Chapter 57. A Door That Opens Only to Wolf Blood (and Anyone Who Stole Some)

Chapter 57: 57. A Door That Opens Only to Wolf Blood (and Anyone Who Stole Some)

I didn’t forget what Bonette just said.

I sat on that log, with my cold hands wrapped around a broken strap, and I turned her words over and over in my mind.

I also thought about the thread of silver light she had held up to the moon, and I could not make the two pictures fit together.

Either she was telling me the truth... and was terrified of her own suspicions, or maybe... she was giving me exactly the story she wanted me to hear.

I had no way of knowing which. And I hated myself for even asking.

The council of war met in the last light of the day, on a flat stone with a map weighted down by four rocks.

"There is a way in," Bryn said.

She stood at the edge of the stone with her hands clasped in front of her, still pale but steady, and her voice was firm.

She pointed to a spot on the map, a fold in the mountains on the eastern side of the canyon.

"The Wolfsbane Tunnels... They are old, built centuries ago as an escape route for the clan in times of siege."

"They begin behind a frozen waterfall here and run under the hills to the inner stronghold."

"The main roads are all watched by the Chain, but the tunnels are not."

"How wide is it?" Velora asked.

"One horse at a time... They are narrow."

"Who knows of them?"

"Only the clan... The entrance is sealed with a wardstone, a slab carved with an old rune."

"It opens only to the scent and blood of the Northern Wolves."

"Which means we can open it," Elsbeth said. "You and I."

"Yes."

"But there is a flaw," Sylvara murmured, and everyone turned to look at her.

She was sitting on a rock at the edge of the circle, pale and tired, wrapped in Velora’s white coat. "The Oathglass can open it too... They are wolves."

’They carry the scent... If the Chain uses any of them as scouts..."

"Then they have a key," Bryn finished, with a hollow voice.

A heavy silence followed.

"We cannot take the captives with us," Velora said at last. "Twenty-one of them, tied and bound."

"It is not possible."

"The cave," Bryn said. "There is a cave on the far side of the canyon..."

"It is hidden from the road and difficult to reach." Bryn looked at Velora. "We could leave them there."

"With a guard." Velora nodded.

"With six of your wounded riders," Elsbeth said, "and the four who were freed and can still stand."

Velora nodded slowly.

Magnara’s relief column would pass through the canyon in a few days, and they could collect the captives then.

It was not a perfect plan, but... it was only the best one we had to avoid more casualties.

"And what about the Oathglass?" Velora asked. "Five of them... in a cave, a few miles from a tunnel only they could open."

"I do not like it... It would be safer to just end their suffering and kill them."

"No," I said.

Everyone looked at me.

"No," I repeated.

I stood up, even though my legs were shaking. "We’re not killing sleeping people because they might be a problem someday..."

"They are a risk."

"They’re victims. And they’re beastwomen who’ve been used!"

"That does not change the risk that we’re going to face in the mean time!"

"Then we move the cave," I said. "We don’t tell them where they are."

"We keep them asleep... Sylvara’s spell holds them, right?"

Sylvara nodded. "Yes. Only for several days."

"Then they won’t know anything about it... and they can’t tell anyone anything." I start to gesture the explanation with my hands. "We put distance between them and the tunnel... and we post guards."

Velora stared at me with her golden eyes that were cold, and I noticed her jaw tight as her sharp teeth started showing for a bit.

I held her gaze. I knew I was being stubborn, and I knew she could have cut me down with a word.

But I had spent my entire life taking the easy road, and I was not going to take it now.

’... ...’

’... ...’

Uh... why are we staring at each other for a full minute now...? It’s getting awkward.

But thank god... It was Elsbeth who broke the silence. She stepped forward and stood next to me, with her arms folded.

"He is right," she said.

She sounded reluctant, but she didn’t waver. "We do not kill our own."

Velora looked at her. Then at me.

She let out a long, slow breath through her nose.

"Fine, have it your way," she said, with distaste. "We move the cave... But if there is a single misstep, I will do it my way without anyone to stop me."

"That’s fair."

"It is not fair... more like a warning."

...

By the time the plan was settled, our group had shrunk. Velora had ten riders left, plus Bryn, Sigrun, and Eira, who were strong enough to join us.

Everyone else would stay with the captives. It was a small force to take on an entire guild of slavers, and every one of us knew it.

Elsbeth found me by the fire late that night and sat down on the log beside me with a small bundle wrapped in cloth.

She put it in my hands without a word. I opened it and found a piece of dried meat, a heel of hard, dark bread, and a wedge of crumbly cheese that smelled like a boot.

Oh my... god. She did it, this wolfy; she fucking did it!

"I promised you a meal, didn’t I?" she said.

"Can’t believe what I’m seeing right now... you actually did it." I stared at her. "In Frosthaven... though that was days ago."

"I still keep my promises for you."

She’s one hundred perfect wife material, alright... damn, I really changed her for the better.

"I said I’d pay you back double."

"I remember."

"I didn’t think that you were serious."

"I am always serious." She watched the fire.

The light made her red eyes glow like coals. "You will pay it back... I intend to hold you to it."

"Of course."

"With interest."

"Well, duh... Obviously."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she turned her head, and I saw that the corner of her mouth had curved.

It was just barely there, a faint upward tilt that most people would have missed. But I was getting good at reading her, and I knew that I was looking at a smile.

I ate the cheese, even though it tasted like a rotting sock. I was not going to waste a single bite because this... is special right here.

...

I woke a few hours later to the sound of someone crying.

For a second, I couldn’t tell where I was.

Then I felt the warmth against my side and realized that Millie was sitting bolt upright in the dark, with her hands over her face and her whole body shaking.

"Nhh... Millie...?" I whispered. "Hey...? Hey! What’s wrong?!"

"I’m sorry for waking you up... I... I... had a dream," she said, in a thin, broken voice. "It was so... real."

I sat up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I can feel that she was trembling like a leaf.

And what’s even worse is... I could feel her heart pounding through her thin shirt.

"Tell me all about it..."

"It was a palace," she whispered. "It was all silver..."

’The halls were so tall, and the windows were enormous, and there was moonlight everywhere..."

"It poured in through the glass like water... and there... was a woman." She swallowed. "She was singing..."

’She was brushing my hair, and she was singing."

She started to hum.

It was the same tune.

The same slow, strange, beautiful melody I’d heard her sing that afternoon, over the sleeping Oathglass.

It poured out of her without thought, like water from a spring, and when she realized what she was doing, she stopped abruptly and stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.

"I... don’t know that song," she said. "I never learned it from anyone."

"But... I don’t know why I know it."

On the other side of the tent, a blanket rustled. Bonette had sat up, and in the dim glow of the embers, her face was ghost-white.

"That song..." she said, in a hoarse, shaking whisper. "That is the opening hymn of the Moon Shrine."

"Only the queen knew it... The queen and her daughter." She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Highness..."

"Thank the moon that you remember it..."

"But I never..." Millie’s voice cracked. "I don’t remember anything."

"I just... I know it."

Bonette crossed the tent on her knees and took Millie’s hands in hers. She was crying openly now.

"The seal is breaking," she whispered. "Piece by piece..."

"Your mother’s song is still in you."