A.N.D. - Wolf Woods

Benjamin was her showpiece, her special pet, the proof and product of all her programs. He was the only wolf that she could manage to see as an individual, probably because she’d raised him from a pup when she was little more than a child herself.

When she was eight, the Royal Huntsman had told her mother that a very young registered wolf had been found loose and homeless, apparently thrown out of the den. Her mother had ordered that it be put down mercifully; it had been a hard year, what with the elm blight, and there were so many people on public assistance that there had been no time or money spare to keep a wolf that not even other wolves would bother themselves with. But Red, who had been conscientiously learning all she could about the programs she would one day inherit, had begged for a chance to put some of her theories into practice. So her mother had given her the wolf to work with, with a casual order to treat it well and a strict order to tell someone if it looked like it might turn on her, because a dangerous wolf could not be tolerated anywhere, much less close to the heir to the throne!

As she’d gone to get a leash, her father had followed her. He took her aside and gave her a long lecture, gentle but earnest, to think very carefully about what she was going to do. The wolf was a life, he said, and an animal could feel pain and fear just as a human. He told her not to take it at all if she wasn’t ready to make a lifetime commitment to caring for it; that no living being should be discarded on a whim. Then he came with her down to the pens.

It was the first time she’d seen a real wolf, and she was shocked to realize that it looked just like a little boy, a lost, crying, frightened little boy. She wouldn’t have even known what it was until it flinched back at sight of her and the leash, its eyes turning a very weird color. For a moment she thought it was going to attack and hung back. But King Carmine knelt by the cage and asked very softly, “What’s your name?”

“Benjamin,” it told him. Well, of course it didn’t have a name, it was a wolf! Her mother had already explained that to her. It must have heard the name somewhere and decided to take it, just as its kind stole food and clothing. Daddy, though, didn’t even blink; he just said “Hello, Benjamin. Benjamin, we’re going to take you away from this bad place, okay? We’re going to get you cleaned up and give you some food. Won’t that be nice?”

The little wolf had calmed right down, even let her put the leash on it, as long as Daddy kept talking to it. He’d done as much-more-than she had to gentle it during those first couple years, simply by using the unusual technique of treating it like any other little kid. He wasn’t, of course-he’d already been tattooed, for one thing. She had looked his number up and found that he was the bastard son of a wolf woman who had taken the collar a decade ago. His mother never came forward to claim him-how sad that a collared wolf had gone wild and become fickle! All Benjamin would say on the subject was “Mama’s dead.” If a collared wolf had mated with a wild one, perhaps it had turned on her. Pity.

Then her Daddy had died too, died and taken away all his wisdom and kindness. Mother remained, but she thought little of anything but her duty to the Kingdom.

The death of King Carmine caused a great backlash against the wolves, but Red managed to keep her pet out of the purge. In a way, Benjamin was her last link to Daddy, one of the few things they had done together. Besides, the wolf was the living proof of so many things! For example, Red II didn’t allow the wolves any meat, on the basis that it called to their primal natures and made them turn bad. But the vegetarian wolves were very skinny and tired. Dogs and cats weren’t so wild, and they ate meat! Red III theorized that it was the taste of the blood and the sensation of rending flesh from bone, not the meat itself, that made wolves go wild. So she fed Benjamin a scientific diet of balanced nutrients, dried flesh and organ mixed with bone meal and cooked into a cereal, plus rare treats of well-cooked ground meats.

The result, she had to admit as he trotted into the room on the other end of a leash, was magnificent. He wasn’t tired or thin! He was tall and muscular, bursting with vitality, with glossy, shining, blonde hair. His deportment was as good as his appearance; a brief flaring of nostrils as he caught her scent was the only “wolfy” thing he did. He stopped in front of the throne without having to have his leash jerked, and dropped immediately and gracefully into the submissive position on all floors, staring at the floor, waiting for her to address him. He was always so correct. One of the first things she had taught him was how wrong it was to turn into an animal, and after she explained it he promised that he would never, ever Change. And he didn’t, not even during the full moons! Now why couldn’t the other wolves obey as he did?

“Benjamin, I need you do to something for me.”

“My life is yours to command, Liege Lady.”

“I have received a message from something that calls itself “Wolves Own Life Free.” They wish me to meet with them. Of course I cannot-not after what happened to King Carmine!”

“His untimely death is still mourned by us all.” In many courtier’s mouths the standard phrase was just that... a phrase. Benjamin sounded as angry about the murder as she still was.

“Still, with the news from the Fourth Kingdom, I cannot ignore this.” She stepped down from the throne, reaching for the leash. “I trust you, Benjamin,” she told him. She unclipped the leash from his collar. “I trust you with my life.” He jerked slightly in surprise at the sight of his leash coiling on the floor in front of his hands, but didn’t break his pose. Good boy! “I want you to meet the delegation for me, can you do that? I don’t think they’ll attack one of their own.”

She slipped off her signet ring and set it on top of the leash. “Tell them that I will look at their list of requests-make sure to not call them demands!-but will do as I think best. However, as a sign that I am willing to be flexible, tell them that as of tomorrow, I will make one significant change to the Wolf Code. Apparently this hero Wolf of the Fourth Kingdom is a half-wolf. As you know, I have always been against miscegenation. But in thanks for his role in saving my life, I will lift the ban against wolf-human marriages.” Besides, maybe interbreeding will eliminate the nastier strains of wolf lines! “Go, and may you have success!” She turned her back so he could rise. Behind her, feet pattered off eagerly.

As Benjamin left the castle, he surprised the groundskeeper leaning over the garden wall to talk to a woman whose silver collar winked in the torchlight. They sprang apart when they saw him.

“Oh, the woman said as he moved into the torchlight, “it’s only you. Queen’s pet.”

Bitch! Even the animals think they're better than I am. Queen’s pride, more like it. Worth more to her than a hundred of you mangey animals. And I’m going to teach you to treat me with a little more respect!

“Better be careful,” Benjamin sneered. “Queen’s sending me to the wolves with a message. She’s cracking down again. Says it’s an insult to the House of Red to be beholden to a half-wolf.” As the wolf moved, he could see her swelling stomach and knew how to hurt her worst. “An insult she’s going to wipe out in blood. Any human/wolf couples will be executed, along with their ‘unnatural children’. Collared wolves are to be medically checked for purity starting tomorrow.”

The collared woman stepped back, wildly clutching her middle. “No!”

“Ssshhhh, don’t worry. We’ll leave for the Fourth Kingdom tonight, sweetheart.” The groundskeeper turned to Benjamin, half worried, half grateful. “Thanks for the warning.”

“Hey, you slip me a rabbit or two every now and then. I owe you.”

“Take the whole hutch,” the wolf woman said. “I’m going to go pack now, I’ll just take a few breeding pairs with me.”

“Just go quick, tonight! She starts with her own servants in the morning!”

She nodded and gathered up her skirts, running frantically off.

That was fun!

“I asked for a queen. I get a lap-wolf!”

“You get a royal messenger. Look! I have her ring!”

“So. The message is?”

“No negotiations with this delegation. Don’t even bother sending a list of demands. If you like Wendell’s policies, move to his kingdom. She won’t hear you.”

“AAArrrrrrraaaaHHHHH! Our packs have been here as long as her family-some of us longer! Why must we move when we should have our due here? She will hear our demands!”

“I want to help you, I really do. Look, she won’t deal with wild wolves… but perhaps she’ll be more willing to listen to one of her own.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“That I will tell her your demands as my own ideas… if you make it worth my while.”

His journey didn’t take too long; there was plenty of time to hide the royal signet ring before he was expected back. The groundskeeper’s cottage and the hidden den next to it were both empty when he returned-except for the hutch, which was still half-full of plump, juicy rabbits. The sheltered cage area down the path was also empty, but it always was. Benjamin stopped by it and wrenched the lock open anyway. Then he poked through the things left behind, seeing nothing worth his interest... except those rabbits!

Gleefully he ripped into the hutch, gorging on the fresh red meat.

When he was finally sated and the rabbits were all nothing but sticky smears of fur, he smashed a few things for the joy of the sound, then threw himself against the walls, shouting “No! Get off! Get away!” Then he cut loose with a loud howl-oh, that felt good! He never got to howl! Smothering a laugh, he ran off towards the palace.

“My lady! My liege!” Benjamin’s outstretched hands left bloody prints on the pristine marble as he groveled before her. “The delegation attacked me! They stole your ring from me! I ran but two of them tracked me right to your gardens! They smelled the rabbits your groundskeeper keeps... kept... and tore open the hutch. Then, maddened with the taste of the blood, they went after the keeper and they ate him right up! Right up! I tried to stop them, I tried, I tried... oh, My lady, I tried...”

“Shhhh, Benjamin, I know you did.” Red almost stooped to pat his head, thought about it, then patted him soothingly anyway. It seemed to help; his quivering slowed. “What of the wolf herbalist, isn’t her cage near that cottage? Did she help, or had he locked her in for the night?”

He shuddered. “She helped. Oh, my lady, she pulled off the lock and helped them!”

Another collared wolf gone bad! Red couldn’t suppress the moan, and Benjamin almost looked up.

“Forgive her, my lady, she was more weak than evil. They fed her a rabbit, and you know how a fresh kill deranges my people.”

“Oh, my poor Benjamin!” She couldn’t resist another pat, this time to soothe herself more than him. “I’m so glad you were able to escape!”

“I had to my lady, I feared you would be next. You know I would die to protect you. I would never let anything bad happen to you!”

“I know, Benjamin, I know. I trust you with my life, my child.