Wolf's-own: Weregild (14 page)

Not that she thought for a moment that he'd forgotten, but it wouldn't hurt to remind him in plain terms.

"And somehow, you neglected to include Fen in that oath,” Malick observed mildly.

She'd been wondering when he'd notice that. Fine. He wanted to draw lines in the sand? “I'm not the one with the death wish,” she told him coolly.

His eyes narrowed. “And that means...?"

Idiot. He knew exactly what it meant. “It means,” Umeia answered, almost ran her fingers nervously through the wig again, but made herself stand still, “that I won't swear an oath of protection to one who takes his own knives to himself so casually. I won't risk my own soul for one whose time has been counted in hours instead of years since the moment he was born.” She lifted her chin. “You want to pretend he's not doomed, little brother, you go ahead and keep those blinders on. But I won't let you risk those to whom I
have
sworn oath,
and
me, for someone who won't live out the month."

And it pissed her off—
hurt
her more deeply than she wanted to admit—that he'd want her to. Fine, he had a big, sloppy heart, and it was currently tangled around Fen, even if he wouldn't admit it, but damn it, Malick was the one who'd drawn her into all this. She'd accepted Wolf's charge because of
him
, so she could watch out for him. Didn't that count for anything? Could he really risk her so blithely?

"He's
not
doomed,” Malick snapped, heated, and Umeia breathed a little easier. It was so much better than that cool disdain of a moment ago. “He's meant to set the Balance, Umeia. Can't you see the convergence coming?"

"Oh, I see it,” she told him. “And you'll be the first with a knife through the heart when your pet Untouchable sees it.” She stepped in, teeth set. “What d'you think he'll do when he understands that setting the Balance means the destruction of his people? What would he think if he knew on which side you fought in the Binding War?” Her hands clenched into helpless fists. “Get the Blood of the
Temshiel
and save the Jin, that's what Asai ground into him, and once he understands that Kamen Wolf's-own tried to take away the magic of his own people—"

"I'm not debating this with you again,” Malick grated.

"That's because there
is
no debate! They were never meant to have it, Malick. The Ancestors thumbed their noses at the Balance when they bound themselves to the Jin, and the Jin nearly destroyed it altogether when they used their magic as a weapon. They only still exist because Wolf wishes it. And do you think your pretty
Jin
Untouchable is going to give a
damn
that the
Temshiel
who helped to put down his people did it with a protest and a petulant scowl on his face?"

Malick was silent for a moment, the rage down to a smolder. The pause gave Umeia hope, until he shook his head with that too-familiar obstinate set to his jaw. “Fen is Wolf's, too, he'll see the sense in—"

"Fen can't see sense in the change of the seasons right now!” Umeia barked. “Fen sees his family and their safety, and
that's all
. If he sees you as a threat to them, Malick....” She shook her head, slumped against the door, and vaguely wondered if Lex had his ear pressed to the other side of it. “I'm getting them out. For
your
own good.
That's
my business with Judge Canti, since you're so keen to know. I'm doing it before you have the chance to use them as bait, and what's more, I'm getting papers for Fen too. There's a caravan that leaves for Heldesan at the turn of the week. Funny thing—the drover says he'll take an Untouchable for a little more koin, and isn't it ironic, because one has been haunting his wagons off and on for several weeks, trying to talk him into taking half payment for getting three others out when he goes.” No surprise on Malick's face. She should've known. She curled her lip, annoyed. “Judge Canti needed a little more time to get Fen's papers through. Asai's spies are watching, and he had to be careful. I'm going to pick them up now, and you're making me late.” She pushed away from the door and tried to bully past Malick, but he gripped her elbow, squeezed.

"You're not taking Fen.” Calm and blunt, but his fingers dug into the tendon and sinew in the joint of Umeia's arm. “Take the other three, I could give a shit, but Fen stays."

This
was why she hadn't wanted him to know what she was up to. “They don't shun Untouchables in Heldesan, Malick, they don't treat them like animals. He'll be—"

"He'll be right here with me, taking care of Asai."

It made her pause, the coldness and command in his tone. “You'd really risk the one who rules your heart to avenge someone you used to love?” she asked him softly.

His mouth tightened a little, but he didn't bother to negate it. “Ridding the world of Asai for good serves the Balance,” was all he said.

She almost laughed, but she was afraid she'd end up either braying like a madwoman or weeping hysterically. “And whether you want to admit it or not,” she said instead, “what Asai proposes to do will set it for centuries to come."

"A
maijin
ruling over both the Jin and the Adan will set the Balance?” He snorted. “I think you've been sampling the poppy a little too much."

She wished she had been. “Think about it, Malick. When the Ancestors gave their magic to their children, it rocked the Balance. When Skel gave Asai his Blood, it rocked it back again. The only thing that'll set it for good is if the magic is taken away altogether, but if Wolf won't allow the Jin to be stamped out, what other solution is there but to control it?” She paused, pulled her arm out of Malick's looser grip, and took his hand. “Killing Asai only puts things back the way they were. Do you
really
think that's all Wolf wants of you now?” She stepped in, peered at him closely, watching, and dipped her voice low. “And do you really think Fen will thank you for making him watch while you do what you
know
has to be done?"

Malick only stared at her for a long moment—too long—blank-faced and gaze frosted over, then he snapped his hand away from Umeia's, clamped down on her wrist, and dragged her in close. Teeth clenched, eyes on fire, he leaned down, right in her face. “Are you going to tell me that you want to
allow
Asai to do what he wants to do?"

Umeia kept her own expression calm, but her heart was battering behind her breastbone, and it was suddenly hard to swallow. “Not with your Blood, no,” she answered evenly. “But we're not the only
Temshiel
in Ada. We're not the only ones who sense a convergence. You can't tell me you haven't felt them."

He was looking at her like he had no idea who she was. Perhaps he didn't, if he thought she'd give him up like that, or just blindly go along with his plans for vengeance while he risked his own soul for a mortal—an
Untouchable
, of all people.

"You'd set someone else in my place,” he said slowly, “hand Asai what he needs to completely enslave an entire people—
Wolf's
people—all to keep from having to leave the whorehouse you call home?"

It sounded so selfish when he said it like that. And it hurt. “I would do what I must to keep the Balance and protect my own,” Umeia answered calmly. “You would see that, if you weren't being so blind. I wouldn't deliberately put another in your place, but I won't mourn if someone other than you is drawn into Asai's sight. We find ourselves in Ada, in Wolf's own Cycle, and if you were using your head, you'd see there was a reason for it. The Catalyst has done his part—pointed the way to setting the Balance—and Fen is now unnecessary, a risk we don't need. You should have killed him that first night, but since you didn't, I'll see that he and his family are safe, because I don't think you can. If I'd known the whole of it when you brought him to me, I wouldn't have sworn anyone oath at all.” She shook her head, sad and perhaps a little bit disappointed. “Bloody hell, little brother, you can't even be haunted by your own demons, you had to go and take on someone else's. You've done this entirely to yourself. I'm only fixing it."

She made to move away again, but this time, Malick took hold of her and slammed her back into the door, teeth bared. “Umeia?” came from the other side of it, Lex's voice with a good dose of worry, but he didn't try the knob. Umeia just kept staring into Malick's furious gaze, called, “It's all right, love, don't come out,” and tried not to wince at the strength and viciousness of Malick's grip on her arms.

"Take the others,” Malick snarled, “I don't give a fuck. But you keep your traitorous claws off Fen."

Umeia's eyes widened. She'd known Malick wouldn't like any of this, but...
traitorous
? “Malick, if you'd only—"

"Stay away from him, understand? No more nursing, no more potions, because I no longer trust you not to poison him."

Shocked, and she really shouldn't have been. It was only that it had been far too long since she'd had to be reminded how cold and cruel Malick could be. “I wouldn't bloody
poison
—"

He slammed her into the door again. “My heart is what made me Wolf's, remember?—
you
keep telling me that. You've just broken it, Umeia. Well done, you.” Seething with rage, for all the words were sorrowful. “You've gone against your own kind, your own Blood, and I should kill you for it."

Right now, she thought maybe he would.

"I won't,” he said, though his hands tightened, almost forcing a yip from her, but she kept it in. “Not now, anyway. But you'll take Fen's family with you, and you'll go. You're done here. Perhaps I'll see you in another few lives."

Umeia's stomach dropped, and her head went light. “This is
my
home,” she said, far too breathy and weak for her liking. “You can't—"

"Watch me,” Malick growled. “I can't trust you now. I've no use for you."

"Just because I see the merit in Asai's—"

"There
is
no merit in Asai's plots. Not if they come from betraying one of our own. Not if the means go against Wolf's own laws."

"The end would justify the means,” Umeia insisted, because surely Malick couldn't be
this
blind. He
had
to see—he was smarter than this.

But Malick only shook his head, some of the anger leaching into weary grief as he peered at her like he couldn't believe any of it was really happening. “You know,” he told her flatly, “that was exactly the Jin's argument for using their magic against the Adan in the first place. And if I knew Skel, it was his too."

Umeia flinched. “The Balance—"

"The Balance will be served, and you will have no part in it.” Cold and detached. “A
Temshiel
who would allow...
enable
the murder of another—"

"I
wouldn't
, you're deliberately misunderstanding, Malick."

"When Skel went to the suns, you mourned just as deeply as I did, and you swore that one day Asai would—"

"And he
will
!” Umeia cried. “Nothing's changed, damn it, why won't you see this? You act as though I've just ruined some grand scheme you've been plotting for decades, when in truth all you've been doing is lying back and pretending to watch. You've done only as much of Wolf's work as you had to, and that was only by happy coincidence.” Umeia sucked in a breath and tried to calm the slamming of her heart. She set a shaky hand to Malick's arm. “Now is your chance to set your hand to the Balance, Malick. Let Asai do all the work, let him take all the risk, use whoever blunders through his sights if they're not smart enough to get out of his way. If he gets his Heart's Blood, he'll have set the Balance, but if he doesn't, he'll end the Cycle with no god. He'll be
banpair
, little brother, godless and vulnerable. He'll try to cast his lot with Snake next, of course, but in the in-between—when Wolf wanes and before Snake waxes—he won't be maijin anymore."

She left the,
And then you can kill him without risking your soul
, just sitting there, all too obvious. But Malick's hard gaze hadn't softened, his grip on Umeia's arms hadn't relaxed.

"You miss the point, sister dear,” he told her flatly. “A
Temshiel
who would hinge the Balance on the fulcrum of the murder of another, and place it in the hands of fucking
Asai
—"

"Is that what you're
really
worried about, little brother?” Umeia kept her voice deliberately soft. “Or is it more that you no longer have any real reason to control the Untouchable? I'm about to take him out of your hands, and you can't stand it."

"You,” Malick said, low and deadly soft, “break my fucking heart. You're no better than Asai.” He shook his head, let go of Umeia like he couldn't stand to touch her for another second, and pushed himself back. “You're done here, Umeia. You've got two days. Best get your affairs in order."

She'd been reeling back and forth between terrified and frustrated—now it all went numb. “Malick, you—"

"It's Kamen to you,” he said coldly. “The others will be warned against you. I won't have the murder of one of our own on
my
soul."

She couldn't believe he was actually saying this. Couldn't believe he actually meant it, but she couldn't not see the authenticity in the hard gaze. “You would see me shunned?” she asked faintly. “You would cast me out for an Untouchable who—"

"Don't even pretend it's got a damned thing to do with Fen."

And he really believed it too; that was what rose Umeia's own anger and blotted out a little of the grief. “You're going to break him,” she told Malick, voice a little less shaky than it had been. “You're going to fail Wolf, and you're going to break his Catalyst. You're going to end up dead by the hand of the one you
won't
cast out, and the Balance will be served with
your
Blood anyway."

This time, Malick
smiled
—something cold and deadly that curled real fear in Umeia's gut, crawled up her backbone. “He won't break,” he told her, the cavalier tone only adding to her unease. “He'll submit. He's dying to. He doesn't know any other way. He's almost there already, and I'll have everything I need from the Ancestors themselves. I might even manage to sic him on Yakuli while I'm at it. Did you really think I didn't have a plan?” He took a step closer. Umeia was dismayed to find herself pressing back into the door again, caught in those dead eyes, that bitter smile. “The Balance will be served, Asai will be dead, and Fen will keep his mind, and all of this without touching your precious charges and risking your soul.” He shook his head, breathed a small laugh. “Now don't you wish you'd asked me before you betrayed me?"