Firekeeper jumped to her feet, her Fang in her hand. In a single leap, Blind Seer was at her side, crouched to spring.
Sharp Fangùas Firekeeper must grow used to thinking of the Whinerùjoined them. Apparently, she felt more fondness for her two-legged sister than Firekeeper might have imagined. "Stop!" barked the One Female, surging to her feet, her fangs bared at all.
"Stop this nonsense!"
Everyone cringed back, for the One Female did not lead the pack owing to the glossiness of her gleaming silver coat. Indeed, everyone knew that though she had but one mouth to bite with, the One Male would be as her second and two such bites would take a season to healùif the victim did not die at once.
"Stop," the One Female repeated. "Little Two-legs, curl away your Fang. Northwest, stop taunting Firekeeper. You are a guest here and she is my pup."
Obediently, Firekeeper eased her Fang back into its Mouth. Blind Seer and Sharp Fang ranged back onto their haunches, but their lips didn't quite hide their snarls nor their posture their smugness. They were one with the pack. Northwest was outside it and in anything but a leadership challenge he would fight one to many.
No fool, Northwest flung himself down and rolled onto his back, exposing his throat to the Ones and whimpering in proper apology. The Ones accepted this and only when all were restored to harmony againùa romping and playing that involved all the pack, even the puppies and the guestsùonly then did the discussion resume.
"So," Firekeeper said, keeping her comments neutral and nonjudgmental, "I take it that Northwest believes the humans should be killed or driven away, not allowed to take root here. I can't say I disagree with him."
Northwest perked his ears in surprise.
"Nor can I say I agree," Firekeeper continued. "The matter is complex. Fear kept the humans from west of the Iron Mountains once, but it may not again. I have seen humans flee what they fear. I have seen them seek it out and kill it. What I do not understand is when they choose to run and when they choose to kill."
"You are saying that the humans might try to kill all of us if we kill these invaders?" Wind Whisper asked, the first thing she had said in a long time.
"I don't know," Firekeeper replied honestly. "There are many of us, but there are many of them, too, and if what Derianùthat is my human friend with fur the color of a fox'sùif what Derian says is true, many humans feel there is no longer land enough for them all in the east. Many years have passed since the Fire Plague and territories have been sectioned out among the humans as birds section out nesting grounds in the spring. Some feelùlike this Ewen Brooksùthat they need new nesting lands and these are easiest to take."
"Then we shouldn't make the taking easy," Northwest replied, his ears canted and mouth open to indicate the utter simplicity of the concept. "If they find that those who come here die, then no more will come. We will be a fur plague to them, even as once we were.
"And this time," he reminded them all, "they will not have the great powers."
This time Firekeeper did not challenge Northwest on that point. She herself wasn't sure just what powers did rest among the humans. She knew they had lesser talents, such as Doc's for healing or Holly's for raising plants. These did not seem akin to the ability to make lightning strike or fire rage through empty air.
"I have a question," Firekeeper said, turning to Wind Whisper, "if you will forgive me if what I ask is somehow rude."
Wind Whisper wagged her tail. "Ask and I will forgive if you give insult unknowing."
"You were of this pack when Prince Barden came and founded the first human settlement. If I understand rightly, the wolves did not chase these humans away. Indeed, my human mother apparently had friends among the wolves who would take in her orphaned child and raise it as one of the pack."
Those words were harder to say than Firekeeper had believed possible. She hated with every pulse of her blood to admit she had ever existed as other than a wolf.
"Why didn't the wolves then chase away the humans? Why did they even make friends with them?"
From the stirring of the other wolves, Firekeeper realized that the rest of the packùexcept for possibly the One Male and the One Femaleùdid not know the answer any more than she did.
Wind Whisper glanced at the Ones and held their gazes a long moment.
"I do know," she replied at last. "Now, remember. I was but a junior pack member, maybe of the age of your Blind Seer, here. Indeed, I came here as part of my own dispersal journey. I do not know the full counsels of my elders."
Firekeeper grunted her understanding and Wind Whisper continued:
"Those who crossed the mountains when you were small did much as this group has done. First they sent scouts. Only after these had found a good place for the rest to den did they go back and bring their mates and young. Because of this, we had a good deal of time to consider what to do.
"Many felt as Northwest does, that the humans should be slain, but there was one great difference between our knowing now and our knowing then. Then we did not know that the humans were without the great powers of which our legends still tell."
"So!" began Northwest triumphantly, but the One Female growled him to cringing silence.
Wind Whisper went on. "The winged folk had maintained spies among humankind, but these were few and could only learn so much by watching and listening from without. Their observations seemed to confirm that the great powers were gone, but there were evidences here and there of talents that made us wonder if the Fire Plague had completely burned sorcery from human blood."
She paused and thumped behind her ear with a hind foot, though it was early for fleas.
"I speak, you understand, of the humans of those lands directly east of this part of the mountains. In other areas such as the lands farther northùNew Kelvin, I think you called itùthe winged folk were less certain. That uncertainty was why the humans who came were let live and indeed somewhat courted by our pack. The wise ones decided that we must learn more about them before we hunted. What if the great powers had grown again into their blood? Then we might be bringing the old wars into this new refuge."
Firekeeper leaned forward, her posture imitating the pricked-eared interest of the wolves.
"And what did you learn?"
"We saw no lightning drawn from the skies," Wind Whisper replied, "but we saw evidence of strong talents. There was one among them who could influence the growth of plants, another who understood those of other bloods so well that almost could he speak to us. There was one who could tell what the weather would be with near impossible precision and one who could not become lost, no matter how far from her den she wandered.
"These," Wind Whisper said, "were the talents we observed. There may have been others. The blood speaker gave us to understand that their leader had gathered to himself those with talents in order that those talents could help his outlier pack to survive."
Humans might have broken into one of their babbling debates at this point, but the wolves were a hierarchical folk and so all eyes now turned to the Ones, mutely requesting confirmation of this outlandish tale.
"'Tis true," the One Male said, "as much as I was ever told. This was long ago, though, before either of us were born, and so we cannot confirm from our own knowledge."
Firekeeper stirred.
"What Wind Whisper says," she offered hesitantly, "mates with something I once heard a human who had kin among that group say. It seems reasonable that had there been humans with great powers, Prince Barden would have gathered them to him. If this is so, he was a rebel against more than his father's will."
Northwest clearly thought such discussion of long-dead people a waste of time.
"But there was no clear evidence that these humans had great powers?" he pressed Wind Whisper.
"No clear evidence," she said.
"And they dwelt here for the turnings of several season cycles," Northwest went on.
"True."
"So surely you would have seen great powers if
they possessed them."
Wind Whisper curled her lip at him.
"Puppy wise to say that what you have not seen must not be."
Northwest snarled and there might have been a scrap between the two visitors, but the One Female intervened.
"Be still," she commanded and stillness there was. "Wind Whisper has told us all she knows. The humans were permitted to live here so that we could watch them and learn. It is not for any of us to attack her for the wisdom of a decision that was not hers to make."
Firekeeper nodded, and since the question had been hers, it was her place to offer thanks.
"I have heard enough," she said, "and I thank Wind Whisper for offering her wisdom."
Wind Whisper swung her tail in acknowledgment, but her hackles didn't quite smooth when she looked over at Northwest.
Firekeeper dismissed their dispute, relaxed in the knowledge that such things were for the Ones to deal with. Instead she let herself consider what she had learned.
Had Prince Barden known that his colonists lived in the western lands on suffrage? Had he suspected why? Most humans might have forgotten that the Royal Beasts even existed, but the more she learned of this long-dead prince the more she respected him.
Derian had once told her that Prince Barden was more like his father than either of his siblings had been. Would King Tedric have mounted such an expedition without learning everything he could about the lands in which he planned to go? Firekeeper thought not.
She recalled the old tales that Lord Aksel Trueheart had drawn out of musty tomes in the libraries of Eagle's Nest Castle and elsewhereùtales that told of long-ago conflicts and hinted at the existence of the Royal Beasts. Until her coming with Blind Seer and Elation, these had been dismissed as bragging exaggerations as were the right of every storyteller. Then she and her companions had come, and such old tales were beginning to be reconsidered as fact.
What if Barden had taken those tales for fact? Might he have taken care that his people hide any great powers they had among themùif indeed they had possessed such? Humans lied far more easily than did wolves, though she was learning that wolves, too, could lieùespecially by not telling the full tale.
Could Wind Whisper herself be believed? Had the Royal Beasts seen some evidence of great powers among Barden's people? And if they had, would that evidence have been reason enough to execute the humans? Had the fire that came that fatal night been an accident or, perhaps, had it been set?
Chapter V
DERIAN DIDN'T PLAN TO turn around immediately after his arrival in Bardenville. The journey west had taken the better part of a moon-span and he and the animals certainly deserved a rest. Moreover, Firekeeper wouldn't want to visit with her pack for only a few days and then leave again. Indeed, Derian had wondered if she would return with him at all. Perhaps she would prefer to escort him into safer areas east of the mountains and then return to summer with her family.
Now Derian was glad that he hadn't given any of those at home any reason to expect him before several moonspans had passed. He knew that he must report what he had found here to King Tedric, and he hoped to have full and accurate details. Moreover, Derian wanted to be very careful not to give Ewen Brooks any reason to worry that Derian was a potential enemy of their venture. A quick departure might make Ewen worry about what Derian would say when he got home. Better to stay and make some friends among the settlers. It might make them less likely to decide to detain him forciblyùor worse.
Derian had no illusions that Firekeeper's influence made him immune to harm. Indeed, his friendship with her might add to his danger. The settlers clearly viewed all the large carnivores in the area as their rivals for local game, and were ready and eager to exterminate them. Already a magnificent puma pelt was drying on the side of a shed, and a bear hide was spread before Ewen's fire. Derian had stared at its empty eye sockets his first night in the cabin, wondering if it might have been someone Firekeeper knew. The wolf-woman played a more dangerous game than she knew where the colonists were concerned. Not a day passed that she didn't visit the settlement, but not a night passed that she didn't leave to be with the wolves. Moreover, as had been the case with Race Forester a year before, her incredible skills as a hunter and tracker made some of the young bucks in Ewen's group quite resent her. Every deer or brace of rabbits she brought to augment the supper kettle made them resent her more.
Indeed, the fact that the deerskin was rarely wounded with more than a single arrow shotùadding to the value of the gift while silently flaunting Firekeeper's skillùdid not add to the wolf-woman's popularity with those who had, before her coming, fancied themselves the lords of the forest.
And it doesn't help, Derian thought ruefully, that Ewen is forcing these same young men to put their hands to the plow and saw rather than encouraging them to roam the forest as he did when they first arrived, when the need for food and a knowledge of the territory was more important than such work. My arriving here when I did with extra mules to help with the plowing and hauling has made Ewen all the more eager to get crops in, stumps pulled, wood hauled, and all manner of exhausting menial tasks done before Iùand my livestockùtake our leave.
Derian had already resolved that he'd be wise to make a gift of at least one of the mules to the colony. The horses, even lovely Roanne, were safe enough. Their more delicate constitutions made them less attractive than the hardy mules, but he was coming to wonder if he would get away with either of the mules. Ewen's initial covetousness had become nearly proprietorial.
Oh, well, Derian thought, if I must, I'll leave the mules here and have Father take the cost out of my earnings. Maybe I can get Earl Kestrel to advance me some of my commission for the beasts I'm purchasing for his stable.
If both Derian and Firekeeper were less than popular with the young men of the colony, both of them had made friends with other members. Dawn Brooks appreciated Firekeeper's help in finding bees to populate her much coveted hives. When the wolf-woman brought Dawn a double handful of quail eggs, suggesting that Dawn incubate them under her hens, Dawn had been delighted. Much of her domestic poultry had fallen prey to foxes and weasels, and this opportunity to augment her flock had been a matter for rejoicing.
Only to Derian did Firekeeper confess that at least some of the poultry had fallen prey to resentful wolves and he suspected that the quail eggs were the wolf-woman's unspoken restitution.
Derian's willingness to plow, chop wood, and otherwise make himself useful had won him friends among the older colonistsùmany of whom he came to know during the late-afternoon wall-building sessions, where the logs that had been hauled and trimmed during the day were added to the palisade surrounding the settlement.
Never mind that about half the settlers were still sleeping in tents. Ewen had decided that a solid wall would serve them all far better than cabins. Derian, knowing far better than Ewen what lived in the forest, had to agree.
Although many of the settlers were quite youngùeven leaving out the children, the majority were rarely into their third decadeùEwen had recruited some older couples. These were usually masters of those skills the colony would need to flourishùcarpentry, blacksmithing, medicine. They had cultivated these skills working for others, but had nearly given up hope of setting up where they could be more than another's assistant.
These craft masters held a more realistic view of what the coming winter would bring and how close it was, never mind that the trees were just now unfolding their pale green leaves. They knew that having friends back east might make all the difference to their venture. Indeed, theirs were the most serious faces when the stones for Prince Barden and his people were set in place.
They're wondering, Derian thought as he looked at them, how soon they will take their places next to these long dead, and if anyone will have survived to put a stone with their name in place and to commend them to the ancestors.
It was during this ceremony for the dead that Derian learned that Ewen's colonists had found the remnants of
another cemetery off in the woods. It held markers for at least seven of those on Derian's list and for a few who were not on his list at all. Some of theseùjudging from the dates inscribedùwere apparently children born to the colonists after their arrival, children who had not survived the harsh conditions. A few were adults, probably late arrivals who had riskedùas Ewen's parents had not let him doùKing Tedric's wrath in order to join the colony.
Most of the deaths seemed to have been due to illness or accident, but a few of the inscriptions were ambiguous. These were ascribed by the newcomers to the actions of predators and were used to fuel the "get them before they get us" philosophy of Hart and his fellows.
Another portion of the population with which Derian could have made himself quite popular was the young ladies, for not all were married and not all of those who were married seemed completely happy in this small community. Flirtationùa mere game in a populous city or townùwas not viewed as an acceptable pastime here where everyone knew everyone else all too well. Although he was aware of several women giving him welcoming glances, Derian kept himself under a tight rein. It wasn't that he didn't long for female companionship, but he knew there were those among the men who would welcome any excuse to pick a fight with him.
Even without flirtation, there was much to do around Bardenville, and Derian was quite willing to do whatever was needed for as long as was needed, provided he was still welcome. If asked, he responded that he hoped to leave for home sometime around the end of Bear Moon. Thus he was greatly surprised when as Bear Moon was hardly showing a sliver against the night sky Firekeeper came to him, every line in her slim body eloquent with tension.
The labor of the day was winding down into evening's routine chores and Derian was in the process of grooming his mules when Firekeeper arrived.
"Can't we talk here?" he asked in response to her request.
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