"In the trees, as you please," she said, "on the ground, not a sound."
"But Tyleet," he protested.
"There are no 'buts,' cub. That's Cutter's rule."
A mutinous expression came over his face. "Why does he get to make rules?"
"Because he's the chief," she explained. "Like Savah."
"He's NOT like Savah," the child spat out. "SAVAH wouldn't have smiled when that rock-skull made me waste those vegetables."
Tyleet sighed. That incident was well on its way to becoming a major problem. Oddly, Rayek didn't seem as upset about being tripped as he was about the loss of food. She knelt down to talk to him seriously. "You're right," she said. "That wasn't right. We'll talk to Cutter later." 'Much later,' she thought.
Mollified that she agreed with him, Rayek turned back to contemplating the ground far beneath them. He hadn't been out of the trees yet. Cutter's rule was still bothering him but at this point he was willing to paint himself white if he had to. He wanted to feel good, hard rock under his feet again. He wanted to dash off a full speed, a difficult feat to do on tree branches. "How do we talk if we can't make a sound?" he demanded.
Tyleet laughed. Why you send, of course! She was unprepared for the look of total shock he gave her. If she hadn't grabbed his arm he might have fallen out of the tree.
"You- You're talking in my head! Are you magic, like Savah?" His eyes were doing a good imitation of both moons at their fullest.
We can all send, she continued. I'm sure you can too!
His face screwed up in concentration. "Did you hear that?" he asked eagerly.
Not yet. Keep trying!
Her encouragement was unnecessary. Many long minutes were spent as he tried. And tried. At length he had to give up. "My head hurts," he whispered.
"There, there, cub." Tyleet sat down next to him. Pulling him into her lap, she stroked his head.
"It's not fair," he sobbed. "You can all do it. If you can do it, I can do it. I KNOW it." IT'S NOT FAIR!
Wincing at the strength – and volume – of his sending, Tyleet nevertheless beamed with approval. There! she told him. You did do it!
He looked up incredulously, the tears of frustration still staining his cheeks. "I- I did? When?"
Just now, when you said it wasn't fair. Try again! she urged.
Frowning, Cutter looked up from his conversation with Leetah. "What was that?"
"What was what?" she asked, trying to follow his gaze. The sound came again, louder this time.
I can do it!
"That sound," Cutter said. "It's a sending, but I don't recognize it."
I CAN SEND!! This time it rang clearly, loud and strong. If the sender had been a Wolfrider, they would have been howling for joy. In fact Cutter and Leetah could hear howling, but it was clearly Tyleet and she was just as clearly not the mysterious sender.
Leetah put a hand to her mouth. She wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to smile and exult with the sender, but she wasn't sure what his reaction would be when she told her lifemate who it was. Tam, she sent, placing a hand on his shoulder, that is Rayek.
Clearbrook looked up from her arrow making to find a delegation of Wolfriders standing in front of her. Arms were crossed and brows were furrowed. It did not bode well. She glanced over at her lifemate; Treestump's face was neutral. He would take no sides but she was sure he had an interest in what they had come to say.
Moonshade, who seemed to be the leader, spoke first. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
The silver-haired elf looked eloquently from her arrows to the tanner. "I'm making arrows," she replied simply.
"That's not what we mean and you know it," Nightfall snapped. "Tyleet is just Tyleet. I can understand why she's taken him on. Why are YOU being so…" she groped for the word.
"Friendly? Welcoming? Understanding?" Clearbrook supplied helpfully.
"Exactly!"
There was silence for a time as both sides stared thoughtfully at each other. In the end, Clearbrook sighed. "Why can't you even try?" she asked.
"I watched Cutter suffer through what HE did to him!" cried Nightfall.
"And I'M watching Cutter suffer even now, though he has us with him again," growled Skywise. The group parted to make way for him. "I heard the ruckus and came to see what was up," he said. "And I've got to say, I agree with Moonshade and Nightfall."
Moonshade took the opportunity to step forward again. "Remember, HE'S the reason you've been separated from your son and his family! How can you stand to even be near him!" Her dark eyes glowed with fervor.
Clearbrook stood up, calmly dusting her leggings off with one hand and gathering her arrows up with the other. "I remember," she said coolly.
"Then why--"
"I remember other things too," she went on as if Skywise hadn't spoken. "I remember the promise he made me, to keep One-Eye's body safe. I remember the sincerity with which he made that promise and how well he kept it." She fixed them each with a solemn gaze. "Most importantly, I remember the word of our healer. His memories are lost to him; this Rayek is not our Rayek and I will treat this child as any child should be treated." The other elves looked away. I CAN SEND!!
They all looked up in surprise. A sending can reveal much about the sender; Nightfall, Moonshade and Skywise walked away with troubled, thoughtful expressions.
Sunlight slanted through the leaves outside of Cutter's den. Inside, his family was asleep. The wolf chief curled up in the entrance, brooding. It had been hard, 'till now, to hold the wolf in him back. He was used to the hate now; it sat in his heart like a banked fire. Warming his hands over the embers had brought a certain comfort over the long years. But now beast and elf both were not only angry; they were confused. His head knew that this child was not the Rayek he hated even if his heart didn't. The wolf in him was brought up short by the conflicting instincts of "Enemy! Attack!" and "Child! Protect!"
Now, the child Rayek had learned to send. He was just as bad as Leetah had been when Cutter had first started teaching her how to send; thoughts and emotions flowed out of his sendings like the river flowed into the Vast Deep Water. Cutter himself had been nearly swept away by the sheer, childish exaltation in Rayek's sending. The eagerness, self-centeredness and pride were still there. It WAS Rayek. The arrogance was missing as was most of the ambition. It wasn't Rayek.
Cutter didn't know what to do.