Pendant of Fortune (60 page)

Volle stared for only a moment, then sprang across the floor to Streak first, untying his muzzle and holding him tightly. Streak kissed him urgently, and as Volle pulled away, their eyes met and they both knew that Volle had to attend to Forrin.

He knelt behind the wolf, untying his paws as quickly as he could. “Forrin,” he said urgently, “are you all right? Forrin!”

Forrin turned his head finally, but it took his eyes several seconds to focus on Volle. When his paws were finally freed, he wiped frantically at his muzzle. “I…tasted…swallowed…” He panted harder, his eyes now unnaturally bright, and then he doubled over, panting and heaving until he vomited where Volle had been lying.

“
Listen, Forrin, you did a noble thing. Canis will forgive you. You did the right thing. He was Darkness, and you got rid of him. You hear me? He was Darkness. Not you. You’ll be all right.” Volle kept talking, trying to soothe the wolf. When he looked up at Streak for suggestions, he saw to his surprise that Archie was untying the white wolf.

“
Stay here,” he said, getting to his feet, not even bothering to ask how the weasel had gotten in. “I’ll get some water.”

“
All right. We’re fine.” Archie’s voice had none of its usual irreverence.

Volle still hesitated, looking at Streak, until the white wolf said, “I’ll be fine. Go!” And then he went.

A few servants had gathered in the corridor. “We heard a scream.” “Is everything okay?”

Volle closed the door firmly. “Where’s the nearest place to get water?”

One of the servants, an otter, pointed down the corridor. “Just there, there’s a room with an open ceiling that we keep jugs in…”

“
Take me there.”

He returned a few minutes later with a jug of water. The otter followed him, carrying a basin. He nearly dropped it when he saw the carnage in the room, but kept his composure long enough to set it down. Forrin lurched toward the basin and plunged his muzzle into it, washing it frantically. He took water from the jug Volle set beside him and washed his mouth out, then drank deeply.

Streak was untied and standing with Archie, both looking helpless. Volle walked over and extended an arm, and Streak fell into his embrace, hugging him tightly. “Oh, fox,” he said. “He brought me here and told me to sit down while he looked…hit me on the head, and when I woke up I was tied up.”

“
It’s okay,” Volle said, stroking his fur. “We’re all right.” But he wasn’t sure that he was. He thought about how close it had been, and the shock and urgency that had overwhelmed him were subsiding. In their place was arising a cold, fierce anger.

Forrin was getting up. He looked around at them and rasped, “I have…to go…to the church…be cleansed…”

“
I’ll take you there,” Volle said, but Streak nuzzled him and shook his head.

“
I can go with him. I want to.” The look he gave Volle said that he wanted to do it alone.

“
I’ll go too,” Volle said anyway.

“
You have things to do. Is the hearing over?”

“
Yes. I won.” That didn’t seem nearly as important now.

Streak smiled. “I knew you would.” He kissed Volle. “Stay here. I’ll see you at the mansion tonight.”

Volle caught his paw. “Promise?”

The wolf’s muzzle tilted curiously, his ears canted. “Of course.”

“
All right.” Volle let him go and smiled. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Streak didn’t answer that, just gave him a sad smile and turned to escort Forrin from the room. Volle watched them leave, and he knew that Streak would not be going with him to the palace. He would have given his royal blood, his land, and even his freedom in that moment to keep the wolf by his side. When they disappeared out the door, he felt a pang in his heart like the cut of a knife. It was impossible not to associate that grief with the rat whose imprint was all over the room, from the furnishings to the scent that still hung in the air.

Archie had been giving instructions to the otter, and the servant left the room immediately after Streak and Forrin. Archie watched him go, and then looked almost fearfully at Volle.

Volle realized that his tail was lashing and his ears were down, fists clenched at his sides. He made an effort to relax. “I’m not mad at you, Archie,” he said.

The weasel still looked glum. “Captain Nero and Lord Ikling will be here soon. I just sent for ‘em. I guess I’ll be turning in my resignation.”

“
You shouldn’t have lied, but this wasn’t your fault.” He gestured to the rabbit’s body, but couldn’t bring himself to look at it.

“
Cap’n would have figured it out if I hadn’t lied about it. I could tell he thought it didn’t add up.”

“
On the contrary, Archie, it added up just enough to keep me confused and unsure.” Nero stood in the doorway. “You didn’t see Dereath Talison kill the guard, did you?”

Archie shook his head. “No, Cap’n. I was so sure he had…”

“
He might as well have. He certainly orchestrated the murder. The rabbit didn’t get your scent, did he?”

He had asked this last of Volle, who shook his head. “I didn’t think so,” Nero continued. “It was very cunning, and if Archie hadn’t lied, it was very probable that Dereath would never have been imprisoned.” He glanced at the rabbit with more interest than revulsion. “I am curious about this one, though. How have I never heard of him before? I know most of the accomplished killers in the city.”

Volle shook his head. “His name is Terril. I don’t know where Dereath met him.”

“
I was merely thinking out loud,” Nero said. “Of course nobody in this room would know. And it probably doesn’t matter now, anyway. Simply an academic interest.” He looked around at the room. “Your large guard did the damage, I suspect?”

“
Yes,” Volle said, and then remembered something. He walked across the room and picked up the sword, then looked at the rabbit. From this angle, the chair hid most of the worst of his neck. “He made me throw this away. Forrin forgot it when he went to the church. To be cleansed.” The sword’s blade was clean and bright, and it seemed to him that the sword itself had emerged through the ordeal unscathed, unlike the rest of them. It was hard and sharp, like the guard himself. He felt an obligation to keep it until Forrin could reclaim it.

Helfer arrived at that moment, bursting into the room and scanning it wildly. “Weasel and Gaia!” he exclaimed upon seeing the rabbit, and then turned to Volle. “Are you okay? Where’s Streak?”

“
He’s all right. We all are, except for him. He took Forrin down to the church.” Helfer approached him, but refrained from hugging him while he was holding the imposing sword.

“
Lord Ikling,” Archie said, “I have to tender my resignation.”

Helfer spun to face the other weasel. “What? Why?”

Archie took a breath. “I lied about witnessing the murder of the guard, and in so doing prevented the apprehension of the real murderer. An’ I put Lord Vinton here and his consort and guard in danger.”

Helfer studied him and then turned to Captain Nero. “What’s your recommendation, Captain? Should I accept his resignation?”

Nero studied the weasel, who was watching him resignedly. He stroked his whiskers and then said, “Yes, I believe you should.”

Archie’s shoulders sagged, but he kept his head up as Helfer said, “Very well. Archie, come see me later and we can discuss your replacement.”

“
Yes, my Lord.” Archie started to trudge out of the room.

Nero stopped him with a paw on his shoulder. “Archie,” he said, “I understand you’ve recently resigned your post.”

Archie turned and stared at him. Nero went on. “Which is lucky for me. As it happens, I have been thinking about hiring an assistant to work with me in Divalia. Would you consider filling that position?”

Archie’s stare turned to one of disbelief. He laid his ears back. “It’s not nice to taunt me, Cap’n,” he said.

“
I would do no such thing,” Nero protested. “Your passion and energy make you perfect for the job. True, we will have to work on your restraint and honesty, but I think we can say that you’ve learned from this experience. Have you not?”

Archie was standing straighter. “Yes,
sir!
”

“
All right, then.” Nero waved a paw. “Be ready to depart in the morning. And bring all your notes on this case. Your first duty will be to write a report to present to the King. How much of this scene did you see?”

“
I heard him confess. I got in through the hole in the wall, but I was all the way on the other side of the room.” He gestured to the door, which stood ajar. “I couldn’t figure out a way to get across and help them without him killing the wolf. He had a knife at his throat, Cap’n.”

“
I understand.” And Volle nodded too, because Archie was looking at him pleadingly.

“
I would’ve run at him,” Archie said. “If the guard hadn’t…”

Volle smiled tightly. “I believe you would have,” he said because he knew Archie was expecting it. He didn’t know whether he believed it, but he knew there was nothing the weasel could have done. The anger was mounting in him again, and now that Nero was here to take charge of the scene, he didn’t need to stay. What he needed to do was get out of here and be by himself for a while.

“
I’ll see you all later.” He waved and headed for the door, ignoring the protests and calls from Helfer and Captain Nero. “I’ll be okay,” he assured them. “I just need to go.” The tightness in his chest felt as though it would suffocate him if he didn’t get out, so he slipped out the door and nearly ran down the hall.

He found the flight of stairs leading to the battlements, and ran up it, lifting his muzzle to the fresh, sweet air. Panting from the exertion and the tension in him, he leaned over the wall and breathed as deeply as he could. It was a relief to be away from the scent of the rat, but the anger stayed with him. He’d almost died, and Streak could have died as well. And Streak was going to leave him.

He wanted to talk to someone, but he didn’t know whom. He knew what all his friends would say: Helfer would tell him that there would be others. He would be sympathetic, but he would shrug his shoulders and say it was all for the best. So would Tish. He had said all along that love was a vulnerability. Reese would make some comment about him finding another sex toy soon.

And what would he say to himself? Would he accept his fate and say there was nothing he could do? He remembered Xiller again, the long-dead cougar. He hadn’t stopped him from leaving, hadn’t even tried. And he’d never seen him again.

What would Xiller say to him now?

He hadn’t been particularly wise, the cougar. But his heart had been strong, and his naivete had been endearing. If he were here, Volle thought, he would tell me to do whatever it took to be happy.

He raised his eyes to the sky.
What do you say, Fox?
But he knew the answer to that, too. Fox and Canis, kindred gods, set forth first and foremost duty to the pack.

Where is my pack? Is it my country? Or does your pack grow smaller as you grow older?
It had been easy enough, six years ago, for him to assume the grandiose mantle of representative of his country, responsible for their welfare. The whole land had been his pack. But now, the world was more confusing. His obligations stretched from Caril to Divalia to the land of Vinton now, across nobles and kings, vixens and cubs, and to a white wolf at the edge of the pack, about to fall away from it.

But it was Canis who preached of loyalty to the pack. Fox was less ambitious. The pack, yes, but one’s closest family first. Volle knew who his family were: Volyan, Ilyana, and her unborn cub. And Streak too, through every bond but marriage.

So what could he do? What had made him an effective agent was his tendency to lie low, to accept events as they came to him and craft his reaction to them. When he tried to act boldly, he had more often than not made a mess of things. His instincts told him that he should let Streak go, that the sadness would fade in time, that that was the best for everyone.

Sometimes
, he thought,
instincts do not serve you well
.

He would not stand by and let the wolf leave his pack.

There was something he could do, something he had to do. As soon as he thought of it, it made perfect sense, and he hoped it would be enough. But before that, he had to do something about the tight spiral of rage he kept spinning into whenever he thought about what had just happened, how close he’d come to death. He’d thought that if he got away, breathed the fresh air, let his thoughts settle, that the knot in his chest would loosen, but that hadn’t happened.
There’s nothing you can do,
his instinct told him,
but calm yourself down
.