Through Wolf's Eyes (65 page)

"Will you then leave the others to burn alive?"

"No. I will break in the southern shutter and cut
them free. I don't like breathing smoke, but I can hold my breath long
enough."

"Dangerous,"
Blind Seer replied, but she had already begun to gather her kindling and straw.
"I will go find Derian,
then. Someday you must learn to write. Then I could carry a message telling them to be silent."

Firekeeper nodded acceptance of his criticism,
blowing on the spark she had struck. By the time she had a flame
licking the tinder, the wolf had vanished. As she fed her flame,
Firekeeper wished she could just steal one of the torches, but knew
that the burning brand would make her too fine a target as she carried
it across the clearing.

When the flame was stronger, she kindled a bit of the
western shutter, kneeling below the lowest edge until it caught. Then,
taking her smoldering straw onto the roof, she stuffed it down the
chimney. The effect was immediate and satisfactory.

Coughing. Then a male voice choked out:

"Coming down the chimney! Stomp it!"

Firekeeper stuffed down more straw to make this last
more difficult. Darting to her peephole, she saw the man with the cut
face tromping on the straw. Then the other man noticed the smoke
eddying in at the window.

"The cabin's on fire!" he shouted, racing to see if he could put it out. "Grab the woman and get out of here!"

This last suited Firekeeper fine. She waited until
she saw Zorana's bonds had been cut, then went to the edge of the roof
on the south side. The eaves were lower here. Grabbing the roof edge
she swung down, her feet toward the shutter, forcing the full weight of
her descent into the wood. It splintered and she was through, keeping
her balance with the ease of one who had spent her life climbing trees.

The wounded man stood by the bed. Despite the smoke
and the fire now reddening the west shutter, he reacted to Firekeeper's
arrival by turning his knife in his hand and throwing it at her. She
dodged, but she had not even her hide for protection and the blade
sliced a furrow across her rib cage.

Before she could feel the pain, Firekeeper charged
forward, her Fang in one hand. The momentum of her charge knocked the
now unarmed man off his feet. She stomped on his hand, wishing this
once for boots, and pushed Zorana back toward the south window.

Zorana stumbled that direction, hampered by her
skirts. Then, seeing the other prisoner, she stopped and began fumbling
with his bonds.

"Out!" Firekeeper howled at her.

Then she howled again, returning to battle. Kneeing
the wounded man in the face as he struggled to rise, she flung herself
at the second man as he surged toward her, a sword held high in both
his hands, the blade arcing down toward her.

Firekeeper had nothing with which to parry. The first
man was clawing at her legs, making dodging nearly impossible. In
desperation, the wolf-woman did the only thing possible and darted
under the arch of descending blade.

This move kept her away from the sharp edge, but the
hilt struck her soundly between the shoulder blades, knocking the
breath from her lungs. Firekeeper fell into the sword-man's arms in a
parody of an embrace. She could feel him turning the sword in his
hands, knew he meant to stab her in the back.

Going limp was almost too easy. Before the man could
arrange the clumsy blade in order to stab, Firekeeper had dropped to
her knees on the floor, landing almost on top of the wounded man. He
grasped at her, trying to reestablish his hold.

Firekeeper kicked herself clear but the exertion
caused her to choke on the now smoky air. The air within the cabin was
thick with smoke. The sound of crackling wood as the fire claimed the
west side of the cabin and moved toward the roof loudly snapped in her
ears.

The man with the sword seemed to realize his own danger for the first time.

"Get out!" he yelled to his comrade and turned to
run. The wounded man struggled to his feet, eager to follow. Firekeeper
made no move to stop him. In all honesty, she was not certain that she
could.

Dragging herself to her feet and turning weakly, she
saw that Zorana must have disobeyed her, for the tied man was no longer
in his chair. Through the smoke, Firekeeper glimpsed him clambering
over the windowsill. She followed,
wondering why
this seemed so weirdly familiar, wondering if she would ever catch her
breath, thinking vaguely that fire was a very chancy ally indeed.

Then she felt packed earth cool beneath her feet.
After a few staggered steps forward, the air, too, cooled. She breathed
it in gratefully, though every gasp caused the place where the sword
hilt had struck her to throb. Her head cleared with each breath, then
Blind Seer was beside her.

"Little idiot,"
he said fondly.
"Come
away. Zorana and the gamekeeper are safe but the kidnappers have
escaped and the cabin is lost to the flames. Derian and the rest fetch
water now so that the fire will not spread to the forest. The falcon
Elation has carried a note back to King Tedric, telling him all is
well."

Staggering slightly, glad for the wolf's strength beneath her hand, Firekeeper followed.

F
AR LATER, RESTING ON A CUSHION
on the floor of King Tedric's room in the Watchful Eye, Firekeeper
learned the rest of the tale as told by Lady Zorana. As had Firekeeper
herself, Lady Zorana had been bathed and given a loose linen shift to
wear.

While the wolf-woman lay still, Doc's hands traveled
over her various scrapes, cuts, and bruises, applying ointment and
bandages as was appropriate. From his touch emanated a strange coolness
that seemed to go to the heart of the pain and ease it at once.

"And so after the brute had beaten poor Prince Newell
until he crumpled unconscious on the moss," Lady Zorana said, "he and
his fellow dragged me through the forest and imprisoned me in the
cabin. They treated me badly . . ."

She paused and colored. King Tedric asked in level tones that somehow conspired to make the brutal words gentle:

"Did they rape you?"

Zorana shook her head. "No, Uncle, but they handled
me most familiarly, making free with my person. I think if rescue had
not come they might have steeled themselves to the deed, but they
rightly feared pursuit."

King Tedric frowned. "I wonder that they feared
pursuit before morning. Had I not summoned Lady Blysse, none could have
found them so swiftly. Pray, continue, Niece."

"When Lady Blysse arrived," Zorana said, glancing at
the young woman, a curious mixture of gratitude and resentment on her
face, "the men were ready to slay me rather than risk themselves. They
swore they would kill me and one stood over me with a knife at my
throat until the noises without died away. Lady Blysse was clever,
though. Smoking them out was a good idea."

Firekeeper nodded in acknowledgment of the praise. Zorana continued:

"They cut me loose and prepared to escape. When Lady
Blysse came in through the window shutter—and such a figure you've
never seen, naked as the day she was born but for a knife belt, mud
smeared on every inch of her skin—I hastened to escape through the
broken window. First I paused to cut loose the gamekeeper. That poor
man had done no wrong beyond living where those ruffians wanted to be
yet they had beaten him and tied him to a chair, making him unwilling
witness to their depravities. How is he, Uncle?"

King Tedric turned to Doc. "Sir Jared?"

"The gamekeeper is resting," Doc replied. "His bones
couldn't take the battering. His jaw is broken and several ribs are
cracked. Saddest perhaps is that his mind has been swallowed by fear of
any man. The townsfolk tell me that he was always simple. That's why he
was given that job. Weeks at a time he would never see a human being.
Then two strangers come and steal his house to molest a lady. I had to
call in a female healer from one of the cavalry units to treat him. He
just started screaming whenever he laid eyes on me."

Zorana said firmly, "I will arrange for the
gamekeeper's care, for he took those injuries because of me. My husband
and I have lands he can care for if he wishes to leave here. If he
doesn't wish to leave, I will pay for his home to be rebuilt and for
help recovering his birds."

King Tedric nodded. "So be it. Is that the end of your story, Zorana?"

"Almost. When the gamekeeper and I escaped from the
cabin, we found that other rescuers had come. One man took us in
charge. The rest went to put out the fire."

Derian Carter cleared his throat and the king acknowledged him.

"Firekeeper left a trail clear enough for Race to
follow even by torchlight," Derian said. "We found the grove from which
Lady Zorana had been kidnapped and stopped to read a copy of the ransom
note that had been left there. When we drew near the cabin and heard
the noise from within we would have gone charging in, making things
worse from how Lady Zorana tells it, but then Blind Seer appeared. By
scaring our horses so he could drive them like cattle, he made it known
to us that we should approach the back of the cabin. That's how we were
there when Lady Zorana needed succor."

"Thank you," the king said. "I had wondered why you
were so conveniently placed. Lady Zorana, Lady Blysse, Prince Newell,
can any of you identify these ruffians? Though they were stopped short
of their intention, still I would have them hanged."

Firekeeper shook her head regretfully. "Not even by
scent, King Tedric. All they smelled of was lavender and the oiled ash
they had smeared on their faces."

"They were disguised," Lady Zorana agreed, "and took
care never to call each other by name. I would say that each had borne
arms in his time and that they were of Hawk Haven not Bright Bay. They
had not even the accent you hear in this border region."

"That is useful," King Tedric acknowledged, "as is
the knife slash that Firekeeper left on one of their faces. Prince
Newell, have you anything to add?"

The prince shook his head sadly. He reeked of anger
and remorse, but Firekeeper couldn't escape the feeling that he was not
being wholly truthful.

"I was attacked when my back was turned," he said.

"I guess you could call it that."
Blind Seer commented dryly. Firekeeper smothered a giggle in her hand.

"And never saw my attacker clearly. I agree with Lady
Zorana that he knew something of combat. The way he went for me was not the random flailing of a barroom brawler."

Sir Dirkin frowned. "Unhappily, unless we find the
man with the fresh knife cut, we are at a complete loss. Too many
residents of these twinned towns are deserters or fled criminals. The
towns' policy is to protect them. My guess is that they are already
away across the river into Good Crossing. We shall not see them again."

"You think them opportunists then?" King Tedric asked.

"I don't know what I think them," Sir Dirkin replied, "but I expect that they will not take similar risks again."

"I see," the king said, and once again Firekeeper had the feeling that he was not saying all he thought.

Doc rose and bowed. "Your Majesty should rest, as
should my patients. For all her courage in reporting so clearly, Lady
Zorana has been sorely abused. I would like to dose her with an herbal
mixture to help her sleep without dreams. I also suggest that she stay
here within the fortress so that she will feel secure."

Lady Zorana looked as if she wished to reject such
coddling but was only too well aware that she needed it. King Tedric
saved her dignity by saying:

"I command that Zorana take your recommendation, Sir
Jared. Place yourself on call in the anteroom to my chamber, where you
may be available if anyone has need of your services. The rest of you
are dismissed. Remember, speak nothing of tonight's events except to
keep rumor from exaggerating them beyond measure. Now, good night and
thank you."

He gestured for Firekeeper to close with him and
whispered in her ear, "And be careful, little wolfling. There is
wickedness abroad."

She bowed to him and with a thoughtful hand twined in Blind Seer's ruff followed Derian and Race back to the Kestrel encampment.

P
ERHAPS LADY ZORANA'S KIDNAPPING
and the daring rescue would have been ferreted out by the nosy despite
the best attempts of those involved to keep the secret, but something
happened to eclipse her adventure. The next morning shortly before
noon, news came across the river that Stonehold was withdrawing its
troops from where they were bivouacked with those of Bright Bay.

Lady Zorana, returning from the Watchful Eye, brought
additional news to her brother. Despite the fact that others must be
spreading the same information, Zorana acted as if what she was
reporting were privileged information.