Keeper of the Wolves (24 page)

I licked Silver Leaf’s cheek and gave a
small bark of farewell to the pack. When I turned away, they let me
go. Shadow Runner called his pack together and they disappeared
into the star-strewn night beneath the trees. The soft fall of
their paws against decaying leaves and moss faded into the quiet
hum of crickets and the familiar, gentle breeze. I watched after
them.

Silence filled my body, a silence so deep I
felt it in my bones and the aching parts of my heart. I had no urge
to follow them. I was no longer a true wolf fit to run within the
pack and partake of the spoils of the hunt.

I padded slowly back through the long
grasses toward the castle. The blush of the rising sun touched the
bricks with red and gold. Sunlight reflected off the windows in
hues of pink and orange. The myriad scents of hundreds of people
behind its walls and in the city below tangled in the morning air.
I felt a pang of longing to belong to the scents of baking bread,
cooling iron, livestock, and leather. The lemon and nutmeg scents
of comfort and happiness told of citizens who were secure in their
homes and professions. Joven and Koya did their best to take care
of their duchy, and it showed.

***

When I reached the gate, the guards were
arguing with a man dressed in black and gray. I slipped behind them
to enter the castle grounds when a scent touched my nose. I bared
my teeth and a growl rumbled in my chest.

The man and the three guards who detained
him turned in surprise. The man’s face blanched as the head guard’s
eyes narrowed thoughtfully. A memory flashed through my mind of the
side of his face covered in blood, a sword in one hand and a staff
in the other. A thin white bandage concealed the wound by his ear
that he received during the Viel attack. The name Waylan came to
mind. He gave me a nod of respect.

“
You said you were from
Sunhold?” Waylan asked the man.

He nodded quickly. “I am. Lord Blakeley is
awaiting my presence.” His scent did not hold the grain and
sunlight aroma that hung around Lord Blakeley, Lady Stry, and the
other members of their party from the farming Duchy. Instead, he
carried an underlying musk of sea salt and fish, the same smell
that matched the assassin who threatened Koya. My growl deepened
and I took a step forward. The man took a similar step back, his
eyes wide.

Waylan gave a small smile that didn’t reach
his eyes. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I verify your information,”
he said amiably. He waved to a stable boy; the lad hurried
over.

“
As I said before,” the man
argued, his eyes never leaving me, “I’m in a hurry. I don’t
appreciate such a purposeful delay that will put me in bad standing
with my Lord.”

The humorless smile vanished
from the head guard’s face. “And as I said before, I am under
strict orders to refuse entry to any citizen from Brean. My concern
is for the welfare of
my
Lord and Lady, not your standing.”

Waylan turned to the stable boy while the
other two guards barred the man’s way. He glanced at me, then back
at the guards. The sharp scent of his adrenaline spiked when his
muscles tensed. I let out a bark of warning the same instant he
pulled a knife from his tunic. A guard caught his hand and I
jumped, grabbing him by the shoulder. He let out a yell of pain.
The three of us fell to the ground. Waylan slammed a haymaker into
the man’s jaw so hard his head rebounded off the cobblestones. His
muscles relaxed.

I released his shoulder and backed up. The
taste of human blood coated my teeth.

“
What was that about?” a
voice demanded from the gate. I looked up to see Lieutenant Aled,
Rasmus’ second.

“
I’m pretty sure he was sent
from Brean, Lieutenant,” Waylan replied. He shook out his hand and
glared down at the unconscious man. “He was evasive during our
questioning and when the wolf showed up, he pulled a
knife.

Aled’s eyebrows rose. “Can’t say I blame
him,” he said in a dry tone that sounded far older than he looked.
“Victus is pretty intimidating.” Waylan opened his mouth to
protest, but the young Lieutenant held up a hand. “If the wolf is
concerned, I am as well. Take him to Master Jarstold and tell him
we need another interview.” The way he said the last word made it
sound unpleasant.

Waylan nodded and the two guards hefted the
body. Waylan picked up the man’s knife. His eyebrows lowered and he
handed it to Aled with a stormy expression. The Lieutenant nodded
as if it confirmed his suspicions. He showed me the knife. “See the
markings on the hilt? This is an assassin’s blade. Assassins write
the name for whom the blade is intended in a secret code; the knife
is supposed to only be used for the target. I won’t be surprised if
Jarstold gets him to reveal Joven or Koya as his mark.”

My head flew up. If an assassin had been
stopped at the gate by Waylan’s careful scrutiny, who knew if
others made it past guards who might not have been so careful?

The look on the young Lieutenant’s face said
his thoughts mirrored my own. “I need four men,” he demanded.

Waylan barked out a quick order and he fell
in beside us along with three other guards. Four more men from the
guardhouse appeared to take their place as we ran to the castle. My
paws thundered across cobblestones just beginning to grow warm with
early morning sunlight. At the Lieutenant’s command, a servant
opened the main doors as we ran up the shallow steps. I didn’t slow
my headlong rush. My paws barely touched the carpet and I
practically flew down the main hallway. I sorted through the scents
in search of sea salt and fish, but mostly I hunted for fresh
traces of Koya’s meadow gold and vanilla.

Her scent lingered in every part of the
enormous castle we came to. I began to feel mad with the effort
when a fresh trail overlaid the others like sunlight across a pond.
The guards’ feet pounded behind me when I turned up a lesser-used
flight of stairs, darted across a wide hallway scaring two servants
in the process, and flew into a corner room. I stumbled at the
sight of Koya standing alone beneath windows open wide to the
morning light.

She turned with a smile on her face at my
appearance, but her smile faded when Lieutenant Aled and another
guard followed shortly behind.

“
What’s going on?” she
demanded. “Why are you chasing him?”

Aled lifted his hands at the accusation in
her tone. “Victus was leading us to you, my Lady. We stopped an
assassin at the gates and he feared you might be in trouble.”

Her eyes widened and she looked from the
Lieutenant to me. I nodded and took a deep breath to calm the
pounding of my heart. The fact that she was safe and our flight had
been for nothing did little to reassure me that she was out of
danger. Assassins were still trying to get in. Brean, and Lord
Storion, wanted the siblings dead at any cost.

More footsteps thundered down the hallway. I
bared my teeth and faced the door. Aled drew the sword from his
belt and the other guard followed. The door flew open to reveal
Waylan, the other two guards, and Joven. The Lord of Vielkeep
looked frantically around the room, then breathed a loud sigh of
relief when he saw Koya.

“
Thank goodness you’re
safe,” he said. He crossed the room and gave her a quick
hug.

“
I’m alright,” Koya replied.
Frustration sparked in her eyes. “I’m not a child to be watched
over every second of the day.”

“
Right now you should be,”
Joven replied. He rounded on me. “Where were you, Victus?” he
demanded, his words biting and charged, “You were never to leave
her side. That was our agreement.”

I met his gaze with the calm, impassive eyes
of a wolf, but I lifted my lips just enough to tell him he had gone
too far. The anger that showed in Koya’s expression at the thought
of needing protection around the clock rolled through me with a
hundred times the force at the fact that she needed such
security.

Joven took a step back but his misdirected
frustration continued to flow from him in waves.

“
Victus was with me at the
gates,” Lieutenant Aled said. I glanced at him and he met my eyes
with the directness of one man to another. “We were checking
security along the wall and found Master Guard Waylan interrogating
the assassin. Victus took him down when he pulled a knife.” He
tossed the blade onto a side table. I hadn’t realized he had
carried it on our mad dash to find Koya. The details he told Joven
weren’t quite accurate and put me in a much better light than my
run with the pack, but when I glanced at him, he looked unconcerned
with anything but the knife.

I had abandoned Koya to run with the wolves.
I shouldn’t have left her. I had broken my promise to both siblings
that I would keep Koya safe, and she had almost paid with her life.
Aled’s story placed me in a better light; I couldn’t figure out why
he would say such a thing. I studied him as he pointed out the
markings on the knife to Joven. The Lieutenant’s jaw was clenched
and the light streaming in through the window made it look as
though the same anger that filled my chest burned in his eyes.

More footsteps erupted down the hallway, but
I recognized Rasmus’ tread and waited for the door to open once
more. When it did, Joven dropped the knife in surprise and Koya
took a step to my side. I pressed my shoulder against her
reassuringly and her fingers tangled in the fur at the base of my
neck. Warmth flooded my back at her touch. I fought down the urge
to close my eyes and memorize the feeling of her hand in my fur. We
were in a crisis situation and I was distracted by the mere
presence of a lady.

Not just any lady, a voice in the back of my
mind said. I snorted softly to chase away the thought.

“
Is everyone alright?”
Rasmus asked. His eyes darted around the room, searching the
corners that still lay in shadow. When they came up empty, his
relief was palpable. He rubbed his jaw, his fingers sweeping across
the red star tattoo on his right cheek. “Nothing like a false alarm
to get the blood pounding,” he said. He crossed back to the door,
checked it, then shut it and leaned against it with his arms
crossed in front of his chest. The two soldiers that had come with
him looked confused, but they didn’t question their
commander.

“
If everyone is done
wondering if I’ve been killed yet, I think I’ll retire to my
rooms,” Koya said. Her sharp tone couldn’t hide the fear that laced
her words. If so many people worried that the worst might happen,
it must not be close behind.

“
I think we could all use
some rest,” Joven said pointedly. He touched Koya’s arm. “Sorry,
sis,” he said in words intended only for her ears.

She let out a breath, then gave him a small
smile. She turned the same smile on the rest of the soldiers. “I
appreciate your concern, but I’m not just going to sit around
waiting for one of Storion’s assassins to find me.”

“
If only we could prove he’s
the one sending the assassins,” Waylan said; he then looked abashed
at speaking out of turn. “Apologies,” he said quietly.

Rasmus shook his head. “None necessary.
You’re right.” His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his sword.
“If the assassin talks, we might be able to unite the other Duchies
against Lord Storion. Otherwise, we’re sitting ganders waiting to
be picked off by the next fox that happens by.” His eyes glittered
darkly and the bitter twist to his mouth deepened the scar that ran
down his face. “Give me the command and I’ll take him out.”

Joven shook his head. “We don’t fight dirty,
and you’re not an assassin. I’ll not have you tarnish yourself to
end something that might be resolved shortly.” He and Koya
exchanged a loaded glance.

Koya’s lips tightened, but she thanked the
men again, then waited for me at the door. We walked quietly down
the hallway to the stairs. She paused before descending them.
“Thank you for stopping that man,” she said. “I don’t doubt what
would have happened if he’d gotten through.” She glanced back
toward the room where the others still conversed. “I’m hoping it
will help the others relax if I pretend like it doesn’t bother
me.”

Her admission surprised me. She fell silent
and her fingers trailed along my back, then it seemed that she
noticed what she was doing because she straightened up and gave me
a half-smile. “Neither of us are very good at getting the sleep we
need,” she said.

I let out a soft breath of assent and her
smile deepened before she turned and walked down the stairs.

Chapter 14

I hesitated at the door to her rooms. The
soft light streaming through the windows lit the sitting room in a
warm glow. Koya sat on the couch with her face buried in her hands.
Her golden hair cascaded in mussed curls to hide her expression. I
wanted to comfort her, but was unable to do so in the mute form of
a wolf. I slipped back into the hallway and padded softly to my
makeshift rooms in her grandfather’s quarters.

It amazed me how easily I was able to change
to human form. The urgent need that had pulled me into the wolf
body during my talk with Lord Brayton had been appeased with the
hunt. A pang of regret shadowed the memory of the fear in the
Lord’s eyes when he saw me change. That revelation might have dire
consequences, but I wouldn’t leave Koya to see that his concerns
were alleviated.

I pulled on a pair of black-dyed buckskin
pants and a white cotton jerkin. I pointedly ignored the shoes and
socks that lay nearby and walked back out of the room. It was
strange how familiar the hallway had become. The thick carpets and
solid walls, so confining and unusual before, now comforted me with
their familiar dusty neglect and age-worn scents. I let my fingers
trail along one wall and thought about Koya doing the same to my
back when I was in wolf form. The reassurance of something
steadfast was a bolster to heavy spirits. I hoped Koya found the
same relief in my presence.