The Ice Storm
Chapter Four
Wolf watched the red disc of the sun rise over the orchards. From his spot at the windowsill the sun seemed weak, too small to make any visible difference to the frozen world. His ears caught the reassuring sound of Virginia breathing deeply, resting after last night's ordeal.
"Wolves awake! To the garden! To the roses!". Wolf shivered as he remembered the ghost wolf's howl. Instant panic, instant adrenalin. On the cusp of sleep himself, at first he had thought it a dream. But he had known it was about Virginia. Something in his northern cousin's tone had given it away. Cursing, he'd stumbled through the rooms and corridors, vision blurred red from rage. And yet Will had found her first. Good, calm brother, scooping her out of the snow and into safety. But for all that, had she really been in danger? Wolf scratched at his head. No sense came to him. There was a faint rumble outside the door.
"Come" Wolf rumbled back. Quick as a silent shadow, Will slipped through the door. He went first to Virginia, bending to inhale her scent.
"Ah, good. The babe is still within her" he whispered across the bed. Wolf smiled a little in agreement. Whilst the human midwife had still stood wringing her hands a while ago, unsure how things would progress, Wolf had known already. The gestation hormones left a woman's body very soon after a miscarriage. Virginia still smelt strong and healthy, and very pregnant. There had been no more bleeding, nor pain. A close call, for all of them. Will came to stand next to him in the window.
"I didn't thank you, last night, I think" Wolf murmured to his brother.
"Actually, you did"
"I don't remember"
"No matter. Wolf, Wendell has asked me to track this wolf, and I agree it would be a useful thing. There are many things I want to know about this Yacobe and his pack. If they are our enemies..."
"Or not"
"Exactly. He could have killed her outright, if he'd had a mind too. He risked an awful lot just to hang around waiting to...what? Talk to her? Easier ways to go about that than snooping around the Castle in the middle of the night"
"Hmm, when Virginia wakes, we can ask her what he said" Wolf replied, hearing just at that very moment a change in her breathing.
"Virginia is awake. Stop whispering by the window and come over here, you two". Her voice was tired, but as strong and determined as it ever was. Wolf bounded to the bedside and sat down on the floor by her hand.
"How are you feeling Virginia?"
"Tired. A little sore...but Wolf..."
"It's fine. So far, it's fine. The baby I mean"
"You're sure?"
"Yes". Wolf said, kissing her hand. His own hand he snuck under the covers to caress her stomach. He saw tears start in her eyes and looked away a moment. After a minute she had composed herself and lay back amongst the pillows.
"I'm not sure what happened out there. One minute, we're standing eye to eye, and I'm wondering if he's going to kill me, the next I've got this horrible pain and he's calling for help. It was a call for help, wasn't it?"
"Oh, yes, he led us straight to you, more or less" Will said from the window.
"But what did he do, what did he say to you, Virginia?" Wolf said, trying to keep his rising anger from spilling over again. Virginia wound her fingers through his. She was so tiny, defenceless almost...
"He just sniffed at my hand and then he said 'so, it's true'. That was all. When he left, he called me 'beloved of Lucine', I think". Wolf almost flinched at the mention of the Moon Goddess' name. One did not use Her true name, usually, unless one wanted to get Her specific attention. And the attentions of the Moon Goddess were not always beneficial. Virginia had apparently met the Goddess in Coventina's cavern, so she had some right to address Lucine by her name, thought Wolf unhappily. But how the stranger wolf would know to call a human 'beloved of Lucine' was a mystery. Wolf looked askance at Virginia. Her eyes were closed in thought. To him, she looked just as she ever was, but had he been missing something? He was reminded of that moment when he had first seen after she had emerged from the Lake. Luminous, brimming with power. Was she somehow still retaining some of this power, visible now to those who had skill or gift to see it? What had gone on in that cavern beneath the waters?
There was another tap at the door, and a now familiar scent flowing under it. Queen Scarlett entered, her bearing still giving away the fact that she was still rather timid in entering a room with wolf's in it. Wolf snorted under his breath at the obvious foolishness of that, but held his tongue at a look from Virginia. But he didn't get up from the floor, nor bow like Will had done.
"Are you well, Virginia?" she asked, apparently deciding to ignore Wolf at her feet.
"Yes, much better Scarlett. And thank you for staying with me. It meant a lot" Virginia answered.
"Ah well, yes, you're welcome. It's the least I could do. Not that I know much about...umm...you know" Scarlett stammered back. Wolf sniffed secretly at the hem of her robe. Well, true enough. She hadn't lain with Wendell last night after all. Wolf wondered if she guessed just how much he knew about her.
"Virginia, Will is going to track this Yacobe. I think it's a good idea, don't you?" he asked her.
"We need to find out what the ghost wolf's are planning, whose side they're on, or even if they have a side" Will added.
"I don't know if the ghost wolf's are all that we should be worrying about" Virginia said. "The Ice Queen has far more lethal methods at her disposal to throw at us, I'm sure" she added.
"I still don't understand why a wolf community would do the bidding of the Ice Queen anyway. It's so...unnatural" Wolf said. From his position on the floor between them, he did not miss the look that now passed from Virginia to Scarlett. He could see the Queen's fists clenched tightly within her long sleeves. Interesting, he thought. So, they had a secret, these two. But their faces gave nothing away now. Clammed up as tight as only two women could be. Wolf sighed but decided to let it pass. For now anyway. Virginia needed to rest, though it was unlikely that she would for very long. Maybe she had been hoping the cub had been lost after all. He looked closely at her face, watching her every careful movement as she rose from the bed. She went slowly, gingerly, and Wolf felt ashamed that he had doubted her. Scarlett brought her a gown and helped her settle into a chair by the window.
Another quiet tap at the door announced Tony. Will went to let him in. The lines on the older man's face showed he hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
"Hey honey" he asked Virginia awkwardly.
"Hi Dad, come sit down. Everything's fine, really"
"I was so worried about you, Virginia. Now, I know you hate this sort of fuss, but really, you must take it easy for a while. Let other people help you with things. Nothing's more important than you staying well right now"
"I know, Dad". Wolf heard the hidden steel in her voice. Then he heard her sigh as she relented a little. "Actually, I had this idea, and I could use your help to do it, Dad"
"Tell me. You know I'll do anything!"
"Really? You know, it's gonna be a tricky thing. I don't even know if it will work"
"Whatever it is, I'll make it work. I didn't spend all those years tinkering and patching up that falling down apartment of Murrays without learning how to keep things working!"
Wolf watched Virginia's expression, certain she was trying not to smile too broadly. "Ah yes, the Murrays" she said to her father. "Funny you should mention them."
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Something had changed. She had almost woken just then. She recalled doing the very same thing not so long ago. Something was touching her. Her supple skin, ever sensitive despite the protection that her nature provided it, vibrated again. Yes, there it was, again. It was annoying. It...tickled. Conscious thought, so dangerous, formed in her mind. She should look, see what it was that touched her so. Hmm, to look, one must open an eye, perhaps even two, she thought. Just a crack then.
It was a man thing. Or at least, it had been once. Now, it was lodged up against her foot. It's puny arms and legs, bereft of the false armour that men usually wore, floated in the current. Something was stuck in the man things throat. Bare light from above glistened on the silver tip. An arrow! Many years since she had seen one of those accursed things. Were men now using them on each other, now that they had driven all before their rule? The thing nudged her again. Something would have to be done.
Her foot raised slightly, just enough to let the man thing slip under the shadow of it. She was careful to avoid the arrow tip as she settled her weight on the body, feeling the soft crack of bones. The arrow tip scraped, making a sharp grinding noise in the gloom. Scraped? No deep mud anymore, to cover a corpse and a mired dragon? Under her body, the bed she rested on was icy and hard now. What a bother. But really, was it? Dreams were played out in the mind of the sleeper, not the cold reality. And dreams, blessed dreams, were all she had left to her. Dreams of flight, freedom, love...and the sacred fire.
Her thoughts dwindled away into darkness, and she slept on.
