Pendant of Fortune (3 page)

“
You did a lot for your country. You’ve earned retirement if you want it. If you don’t, then it’s your tail. Frankly, I thought you’d be dead or captured long before this anyway.”

“
I remember,” Volle said. “You actually threatened to castrate me, if I recall.”

“
Yes.” The wolf showed a gleaming row of teeth. “But not this time. The worst that can happen, from my perspective, is exactly the current situation, except we have to find another Count Farrian.”

“
Count of Farrian,” Volle corrected him.

“
Yes, whatever. You’ve proven remarkably resistant to torture, and I trust you won’t let yourself be taken into custody again anyway. So tell me, what will you need?”

“
Clothes. Transportation. And a contact in Vellenland in case I need help or a courier.”

“
We’re working on the last one already. He’ll contact you when you arrive.”

“
I really find all this secrecy very annoying. Who is it?”

The Duke smiled again. “We are spies, Volle. Secrecy is what we do best. Don’t worry, it’s someone reliable.” He handed a stack of gold coins over. “Here. That should outfit you down on Raisle Lane. As for transportation, come back here on Feliday. Is that when you wanted to leave?”

Volle nodded, gathering the coins into his leather purse. “Assuming it’s going to be about a week long trip.”

“
That sounds right. Well, good luck. Let my assistant know if you need anything. Otherwise we probably won’t speak again.” They both stood, and the Duke extended a paw. When Volle grasped it, the Duke pulled him close and showed his teeth again. “Oh, one thing. Make sure that wolf you’re with now isn’t a security risk. They could torture
him
, you know, and he knows things about you.”

“
I know.” Volle sighed. “I didn’t want to bring him, but he insisted.”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed, and he squeezed Volle’s paw a bit harder. “You shouldn’t be letting him tell you what to do.”

“
It’s more complicated than that.” Volle tried not to tug on his paw, because he knew the Duke wanted to make him uncomfortable.

“
No, it’s very simple. You’re safer—and we’re safer—if he doesn’t go.”

Volle wrested his paw free. “I’ve already told him he can go.”

Avery looked at his paw with the hint of a smile, then looked up at his muzzle. “He can be left behind. Kept here. There are a number of ways to handle it.”

“
I’ll handle it my way,” Volle said bravely, though his heart was beating fast. “I think I’ve earned it.”

The wolf’s eyes searched his for several long seconds, and Volle forced himself not to look away. Finally, the Duke turned away. “Maybe you have, at that. Go ahead, make your own decision. Just remember what I said.”

“
I will.” Volle bowed his head respectfully, then stepped out the door.

The Duke called to him from inside the room, stopping his paws. “Volle.” He turned and saw the fiery eyes muted, and the grey muzzle creased in concern. “Be careful. And good luck.”

He bowed again. “Thank you, Duke Avery.”

Just as he had seven years ago, Volle watched the city of Caril disappear behind a hill. This might be the last time he ever saw it, he thought, and then remembered the young fox seven years ago thinking the same thing.

He looked across the carriage at the empty seat, then out the other side. They were going to circle the mountains a bit more than usual, avoiding the treacherous passes and seeking a quiet road that would bring them up into the south of Vellenland. He didn’t think they had to avoid attention while crossing this time, as they had last time, but it would be simpler if he could sustain the illusion that he’d been in Vinton or in southern Ferrenis, which is what Tish said most of the palace believed. Anywhere but the capital city.

The driver he’d been assigned was a talkative marmot who’d been driving merchants back and forth between Ferrenis and Tephos for years, and who had so far guided the carriage and the horses with a deft surety that relaxed Volle. He was not part of Duke Avery’s network; what he’d been told was that Volle was a wealthy Tephossian returning to his home country.

Volle almost felt the part. His year on the farm had been nice, but more like a vacation than settling into a home. On his first trip to Tephos, he’d been seized with melancholy at leaving the only home he’d ever known. Now he felt a strange stirring of excitement and nostalgia, as if he were returning home, not leaving it again. It can’t and won’t be the same, he told himself, but all the same, he found his gaze more drawn to the mountains on his right than to the hill behind which Caril had disappeared on the other side.

There was a scuffling outside, barely noticeable over the noise of the road. He turned back to his left in time to see a cloaked figure swing the door open and step into the carriage, pulling the door closed after him.

The tall white wolf in the red mask held up a short sword and advanced on Volle, sweeping his cloak around behind him. “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but I require your valuables.”

Volle unfastened the pouch from his waist and dropped it on the seat, making the coins inside clink. The highway-wolf spared it barely a look. “I know that the most valuable things are kept on your person.” The sword’s tip nicked the strings that fastened the top of his shirt. “Take your shirt off.”

Slowly, Volle unfastened his shirt, letting the fabric hang open to reveal his white-furred chest. He slid his arms out of the sleeves and handed the shirt to the wolf, who searched it cursorily and then tossed it onto the seat. The sword brushed his pendant. “What’s that?”

“
Just an heirloom. A gift from my father.”

“
Take it off.” Volle obeyed, and the wolf took it from him, but gave it barely more attention than the shirt. The sword dropped lower. “Now the pants.”

Volle felt his heart beat faster as he reached down to unfasten his pants. As he slid the soft fabric down, he intentionally brushed his sheath, which was already swollen with excitement. His pink tip slipped into view as he pulled his feet out of the pants and handed them to the wolf.

The wolf cast them aside without even looking, his eyes fixed on Volle’s sheath. “So the greatest treasure of all was kept under your very fur.”

Volle looked up at him with a wide grin.

Afterwards, they lay back on the seats, panting hard. The wolf took off the mask, the last piece of clothing he was wearing, and grinned. “Wow. I did like that. Was I a good Red Menace?”

Volle nodded happily. “Very good. It was just as I’d imagined it.”

“
Mmm.” Streak’s tail wagged as well. He swung his legs up onto the seat and patted his lap. “Come sit here?”

Volle nodded, and scrambled to his feet. In a few moments he’d settled into Streak’s lap, tail pressing back against the wolf’s still-hard member. Streak’s arms held him tightly and brushed through his chest and stomach-fur, and wandered down to tease his sheath before coming back up.

“
How long before we stop?” Volle murmured, contented and sleepy.

“
A few hours. I told the driver not to disturb us.”

“
Good.” He leaned his head against Streak’s shoulder, and in a few minutes both were fast asleep.

For much of the trip, Streak talked about the people he’d known at the guard house and on his farm, speculating about how they were doing and what they were doing, though in most cases he didn’t care. Volle stayed quieter, watching the mountains on their right and thinking about going home again. At the border post, Volle let the driver do the talking, and the bored guards waved them through without a question. They had been a bit more cautious six years ago, he reflected, and wondered if the change were a reflection of general attitudes, or just due to the different personalities of different guards.

During his time in Tephos, he’d stayed at the palace most of the time, and hadn’t seen much of the countryside. Compared to Ferrenis, the terrain was similar, if greener. Tephos boasted more riverine valleys than Ferrenis did, but had nothing to match the Crystal Lake and Red Mountains for spectacular glory. The people, too, were very similar, more so than any of the neighboring countries, and that was partly the reason for the countries’ long history of belligerence. Lately Tephos had been the aggressor, but Volle knew that over the past few hundred years, both sides had shed their share of blood in an attempt to unite the two countries—and by ‘unite,’ of course, each side meant ‘unite under our King.’

The excitement in his chest kept growing, day by day. On the morning of what should be their last day of travel, he was so lost in thoughts of Helfer, Tish, and his other friends that he barely noticed when Streak stopped talking. He wouldn’t see all of his friends, of course, but he suspected Lord Dewanne, the only other fox in the nobility, would be in attendance. Lady Dewanne demanded long and frequent vacations to warm spots for her health, and Lord Dewanne was therefore not at the palace as often as he would like. Vellenland was warm and welcoming, and Volle was sure that Dewanne would take the opportunity to mingle his wife’s demands with his own desire to be near the seat of government.

Volle was just wondering whether Lord Ullik, the grey squirrel who served as the King’s Exchequer, would be there when he felt a tug at his pants and looked down to see Streak with a paw on his sheath, rubbing. Volle grinned. “Frisky?”

“
Well, you didn’t answer when I talked to you, and I couldn’t think of any other way to get your attention.”

He caressed Streak’s ears gently, smiling. “I’m sorry. I’m just…”

“
Excited?” The wolf sounded a bit wistful.

“
Well…”

Streak nodded. “I can tell. Are you worried at all?”

Volle thought about that, his fingers brushing the thin furred triangles of Streak’s ears. “Maybe a little. But I feel pretty safe. I think that if the hearing doesn’t go well, I’ll still be able to get away before I’m arrested again. I’ll have friends there, and I trust…” he paused, “them.” He was remembering Duke Avery’s words. He’d never told Streak or anyone else about Tish, mostly because he hadn’t talked about his life at the castle in the past year. Now that he was going back to Tephos, he would have to be very careful about what he said.

“
Is there anything I can do to help while we’re there?”

Volle looked down at the paw on his pants, and grinned. “Besides that, you mean?”

Streak grinned back. “Yes.”

“
I don’t think so. It’s probably safest for you to stay out of everything.”

The ears folded down over Volle’s fingers. “I’d like to help.”

“
I know. But…” But there are a lot of things going on, and you’re not equipped to handle them. “It’s just safer if you don’t.” He felt guilty saying it, because he knew the young wolf wanted badly to help him. He just couldn’t imagine Streak playing the political game. He didn’t have the background or the experience to do it well, and he could easily be manipulated or exploited.

“
Maybe I shouldn’t have come along at all.”

“
Oh, don’t talk like that.” Volle rubbed the base of Streak’s ears. “I’m glad you’re here. I really am. I’d be missing you if you hadn’t come along.”

“
Really?”

“
Really. And I’ll be more attentive, I promise. You won’t have to grope me to get a response.”

Streak smiled and lifted his paw from Volle’s pants. “All right. Thanks, fox.”

Volle smiled back. “I didn’t say stop.”

Chapter 2

Volle could tell when they entered Vellenland. To his right as they drove north, vineyards terraced the hills, and between the hills and the roads, rows of trees clung to their last leaves, a tapestry of yellow and brown. It would have been beautiful a month ago, he thought, and then chuckled as he made the connection between that and the timing of Helfer’s annual trips home.

Patches of green persisted here and there, citrus groves that remained green year round. As they drove through one, Volle could see the lemons hanging from the trees. Streak was fascinated.

“
I’ve never seen lemon trees before.” He opened the door and poked his muzzle out, breathing in deeply. The air was chilly, but warmer than it had been in Caril. Volle could smell the rich, moist smell of the ground and the tartness of the lemons. He smiled, watching Streak’s ears flick back and forth and his nose search out smells on the air rushing past the carriage. The wolf’s cub-like excitement at new things was one of the things that so endeared him to Volle.