Through Wolf's Eyes (30 page)

He understood her puzzlement, for, unlike the
children who had been eager to make her acquaintance, the elders,
especially those who saw Lady Blysse as competition for the throne, had
been studiously ignoring her. Their excuse, if they were challenged,
would certainly be that a young, newly adopted ward of Earl Kestrel was
not of their usual circle. They would claim that they were not so much
ignoring her as they simply hadn't thought her worth their regard.
They'd phrase it more politely, out of deference to Earl Kestrel, but
that was what they'd mean.

Derian surveyed the gathering. Elise was too absorbed
in the attentions of her handsome cousin to have any thought for Lady
Blysse. A formal introduction, such as Earl Kestrel could garner, would
be a disaster. Then he noted that one pair of eyes, dark blue but
amazingly clear, kept glancing toward Firekeeper. The expression in
them was challenging, not kind. Still, Sapphire Shield's interest in
Firekeeper was apparent.

Derian saluted Citrine and the little girl rode over
gladly, her little, round-bodied chestnut pony jogging over the turf
with single-minded enthusiasm. When Citrine had come to greet
Firekeeper at the beginning of the ride, Melina Shield
had called her daughter away on some pretense and had kept her away since.

"M'lady," Derian said in a respectful tone of voice
he didn't bother with out in the meadows, "Lady Blysse would like to
make the acquaintance of your elder sister Sapphire. Could you do us
the honor of acting as liaison?"

Citrine giggled, then winked conspiratorially,
keeping her back carefully turned on the adults. "I think I can get her
over here. She's just itching to try Firekeeper—I mean Lady
Blysse's—mettle."

Whatever Citrine said to her sister must have been
effective, for Sapphire rode over immediately. She made quite a picture
in her blue hunting clothes, mounted on a horse whose coat had been
dyed a shocking indigo blue—although the mane and tail had been left a
silvery white. Sapphire rode well, with natural grace and a certain
restlessness. Her every movement was accompanied by the ringing of
miniature hawk bells twined into her hair and fastened to her sleeves.

Dangerous,
Derian thought, assessing her critically.
Tough and strong beneath all that hair and glitter. She sees something of herself in Firekeeper and that scares her.

Introductions were made with punctilious correctness.
Derian dropped back a few steps, near enough to be at hand if need
arose, but effacing himself into servile invisibility. At first he had
been bothered that this was so easy to do— especially before some of
the more self-important nobles— but now he rather treasured the
capacity, for it let him gather knowledge without anyone considering
what he might do with it.

Sapphire dismissed formalities with a swiftness that reminded Derian of Elation stooping on unsuspecting prey.

"So, Lady Blysse, my sister told me you think you're a wolf."

Firekeeper shook her head sadly. "Am wolf-raised, not wolf get. Sometimes wish I was wolf."

"Oh?" Sapphire's polished sneer didn't completely hide her curiosity. "Why would you wish that?"

"They what I know best," Firekeeper responded, "and I cannot do what they do."

Sapphire dismissed this revelation as of no
importance, her attention shifting to Elation. The peregrine falcon
studied her, impudence in her gold-ringed eyes, then made a strange
churling sound, almost like a laugh.

"Is that a peregrine?"

"Yes."

"It's rather large for a peregrine." Sapphire sounded miffed. "
I
fly a gyrfalcon—my family's bird. Some are as large as eagles. Are you sure this isn't some deviant cross?"

"Is peregrine," Firekeeper repeated. "Across mountain, animals get larger sometimes."

Derian noticed with some relief that Firekeeper did
not attempt to explain to Sapphire her strange theory that there were
two types of animals, the royal and the common. Sapphire would not take
kindly to the thought that anything she possessed was common.

"I'll buy the peregrine from you," Sapphire said. "It's a magnificent bird."

"No." Firekeeper's response was blunt but her expression was amused, not offended. "Elation is not to sell."

Citrine deflected her sister's pique with a loud
squeak of excitement. "We must be coming near the targets. Sapphire, I
wonder if your gyrfalcon can outfly Lady Blysse's Elation?"

Derian didn't know whether he wanted to kick or kiss
the little girl. He gave a mental shrug. The competition between the
young women for a much bigger prize existed. Might as well have this
lesser one out in the open as well.

O
NCE
J
ET ARRIVED
,
mounted on a fine black gelding with white stockings and a thin white
blaze, Elise hardly noticed falcons, horses, or gathered people. He
hovered by her side from the start of the ride, attentive as a declared
lover. His first words, spoken almost in a whisper, made her heart beat uncomfortably fast:

"I've finally convinced my mother and father. They will speak with your parents today."

The rest of their conversation was far more routine.
Jet was interested in what Elise could tell him of Firekeeper and her
wolf. He studied the other woman in a fashion that might have made
Elise jealous if he hadn't just declared his intention to have his
parents speak with hers about their marriage.

When the time came for the falcons to be loosed, Jet
abandoned Elise to claim his own bird. It was a gyrfalcon, as was to be
expected, its plumage as black as night. Elise played with the fancy
that in the Redbriar-Shield establishment there were servants who had
no other job than running about seeking the best mounts, pets, jewels,
clothing, and other accoutrements to maintain the theme that Melina
Shield had begun with the naming of her brood. In wry afterthought
Elise realized that this must indeed be the case and she treasured her
own relative freedom of choice and action.

The two gyrfalcons, Blysse's peregrine, and King
Tedric's eagle were the only birds being flown today. Initially, Elise
had been surprised that Aunt Zorana, normally so competitive, had not
insisted on someone from her family taking part. The Trueheart bird,
however, was the merlin, a small, comparatively delicate hawk, not
known for succeeding with prey the size of the game being taken today.
The Archer family, not being one of the Great Houses, did not have a
bird of its own so Zorana could not choose that as an alternative.

Purcel and Kenre were both in attendance, the older
brother on his big, heavily muscled bay, one of his hands unobtrusively
holding the lead rein for Kenre's sorrel pony. Despite the years
between them and Purcel's frequent absences, strong affection remained
between the two brothers.

Elise brought her own mount alongside her mother's when the first of the pigeons was released.

"Tell me," she said softly, "if the falcon hits or not so I can applaud."

"Squeamish, dear?"

"A little," Elise admitted.

"The other young people are getting on quite well,"
Aurella said, nothing in her voice giving away her awareness that
something like this must have been the entire reason for the outing.
"They're over there, arguing about the merits of the different birds.
Even King Tedric has joined them. A shame you've chosen to be one of
those who stands by and claps for the other's successes."

"I choose," Elise said with a slight mysterious smile, "to fly birds other than falcons."

Aurella's smile was all too knowing. "Earl Kestrel
mentioned that his son Edlin is coming up from their lands in ten days
or so. Now that he has reached his majority, young Lord Kestrel has
more responsibilities on the Norwood estates, especially with his
father playing politics in the capital. As I recall, you always did
like Edlin Norwood, didn't you?"

Elise had fancied Edlin once, actually, but now she
couldn't see last winter's flirtation in her new hopes for Jet.
Thankfully, Aurella didn't press, for the heir to a Great House was a
far finer catch than a second son of a mere lord. Then the first of the
pigeons was freed and no one had attention for anything but the sky.

With a few strokes of her powerful wings, the
peregrine Elation mounted into the sky, soared until she was little
more than a dot against the blue. The gathered falconers stirred
nervously, waiting for Lady Blysse to signal for the pigeon to be
released.

"The bird'll flee with the wind," Elise heard someone mutter. "What's that fool girl playing at?"

When the tension was at its highest, Lady Blysse
dropped her hand. The pigeon handlers, concealed in a blind some
distance from the party as a whole, loosed a panicked bird. It surged
toward the sky, wings beating in a desperate race for freedom.

Does it know?
Elise wondered wildly.

Then there was a streak from above: the peregrine
dropped in a perfect stoop, all the killing force of its descent
hitting the pigeon soundly. The explosion of feathers was like a sudden
snowfall. As with falling snow, there was no sound.

Then, though Blysse waved no lure, made no call,
Elation left her kill, fluttering from the grass to land on Blysse's
outstretched glove. Her talons showed a slight line of red, a bit of
down. An astonished gamekeeper reported that the falcon had taken not
even a morsel from the pigeon.

Watching from just outside the circle, Elise found
herself thinking that the rapport between bird and woman was almost
supernatural. Apparently she was not the only one to think this.
Murmurs of surprise, respect, and apprehension reached her ears. Even
the horses seemed edgy.

Elation didn't help matters by turning her head to
look at Blysse out of one gold-rimmed eye, her shrill mewling cries
sounding too conversational for comfort. When woman nodded as if in
reply, the enormous peregrine launched skyward again. Flying beyond
where the fowlers crouched with their cages, Elation circled, orienting
on some prey invisible to those on the ground, then stooped.

When Elation rose again, her wings were beating
heavily, laboring to raise not only herself but a large buck rabbit.
With remarkable ease she carried her heavy burden over to Blysse,
dropping it on the ground at the young woman's feet before returning to
the glove and beginning to ostentatiously preen.

Not to be outdone by the Lady Blysse and Elation,
Sapphire and Jet put their heads together, dark curls intertwining like
their whispered words. When brother and sister came out of their
conference they were both grinning a bit wickedly.

"We'll fly our gyrfalcons together," Sapphire announced to the gathering in general, though her eyes were on Blysse alone.

"Two birds," Lady Blysse nodded understanding. "Two pigeons?"

Sapphire agreed, adding airily, "A shame we don't
have anything larger for them to go after—a heron, perhaps. Ah, well.
Pigeons will have to do."

Unlike Blysse's unceremonious flying of Elation,
there was quite a bit of fuss involved in preparing the gyrfalcons:
hoods to be loosened, jesses attended to, the birds themselves
to be soothed when they found themselves at the center of a crowd.

Sapphire's female was not blue—gyrfalcons were not
feathered in blue and no temperamental raptor would submit to being
dyed. Still, the bird was elegant and unusual—pure white with searching
yellow eyes. Her eagerness to be away was signaled in how she shifted
from foot to foot on her mistress's glove. Jet's black gyrkin was
smaller and quieter, but more intense, its gaze already fixed on the
sky as if it knew in advance where the prey would appear.

Gyrfalcons differed from peregrines in many
significant ways. They were fluffier, seeming bulky, almost fat. Within
those thick feathers, their heads seemed too small. The taloned feet
they concealed beneath long belly feathers had shorter toes. Yet,
though they lacked the peregrine's sleek elegance, they were
magnificent birds, huge and haughty. Elise had heard that in some
countries gyrfalcons were reserved for kings, a thing she suspected
Sapphire also knew, given the pride with which she bore her bird.

Catching sight of Lady Blysse's peregrine, the white
gyr-falcon shrieked defiance and rage, echoed a heartbeat behind by the
black gyrkin. Sapphire commented with conversational coolness that
didn't fool Elise a bit:

"Gyrfalcons have been known to kill other falcons—even eagles."

Lady Blysse replied calmly, "They not kill Elation. Fly your birds."

At the agreed upon signal, Jet and Sapphire released
their birds. Black and white, like shadow and reflection, they soared
upward, wings beating in fast yet steady strokes until they were above
their prey. They soared for a moment, then plunged.

The pigeons didn't have a chance. Hating herself for
her squeamishness, Elise turned away at the critical moment, hoping
that Jet wouldn't notice.