Through Wolf's Eyes (86 page)

Sarena Gardener
:
(H.H.) member of Prince Barden's expedition; spouse of Donal Hunter; mother of Tamara.

Shad Oyster
:
(Lord,
B.B.) lieutenant, Bright Bay navy; son of Allister Seagleam and Pearl
Oyster; brother of Tavis, Anemone, and Minnow Oyster.

Steward Silver
:
(H.H.)
long-time steward of Eagle's Nest Castle. Her birth-name and origin
have been forgotten as no one, not even Silver herself, thinks of her
as anything but the steward.

Tavis Oyster
:
(Lord, B.B.) son of Allister Seagleam and Pearl Oyster; brother of Shad, Anemone, and Minnow Oyster.

Tavis Seagleam
:
(Prince, B.B.) third child of Gustin II and Amery Pelican; spouse of Caryl Eagle; father of Allister Seagleam.

Tedric I
:
(King,
H.H.) third king of Hawk Haven; son of King Chalmer and Queen Rose;
spouse of Elexa Wellward; father of Chalmer, Lovella, and Barden Eagle.

Tench
:
(Lord, B.B.) born Tench Clark; right-hand to Queen Gustin IV; knighted for his services; later made Lord of the Pen.

Thyme
:
(H.H.) a scout in the service of Hawk Haven.

Timin Gardener
:
(H.H.)
Master Gardener for Eagle's Nest Castle; possessor of the Green Thumb,
a talent involving the growing of plants; son of Holly Gardener;
brother of Sarena; father of Dan and Robyn Gardener.

Valet
:
(H.H.) eponymous servant of Norvin Norwood; known for his fidelity and surprising wealth of useful skills.

Valora Seagleam
:
see Gustin IV.

Vernita Carter
:
(H.H.)
born Vernita Painter; an acknowledged beauty of her day, Vernita became
associated with the business she and her husband, Colby, transformed
from a simple carting business to a group of associated livery stables
and carting service; spouse of Colby Carter; mother of Derian, Damita,
and Brock Carter.

Viona Seal
:
(Queen, B.B.) second wife of King Gustin III; mother of Valora, later Gustin IV.

Wain Cutter
:
(H.H.) skilled lapidary, or gem cutter, working out of the town of Hope.

Whiner
:
a wolf of Blind Seer and Firekeeper's pack.

Yaree Yuci
:
(General, Stonehold) commander of Stonehold troops.

Zorana I
:
(Queen,
H.H.) also called Zorana the Great, born Zorana Shield. First monarch
of Hawk Haven; responsible for a reduction of titles—so associated with
this program that over-emphasis of titles is considered "unzoranic."
Spouse of Clive Elkwood; mother of Chalmer I.

Zorana Archer
:
(Lady,
H.H.) daughter of Rosene Eagle and Purcel Archer; sister of Ivon
Archer; spouse of Aksel Trueheart; mother of Purcel, Nydia, Deste, and
Kenre Trueheart.

P
RAISE FOR
T
HROUGH
W
OLF'S
E
YES

"What do you get when you mix lost magic and feral
children with dynastic politics, wolf social dynamics, treason, and
over-ambitious, social-climbing parents? You get Jane Lindskold's new
novel
Through Wolf's Eyes
and another stay-up-to-finish-the-last-page read."

—David Weber

"
Through Wolf's Eyes
combines the mythic
resonances of a feral child raised by wolves with a fascinating fantasy
of a freshness and originality that makes all the legion of
mock-medieval clones look pale and faded. Her characters live— they're
real, but they are
different
. And the world they live in
lingers in the mind; heroic, squalid, exotic, everyday. I was convinced
that it went on by itself when I turned the last page. Bravo!"

—S. M. Stirling

"I adore Jane Lindskold's writing and
Through Wolf's Eyes
is her best book yet. Courtly intrigues that would make Dorothy Dunnett
proud shouldn't mix so well with the story of a feral child, but they
do, they do. Lindskold's novels are a rarity for me—fat, engrossing
novels that still don't seem long enough."

—Charles de Lint

"This engrossing tale of feral myth and royal
intrigue offers plenty of action as well as fascinating anthropological
detail . . . A beautiful and complex book."

—Publishers Weekly

P
RAISE FOR
J
ANE
L
INDSKOLD

"From the very start of the book I got the same buzz as when I first read Jack Williamson's
Darker Than You Think
, or Zelazny's
Nine Princes in Amber
,
that delicious sense of embarking on a grand adventure . . . From start
to finish it is, and remains, a smart, funny, well-detailed romp of an
adventure story that still finds room to address serious concerns—a
fabulous Romance in the best, and old, sense of the word."

—Charles de Lint on
Changer

T
OR
B
OOKS BY
J
ANE
L
INDSKOLD

Through Wolf's Eyes
Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart*

*forthcoming

Look for

WOLF'S HEAD,
WOLF'S HEART

by J
ANE
L
INDSKOLD

available in hardcover August 2002 from Tor Books

D
ESPITE THE STRONG
,
chill wind blowing in from the bay, the young woman remained perched
upon the castle parapet, her dark brown eyes gazing out over the waters
of Silver Whale Cove. Perhaps for warmth, perhaps for companionship,
her right arm was flung around the neck of the enormous grey wolf
seated beside her, his elegant head higher than her own.

"So much water," she said at last. "Derian told me it
would be like this, and that the ocean beyond this bay makes the bay
itself seem a cattle pond by comparison."

"And Queen Valora is fled over that ocean," the wolf
added, "taking with her these magical treasures we have heard so much
about."

He laughed, a dry sound that to most human ears would
have sounded like nothing more that a faint snort. His blue eyes danced
with amusement as he continued:

"And so this Valora steals a victory at a time when
all expected her to flee tail-tucked, like a yearling too full of
springtime strength who has been pounded by the One Male."

"I wish, Blind Seer," the young woman said a trace
reproachfully, "that I was as certain that what Queen Valora has done
is amusing. Both King Tedric and King Allister are very stern these
days. Crown Princess Sapphire hides her rage but thinly. I have heard
that the seamstresses who are
fitting her for her wedding gown tremble when they must approach her."

"True, sweet Firekeeper," the wolf agreed. "Our
friends are worried, but then there is nothing more humiliating than
being bitten on the nose by prey you had thought dead. The kings are
old Ones who think about the consequences, but Sapphire only feels the
shame."

Firekeeper shared Blind Seer's laughter this time before returning her attention to the bay.

"There will be no running after Queen Valora to bring
the treasures back. I understand that now. I had not thought there was
a river so wide that it could not be forded or swam, a pond so broad
that one could not run around its edges to the other side."

A raised voice from inside the castle interrupted their discussion.

"Lady Blysse! Lady Blysse!"

Firekeeper, who had accepted Blysse Kestrel as a name to which she would answer, groaned.

Blind Seer commented slyly, "Crown Princess Sapphire is not the only one who snaps at the seamstresses, eh, Fire-keeper?"

In reply, the young woman punched the wolf in the
shoulder. Swinging her long legs down from the stone wall, Firekeeper
called to the woman inside:

"I am here. Wait and I will come in to you."

A kerchief-covered head popped out one of the narrow
windows in the castle's stone wall. The woman's face beneath the
covering was shriveled with age and lined from sour temper.

"Lady Blysse!" she shrieked. "What are you doing out there?"

Firekeeper answered, just a slight note of exasperation in her voice, "Looking at the water."

"Be careful! You'll fall!"

Deeming this last not worthy of reply, Firekeeper
paused in her descent only long enough to make certain that Blind Seer
had leapt safely down from their shared perch. The wolf, however,
experienced no more difficulty with the descent
than
she had, despite the fact that he was easily the size of a small pony.
Nature had blessed him with dexterity, flexibility, and a singular lack
of imagination regarding risk— traits Firekeeper shared.

Thus, when Firekeeper and Blind Seer slipped through
the window into their room, it was the waiting tirewoman who was pale
and shaking.

"I really must protest!" she began, her voice shrill.

"I wouldn't, Goody Sewer," came a male voice from the doorway. "She doesn't understand."

Firekeeper, who indeed had been growing frustrated, brightened at the familiar voice.

"Derian!" she cried in relief. "The meeting then is over?"

Without standing on ceremony—a trait Goody Sewer
clearly disliked—Derian Carter strolled into Lady Blysse's room. He was
a tall youth, recently turned nineteen, possessed of dark red hair tied
back by a black ribbon into a fashionable queue and fair skin dusted
with freckles. Hazel green eyes that could be as changeable as the sea
twinkled now with laughter.

"We are in recess," he replied. "When did you arrive?"

"Early this morning," Firekeeper said, "in a wagon
with Doc. Blind Seer permitted himself to be covered with blankets, but
still the horses shied when they caught his scent. I had to snarl at
them most fiercely."

Derian Carter, more inclined than most would be to take Firekeeper literally, grinned.

"We asked for you," Firekeeper continued a trace
reproachfully, "but we were told you were in a meeting. A note had been
left for Doc and he told us what it said."

"The meeting was King Tedric's business," Derian said
in a tone of voice that warned her not to pursue the matter further.
Then he turned his attention to the tirewoman who had been listening,
curiosity warring with impatience.

"I beg you, Goody," Derian said, "to refrain from
scolding Lady Blysse even when she acts in what must seem to you a
foolish manner."

"But if she falls!" the woman began.

"No one will blame you," Derian soothed. "I assure you.
No one who knows her well maintains for long the illusion that anyone but Lady Blysse is responsible for her actions."

Goody Sewer frowned, her critical gaze fixed on the young woman with clear dissatisfaction.

Lady Blysse Kestrel did not fit the usual image of a
young noblewoman. Lean and slim, almost to boyishness, Blysse wore
scuffed brown leather trousers cut off below the knee and a matching
leather vest. Her bare feet were dirty and calloused. Her only
adornment—if such a practical item could be classified thus—was a
sheathed hunting knife in whose pommel gleamed a large, deep red,
cabochon cut garnet.

"I came here," the tirewoman explained, "to fit the young lady for her gowns and found her perched out on the parapet!"

"Did she come inside when you called?" Derian asked.

"Yes," the woman admitted grudgingly.

"Then all is well," Derian concluded. "Please, go
ahead with your fitting. I won't get in the way. I have a few minutes
before I need to return to my meeting."

Firekeeper hid a grin, but Blind Seer, cheerfully aware that no one but Firekeeper would understand what he said, commented,

"
Fox-hair is determined to pull the woman's tail. What has she done to him?
"

"
If,
" Firekeeper replied in the same language, "
she
has been acting toward him as this castle's staff did to Doc when we
arrived, she has been treating him as if he is as untrained and untried
as I was when first I came forth from the forests.
"

"
Well,
" Blind Seer said philosophically, "
when
the moon was last full this seamstress served another mistress, and her
pack and Derian's were vowed enemies. Not everyone has taken well to
the changes.
"

Firekeeper nodded and, to the evident shock of Goody
Sewer, began undoing the carved toggles that held her vest closed over
her small but definite breasts.

"Lady Blysse!" the woman shrilled.