The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf (8 page)

“I'll pay her back one day,” he muttered.

Sarapen was the eldest son of the old Thane. He was the strongest werewolf in the MacRinnalch clan. He should have been elected as leader when his father died. His mother had seen to it that he hadn't been. Thanks to Verasa, his brother Markus was the new Thane. His mother, his brother and both his sisters had all conspired against him.

“But I'm still alive,” mused Sarapen. “That would surprise them. Alive and stuck in an alien dimension. That surprises me.”

He heard a soft footstep behind him. Only the Empress had access to this part of the roof. She approached him from behind and put a hand on his shoulder. Sarapen didn't turn around.

“I still want to go back,” said Sarapen.

There was a moment's silence. When the young Empress spoke there was a note of frustration in her voice. “I can't send you back yet. The after-effects of the Begravar knife will kill you if you return to Earth.”

Sarapen remained silent, staring out over the streams of lava.

“Why go back anyway?” said Kabachetka. “What's in Scotland for you? A clan that betrayed you? Werewolves who don't appreciate you?”

“I should be Thane,” said Sarapen.

“So what? How would that compare to staying in a palace with an
Empress?” Kabachetka edged her way to his side, placing her arm around his frame. “I know you miss your home. I'll be able to send you back sometime. My sorcerers are working on it. Meanwhile . . .”

The Empress stood on her tiptoes to kiss Sarapen, embracing him as she did. She liked to put her arms around Sarapen. His muscles felt like steel beneath his garments.

Sarapen kissed her back, not as passionately as the Empress would have liked. She withdrew her lips and gazed into his eyes.

“Your mind is elsewhere.”

Sarapen nodded.

“Are you thinking about your clan?”

“You said you'd bring me news.”

The Empress sighed. “I really have little business on Earth these days. It's difficult for me to bring news.”

Sarapen nodded. He didn't know whether to believe the Empress or not. She always sounded sincere, but the werewolf found it hard to believe she knew nothing of his relations back on Earth. He turned to gaze out over the red rock landscape that fell away in a long slope beyond the volcano.

“Now you're thinking about going to fight in the desert!” exclaimed the Empress, and sounded cross.

“I thought you weren't going to read my aura,” said Sarapen.

“I am not reading your aura. I never learned to read werewolf auras. It's perfectly obvious you want to go and fight in the desert. Or anywhere away from me, I suppose.”

Sarapen didn't reply. There was a long-standing conflict between the Hainusta and the Hiyasta in the Western Desert. Sarapen was tired of the palace, and having no other prospect that pleased him, he'd asked the Empress to send him to the fighting. The Empress had so far demurred.

“I can't understand why you'd want to go and fight anyway. I have a beautiful palace and beautiful lands. And I'm beautiful too.”

Sarapen looked at her. He nodded. “You are. But I don't belong in this palace.”

For a brief second it seemed as if the Empress might flare up in anger. Instead, she laughed and put her arm around him again.

“You'll change your mind, Sarapen. I'm a much better prospect than fighting in the desert. Or a gloomy castle full of werewolves.”

CHAPTER 10

Dominil's calm exterior showed signs of fraying as the twins prevaricated at the refreshment stand.

“I can't make up my mind,” said Beauty.

“Me neither,” said her sister.

“Maybe we should just buy everything?”

“I want everything too!” cried Vex, who had a very sweet tooth.

“Do you want anything, Kalix?” asked Daniel, raising his voice to compete with Vex and the twins.

Kalix shook her head.

“A hot dog? Maybe they could give you a raw one?”

Kalix looked outraged, and turned to Moonglow. “Tell Daniel to stop making jokes about me eating raw hot dogs!”

“Daniel, stop making jokes about Kalix eating raw hot dogs.”

Moonglow and Dominil looked at the squabbling mass in front of the confectionery stall. Moonglow sighed.

“It's like taking children to the pictures.”

“Indeed,” agreed Dominil. “I'm not sure how I ended up in this position.”

“I know!” said Moonglow. “That's just how I feel. How did I end up being the mother?”

Dominil and Moonglow shared a brief moment of empathy before shepherding their charges into the cinema. Fortunately for their state of mind, the cinema was quiet for the afternoon showing, and there were few people there to witness the loud behavior of their party. They trooped through the corridor, looking for the correct screen in the large cinema complex.

“Does everyone have their tickets?” asked Moonglow.

“I've lost mine,” said Vex.

“How do you know? You didn't even check.”

“I just assumed,” said Vex, and started fumbling in her pocket. “Oh, here it is!” She brandished her ticket triumphantly.

“I've lost my ticket,” said Daniel.

Moonglow scowled at him. “Stop making jokes.”

“I'm not joking. I really have lost it.”

Daniel started searching through all his pockets.

“How could you lose it?” asked Moonglow. “The ticket office is only twenty yards away.”

Daniel looked around. “Maybe it dropped out of my pocket? Oh wait, here it is! I forgot I had a pocket there. It's this new jacket, I'm not used to it.”

“Is everybody ready now?” asked Dominil.

“I've lost my ticket,” said Beauty.

“So have I,” added Delicious.

“You never had your tickets,” said Dominil. “I have them.”

They showed their tickets to the young woman at the door and entered the cinema.

“The previews are on already,” said Beauty, as they walked down the aisle.

“Previews!” cried Vex. “I love previews!”

Vex had never been to the cinema before, so how she could love previews was a mystery. Moonglow and Dominil guided everyone to a row in the middle of the cinema. Before taking their seats, Vex looked around, and waved to some people in the next row.

“It's my birthday,” she shouted. She pointed to Kalix. “It's her birthday too.”

“Stop embarrassing me,” hissed Kalix.

Vex waved cheerfully to several other people before taking her seat. After a few moments she turned to Kalix. “Is this the film now?”

“No, it's an advert.”

“I hate adverts,” said Vex.

There was a brief commotion as Beauty dropped a large bucket of popcorn on the floor and then scrambled to retrieve it. Delicious collapsed with laughter at the sight, and Beauty started laughing too, still scrambling on the floor. Moonglow had never seen Dominil look embarrassed before, but as she looked along the row, she thought that the white-haired werewolf might just have sunk a little further down in her seat, trapped as she was with the twins, in a public place, while they made an exhibition of themselves.

“Shove over, Daniel,” said Vex. “Stop hogging the armrest.”

“I'm not hogging the armrest!” protested Daniel. “I was here first.”

“Moonglow, Daniel's hogging the armrest!”

“No, I'm not!”

Daniel was in no mood to give in to Vex. He'd already had to struggle with her to ensure that he sat next to Moonglow. For a few moments Daniel's plans had hung in the balance, but he'd finally managed to maneuver Moonglow to the outside of their group, with him next in line. He could easily put his arm around her without anyone else noticing.

Vex stared at the figures on screen. “Is this the Runaways?” she asked, loudly.

“Of course it's not the Runaways, it's an advert for potato chips!” said Kalix.

“Oh . . . will the Runaways be here soon?”

“Yes.”

“Will they be in the next advert?”

“No.”

“Don't they get to be in any adverts?” asked Vex.

“Why would they be in the adverts?”

“To advertise their film? Can't they do that?”

“The Runaways won't be in any adverts!” said Kalix, and started to feel cross. “They're only in the film. Stop being stupid.”

Vex turned to Daniel. “They should have the Runaways advertising these potato chips. It would definitely make me want to buy them.”

There were a few seconds of silence. Vex leaned over Kalix toward the twins.

“Did anyone buy any potato chips? Now I really want some.”

There were a few dissatisfied mutterings from elsewhere in the cinema as other visitors started to regret being at the same showing as such a noisy party.

“Will everyone keep quiet!” hissed Moonglow.

“Sorry!” shouted Vex.

“I've dropped my popcorn again,” wailed Beauty.

Moonglow and Dominil shrank in their seats and hoped, rather desperately, that things might calm down when the film started. As the adverts and previews came to an end, Kalix suddenly felt very excited at the prospect of watching the film about her favorite band. She focused on the screen, ignoring everything around her. Vex and the twins finally fell silent. Daniel inched closer to Moonglow. He felt the warmth of their arms touching.

I'm sure Moonglow's deliberately leaning on me, he thought. This is going to be perfect. First I'll put my arm around her and then I'm going to kiss her.

CHAPTER 11

“I've never been lucky in romance,” admitted Thrix. “I got off to a bad start. The first disaster happened when I was nine years old.”

The Fire Queen leaned forward eagerly. “Really? Tell me all about it.”

“I had a crush on Bobby MacPhee. He sat next to me in class. He had spiky black hair. I was fascinated by it. And he gave me sweets at playtime.”

Malveria nodded sagely. “A young Lothario, with his fascinating hair and generous ways. I can see the attraction.”

“He was a popular werewolf,” agreed Thrix. “All the girls at the castle liked him. But I had an advantage, sitting next to him in class. He asked if I'd like to meet up some time.”

“For a date?”

“Well, sort of. A nine-year-old date.”

“Excellent,” said Malveria. “The other girls at the castle must have bristled with anger. What happened?”

“One evening when the full moon was out, Bobby shouted up at my window, asking if I wanted to come out. Which I did, obviously. For a play fight.”

The Fire Queen was surprised. “A fight? Surely an odd choice for your first date? Was there no restaurant nearby?”

“Well, when werewolf children go out as werewolves, they have a lot of play-fights. It's normal behavior.”

Thrix frowned, remembering the occasion. “Unfortunately, I got carried away and almost severed his jugular vein. If Doctor Angus hadn't been visiting the castle, poor Bobby would have bled to death.”

“Ah.” Malveria nodded. “I take it the romance did not continue?”

“Bobby's parents told my mother if I ever went near him again they'd make a formal complaint to Baron MacPhee. It was all very embarrassing. But really, I didn't know I was that powerful. We were strong children, the Thane's family.” Thrix sighed. “I spent the next few years being called the ‘blonde bully' by the other werewolves in class. I never had another date at school.”

Malveria sipped from her glass of red wine. “But did you not once mention you'd had a teenage romance with an older werewolf?”

Thrix screwed up her face. “Only because I'd had too much to drink.”

“Tell me all about it.”

“I'd rather not.”

“Of course,” said Malveria. “But tell me about it anyway. You are quite diverting me from my previous unhappiness over the dreadful Kabachetka.”

Thrix filled her wine glass. “His name was John MacAndris. He was an artist. Quite a good artist. He lived in Edinburgh. I really fell for him.”

“Ah.” The Fire Queen nodded. “An artist. They can be alluring, for a while. Was he handsome?”

“Quite handsome. He had this air of . . .” Thrix struggled for the correct description. “Well, he seemed exciting, with his exhibitions, and critics writing reviews in the Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. I dated him for about three months. I took care to keep it secret. Because my mother wouldn't have approved, with him being a lot older than me.”

“Did he paint you naked?” asked Malveria eagerly.