Disclaimer: The Black Jewels universe and concepts belong to Anne Bishop;
I'm just sneaking in to play in her sandbox and will put everything back
the way I found it. And - as if anyone needs telling - I'm not making any
money off of this.
Author's Notes: Written because I always wondered what Jaenelle was getting up to during her excursions in "Daughter of the Blood". Here's one possibility, from the point of view of the Arcerian cats.
*Lady. Wake up. Something's coming.*
In the warm darkness of her den, Liriash rolled to her feet, tail lashing in long, slow arcs behind her. The voice that had woken her was young, male, and laced with apprehension - and very little frightened an Arcerian male, even the adolescents who the coven tolerated until they reached maturity. She couldn't help but think of hunters; the two-legs stood no more than an even chance of taking an Arcerian as prey, but that didn't mean she wanted to risk the coven against them. Let the males test their strength against two-legs if they wanted; _she_ had cubs and Sisters to worry about.
Her thoughts spun out like the anchor strands of a Web - a quick alert to the other two witches she trusted for defense, a command to the three nursing mothers to take their cubs to the Queen's den, where they could all be protected, and a quick touch of reassurance to the yearling male who stood sentry tonight. His gratitude and worry echoed back to her, along with responses from the two witches she'd called. Halla simply acknowledged the alert with her usual dour competence; Shaleer, all kittenish energy despite being weaned seasons ago, flooded her mind with questions. Liriash tilted her ears back in annoyance and ignored them, having other things to worry about; Falan, their Queen, trusted her with defense of the coven, and she wouldn't let her down.
She padded out of her den and slid through the low-hung entrance, loping across the fallen leaves outside and vanishing into the trees. As she ran, she took that single mental sidestep that all Black Widows learned; there was no time to really search the visions, but even a hint could be helpful. She walked the patterns of the Webs every night - only stupid two-legs thought you needed hands and a frame to weave a Web - and they served a double purpose. They wove a subtle spell to deflect enemies and welcome possible friends, and they could call up visions for their weaver. Tonight they showed her a trio of strangers - a wise, curious youngling, a Black Widow more powerful than Liriash would ever be, and an ancient creature filled with joy and rage at once.
She growled softly in frustration as the othersight left her. There was nothing here to tell her how to protect her Sisters, and improvisation was not her strong point. She had the woods around the coven's dens layered with illusion webs and things more dangerous than that, but nothing that would stop a Black Widow with the power she'd seen.
She sacrificed stealth for speed, branches cracking under her paws as she crested the knoll where the sentry cub waited for her and where Halla and Shaleer would meet her. The spot was carefully chosen, the only place where the Winds came close to the coven and therefore the likeliest place for marauding two-legs to appear. The cub who'd been on sentry duty spun around at her approach, rubbing his cheek against her fur in an unconscious plea for reassurance. *Your Webs warned me, lady - whatever it is, they can feel it coming.*
The Webs? *You did the right thing to call me.* She rubbed cheeks with him briefly. *Halla and Shaleer will be here in a moment. Make sure they stay with you, in case it's hunters coming on the Winds.*
*Where will you be?* he asked in immediate concern.
*Following a hunch. _Don't_ follow me.* She bounded off into the darkness, threading through the trees with careless skill while her mind focused on the Webs. Something the cub had said tugged at her instincts, and a Black Widow learned early to trust instinct above everything else.
The Webs were drawing power from her Jewels, coursing along the subtle patterns she'd woven into the foundation Web. The patterns she'd created to call friends or deflect enemies...skilled enough Blood could sense that power from a distance and use it as a beacon, jumping blind through the Darkness and coming at the coven from a completely different angle.
If they tried it here, they'd find her waiting. She could fight here if she had to - the Webs themselves would help her. But even the simplest Web could do terrible things to an untrained mind; Halla and Shaleer would not be able to help her here.
She raced to a point just short of the Web's center, threw a Green sight shield around herself, and waited with both mental and physical eyes wide and wary. Whatever it was, it was coming soon.
But she'd never expected what _did_ come: a human she-kitten with curious blue eyes, who dropped from the Winds to the center of the Web. All alone, and far too young to be separated from her mother - if she were Arcerian, she wouldn't be more than half-weaned. But Liriash's othersight saw more, saw three creatures where the little one stood. The child, the Black Widow, and the ancient, angry stranger - all three of her visions walked in one body.
_And what in the name of the Darkness do I _do_ with her?_
But the she-kitten solved that problem for her when she examined the Web with a colleague's friendly interest, and turned to Liriash with eyes that saw straight through her sight shield. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "How do you make it call like that?"
*******
Ten minutes later, they were all at ease together in Falan's roomy den - Liriash, Shaleer, Falan herself, and the little human, who'd given her name as Jaenelle. Currently, she was watching in delighted fascination as Falan's cubs tumbled around her lap. Liriash took the opportunity for a closer examination of the human she-kitten - her psychic scent was powerful and clean, but the body was confusing at best. Scrupulously clean, but not well fed at all - and where could her dam be? No Arcerian female would let a half-weaned cub wander alone like this; there were dangers out there, even for something as strong as the great Kindred cats.
Or as strong as the little witch who sat next to her, in all her deceptive fragility.
*How _did_ you get here, cub?* she asked.
"Cub?" She giggled at some private joke. "I have a friend who calls me Cat, but I don't think he's ever seen anything like _you_." There was honest admiration in her voice. "And it was easy to find you-"
Hell. She was going to have to strengthen the concealment spells around their territory.
"-your Web said you wanted friends. And I like making friends. So I came here," she said brightly.
Hell's _fire_. Liriash wove her Webs to subtly encourage friendly visitors - males and the occasional witch from another Kindred race - but you had to all but walk across one to feel it at all. The raw power it would take to sense that from a distance, much less to home in on it like an Arcerian on her prey...well, she'd already sensed that power.
Titanic power. Strong as a blizzard. All of it contained in the body of the human child in the den, who was watching her with an expression friendly and innocent as any kitten's.
She chuffed in mixed amusement and resignation, stood up, and rubbed her cheek affectionately across the top of Jaenelle's head. *Cub, I think you're going to make my life very interesting.*
Author's Notes: Written because I always wondered what Jaenelle was getting up to during her excursions in "Daughter of the Blood". Here's one possibility, from the point of view of the Arcerian cats.
*Lady. Wake up. Something's coming.*
In the warm darkness of her den, Liriash rolled to her feet, tail lashing in long, slow arcs behind her. The voice that had woken her was young, male, and laced with apprehension - and very little frightened an Arcerian male, even the adolescents who the coven tolerated until they reached maturity. She couldn't help but think of hunters; the two-legs stood no more than an even chance of taking an Arcerian as prey, but that didn't mean she wanted to risk the coven against them. Let the males test their strength against two-legs if they wanted; _she_ had cubs and Sisters to worry about.
Her thoughts spun out like the anchor strands of a Web - a quick alert to the other two witches she trusted for defense, a command to the three nursing mothers to take their cubs to the Queen's den, where they could all be protected, and a quick touch of reassurance to the yearling male who stood sentry tonight. His gratitude and worry echoed back to her, along with responses from the two witches she'd called. Halla simply acknowledged the alert with her usual dour competence; Shaleer, all kittenish energy despite being weaned seasons ago, flooded her mind with questions. Liriash tilted her ears back in annoyance and ignored them, having other things to worry about; Falan, their Queen, trusted her with defense of the coven, and she wouldn't let her down.
She padded out of her den and slid through the low-hung entrance, loping across the fallen leaves outside and vanishing into the trees. As she ran, she took that single mental sidestep that all Black Widows learned; there was no time to really search the visions, but even a hint could be helpful. She walked the patterns of the Webs every night - only stupid two-legs thought you needed hands and a frame to weave a Web - and they served a double purpose. They wove a subtle spell to deflect enemies and welcome possible friends, and they could call up visions for their weaver. Tonight they showed her a trio of strangers - a wise, curious youngling, a Black Widow more powerful than Liriash would ever be, and an ancient creature filled with joy and rage at once.
She growled softly in frustration as the othersight left her. There was nothing here to tell her how to protect her Sisters, and improvisation was not her strong point. She had the woods around the coven's dens layered with illusion webs and things more dangerous than that, but nothing that would stop a Black Widow with the power she'd seen.
She sacrificed stealth for speed, branches cracking under her paws as she crested the knoll where the sentry cub waited for her and where Halla and Shaleer would meet her. The spot was carefully chosen, the only place where the Winds came close to the coven and therefore the likeliest place for marauding two-legs to appear. The cub who'd been on sentry duty spun around at her approach, rubbing his cheek against her fur in an unconscious plea for reassurance. *Your Webs warned me, lady - whatever it is, they can feel it coming.*
The Webs? *You did the right thing to call me.* She rubbed cheeks with him briefly. *Halla and Shaleer will be here in a moment. Make sure they stay with you, in case it's hunters coming on the Winds.*
*Where will you be?* he asked in immediate concern.
*Following a hunch. _Don't_ follow me.* She bounded off into the darkness, threading through the trees with careless skill while her mind focused on the Webs. Something the cub had said tugged at her instincts, and a Black Widow learned early to trust instinct above everything else.
The Webs were drawing power from her Jewels, coursing along the subtle patterns she'd woven into the foundation Web. The patterns she'd created to call friends or deflect enemies...skilled enough Blood could sense that power from a distance and use it as a beacon, jumping blind through the Darkness and coming at the coven from a completely different angle.
If they tried it here, they'd find her waiting. She could fight here if she had to - the Webs themselves would help her. But even the simplest Web could do terrible things to an untrained mind; Halla and Shaleer would not be able to help her here.
She raced to a point just short of the Web's center, threw a Green sight shield around herself, and waited with both mental and physical eyes wide and wary. Whatever it was, it was coming soon.
But she'd never expected what _did_ come: a human she-kitten with curious blue eyes, who dropped from the Winds to the center of the Web. All alone, and far too young to be separated from her mother - if she were Arcerian, she wouldn't be more than half-weaned. But Liriash's othersight saw more, saw three creatures where the little one stood. The child, the Black Widow, and the ancient, angry stranger - all three of her visions walked in one body.
_And what in the name of the Darkness do I _do_ with her?_
But the she-kitten solved that problem for her when she examined the Web with a colleague's friendly interest, and turned to Liriash with eyes that saw straight through her sight shield. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "How do you make it call like that?"
*******
Ten minutes later, they were all at ease together in Falan's roomy den - Liriash, Shaleer, Falan herself, and the little human, who'd given her name as Jaenelle. Currently, she was watching in delighted fascination as Falan's cubs tumbled around her lap. Liriash took the opportunity for a closer examination of the human she-kitten - her psychic scent was powerful and clean, but the body was confusing at best. Scrupulously clean, but not well fed at all - and where could her dam be? No Arcerian female would let a half-weaned cub wander alone like this; there were dangers out there, even for something as strong as the great Kindred cats.
Or as strong as the little witch who sat next to her, in all her deceptive fragility.
*How _did_ you get here, cub?* she asked.
"Cub?" She giggled at some private joke. "I have a friend who calls me Cat, but I don't think he's ever seen anything like _you_." There was honest admiration in her voice. "And it was easy to find you-"
Hell. She was going to have to strengthen the concealment spells around their territory.
"-your Web said you wanted friends. And I like making friends. So I came here," she said brightly.
Hell's _fire_. Liriash wove her Webs to subtly encourage friendly visitors - males and the occasional witch from another Kindred race - but you had to all but walk across one to feel it at all. The raw power it would take to sense that from a distance, much less to home in on it like an Arcerian on her prey...well, she'd already sensed that power.
Titanic power. Strong as a blizzard. All of it contained in the body of the human child in the den, who was watching her with an expression friendly and innocent as any kitten's.
She chuffed in mixed amusement and resignation, stood up, and rubbed her cheek affectionately across the top of Jaenelle's head. *Cub, I think you're going to make my life very interesting.*