Changing Fate [Fate series] (12 page)

No
, she told herself firmly,
I swore I'd take care of Briam, and I shall—even if he does suddenly think I'm a monster. Besides, Lord Ranulf doesn't really want me; what he wants is the land, and he already has that!
She dragged herself to her feet and headed back to the cave, with the rest of the pack trailing behind her.

It was very late when they got there, and the cave was dark. Apparently Briam had remembered to bank the fire for the night—if he was even there. Akila halted at the cave entrance and sniffed the air. Yes, Briam was there, and so were the horses and—Akila's nose wrinkled at the scent of perfume—so was Druscilla. Oh, well, maybe things would look better in the morning. She and the wolves crowded into the corner behind the saddlebags and went to sleep. But something had changed now in her soul; she felt restless in wolf form, and the Earth Mother was calling her back to the altar again which the Maiden threw lightning behind her as if to herd her home. It was the old dream, which had stopped after she had been a wolf for a while.
Why is it back now?

She woke up to the sound of Druscilla's screams, followed by Briam's “What's the matter?” as he sat up and reached for his sword. Akila struggled to the front of the pack, which was difficult since they were all pulling back trying to get away from Druscilla, and went over to lean against Briam.

I swear, that girl has a more limited vocabulary than I do right now! Briam, she
must
stop this stupid screaming every time she lays eyes on us—after all, we live here too!

All right, all right
, Briam thought back at her, sounding harassed.
I'll explain it to her
.

Good luck
. Akila sprawled in the middle of the floor, prepared to derive some amusement of out the coming discussion.

"Lady Druscilla,” Briam said deferentially, “I know you're not used to having a pack of wolves sharing your living quarters, but please do try to be reasonable. None of them has laid a paw on you, and it's certainly not likely that they're going to. Look at them!” He gestured toward the wolves, who were trying, with limited success, to hide all eleven of themselves behind six saddlebags. “I swear to you, my lady, that they are every bit as frightened of you as you are of them."

"They can't possibly be,” Druscilla quavered. “And that one certainly isn't.” She pointed at Akila.

"I assure you that she won't hurt you,” Briam said grimly. “She wouldn't dare, would you?” The last phrase was addressed to Akila.

It was all so silly; Akila just couldn't resist. Opening her mouth and letting her tongue dangle between her lower fangs, she shook her head carefully from side to side.

Druscilla pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, and Briam took an angry step forward. “Stop that—this isn't funny!"

Akila rose, butted her shoulder affectionately against his leg, and went back to join the pack.

Briam tried again. “Really, my lady, they're very helpful. They've been catching food for me so I can take care of the horses."

Druscilla cast him a look of total revulsion. “How can you eat anything a wolf killed?"

To Akila's relief, Briam infatuation had not totally overcome his common sense. “After it's skinned, cleaned, and cooked, what difference does it make how it died?"

Druscilla's lower lip trembled. “This is awful! I wish I'd never run away from home!"

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Druscilla; I feared I might have difficulty persuading you to return."

Both Druscilla and Briam jumped to face the speaker, a woman who stood at the side of the cave entrance, sword in hand. Akila scrambled to her feet.
If Druscilla hadn't insisted on running away with a full supply of perfume
, she thought angrily,
I would have smelled her coming. That girl deserves every insect bite she's got—and I hope she has a lot of them!

"Who are you?” Briam snatched up his sword and thrust Druscilla protectively behind him. Akila, glancing from the tunic Briam had been sleeping in to the heavy leather overtunic the swordswoman wore, moved to stand beside Briam, growling softly.

The woman did not advance toward them, but stood her ground calmly, seemingly prepared to stand there all day.

"She's Leader of the Queen's Guard,” Druscilla said nervously from behind them. “Shield-Bearer,” she added, “did my aunt come with you?"

Akila did not wonder at the respect in Druscilla's tone; the woman before them commanded it. She looked somehow more real than the cave around her, she seemed to know exactly and totally who she was and what she was doing. She would be a formidable ally; and trying to face her down was terrifying.

Suddenly she smiled, as if she had weighed them, their actions and thoughts, and understood them. “No, Druscilla, the Queen is still in the city, preparing for the Spring Festival. It will no doubt relieve your mind to know that she has decided you are not yet ready to take part in it.” Druscilla shuddered and pressed her lips together, and Akila wondered what the Festival was.

She turned her gaze on Briam. “You can put up your sword, young man; I mean none of you any harm.” She sheathed her sword, and held her hand out toward Akila, looking her straight in the eyes.

Akila walked forward, meeting the woman's eyes squarely. She liked this woman, she decided; her eyes were honest and direct. She also knew how to treat a wolf, which was a welcome change from Druscilla. She stood at ease, scratching Akila behind the ears, and said to Druscilla, “I've come to escort you home, Lady Druscilla, so if you'll gather up anything you may have brought with you, we can go."

Druscilla made some inarticulate sound and clung to Briam's arm.

"She doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to,” he said gallantly. “I'll look after her."

The Shield-Bearer looked amused. “I very much doubt that she'd be happy here, but if you wish to accompany us to the city, you are welcome."

"Please come with me, Briam,” Druscilla whispered softly.

"All right,” Briam said. “We'll all go."

Oh, wonderful
, Akila thought,
another adventure. What a great time for Briam to start developing a mind of his own
.

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Briam gathered up his clothes and went into the side cave to dress. Akila followed him, feeling that they had a few things to discuss. “What are we going to do, Akila?” he whispered.

Shhh!
she thought at him, hastily sitting on his foot.
You don't want them to know that I'm not really a wolf, do you—or did you tell Druscilla already?

No, of course not; I've never told anyone about your shape changing!
At least he had switched to mind-speaking, so she didn't need to worry that they'd be overheard.
But you can't stay a wolf forever; can't you change back now?

Not unless I'm willing to be overcome by acute indigestion on the road someplace—and that does tend to make travel rather difficult. And how would you explain the sudden appearance of a sister who has been with you for months and has virtually no clothing? Besides, unless the Shield-Bearer brought extra horses, there are three of you and three horses.
She was startled to hear what she had just said—how long had Briam been ‘one of you’ in her mind, rather than ‘one of us'? Had she been a wolf too long to be human again?

But you'll come with me, won't you, even if you have to be a wolf?
Briam's thoughts sounded anxious. Was he wondering the same thing she was?

Yes, little brother, I'll come with you. Once we see what the city is like, we'll figure out what to do about getting me back to human form
. Akila wasn't at all sure she wanted to change back; she's been happy as a wolf, and being a human was so complicated—beginning with explaining how Briam's sister suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Oh well, she'd think about it on the road; she should have time to come up with some plausible story. Although any story that would fool the Shield-Bearer would have to be quite plausible indeed.

Briam finished dressing and started to saddle Gris. “Akila,” he said absent-mindedly, “would you get the saddle-bags, please?"

Akila rammed her shoulder into the back of his knee hard enough to make it buckle under him.
With what?
she thought in exasperation.
My tongue?

Briam looked down at her in confusion. “I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I forgot. I'm so used to having you help me..."

Briam, please
try
to pretend I'm just one of the wolves. I have a feeling that swordswoman doesn't miss much
. Akila broke the contact and went back to join the rest of the wolves. Druscilla shrank away from her as she passed, but at least she didn't scream this time.

Briam came out of the side cave, leading Gris. “Do you have horses, Shield-Bearer?” he asked.

"No,” she replied. “Since I was tracking, I came on foot."

"I have two more, and you are welcome to ride them,” Briam said politely. Then he turned to Druscilla and added, “Can you ride?"

"Of course.” Druscilla sounded surprised at the question. She looked puzzled for a moment and the laughed. “Just because I don't like wolves doesn't mean I'm helpless!” She glanced uneasily at the wolves. “Are they going to come with us?"

"I don't know,” Briam said. “Probably some of them will."

"I don't think they'll follow you out of the forest,” the Shield-Bearer said, “but we'll find out. Would you like me to help you saddle the other horses?"

"Yes, thank you,” Briam said. “I'm not used to doing it all alone."

The swordswoman raised an eyebrow. “Then perhaps you should have brought a groom with you when you left home."

Briam smiled faintly. “I think most of our grooms would quit before they'd live in a cave with a wolf-pack. Besides, I wasn't given a choice—when our estate was invaded, my sister and I barely escaped with our lives. Then a couple of soldiers came after us—that's where I got the extra horses, and my sister and I got separated."

"Aren't you worried about her?” The Shield-Bearer seemed a trifle suspicious of his apparent lack of concern.

"Not much,” Briam assured her. “She's very good at taking care of herself, and I'd know if anything really bad had happened to her."

"Really?” Druscilla asked. “How?"

Briam shrugged. “I just would. I guess it's because we're twins.” He reached down to grab a saddlebag, the stood and looked at Druscilla. “Is this city we're going to a place where many travelers come?"

"Oh, yes,” Druscilla said proudly. “A lot of people come to Diadem.” She looked at him curiously. “Does being a twin let you know where she is?"

Briam shook his head. “Not exactly. All I can sense is that she is alive and well somewhere. She's better at telling things than I am; she says she can sometimes tell what I'm doing. At home she used to be able to call me in to dinner from anyplace on the estate, but I'm not sure if we could do that anywhere else."

The Shield-Bearer brought the other two horses out of the side cave and she and Briam saddled them. Druscilla leaned against the wall and watched them; obviously she was so accustomed to having servants around that it didn't occur to her to offer to help.

They had to walk the horses down the rocky part at the side of the cliff, but once they got to the swamp they could ride, although very slowly and carefully, and when they reached the river there was a path of sorts along the bank. Even so, they were held to a walk by the rocky ground and the overhanging branches.

Akila and the other wolves trailed along after them. They had a much easier time of the route than the humans did, which left Akila free to worry.
Briam's really acting strange; he never just decides to go off someplace without asking me about if first. And now he suddenly decides, without so much as consulting me about whether I want to go or not, that we're all going off to a city we've never seen or heard of, where we don't know anybody except Druscilla. Sweet Lady, what a recommendation! We don't know anything about this place; we don't even know what this Festival that Druscilla doesn't like is! And a festival that could make
her
run off into the woods to escape it—even as a wolf I don't like this, and I suspect that I'm going to like it a lot less as a human being. What's gotten into Briam?—Druscilla's not
that
pretty!

They rode until it was nearly dark, then found a wide part of the path to camp in. Akila noted with amusement that the Shield-Bearer was careful to sleep between Briam and Druscilla. Akila and the wolves curled up in a pile on Briam's other side.

They reached the edge of the forest late in the afternoon four days later. The river they had been following was much wider now, and ahead of them were a group of small fields under cultivation, surrounding a village of thatched huts.

"We'll spend the night here,” the Shield-Bearer said. Druscilla gave a soft groan, and the woman turned on her in considerable annoyance. “Don't choose this time to put on noble airs, Lady; you should have been prepared for rude housing when you decided to run away. Remember that you are a princess of the land and that these are your people, and act accordingly!” She looked Druscilla straight in the eyes, and after a moment Druscilla silently dropped her eyes to her saddle.

The Shield-Bearer then turned to look at Briam. “Do
you
have any complaints to voice?"

"Indeed not, Lady,” Briam assured her. “Compared to my recent living conditions, this is sumptuous.” He looked uneasily down at Akila, standing at his horse's left side. “How do these people feel about wolves?"

Akila wasn't sure how the villagers would feel about them, but she knew very well how she felt about the open fields. Every part of her seemed to be screaming inside at the thought of having to cross them.
Danger! No cover to hide behind, no bushes to burrow into, no caves to lair in
. From the soft whining behind her, she knew that they other wolves felt the same way.

The swordswoman looked at the wolves. “I don't think they'll leave the forest, Lord Briam. But if they do, we shall find out how the villagers feel about wolves. She dug her heels into her horse's sides. “Come along.” She headed along to edge of a field toward the village, and Druscilla sighed and followed her.