Through Wolf's Eyes (83 page)

"I am certain," Queen Gustin said, seeing that no one
else was going to speak out in favor of her, "that Crown Prince Culver
would be gracious. I, too, wish to be gracious, but this is much to
ask."

"Still, I ask it," King Tedric said firmly, "and I am
making demands not only of you. I will expect Duke Allister to prove
his good faith to my people by wedding his heir to my heir."

There was murmuring at this, especially among the
Hawk Haven contingent. King Tedric had remained stubborn in his refusal
to name his heir in anything other than his sealed
will.
This last statement offered some slight clue to who that heir might be
for Allister's own heir was widely recognized to be Shad, so Tedric's
heir would need to be female. However, as there were three female
candidates, this was hardly decisive.

Queen Gustin said silkily, "Duke Allister's heir is
engaged to be married. Are you suggesting he name another child his
heir or that he break the engagement?"

"That," King Tedric said, "is not my problem. To
satisfy my belief that I am securing peace with Bright Bay for my
kingdom, Duke Allister must wed his heir to mine. How Allister chooses
to arrive at this end is his choice."

Earl Kestrel, quivering like his namesake bird about to launch after prey, stood and was recognized.

"Your Majesty, does that mean you will name your heir here?"

"If," King Tedric said deliberately, "Queen Gustin
agrees to my terms, I will be naming my heir here so that everyone will
know how the succession is to be established."

Earl Kestrel bowed and sat, glancing at Allister as
if wondering how the duke would take to wedding his son to a feral
woman who apparently thought she was a wolf.

I would wed Shad,
Allister thought,
or
Tavis, if Shad's engagement cannot be broken—to any of the three young
women from whom King Tedric would select his heir and he would choose a
young one rather than his niece Zorana, of that I am sure. The male
candidates please me less since young Purcel Archer was killed, but I
do not think the king will choose one of these. Baron Archer would not
divorce his wife to marry an eleven-year-old; Rolfston Redbriar is
dead, and Jet Shield is disgraced.

Judging from the expressions on the faces of the Hawk
Haven representatives, similar conclusions were being reached. The
representative for House Goshawk looked vaguely disappointed, but those
for Peregrine, Kestrel, and Gyrfalcon were quite alert.

"Queen Gustin," King Tedric said, "what is your
answer? I have given Bright Bay ample time to consider my offer.
Although this is the first time my terms have been mentioned
in this company, it is not the first time you have heard them."

"It is," the queen said, "a monumental decision.
Although this is not the first time I have heard your offer, it is the
first time some of my Great Houses have been informed. I ask to have
time to consult with them in private."

"Take that time," King Tedric said rising, "but know
this, I will not wait beyond this hour tomorrow. Moreover, I do not
think that Stonehold will wait. Already they see Hawk Haven's support
as a negotiable commodity. I have given you the chance to win our
support, but it does not mean that it is not valued by others."

With these stinging words, the king pushed himself to
his feet and turned to go, escorted by his guards. His nobles rose in
respect and followed him from the room, trailed by the clerks for Hawk
Haven.

The words that had been kept back lest Bright Bay
look less in the eyes of a nation that had been enemy, ally, and kin
now flooded forth. Representatives of the five Great Houses surged to
their feet, shouting, without waiting for recognition. Allister
Seagleam listened to the noise in consternation.

Here, now, at last, it will be settled.

F
ROM HER COT HIGH ON A SUNNY HILL
,
Fire-keeper saw movement around the pavilion in which the negotiations
had been being held. The cleared area around the pavilion, meant to
keep eavesdroppers at bay, suddenly swarmed with those privileged few
who had met with King Tedric, Queen Gustin, and the two ministers of
Stonehold. Everyone was visible but Queen Gustin and King Tedric. They
emerged some minutes later. Through the long glass, Firekeeper saw that
the faces of both were grim and fierce.

"Now it comes," she said with certainty to Doc. "Soon the call comes."

"Call?" Doc said, looking up from the notes he had
been making on a bit of paper. "You mean they've settled it all? Are
you certain? I thought that was what yesterday's meeting at the Toll
House should have done."

In response, Firekeeper handed him the long glass and motioned below.

"If I have learned anything of humans," the
wolf-woman said, "I have learned that when counselors look upset and
monarchs serious, a decision has been reached."

The bright call of a trumpet followed almost as she finished speaking and a herald's voice was heard announcing:

"Peace is made! Peace is won!"

Cheering followed these simple words, drowning out what the herald said next so that he must stop and wait. Firekeeper
watched
as men and women smiled or wept, pounding each other on the backs,
embracing. She wondered at their simple joy. Couldn't they smell the
blood that had been spilt? How could they rejoice at a peace following
a war that should never have been?

Once again she resigned herself to accepting that
perhaps for humans that battle did need to happen. Dangling her hand
from the edge of the cot, she felt Blind Seer lick her fingers.

Doc lowered the long glass, saying: "The herald has
given up trying to say anything more. I'm going to run down and learn
the terms."

Firekeeper did not stop him, having plans of her own. As soon as the physician was gone, she said to Blind Seer:

"I smell Patience not far away."

The wolf grunted agreement.

"If you bring the horse to me, I will not need to walk all the way down the hill."

"Who said you are getting out of bed?"
the wolf growled.

"I have,"
Firekeeper replied.
"And as you cannot stop me without hurting me further, I think you will get Patience."

The wolf snarled something about stupid, impulsive
humans, but by the time Firekeeper had sat up and swung her feet to the
ground, he was back, driving the snorting grey gelding in front of him.
Patience wore neither bridle nor saddle, but Firekeeper said to him:

"Kneel down so that I may mount or I will bite you."

A bit awkwardly, Patience complied, having no doubt
at all that Firekeeper was completely in earnest. Wrapping her hands in
the horse's mane and using the strength of her arms, the wolf-woman
hauled herself astride. Despite the pain, she kept her expression
carefully stoic, for she knew that at the first sign of weakness Blind
Seer would realize he could stop her without retaliation.

She must have succeeded in hiding the pain that
stabbed her back and groaned in the healing muscles of her thigh when
she stretched it around the horse's barrel, for the wolf contented
himself with grumbling:

"If Elation had not so taken to Derian, I would have her fetch him here. He could stop you."

"I doubt it,"
Firekeeper said cheerfully, adding
"Up!"
to the horse. Patience rose stiffly, muttering complaints about mad
wolves. Firekeeper felt so good to be up and moving she let the gelding
have his say.

"Down the hill,"
she said, slapping her steed's neck,
"to where the people are gathering. I want to be there when the king makes his announcement."

"What announcement?"
Blind Seer asked, trotting alongside.

"Why, his heir,"
Firekeeper replied blithely.
"I feel in my bones that now is the time."

"Do you expect him to name you?"

"No, but I am no less curious for that."

"Curiosity is a puppy's vice."

"And a human virtue."

Doubtless because Blind Seer moved to pad a few steps
in front of the grey gelding, a path cleared for them as they passed
through the army camp. Firekeeper sat as straight as she was able, but
she feared that she must look rather less than herself. Still, sporadic
cheers and friendly greetings met her progress.

The news of her coming must have flowed ahead of her,
because as she reached the area near the central pavilion Elation
soared screeching out of the sky, heralding Derian's arrival a few
moment's after.

"Firekeeper!" Derian exclaimed, the word protest and
question all at once. She realized how much she had learned in that she
could understand this. Once she would have thought it a simple greeting.

"I wanted to hear the king's announcement," she replied blandly.

"How did you know there was to be one?" he asked teas-ingly. "Isn't the herald's news of peace enough for you?"

Firekeeper replied as she had to Blind Seer, "I felt
it in my bones." How else could she explain her growing awareness that
humans revealed their thoughts and intentions through little signs even
as wolves did? Humans might lack tails and decent ears, but the signs
were present nonetheless.

Derian might have teased further, but he was too concerned
about
her health and comfort. Given his height, he had no trouble checking
both the sword wound to her back and the stitches on her leg without
getting her down from Patience's back. When he had contented himself
that she was not bleeding afresh and nothing seemed to have pulled
loose, he grunted:

"Well, you are here, you might as well stay. Are you comfortable up there?"

"Enough," she replied. "Though Patience has a sharp backbone."

Derian remedied this by commandeering a blanket to
make her a pad. Firekeeper leaned with her arms on Patience's withers
while Derian slipped it under her. They'd just finished when Doc joined
them, glowered at Firekeeper, but said nothing more. He was followed a
few moments later by Valet, Race, and Ox. The latter explained:

"The king has called most of his nobles to him. That's where Earl Kestrel has gone. Shouldn't you be there, Fire-keeper?"

She shrugged. "I am comfortable here. If they want me, I am easily found."

But no one came for her and when the herald emerged
from the tent and the crowd fell silent she remained just one among
many. After the herald made a completely unnecessary call for quiet, he
continued:

"His Majesty King Tedric and Her Majesty Queen Gustin
the Fourth have several very important announcements to make. They
demand your complete and obedient attention."

At this, the monarchs emerged from the pavilion. Each
was trailed by a small herd of nobles, each dressed in the best that
could be found at short notice. Earl Kestrel and Baron Archer, like
most of those who had seen recent military service, wore their
uniforms. Standing next to Sapphire Shield who was wearing her battered
blue armor, Lady Elise looked tranquil, if rather frail, dressed in the
same gown she had worn to the ball.

Firekeeper wondered if hers were the only ears sharp
enough to hear the sigh of longing and admiration that inadvertently
slipped from between Doc's lips as he gazed at
the
young noblewoman. Something about the slight but definitely
compassionate twinkle in Valet's eyes made her think that hers were not.

A raised dais a few feet high had been hastily
constructed and side by side with measured tread, rival king and queen
mounted to stand where all could see them.

Courage,
Firekeeper thought with admiration.
Until
Prince Newell's attack on the king, I never realized the risks these
human Ones take whenever they are in public. Queen Gustin is not loved
here. How easily an arrow shot from afar could end her life! Yet she
stands there cool and even arrogant, like the senior doe of some great
herd.

This was the first time she had seen Bright Bay's
queen close up and Firekeeper took a deep breath, hoping to catch
something of her scent. All she got was that of horse and hot humans,
but she did not doubt that the elegant young woman before her was
scented like some rich flower or perhaps an exotic spice.

The queen, Firekeeper decided as the herald blatted
out a completely unnecessary recitation of titles and honors, was
furiously angry but knew herself in no position to express that anger.

After the announcement of titles, King Tedric began
to speak. His every sentence was echoed by the herald so that even
those at the far reaches of the crowd could hear, but Firekeeper was
close enough to hear the old voice projecting with strength despite the
shrillness of age.

"Good people. As was announced a short time ago, we
have achieved peace between those who so recently contended upon the
field just west of this point. Stonehold has paid the promised
compensation. They will begin to withdraw their troops tomorrow
morning."

He lifted a hand to forestall the cheer that began almost inadvertently and continued:

"Compromise is the weapon of peace. As many of you
know, I first came here on my quest for a fitting heir. Part of my
compromise for peace was agreeing to name that heir publicly. But
before I do so, Queen Gustin has an important announcement of her own
to make."

As the queen moved slightly forward to take over, a low murmur rippled through the throng to be instantly quelled by her gaze.

"As Stonehold's perfidy has demonstrated," Queen
Gustin said in a firm yet musical voice, "neither Hawk Haven nor Bright
Bay is strong enough to exist alone. My greatest wish is for an
alliance between our kindred nations. In token of this, I am stepping
down as queen of Bright Bay in favor of my cousin, Duke Allister
Seagleam. As he was born as a pledge of our land's desire for mutual
peace, I can think of no better proof of Bright Bay's goodwill toward
Hawk Haven."