Keeper of the Wolves (17 page)

I noted the deepened lines around her eyes
and her suppressed smile and realized she was teasing me. The
thought sent a warm rush through my body. “Is there such a
bow?”

She gave a feminine grimace and a laugh
escaped her. “It would be much too vulgar, I’m sure. Joven would
love it and probably use it at the most inappropriate times.”

“
I shall consider myself
grateful he didn’t show it to me, then.” I replied.

She laughed again and glanced at me.
“Victus, did you just make a joke?”

I smiled and hers deepened, showing her
straight, pretty teeth.

Chapter 10

“
Why did you tell me your
name?” Koya asked.

She was in her bed and I stood near the
window in the sitting room. Her door was open between the two
because she said she felt safer that way. She acted as though the
assassin’s attack and the presence of the Viel didn’t bother her,
but it was the little things that showed how badly she had been
shaken. She kept glancing at the windows and kept her hands firmly
together so they wouldn’t betray her. There was a slight hint of
steel in the air that gave away the knife she concealed within her
wrap. I pretended not to notice, but doubled my vigil to keep her
safe so she wouldn’t have to go through such things again.

I glanced toward her room, then outside
again at the moonlight bathed world below the castle. Something
gripped my throat, a shadow of fear at telling her the truth. I had
never felt such hesitancy before. Wolves lived in the truth. There
was nothing to hide and nothing to fear through living it. Yet I
feared telling her what an impact she’d had in my life because it
could change things, and for the first time in my life, I feared
change.

I swallowed against the tightness and took a
steeling breath. “Before I met you, I couldn’t understand what
humans said.”

The admission was quiet. Her movements
stilled in her room for a moment, followed by the soft rustle of
her footsteps as she crossed to the door. I didn’t turn around. I
was afraid that seeing her there would close off the truth I wanted
to release from my chest.

“
What do you mean?” she
asked quietly.

I put a hand to the cool window and traced
the wavy lines that marked the pane like the wings of a butterfly.
“You cut yourself on the glass you pulled from my paw that day.” I
frowned at the pane beneath my fingers. “Only after your blood
mixed with mine was I able to understand what you said.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She took
several steps into the room, but I kept my face averted. “What I’m
trying to say,” I swallowed again but the tight sensation refused
to let up. I continued in a whisper, “I am only an animal made by
some unknown, infuriating force to impersonate a human. I am a
stranger in this body.” I clenched my hand into a fist and willed
the burning in my eyes to keep at bay. I heard her draw closer and
closed my eyes. “I wanted to thank you for trusting a beast.”

I felt her even as I heard her cross the
remaining space between us. Her warmth and gentleness pressed
against my body and a tremble ran down my limbs. Her fingers
touched my closed fist. I opened my eyes in surprise at the jolt
that ran up my arm. I turned to find her face a few inches lower
than mine. Her blue eyes took me in completely. She accepted me for
who I was. Despite the craziness of a world where I had been taken
away from anything familiar and turned into something my soul was
never meant to be, she accepted me. Her gaze held peace even though
I couldn’t find the peace in myself.

The burning returned to my eyes and a tear
escaped despite my efforts to keep it away. I closed my eyes,
ashamed.

“
Victus,” she whispered. My
heart surged at the way she said my name, familiar and so gently I
felt my heart would break.

Soft fingers brushed away the tear on my
cheek, then her lips pressed against mine. I opened my eyes at the
surge of warmth that filled my body. She kissed me with her eyes
closed, her lips soft against mine, her hand warm against my cheek.
I returned the kiss, an unfamiliar action that made my heart race
and breathing slow. When she stepped back, I felt more human than
ever before. It was as though the wolf side was content to rest and
let my human side truly live.

She lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said
quietly. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“
I. . .” I tried to think of
what I wanted to say. I gave her a half smile. “I enjoyed
it.”

Koya gave a soft laugh, her eyes searching
mine. “You did?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

She watched me quietly with questions in her
gaze that I didn’t know how to answer. This time she was the one
who turned to the window. “It was your eyes,” she said.

I waited quietly, but when she didn’t
continue, I asked, “My eyes?”

She put her hand on the glass where my faint
print resided. “I knew you weren’t a monster by your eyes. They
held human emotions even when you were a wolf.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I could still
feel her kiss on my lips; her scent of meadow gold and vanilla
filled my nose. I wanted to kiss her again, but didn’t know how to
start. She smiled at Vielkeep spread below, then turned away.
“Joven was furious, as you probably remember. He thought I was
crazy.”

“
You are,” I
said.

She let out a soft, musical laugh that
turned my insides to liquid. “I suppose you’re right.” She glanced
at me, her eyes partially hidden behind her lowered lashes. “I’m
trusting my safety to a fearsome beast.”

“
A dangerous course of
action, to be sure,” I agreed. I took a step closer to close the
space between us.

She tipped her head up and whispered against
my lips, “To be sure,” then kissed me again.

This time when she stepped away, I kept
myself from following her. She paused by the door and looked back
at me with a tenderness that hadn’t been there before. “Goodnight,
Victus.”

“
Goodnight, my lady,” I
replied.

She disappeared into her room and I listened
to the swoosh of her blankets as she settled beneath them. It was a
long time before my pounding heart slowed enough for me to rest; my
mind kept awakening to the taste of her kiss and the touch of her
fingers on my clenched fist.

***

Koya’s eyes sought mine when I stepped into
the swirling chaos of the Gathering Ball. Hundreds of couples
dressed in every color swirled and danced across the floor. A
million scents, both foreign and familiar, assailed my nose.

“
Ambassador Victus Tramarius
of Danth,” the Royal Announcer called in a voice that rang out over
the assembly. Dancing stilled and silence filled the room. The
Announcer’s eyes met mine with curiosity before he bowed and put a
fist to the red rose on the shoulder of his black robe. “His
Lordship Andrus Joveth Remalian Vielslayer.”

The entire assembly bowed low to Joven,
their fists held to their hearts in respect. I noted several who
didn’t stoop quite as low, and these sought the eyes of others
across the room. I wished I knew enough about human expressions to
read the feelings their looks conveyed, but they seemed calculating
to me, snide.

I felt on edge as Joven and I stepped down
the four shallow stairs to the ballroom floor. Joven was
immediately engulfed by a crowd of well-wishers and curious
spectators who asked for introductions to the new ambassador.
Fortunately, I was able to ignore them entirely with only a bow
here and there because of my alleged lack of understanding for the
language.

By the time we made it to Koya’s side, I
felt like a beast in a cage again, gawked at by the audience. The
long-sleeved white shirt felt as though it was choking me, and my
feet already ached within the confines of Joven’s shoes. I resisted
the urge to loosen the black cravat Joven had demanded I wear.
Laughter showed in Koya’s eyes at my discomfort, but the glow on
her face and the slight touch of red to her cheeks softened the
effects and warmed my heart.

It was enough to be near her again. Her
scent brought back the warmth of her lips on mine; she was watching
me. My heart slowed when I met her eyes. Every sense was heightened
this close to her. Koya wore a regal dark blue velvet dress that
brushed the floor with the sound of a leaf landing on grass. Her
breath released soft and warm and her heartbeat quickened when our
gaze held.

A voice spoke next to her and she turned her
head reluctantly. Her words were kind and sincere, her voice round
and full like the call of a meadowlark across an early morning dewy
clearing. She tipped her head forward in a nod of respect to one of
a lower station, and her eyes met mine again, inquisitive and
happy, dancing like a brook at midday.

“
I told you this wouldn’t be
hard,” Joven said in a quiet, light tone from my right side. I
glanced at him, having forgotten his presence entirely. “As long as
you don’t talk, or howl, we should be fine and Koya will be safe
with her ferocious guard at her side.”

I felt his lighthearted words about my
animal nature like a barb. He wasn’t cruel, and he didn’t mean to
antagonize me, but when I was this near to Koya it was hard to
remember that I didn’t belong next to her. The thought was
confusing and painful.

A man in a white suit with a red flower on
his lapel bowed low to Koya. He smelled of corn, wood smoke, and
oil. There were lines under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept well. I
wondered if his journey to Vielkeep had been a pleasant one. “You
always look radiant, Lady Vielslayer.”

Koya nodded with a smile. “Please, Lord
Brayton. You must save your flattery for those deserving of
it.”

He grinned and anger rose in my chest. The
emotion surprised me. I studied him closely, wondering what had set
off such a reaction. He smelled normal, if a bit road-worn. His
clothes were pressed and his manner acceptable according to Joven’s
quick course on the matter. Yet the way he looked at Koya so
familiarly set my teeth on edge. “You are always deserving of it. I
would tell your mother the Duchess of my gratitude that you
received such beauty from her, but her attentions, as you know, are
elsewhere.”

I followed his gaze to Duchess Ramielle. The
man was right. In a room crowded with barely more than shoulder
space for dancing and conversing, the Duchess was surveying the lay
of the drapes and commanding two haggard-looking servants in the
placement of a cloth beneath a chair on the raised dais. She looked
completely oblivious to the commotion around her, lost in the room
decorations instead of the people she decorated for.

Koya lowered her eyes, a touch of red to her
cheeks. “I apologize, Lord Brayton. My mother has . . . great
attention to detail when it comes to the Gathering Ball.”

He lowered his voice. “Don’t trouble
yourself, my lady. Your worries don’t always have to be your own to
deal with in silence. There are ways of alleviating such concerns.”
He lifted his voice and held out a white-gloved hand. “On a lighter
note, may I have the honor of a dance?”

She gave a sigh that was almost silent and
smiled at him graciously. She slipped her hand into his and he led
her onto the floor. I paced along the wall, anxious to keep them in
view at all times. It was difficult amid the swirl of reds,
purples, golds, and greens that swept together and brushed apart as
though the wind played about them in its intricate dance. I heard
Koya’s laughter clearly above the din of the room and pushed down
the urge to bare my teeth.

The scent of cedar touched my nose. “Fun
party, wouldn’t you say?” Joven asked. “I, for one, find such
crowds intoxicating. It’s as if everyone is determined to live each
second to its fullest. It’s a rare moment in the course of many
lifetimes, so must I assume by the waistlines of many here.” He
cleared his throat and spoke with a smile in his voice. “And here
comes one such couple to emphasize my point. I do love it when that
happens.”

I fought back a grimace and turned the
concealing eyes of a wolf on the rotund man and woman who stopped
near Joven and gave him uncomfortable bows of respect.

“
My, are you sure he’s safe
to be around? He looks dangerous,” the woman said; a fake quaver
touched her tone and she put a hand to her lips in a practiced look
of horror.

The man gave me an appraising look as if he
was judging the quality of a horse. “I should say the Danthians
would prove excellent laborers if they are all built like this one.
Perhaps we can come to an agreement. Trade men for sheep or honey.
We would each come out on top.”

A hint of disgust wafted from Joven and I
got the feeling he, too, was concealing a snarl. “Slave labor, Duke
Farington?” Joven’s tone turned it into a joke; the Duke laughed in
response as if he, too, had been joking, but his suggestion had
been a serious one. The thought of an entire kingdom enslaved by
the plump Duke for menial labor put a sour edge on my impression of
the man. Joven continued, “I think perhaps it should be the other
way around. Give them Sunhold and see for yourself what lies beyond
the watery horizon.”

The Duke chuckled, but his wife sniffed in
dismay and touched a small white square of cloth to her nose. They
turned away to leave us both fuming.

“
I may not have chosen wise
words in light of the fact that they are one of our few remaining
allies,” Joven said under his breath, “But I would prefer to have
friends with actual values and morals.” He glanced at me with an
apologetic look. “Koya may have freed you from that cage out of
pity, but I think we’ve all learned that bonds can be made of so
much more than bars or chains.”