of the clearing. It seemed too large to be the celebration of another successful hunt, and he did not hear the telltale snarls that signified a challenge taking place. Ignoring the angry growls and insults being directed his way, he pushed through the tight press of bodies when he heard a familiar name being spoken, his heartbeat quickening with excitement. The commotion was well-justified, for it seemed the gathering was now finally complete. The last great pack had arrived, and half the men and women in attendance had clustered around to greet them.
He fought his way through the crowd, tripping over wolves and tugging at articles of clothing for balance. A gap in the press of bodies finally opened, and the sight of a very welcome face greeted Caspian.
Long-haired and powerful like Miral, but still possessed of a welcoming ruggedness to his appearance, Khelt stood at the head of his entourage with a weary smile on his face and his palms outheld to greet those around him. He looked tired and well-travelled, but every bit the man he had always been.
"Alpha!" Caspian called out with a grin, struggling to get around the last few people blocking his way.
Khelt's eyes lit up the moment he heard the familiar voice, scanning the crowd with eager eyes until he caught sight of his old friend. "Caspian, my brother!" he bellowed, features creasing with mirth. The alpha spread his arms wide and hurried forward, abandoning any pretence of ceremony as he met Caspian's embrace and thumped his friend firmly on the back, his hearty laugh filling the space around them. "So many seasons! It feels an age since we parted ways."
"Barely a year, you fool," Caspian replied, stepping back to look his friend up and down. "But yes, it has felt far longer. I was starting to fear you might not grace this gathering with your presence."
Khelt waved a hand in dismissal. "You worry like an elder. What of my worries? You were the one to throw yourself upon the mercy of the wilderness with barely a single able-bodied man at your side!"
"Well, as you can see I have suffered none the worse for it."
Khelt's jovial expression sombered a little, and he put an arm around Caspian's shoulders, lowering his voice as he tried to lead them back away from the press of the crowd. "And Netya? Is she well?"
Caspian nodded, giving his friend's arm a brotherly pat. "As well as ever, yes. She has grown into a strong young woman."
"It relieves me to hear it," Khelt sighed, and as he spoke Caspian heard the alpha's authority draining from his voice, replaced by the worried tone of a young man that had always been reserved only for the ears of his closest friend. "I feared for her greatly these past seasons. I know she is your woman. I proved myself unworthy of her, but still—"
"I know." Caspian gave him a smile of understanding.
"Is she like us now? With a wolf of her own?"
"She is, though it troubles her still. I have tried my best to help her, but..." He trailed off with a shake of his head. "We can share our troubles later. What of your pack? What has happened since last winter?"
"It is still your pack too," Khelt said as they skirted the embers of an abandoned fire and finally left the central gathering behind them, wandering back into the trees at the edge of the clearing. "You need only make the choice, and you will be welcome back at our side."
An unsettling knot stiffened in Caspian's stomach. "You know you will always have my loyalty, but there are others who need it now too."
"Of course," Khelt said lightly, but Caspian could tell his friend was lacing a more serious suggestion beneath his casual attitude. "Netya wishes to become a great seer, as is her right. But by the time the next gathering falls she will have learned all she needs. Perhaps then the pair of you might seek out a more welcoming pack, yes?"
Caspian smiled and shook his head. "We shall see, but I am not the one you should be attempting to convince. Now tell me of yourself, will you? How has the pack fared?"
Finally dropping the uncomfortable subject, Khelt's expression darkened again, his gaze falling to the ground as they ambled through the trees. For a long moment he was silent, and only when their progress was halted by a rocky shelf overlooking the maze of brambles did he speak.
"Do not tell Netya and the others of this if it can be helped," he muttered. "It would only upset them."
Caspian's expression fell. They had abandoned the outcrop they called home in dire circumstances the previous summer. "You have not been able to return, have you?" he said.
Khelt shook his head, his expression pained. "The Sun People refused to give up their search. I kept scouts watching from afar to bring back news every few weeks. At the end of winter I expected it might be safe to return, but still the Sun People kept sending out their hunting parties. Some months ago I made the journey back there myself." He paused again, gazing out over the mist as the setting sun tinted it gold. "They found our home and the caves we tried to conceal. Everything we left behind was put to the torch."
A sickening tug replaced the knot in Caspian's belly. Though he called it home no longer, the outcrop was still the place he had been born, raised, and lived almost all of his life. He tried to imagine the trophies of Khelt's ancestors torn down from the walls of the alpha's den, the beauty of the seers' murals scorched from the walls of their cave, and found himself unable. It was not something he desired to witness even in his mind.
"Only once they had burned it all did they leave," Khelt said.
"Do you think it will be safe to return there?"
The alpha shrugged. "Perhaps one day. But to what? A defiled ruin no longer hidden from our enemies?" Anger burned in his eyes, and he brought a clenched fist to his lips. "I should have fought them. Curse the witch for ever persuading me against it."
"Do you mean to seek vengeance?" Caspian asked cautiously.
"I want to," Khelt said. "And only the echo of your voice in the back of my mind gives me reason to pause." He turned to Caspian, giving him an imploring look. "I cannot stand by and allow the Sun People to take so much from us, can I? The pack is safe, yes, but what are
we without our home? Without our honour? Are some things not worth the price of our lives? When our spirits linger in the dreams of our children, do they not deserve to be remembered as noble warriors?"
Caspian took his own time to consider before responding. Even he felt his wolf calling for the same taste of vengeance, but he forced himself to think past it.
"If there was a time to fight back, it is gone now," he said at last. "Perhaps it was wrong to leave. Perhaps there would have been great honour in defending our home and driving the Sun People back. But what honour is there in taking the fight to them now?"
"The honour of doing something!"
Caspian shook his head. "Bloody vengeance, and nothing more. It will not bring back our home, nor make it secret from our enemies again. Not unless you mean to slay them to the last woman and child."
The fire in Khelt's eyes finally dimmed, and his gaze fell. "You know I would never do such a thing."
Caspian sighed with relief, and it was his turn to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Restore your honour in the years to come. There will be other, more just battles to fight, and an older, wiser alpha will one day look back on his youth and be glad for this moment of restraint."
"How will I ever lead this pack without you, Caspian?" Khelt said, echoing similar words that had been voiced the last time they parted ways. "You see all the things that my foolish eyes cannot."
A feeling Caspian had not experienced in many months spread through him. Something as welcome as it was worrying. At Khelt's side, he had purpose. A purpose of importance, and of honour. A responsibility to others, and the power to see it fulfilled.
It had been so long since he last felt such a sense of belonging. He was not Adel's advisor. She accepted no advice, at least not in the way Khelt did. Would he ever be able to experience such purpose as a member of her clan?
As he made his way back to the clearing with his friend, he realised that he was considering Khelt's offer more sincerely by the moment. And his heart was torn between the pull of love, and of loyalty to everything he had left behind.
—14—
Caspian's Challenge
Khelt's delay in announcing himself before the other alphas caused an immediate stir, and within moments the gossip regarding him and his pack had reignited the gathering like wildfire. What had happened to him since his split with Adel and her seers? Was he afraid to appear before the others, bereft of his former strength and status? Or was his delay a brash boast of power, making the other alphas wait while he took the time to make himself comfortable?
Caspian knew the truth of it was as simple as Khelt wanting to spend time with his old friend. The alpha had never cared for the dance of diplomacy that went on between leaders, having little interest nor patience with such things. He was a simple, honest, and straightforward man in that respect. The day to Adel's night. It was little wonder that Khelt and the cunning, deceptive den mother had never seen eye to eye.
Despite Caspian's insistence that it would be a poor idea for him to appear at a leader other than Adel's side, Khelt insisted that he accompany him to the centre of the gathering when he announced himself. Instructing his pack to rest and make camp in an unoccupied corner of the clearing, he ignored the gossip circulating around him as he made his way toward the central fires. No grand entourage accompanied him. No ceremonial procession like Octavia's, and no band of imposing hunters like Miral's. His entrance was simple and direct. So very much like Khelt.
Caspian could not help but allow his chest to swell with a hint of pride as he walked beside the alpha, the pair of them drawing looks of respect, admiration, envy, deference, and even desire from men and women alike. They had always been able to accomplish much together. Brothers who complemented one another's faults and strengthened each other's wills.
When the crowd shrank back from the inner ring of bonfires they continued on without hesitation, finding the majority of the other alphas gathered in anticipation of Khelt's arrival.
"Alpha Khelt." Gheran's wrinkled eyes disappeared beneath the jaws of his skull headdress as he bowed his head respectfully. "We are pleased to count you among us. There have been many stories told of you and your pack lately, and few of them good."
"Then let me put your worries to rest," Khelt said with a hearty smile. "My pack is well, as am I. The Sun People challenge us in greater number these days, but they are easy to outwit. Alas, they caused our delay this summer, but I would not let them stand between me and the gathering."
Caspian smiled internally. His friend had gotten better at spinning the truth to his advantage, at least. It was unlike Khelt to lie outright, but even he understood that it would be foolhardy to paint his clan's struggles in an unfavourable light.
"Easy to outwit, are they?" Miral said from his seat opposite. He was leaning against a thick log, one knee up as he etched a piece of bone with the skill of a masterful craftsman. "I hear the Sun People have driven you from your home, Khelt. And now we learn your den mother and seers have abandoned you. Your great status is no longer so great, it seems."
"My daughter was a gift to your clan, Khelt," Adel's father said. His arms were folded as they had been the night before, his voice soft and deep. "I was assured she would hold the title of den mother and become your mate. Now she wanders without the safety of a pack or the status you promised her."
"Her exile is my business," Khelt responded, baring his teeth with a hint of a threat behind his words.
Caspian resisted the urge to intervene. What Khelt said next had the potential to reflect poorly on both their packs, but this was his moment to speak.
"Still, it is of concern," Gheran said. "Your pack has long been known for the wisdom and the number of its seers. It seems you can hold that distinction no longer."
"It is a blow I take without regret," Khelt said. "I have seers enough to tend my pack still, and, fortune willing, a new den mother before long. I am better off without the witch. I warn you, her meddling would be the bane of many a foolish alpha."
Caspian clenched his jaw uncomfortably, catching the curious looks that passed between the others. Adel's father had a dark glare trained on Khelt.
A chuckle from Miral broke the quiet. "The bane of a fool who knows not how to handle a woman, I think. You should have given her to me. My seers are as worthless as the soggy herbs they pretend to divine the future from."
Khelt's broad shoulders swelled. "Question my strength with a challenge, Miral, or keep your tongue to yourself."
Miral was on his feet in an instant, tossing his piece of painstakingly carved bone into the fire like it was nothing. "Ah, a worthy challenge? It has been many years since I cut my wolf's teeth on the flesh of another alpha."
This time Caspian could not stand by and watch without intervening. "A range of mountains stands between the territories the pair of you lay claim to. What have you to win from such a challenge?"
The two alphas stared each other down for a moment longer, but both seemed to realise the good sense of Caspian's words. While they might have been fierce enemies under different circumstances, their clans were so distant from one another that any kind of conflict served little purpose. An alpha might challenge another if he hoped to absorb a smaller pack into his own, but Khelt and Miral led clans so vast that such a prize would cause more problems than it was worth.
It was fortunate, too, for while both alphas matched one another in size, Caspian suspected Miral's age and experience might lend him a distinct edge over Khelt.
With a slow blink of his amber eyes, Miral turned his attention to Caspian. "I thought you were Adel's guard dog?"
"I count friends among many packs," Caspian replied, matching Miral's easy smile.
"And a wise friend he is too," Khelt said, clapping a hand on his companion's shoulder. "I am weary from the journey and have no taste for fighting this night. Unless you wish to cast me out of the circle, then spare no more talk on the troubles of my pack. They are mine to deal with and min
e alone."
Caspian felt the tense atmosphere settle slightly. Even without Adel and her seers, the size of Khelt's clan and the territories he lay claim to still put half the other alphas in attendance to shame. His status might have taken a blow, but he was still unquestionably a powerful leader.
They stayed to exchange words with the others briefly, but it was little more than a customary gesture of respect between the alphas. Nothing of real significance would be discussed until the gathering was settled in earnest, with the alphas sitting up all night long to challenge and reconcile the differences that had arisen between their packs over the past three years.
Soon the small gathering began to disperse as the alphas returned to their own private camps, and Caspian made ready to excuse himself and bring word of what had happened back to Adel. But Khelt caught his arm as he turned to go, gesturing in the direction of his own camp on the opposite side of the clearing.
"News will get back to them on its own. Come, sit with me and tell me of all that has happened since we last parted. I have missed your tales and the way you tell them."
Caspian glanced over at the silhouette of Adel's tent atop its hillock, dim and eerie, and then back across the expanse of warm fires littering the clearing in the opposite direction. With a sigh and a smile, he allowed himself to be guided back the way he had come.
Khelt laughed and shook his friend eagerly by the shoulders. "How have you managed all these months without me to take that look of worry off your face? Forget the gathering, forget their talk! We will have time for our worries when there is less good merriment to be had. Tonight I want you by my fire, a haunch of meat in my hand, and a woman in my furs."
It was almost like the pair of them were boys again, before they had ever taken on the responsibility of grown men or been forced to part ways. After so long, Caspian needed a night of such freedom. He smiled, putting thoughts of Adel and the others to the back of his mind.