Pendant of Fortune (17 page)

Reese smiled. “It is indeed. I am flattered that you remember me, Lord Vinton.”

“
How could I forget such a worthy merchant, whose wares have been invaluable?”

“
You flatter me further.”

“
I would be most interested in seeing what new wares you have. I have been out of the city for quite some time.”

Reese held up a goblet. “This is one of our newest creations. We have a very talented glass-shaper now, and he only sells his wares to us. Nowhere else in Divalia will you find workmanship like this.”

“
It looks exquisite,” Volle said without taking his eyes from the rabbit’s face. “I’d be delighted to own a set.”

“
We can discuss it later,” Reese said. “You will be here for the whole retreat?”

“
That is still my intention, yes.”

“
Excellent.” Helfer had moved on to the next merchant, and Tish was deliberately stalling behind him. Reese leaned a little closer and whispered, “Good to see you again. You doing okay?”

“
Same here,” Volle whispered back. “Avery didn’t tell me you’d be here. Yes, fine. Dereath has a witness. We don’t know more than that.”

“
I almost wasn’t here. Invitation came at the last minute. Would’ve had to send Sherr.” Sherr, the porcupine, didn’t have cover as a merchant to get him into the castle.

“
That would’ve been tough. Glad it’s you.” Volle leaned back and smiled, raising his voice. “I’m staying down at Lord Ikling’s mansion. Perhaps you could bring some of the samples by and we could discuss my purchase?”

“
Delighted, my Lord.” Reese didn’t say it with the mockery he usually did when he had to address Volle with that title. “Day after tomorrow? We will be busy with services tomorrow, of course.”

“
That would be fine.” Volle extended a paw, and Reese shook it, returning Volle’s smile. “Until then.”

He hadn’t seen Reese in over a year; before that, he’d met with him every other week to pass along information from the palace. And before that, they’d been roommates at the Caril Academy. Volle found it hard to remember those days now, but Reese’s bucktoothed smile was like a shock of memory, bringing back the meetings in Divalia as well as the late nights in their tiny room at the Academy.

Lingering would probably be suspicious, so he moved on just as Tish, no doubt thinking the same thing, joined him at the table. “Merchant Marik,” he said, extending a paw. “You have some new wares.”

“
Indeed,” Reese said smoothly. “We have been waiting for a month to show these new goblets off.”

Volle raised a paw and moved on, his tail arched jauntily as he rejoined Helfer at a silver merchant’s table. “Good evening, my Lord,” said the goat, nostrils flaring.

“
Lovely silver,” Volle said absently, picking up a sugar bowl that was identical to one he’d seen at lunch. “I loved the settings at dinner.” The merchant smiled and bowed.

“
That rabbit interested in you?” Helfer asked with a nudge. “Maybe he wants company? He’s pretty cute. Looks a bit familiar.”

“
Oh, all rabbits look familiar to you,” Volle said lightly, putting the bowl down and smiling at the merchant. “I don’t think there’s one in Divalia you haven’t ogled.”

“
Probably right,” the weasel said cheerfully as they moved on.

In twenty minutes, they’d seen all the tables. Volle examined the merchants’ wares with only half-feigned interest. So much finery, so many niceties; though he didn’t really own many things of value, he did admire craftsmanship and enjoyed seeing it, a taste that six years in the palace had cultivated in him. Cloth especially, because of its texture and variety of scents, held interest for him, and he stopped with Tish and Tika in front of a fabric merchant examining scraps of fabric with different colors and scents for several minutes. The wolves were similarly entranced by fabric; their sense of smell was as keen or keener than Volle’s.

The foyer outside the dining hall was mostly empty when they returned; specifically, it was empty of white wolves. Volle glanced around, checking down the corridors. “Where could he have gone? Who else does he know at the castle here?”

“
We were going to retire. If he’s in our chambers, I’ll send him down,” Tish said. “I wouldn’t worry too much. He’s probably just lost. He’ll find his way back here eventually.”

“
I hope so.” Volle leaned against a wall, ears flicking around to catch any sound.

Tish rested a paw on his shoulder. “You’re best just staying here and waiting for him. He knows you’re waiting here.”

“
Yeah.”

The black wolf smiled. “He’s fine, Volle. Really.”

“
I know.” But he couldn’t stop his tail from twitching.

“
I’ll stay with you,” Helfer volunteered. “Got to wait anyway.”

“
Don’t you two get into any trouble,” Tish said with a grin.

Tika took Volle’s paws and rubbed muzzles lightly. “Good night, dear. Lovely to see you back again. Don’t worry about your wolf. He’s still trying to get used to all this palace life. He’ll be fine.”

“
Thanks, Tika.” Volle nuzzled her back and smiled.

Once the wolves had left, Helfer asked one of the servants to fetch two chairs from the dining room. The badger brought them out immediately, and the weasel sank into one. Volle took the other, ears still swiveling around.

“
Maybe he found a bit of action,” Helfer grinned.

“
I doubt it.” Volle lowered his voice as a pair of lords walked by from the merchant room. “We had a bit before dinner.”

“
Really? Here in the castle? Where?”

“
One of the holes in the wall you mentioned to him. We snuck through and had some private time outside.”

Helfer grinned, wagging his tail. “In the wind and rain?”

“
Yes, wind and rain. We had to clean up for quite a while afterwards.”

“
I bet.” Helfer chuckled. “You did a better job of it than I did at the summer festival a few years ago. Remember?”

Volle laughed. “How could I forget? None of the canids wanted to sit near you.”

Helfer patted his knee. “But you did.”

“
I held my breath the entire time.”

Remembering the past distracted Volle from the worries of the present. He tried to keep from worrying, but he couldn’t keep himself from glancing at the corridors every few seconds. The last of the nobles left the merchants’ area, and the merchants packed up and left, and still Streak didn’t appear. Volle tried to maintain his good humor, but as the minutes wore into what he was sure was over an hour, his tail twitched more and more impatiently. He got up and paced, despite Helfer’s plea for him to sit down.

“
He wouldn’t do this, Helfer. Something’s happened to him.”

“
What could happen?”

“
Dereath could happen.” He remembered the rat’s smirk at dinner. What if he’d found Streak wandering the corridors alone? The wolf could defend himself, but not if he were jumped from behind. He suppressed the macabre scenarios whirling through his mind. “I’m going to go look for him.”

“
Volle…”

“
Stay here, and if he shows up, tell him to wait. I’ll be back.”

“
Why don’t I go, and you wait here?” Helfer got up from his chair.

“
Because I have better hearing and smell than you do.”

“
Fine. Rub it in.”

“
Sorry, Hef. But…” His ears perked. “There’s something going on outside. Hear it?”

“
How could I, with my small ears?”

“
Stop pouting and come on.” He waved Helfer forward and the weasel joined him, straining to hear. As they moved down the corridor, the sounds became louder: many people talking, different species. Volle couldn’t make out any words.

They got most of the way to the large junction, coming up to a large stag in guard’s uniform standing about twenty feet down the corridor. He raised his lance sideways as they approached. “Please don’t go any further, my Lords.”

“
What? What’s going on?”

“
I’ve been ordered to let nobody pass, in either direction.”

“
Why?” Volle strained to hear what was going on ahead. He could make out several bears and wolves moving back and forth, but nothing else.

He shook his head. “King’s orders, my Lord.”

Helfer suddenly jumped up and waved. “Archie! Hey!”

A weasel, walking through the open area, turned and started walking toward them. “Evening, Lord Ikling.”

“
Archie, what’s going on?”

The weasel looked tired and harried. He had light brown fur, but his dark eyes were dull and sad. The Vellenland arms adorned the shoulder of his jerkin, which looked like it had been thrown on hastily over his wrinkled shirt. He was a little taller than Helfer, meaning he was still two feet shorter than Volle or the deer. When he reached them, he looked up at them, then at Helfer. “Sorry, Lord Ikling. Captain Nero’s ordered everyone to stay where they are for the moment until we can get this sorted out.”

“
Get what sorted out? What
happened
?”

Archie sighed and ran his claws through his already disheveled head fur. “There’s been a murder.”

“
What?
” Helfer’s voice was so high it was almost a squeak. Volle just stared dumbly at the weasel, heart racing.

“
A murder. I know. Listen, my Lords, do either of you know a female mouse?” They shook their heads.

“
No,” Helfer said softly, and Volle relaxed.

But Archie didn’t move on. He looked at them both, and said, “How about a male white wolf?”

Chapter 5

Volle dropped to his knees, his tail curled tightly around one thigh. Helfer put an arm around his shoulder. “Yes, Archie,” he said quietly. “We know a white wolf.”

“
All right. I’ll have Captain Nero come over as soon as he’s free.” He turned and started to walk away.

“
Wait,” Volle croaked. Archie turned around. “Was he…who was murdered?”

“
Don’t know. I just got here. Cap’n just told me to ask everyone if they know a male white wolf or a female mouse.”

“
Send him quick, would you, Archie?” Helfer squeezed Volle.

Archie just nodded, and walked away.

“
Not again,” Volle whispered.

“
Maybe it’s not him,” Helfer whispered unconvincingly.

“
Hef, I can’t go through that again. I…”

“
Come on, let’s go back.” Helfer looked at the guard as he helped Volle to his feet. They walked back toward the chairs.

“
If it’s Dereath,” Volle said, abruptly, “I don’t care what happens to me. I will find him and I will tear his throat out with my teeth.”

“
If it’s him, I’ll guard the door while you do it. But let’s just wait for Nero. Did you know he was here?”

Volle shook his head. “No idea. Does he always come along on the retreats?”

“
I don’t know. I’ve never been on one either.”

The pictures were returning to Volle’s head, more disturbing than ever. His memory dredged up another weasel, Tella, sitting in a carriage and saying, ferociously, “He’s
dead
.” It had taken him years to get over that death—those deaths—and another one now would be more than he could take.

“
Who’s Archie?” He had to keep his mind away from the pictures it was insisting on flashing at him.

“
My ‘Captain Nero.’ He heads up all the detective-work and investigations in Ikling. Usually he doesn’t have to go out himself, but for something big…” Helfer trailed off.

“
So you trust him?”

“
Course I trust him. He caught the fellow who was killing all the mice here six or seven years ago. I never told you about that? It was bad. But he found the guy.”

“
Think he’s better than Nero?”

Helfer laughed, a short nervous squeak. “Well, no. I’d have to be a fool to say that. But the two of them working together should be impressive. They’ll catch…”

Volle covered his muzzle with his paws again and folded his ears back. He had enough time to imagine the worst over and over again, torturing himself and trying to build up enough resistance to be able to deal with the confirmation, when he finally heard it. And desperately, passionately, hoping he wouldn’t need it.
Please, Fox, please, Wolf
, he prayed silently,
don’t let it be him
.