Pendant of Fortune (55 page)

She smiled. “Thank you, then, er…”

“
Forrin,” Volle said.

“
Thank you, Forrin.” She bowed to him, and when she straightened, she seemed a bit more relaxed.

“
You see, it’ll be all right.” Volle nuzzled her.

“
I know, I know. It was just a shock, finding myself homeless. I didn’t know what Volyan would do. Thank Canis he was with Tish and Tika.”

Volle held her closer with one arm. “I wouldn’t let you be turned out into the street.”

“
I know,” she said softly, working her muzzle under his.

He looked at Streak, and saw the wolf smiling at him, but the smile with tinged with a sadness he couldn’t quite fathom.

Chapter 13

When he’d put Ilyana to bed later that night, covering her with a blanket on the couch and sitting with her until she fell asleep, he padded back into the bedroom. Streak was already in bed, but when Volle slipped in beside him, he stirred and nuzzled the fox.

“
Everything okay?” he whispered.

Volle nodded. “She’s asleep now. She’ll be fine in the morning. I think it was just a shock, getting turned out like she did.”

“
Mm-hmm.”

“
Are you okay?”

“
Me? I’m fine.” The wolf licked him.

“
All right.” He wanted to ask if Streak were jealous, but he couldn’t think of a way to say it. “Streak?” he said finally, determined to say something.

“
Hmm?”

The words seemed silly now, and irrelevant. Volle pressed up to him and held him close. “Nothing.”

Streak licked his ear. “I love you too, silly fox.”

“
Okay.” Volle smiled, and carried that smile into his sleep.

In the morning, he declined Helfer’s invitation to run. Despite Tish’s assurances, he was still nervous about the outcome of the hearing. There had been enough going on that he’d been able to distract himself from it, but now that the day was here, he was beginning to realize that there was a chance, however small, that he would be waking up the next morning in prison. There would be no running away, no miraculous rescue; if he were arrested at his trial, he would be marched to prison in Divalia.

He thought Streak might not want to come, but the wolf showed no signs of hesitation, dressing with Volle and smiling encouragingly whenever Volle paused, lost in thought. To his surprise, Ilyana decided to come along, too.

“
It will be good for Dewanne to see me, if he’s there. And it will be good for me to be there to show support for you, even if he isn’t,” she reasoned, and Volle could find no fault with that.

They rode up in a buggy with Helfer, all four of them crammed inside while Forrin and the driver shared the top. They talked quietly on the ride up about how they were all getting back to Divalia, the others implicitly reassuring Volle by assuming he would be traveling with them.

Later, the buggy ride would all blur into one long moment for Volle. It seemed to last forever, and as they drove up into the thin fog, he conceived the idea that if they just kept driving, he would be safe. He had his best friend, his mate, and his wife all here and safe, and if he could just keep them in the buggy, nothing bad could happen to any of them. The fancy became so strong that when they did pull up outside the castle, and Helfer sprang out of the buggy, Volle nearly grabbed at him to stop him.

But then they were all outside, standing in the chilly fog, where the vulpine footservant who’d been aghast at Volle’s wet fur several nights ago directed them into the castle. Its stone corridors were barely warmer than the fog outside, until they approached the great hall where the inquest had been, and saw that now a fire had been lit, warming the room from behind the dais where the King would be sitting. Once again, Volle was led up to the table he and Streak had been seated at, but this time Streak was shown to a chair in the audience, and Volle was seated alone. Forrin didn’t seem to know quite what to do; there were already guards on either side of the dais. He settled for standing near one of them, and was soon talking in whispers with him.

Across from Volle, at the prosecutor’s table, Lord Wallen was conferring with a younger stag Volle didn’t recognize. They had a stack of papers in front of them and were shuffling through them. The older stag barely spared Volle a glance as the fox was seated.

Tish and Tika were already in the audience, with a number of others, and when Volle was shown to the table, Tish came up to see him. Volle scanned the audience and saw his friends outnumbering his enemies; only a few of the senior Lords had any enmity towards him. Wallen, of course, was chief among them. Many of the Lords in attendance, as far as he knew, had no particular leaning one way or the other. He supposed this was the best entertainment available at this time.

Tish examined his neck as he approached. “Got the pendant? Good,” he said quietly, tapping it. “Just let me do the talking for the first part, m’boy.”

“
All right.” Volle nodded. “Tish?”

The wolf had begun to step away. “What is it?”

“
I’m nervous.”

White teeth flashed a smile in the black muzzle. “Don’t be. You’ll be back in your old chambers by this time next week.” Volle flicked his ears, but managed a smile in return. “That’s a good lad. This will be over before you know it.”

The minutes dragged on, each one giving Volle ample time to imagine the horrible surprises that might be awaiting him.
Fox protect me
, he prayed silently, going back to an old prayer of his childhood.
Give me the wit to avoid my enemies, the speed to outrun them if I cannot avoid them, and the strength to fight them if I cannot outrun them
. There would be no running and no fighting here; only his wit would save him if he needed it. That and Tish, he remembered. Volle scanned the audience, finding Helfer, Tish, Tika, Ilyana, Nero, Archie, and Streak. The white wolf was seated next to Tish, and Volle was struck again by the vivid contrast between the black and white fur. Tish seemed to be whispering reassurances to Streak; the white wolf was looking relaxed and confident. Volle drew some strength from that, and relaxed himself.

Still, it was a relief when the King was announced. He lumbered up the dais with as much dignity as a bear could muster, and took his seat behind the table. The entire room stood with heads bowed until he was seated, and then they took their seats again.

Movement at the back of the room caught Volle’s eye; he saw Terril slip in and take a seat near the back. Were commoners allowed in the hearing? He felt a momentary flash of guilt for not carrying Helfer’s answer back to the rabbit, but he hadn’t been to the castle since then.

And then the King cleared his throat, and everything else was driven from Volle’s mind.

Alister was standing next to the King, and he announced to the now-silent crowd, “My Lords and Ladies, we are ready to begin.”

The crowd watched attentively as the coyote picked up a scroll and read from it. “His Majesty is present today to rule in two matters brought forth by our, er, former Minister of Defense; first, that the fox named Volle, currently holding the title of Lord of Vinton, was not born to that office and should be removed from it, and second, that said fox did knowingly steal confidential and important documents from the office of Defense with the intention of delivering them to a foreign monarch.”

Intention, Volle noted. Clever wording, and hard to prove, but also hard to disprove.

“
Who is speaking for the defense?”

Volle stood. “I will present my own defense, your Majesty, but I reserve the right to call upon members of the audience as needed.”

“
So noted.” Alister gave Volle a quick smile as the fox sat again; they’d always gotten along well. “And who is speaking for the prosecution?”

Wallen stood. “I have the honor of presenting the case against the so-called Lord Vinton,” he said evenly.

“
Thank you, Lord Wallen.” Alister looked down at his parchment again. “You may make your first argument for the first case, the matter of the legitimacy of Lord Vinton’s claim to his title.”

The stag rose as Alister said down. “Thank you,” he said. “It is our intent to demonstrate that the fox who presents himself as the scion of the Vinton family line is no more related to them than I am.”

“
Surely a
little
more related,” the King rumbled.

The audience tittered. Wallen was taken aback, and Volle couldn’t help but grin. He felt a little better, knowing that even if the King were impartial, he wasn’t averse to throwing the pompous Wallen off balance.

“
It—it’s a figure of speech, your Majesty.” The King merely nodded, and Wallen continued. “This fox presented himself to an investigator as the son of a Tephossian noble whose whereabouts were unverifiable for the last few years of his life. Based only on this recommendation, he was welcomed into the palace and subjected to the most trivial of supervision. An attempt to uncover his past was discarded even though it turned up several disturbing questions.”

Volle took advantage of a pause to say, “Could you tell us who made that attempt, Lord Wallen?”

Alister extended a paw toward him. “Please, Lord Vinton, wait your turn.”

Wallen was glaring at him, and took a moment to continue. “As I said, several disturbing questions were raised.”

“
Excuse me, Lord Wallen,” the King said. “Who did make that investigation?”

The stag had the grace to look uncomfortable as he coughed. “It was the junior deputy Minister of Defense at the time, your Majesty.”

“
His name, please, Lord Wallen. We don’t care for the accusation that we casually dismissed potential threats to our kingdom, and we would like to know the full facts behind these accusations.”

“
Dereath Talison,” Lord Wallen said in a low voice. The audience murmured.

“
Thank you.” The King settled back.

“
In any event, further facts have been brought to light. Interviews with people who knew the old Lord Vinton—regrettably, only two, who are unable to make the trip—have brought certain facts to light that—yes, what?!” He snapped at Tish, who had stood in the front row and cleared his throat repeatedly during the previous sentence.

“
I believe I could save his majesty a considerable amount of time, if given the opportunity.” Tish looked directly up at the King.

“
We would be greatly interested to hear that,” the King said, beckoning him with a paw. “You are speaking for the defense, I assume.”

Tish didn’t answer until he had stepped up onto the dais and reached Volle’s table. “Give me the pendant,” he whispered.

Volle pulled the leather strap over his head with a little difficulty, and handed it to Tish. The wolf closed his paw over it and turned to the King. “Actually, your Majesty, I believe I can prove the prosecution’s case conclusively.”

Another surprised murmur rose from the audience. Lord Wallen, who had gathered himself up to object, suddenly sat down. Volle felt his fur crawl as he went numb. First Dewanne, and now Tish? If Tish was against him, then he was lost. He felt that morning’s despair creeping back, and then Tish caught his eye and unmistakably winked at him.

The King had sat up and looked interested. “Go on, Lord Tistunish—if you are amenable, Lord Wallen?” The stag nodded, slightly suspicious but evidently willing to take a chance.

“
I must beg his Majesty’s indulgence, and the audience’s, if in the interest of saving a lot of time, I spend a little of it.”

“
I have never known you to be brief about anything, old friend,” the King said with a smile.

“
I will attempt to restrain myself, your Majesty.” Tish smiled and began to walk back and forth on the dais, alternately facing Lord Wallen and Volle.

“
Many of you know that I was born near the end of King Bucher’s reign.” Volle glanced quickly to Wallen in time to see the stag’s grimace at the mention of the name. “My family was not one of the most favored, but being children of Canis we were naturally favored to some degree. I was of an age with King Bucher’s youngest son, Archer, and was allowed to play with him. We became fast friends—as fast as cubs of four years old can be. We explored the castle together.

“
His nurse was an old coyote who took care of us both during lessons and playtime. She brought us treats from the kitchen…” Tish paused. “I’m sorry,” he said, and Volle thought he detected a quaver in the wolf’s voice. “That isn’t pertinent. She loved us both.