Pendant of Fortune (57 page)

“
And how did you meet him?”

Streak paused. Volle couldn’t see his muzzle, just the set of his shoulders and his tail, which had lifted slightly. “I was sent. To torture him.”

“
And did you?”

Volle couldn’t see how that was relevant, but he couldn’t interrupt. “No,” Streak said softly.

“
Why not?”

“
I just couldn’t. He was helpless. He’d already been tortured.” And now the wolf’s voice held a trace of rebellion in it.

Also, Volle remembered, Streak had been told to rape him, and in order to throw him off balance, Volle had begged him to. He’d been confused and hadn’t been able to perform.

“
I see.” Lord Wallen looked down at his papers. “Did you ever talk to him?”

“
Yes.”

“
What did you talk about?”

“
My childhood. His childhood.”

“
Is that all?”

“
We talked about a lot of things,” Streak said. “I don’t remember them all.”

“
Did you ever talk about his political views?”

“
I…” The wolf glanced briefly at the King, and stopped.

And then King Barris leaned forward. He said, “Mister Lilian, your attachment to the defendant is well known. Please be assured that he will not be returned to prison if he is found guilty based on your testimony. He will be sent back to Ferrenis, and you will be free to go with him. We only want the truth.”

Volle’s heart sank. The King had given Streak exactly what he wanted.

Streak turned further and looked at Volle. In the white wolf’s blue eyes Volle saw all the pain of the past few days, the fear of being questioned in front of the King, and, behind it all, the love that the wolf felt for him. The only thing he could not see was what that love would lead Streak to do. He tried desperately to communicate that whatever happened, he would still return that love, but he knew he couldn’t hide his deep desire to return to the palace, to be a part of the court again. Guilt made him lower his ears, and as he did, Streak turned to look back at the King.

“
All right, your Majesty,” he said, and returned his attention to Lord Wallen, though his left ear remained cocked in Volle’s direction. “Yes, we did.”

“
Can you tell us whether he at any time said that he had planned to take some important documents to a rival power?”

Streak thought for a moment, while Volle agonized. “I don’t believe he said that.”

“
Did he ever say that he was in the pay of a foreign power?”

“
No, I don’t think so.”

“
Did he try to convince you to work for a foreign power? Maybe retrieve some documents for him?”

The answer came immediately this time. “No!”

Lord Wallen was beginning to look exasperated. His ears kept flicking back. “Did he ever say anything that would have made you believe he was not loyal to his Majesty the King?”

This was it, Volle thought. He cupped his ears forward, barely able to bring himself to listen. Streak was taking a long time, holding his muzzle in thought.

“
It’s hard to say,” he said. “I mean, he was in prison. Of course he wasn’t very happy about it.”

Volle clamped his paws together to keep their nervous movements to a minimum. Streak was dodging the questions. For some reason, he had decided that he didn’t want to give Volle up.

Lord Wallen looked annoyed, and paused for a moment before going on. “You helped him escape, is that right?”

Streak glanced at the King again. The bear said, “Answer truthfully. If Volle was innocent, then your action will not be punished.”

“
Yes, I did. They were going to kill him!” he said, showing passion for the first time.

“
That is as it may be,” Lord Wallen said. “Certainly it would have saved his Majesty some valuable time. How did he convince you to help him escape?”

“
He didn’t,” Streak said. “It was my idea.”

The audience murmured, and Lord Wallen struck the table in front of him, hard. “You may have thought it was your idea,” he said, louder, “but isn’t it possible you were tricked into thinking that?”

Right idea, Volle thought, wrong culprit. Dereath was the one behind the escape. The white wolf, obviously remembering that, matched Wallen’s passion in his answer. “They stopped bringing him food!” he cried. “He could barely stand up when I found him! He couldn’t even walk!”

Alister raised a paw to Streak. “Please, calm down,” he said, and then turned to the stag. “That goes for you, too, Lord Wallen.”

“
My apologies.” The stag took another moment to gather himself, appearing to get his temper under control. “Mister Lilian. After he escaped, you went with him.” He leaned forward on the table. “Did you see him with those documents at any time?”

Streak barely hesitated. “No.”

“
Did he leave you to go get them? Did he tell you where they were hidden and make you go get them?”

“
No!”

“
You swore to tell the truth,” Wallen growled, ignoring the warning looks from Alister.

“
I remember what I swore,” Streak said. “I never saw him take the documents, I didn’t get them for him, I never saw him with them—I have never seen those documents you’re referring to.”

The stag stared at him coldly. “Of course you’d lie to protect him.”

“
Lord Wallen.” The King himself stepped in, the reprimand clear in his tone.

“
I apologize, your Majesty.” He looked around the room desperately, as though hoping someone would tell him what to ask.

The King waited for nearly two minutes before speaking again. “Are you finished?”

“
Yes. Thank you, your Majesty.” Lord Wallen sat down heavily. He covered his eyes and lowered his antlered head to the table. Beside him, the younger stag looked extremely uncomfortable.

“
Volle, do you have any questions or rebuttal?”

“
No, your Majesty.” Volle was fighting to keep a grin off his muzzle. His tail was tightly wrapped under his chair, but the tip was still wagging.

“
Thank you for your service to this court, Mister Lilian. You may step down.”

Streak bowed. “Thank you, your Majesty.” He ventured a small grin to Volle and stepped back to take his seat in the audience.

The King nodded to Alister, who stood. “Lord Wallen, have you any other evidence to present?” The stag’s antlers shook from side to side. He didn’t look up. “Volle?” When Volle shook his head as well, the coyote continued. “There will be a brief recess while his Majesty deliberates the evidence presented. Lords Alacris, Villutian, Barclaw, Quirn, please approach.”

He sat down, and as the four bears rose and walked to join the King, some of the other audience members rose from their chairs to talk. Volle saw Tish and Streak waiting for him, reluctant to follow the bears onto the dias. He looked at Alister and gestured in their direction.

“
Go on,” the coyote said with a smile. “Just stay in the room.”

Volle nodded and walked down quickly, into a huge embrace between the two wolves. He grinned and hugged them back, tail wagging freely now. “He hasn’t decided yet,” he reminded them, looking at the King’s meeting with his advisors. Lord Quirn, whom Volle knew disliked him, was arguing the loudest, while his allies, Barclaw and Alacris, were smiling.

Tish patted him on the back. “Don’t worry about them. They’re just there for show. I know the King. We’ve won.” Tish kept his voice down, but his ears were perked and his manner was as jubilant as Volle had ever seen him.

“
What—” Volle was about to ask Tish about the pendant when he noticed Streak’s expression and half-tilted ears. “What’s the matter, Bayard?” he said teasingly.

Streak winced and grinned. “Don’t call me that. There’s a reason I never told you my name.”

“
I like it, though.” Volle nuzzled him. Tish stepped back and put his arm around Tika, who had joined them. Forrin had approached and was smiling as well, though he kept a respectful distance from the group. Volle could see Ilyana and Volyan a couple rows back in the crowd; the cub was chattering something at his mother, and she was replying with a distant expression.

“
Congratulations, Volle!” Helfer slapped his rump with a paw, grinning. “Where you gonna stay at the castle now? Hey, if you don’t have land, maybe you could be Lord Fardew.”

“
Even if for some reason the King went mad and offered me the job, I’m not sure I’d want it,” Volle chuckled, hugging the little weasel with his other arm. “But I don’t know what I can do. I was just going to ask Tish about that.”

“
I’m sure the King will find a place for you,” Tish said.

“
I hope so.” Thinking about staying at the palace reminded him that he wasn’t going back to the farm, and that reminded him of Streak, and then he thought he understood what was behind the wolf’s mixed emotions. He squeezed Streak around his shoulders and then released him. “Want to talk?”

Streak nodded. Volle looked around. “Could you all excuse us for a moment?”

The others nodded and stepped back as Streak led Volle to the side of the room, away from most people. Forrin took two steps toward them, but stopped far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying. Streak looked at him and then whispered to Volle, “I was so nervous.”

“
You were perfect,” Volle said.

“
I was afraid he’d ask a hard question.” Streak’s ears folded down. “I don’t know if I can be around you all the time waiting for someone to ask something hard like that.” Volle could barely hear his whisper.

“
That won’t happen again,” he said.

“
Not for this time, but…” Streak paused, and looked over Volle’s shoulder.

Volle didn’t smell anyone nearby, but when he turned, Terril was standing a few feet behind him. He took a step forward when Volle turned. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said. “I have something I think…I mean, I think you’ll want to hear it.”

Volle glanced at Streak, who looked as puzzled as he was, and then nodded. “What is it?”

“
Well…” The rabbit approached and lowered his voice. “I was going through Lord Fardew’s things yesterday and I found where he’d written down some of the conversations he overheard you two having. I thought you might want to have those transcripts.”

Streak and Volle exchanged apprehensive glances. “What do you want in return?” Volle said warily.

“
You did offer to get me a job,” the rabbit said. “I don’t really want more than that. I mean, I think you should have them.”

Volle was about to say that he had been ordered not to leave the room when Alister called down from the dais, “Volle, his Majesty requests your presence.”

“
I’ll go,” Streak said quickly. “I want to. If that’s okay.” He smiled at Volle. “I know what he’s going to say anyway.”

The rabbit hesitated a moment, then nodded. He led Streak out as Volle stepped back up onto the dais and stood in front of the King.

King Barris was standing himself. He turned to Alister. “Is there a nearby room where we might talk to Volle privately?”

“
Of course, your Majesty.” Alister led what turned into a procession of King Barris, Volle, Forrin, and two of the King’s guards out of the room and a short way down the hallway. The King motioned Volle inside and told the guards to wait at the door.

Volle looked around the relatively small room. It looked like it had been used as a staging area for some of the banquets; a smell of food lingered in it and there were several small tables scattered around. The bare stone walls were solid and windowless except for two small slits at the top that let in the daylight; if there had been no slits, a hole in the ceiling and a trench on the floor, Volle would have been reminded of his prison cell.

The King closed the door, leaving the rest of the group outside; apparently it had been a royal ‘we.’ He gestured for Volle to take a seat on one of the small tables, while he himself leaned his ponderous bulk against a wall, and regarded Volle for several long seconds. When he spoke, his tone sounded more amused than anything else.

“
Our mother had a saying she used quite often, Volle. ‘The buzzing of the bees means honey in the trees.’” He folded his arms, tapping one paw onto the opposite arm before continuing. “Esteemed fox, there has been an inordinate amount of buzzing around you ever since you arrived at the palace.”