Title: Midnight Visitor

Author: Arianllyn

Date: 16th May 2005

Notes: Claidi's POV, written in her diary the day after the fire of Tealin's birthday.


Wolf Queen.

It seems Twilight's legacy will take even more than twenty years and miles of distance to escape.

They wove webs, you see, those terrible women of the House and Tower. Ironel and Jizania; Ustareth and -

Twilight.

The most foolish and least dangerous of the four, yet somehow she has caused more harm than the others. We're all still caught up in her web: myself, Argul, Venn, Dengwi. Even -

Winter.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I left Argul sleeping in our wagon and went for a walk near the woods to think things through. Tealin and Claidis seem to have, as Ashti would say, "got off on the wrong foot", like Winter and I all those years ago. Venn and Dengwi must have mentioned the concept of the Wolf Queen to Claidis, and now it's become an obsession. She harrassed my daughter about it at the fire last night.

Poor Tealin was very distressed. It was left to Skipper to calm her. He reminds me of Rail, Teil and Ro's boy, who has inherited his mother's good sense and is quite adept at keeping Tealin calm when the other boys tease her.

I was lost in my musings and had thought myself alone, but a pale shadow among the trees told me otherwise. I drew the only dagger I'd brought with me.

"Who's there?"

"Put that knife away, Claidi. You won't need to use it on me. Besides, I assume you still have your ring?"

Very few people knew about my ring, Ustareth's ring that Argul had given me, and which I had thought had been the source of my Power. And of all the people who did know about it, most were with the Hulta already.

"That is none of your business," I said. The figure was a woman, I could tell for her voice, but all I could see of her face was a white gleam against her dark clothes.

"I think you'll find it is."

"Come out and show me who you are, and then I'll decide that."

And so she stepped out of the shadows, pulling back her hood.

Winter Raven.

We returned to within eyesight of the camp, but I sensed she didn't want to go close. I perched on a rock, and she sat cross-legged on the ground.

Some women, as they age, soften, their skin sagging and frownlines deepening; whereas others grow sharper, their beauty being honed and becoming more distinctive. Winter, needless to say, falls into the second category. While my hair has muddied as it greyed, hers is streaked with silver like the reflection from obsidian.

We sat in silence for a while. At length, she spoke. "How are you? How is Argul?"

"We're well. The Hulta did accept him back as leader, after Summer."

"And you have children."

"One, a daughter. Tealin."

"Yes. I hear Venarion and Dengwi have a family as well."

"Yllar, after his father, and Claidis, after . . . well, Venn says after me. Though I suppose it could just as well be after you."

"Oh, I doubt that. And you have named your daughter after . . . ?"

"After herself," I replied shortly.

"Of course."

No matter who old you grow, silence is still uncomfortable.

"But you," I said eventually, "What about you? Are you and

Ngarbo . . . ?"

"Oh, that ended years ago. We're close still, but not in that way. He's my steward."

I tactfully said nothing.

"Yes, I know what you're thinking, but this is different. I sometimes wonder if Twilight would have fallen in love with Fengrey if it hadn't been forbidden."

"Where do you live now? Chylomba?"

"No, I live as far away as possible from my parents. On the west coast, in a small house called the Moon Pavilion. It's a few miles north of Sea View. That's a bit like your House, with the Tower Families and their Law. Though they call it their Guidances. So company's available, when I feel like it."

She fiddled with the laces on her boot. "If there's one thing I regret, it's not having children. I think Ngarbo and I could have raised a family, even if we weren't in love."

"There's still time . . ."

"Claidi, I'm 38. How likely do you think it is?"

There was nothing I could say to that.

"But . . . as you've probably guessed, I haven't come here to exchange polite converation, delightful as it is."

I nodded.

"Claidi, Twilight's . . . Twilight's dying."

Twilight. Dying. The words seemed wrong; antithetical. I had never felt anything approaching love for her, except perhaps during that brief time when I thought she was my mother, but even so . . .

"How do you know?"

"About a month ago, a flying letter arrived at the Pavilion. It was very polite, with the sort of flowery turn of phrase only a Tower Lady could be capable of. She said she wanted to see me, and that, of all things, my raven was pining for me. And then, almost as an afterthought, she added that she would be "most pleased" if I could bring with me the Wolf Queen."

At least by now I wasn't srprised.

"I refused, naturally. I've had enough of Tower meddling, as I'm sure you have too. But she sent me . . . this."

She reached inside her cloak and brought out a turquoise on a necklet of gold.

"Her Power jewel," I said.

She nodded. "I remember once, when I was very little, before I'd got my Power jewel," she fingered the amber her neck, "I asked her if I could use her turquoise. She replied, jokingly, that I wouldn't get my hands on it until she was on her deathbed. So when it arrived at the Pavilion, I remembered and . . . I knew.

"So here I am, come to do her bidding. I sent a letter to the Rise, telling Venarion to come and find you, and to bring Dengwi and their children with him. After all, with all that Powerful blood at least one of your children must be a Queen - or King - of the Wolves."

"Venn said they left because the Rise broke down."

"Oh yes. But didn't he tell you he hadn't wanted to leave? It was my letter that persuaded him; Dengwi never knew about it."

"He didn't mention you."

"Do you think I would sign it with my own name? Tsk tsk, Claid. I thought your memory would be better than that."

We. She'd signed it We.

"If you think we'll let our children get caught up like we were in Twilight's madness, you are very much mistaken."

"So you say."

"So I know," I stated, and studied her face. She met my eyes at first but soon looked away, and I suddenly felt a deep pity for her.

"You don't have to obey her, Winter; she has no power over you now. You'd be welcome to stay here, with the Hulta. You'd be happy here; I know you would."

"No power over me? Claidi, I'm the only one of us over whom she can have any power. Whether I like it or not, she's my mother, and I can't refuse her her dying wish. Besides," and she smiled bitterly, "In the morning, you won't want me with you anyway. By sunrise, you'll hate me again."

"Winter . . ."

She stood and pulled up her hood again to cover her hair. "Goodbye, Claidi. Believe it or not, I've enjoyed talking to you tonight. And . . . I truly am sorry." Her amber necklace glowed faintly, and she rose into the air and drifted away.

"Sorry about what?" My words dissolved into the night.

When I rose in the morning, there was no sign that Winter Raven had ever been here.

Neither, however, was there any trace of Claidis or Amirira.