A.N.D. - Wolf Woods

Wanting to greet the Council like the dignitaries they were, Virginia tried to slide off Wolf’s lap. He tightened his grip on her, holding her still. “Show respect, but not deference,” he whispered urgently in her ear. “Don’t look them in the eye, it’s a challenge. Don’t look down or away, that’s submission.”

What did that leave her to look at?

No time to ask; in seconds they were surrounded by a shoulder-to-shoulder ring of Wolfs. The Council pressed close against them in the crowded pub and Virginia tensed. If these wolves attacked, there would be no room for defense. But we just won battles! Why would we have to fight again? What would that serve? She carefully looked them in the noses and hoped she would be strong enough.

Then there was a wuff of surprise behind them. “Warren! Is that you? Cripes! The big hero is the skinny little boy I used to chase out of my uncle’s butcher shop for thieving?”

Oh. I see. This isn’t the kind of battle that is fought with anything as crass as teeth and hands.

Virginia could feel Wolf tense beneath her, but he just turned his head, sniffed, and said with false happiness, “Marigold? It’s great to see someone else from the old village!”

Virginia turned to see, carefully not looking into the woman’s eyes. She was human-shaped, dressed in leather, and built like an amazon. White scars showed along her throat under the open collar of her tunic, muscles rippled along her arms. Definitely not someone you’d want angry at you-and her face was clouding up.

“I’m Wolf now, Warren!” It was an obvious rebuke.

His voice was still light and friendly, his gaze direct into her flaring eyes. “So am I, Marigold.”

After a brief staredown, Marigold/Wolf nodded. Wolf immediately broke eye contact and smiled.

“So,” a tailed man said jovially, reaching to swipe a piece of bread off their plate, “You’re here under Wendell’s orders?”

Hunger made Virginia grab the plate before she realized how rude she was being. The new wolf looked at her huge stomach, snorted a laugh, and returned the stolen roll while Wolf told him, “I have no orders. I make no demands. I’m here to find out what you want and then advise King Wendell on how we all can live happily ever after-side by side.”

A gigantic fur-wolf (as Virginia couldn’t resist labeling them) was next. “They tell the story that you were alone in the queen’s kitchen. That you alone switched the poison for troll dust, with no help from your companions, that you were undetected by the queen. Is this true?”

“Yes,” Wolf and Virginia said warily in unison. The Wolf extended his huge nose, sniffing.

“They smell of the truth,” he announced. “That is enough of a test of cleverness for me; what can our questions do to equal that?”

Some of the Wolfs nodded, and an approving commotion came from the others in the pub, but a burly human-wolf folded arms the size of small oak trees, scowling. “That means it is thanks to you that Red the Turd lives. Traitor to wolves!”

“Would you have killed them all, just to get her?” Wolf’s tone was still casual, but she could feel his fingers growing cold under her hands.

“Yes!”

“And then what? After the queen was killed, then what? What would happen to your pack in the Nine Kingdoms without kings?”

“We would have been free! Free of her rules and humiliations!”

“Free to die as every kingdom falls into chaos!” For the first time Wolf raised his voice, neither snarling nor shouting, but laying down the law with confidence and a little scorn. “Every kingdom would fall into civil war over the now-empty thrones. Each petty wannabe ruler would try to carve out new territory for themselves, redraw the map! And who would be in the middle? We would! What happens every time something goes wrong? The wolves pay, whether we did anything or not!”

The big man didn’t back down. “She lives! You could have killed her and she lives still!”

“But you do not live with her!” Now Wolf was snarling. “Wendell’s pardon freed you all as much as if I had ripped off every silver collar ever locked. A true Wolf is supposed to act for the betterment of his pack, not on petty jealousies. Tell me, great, clever, leader Wolf, how would wolves fare better under your plan?”

“Um...” The entire Council of Wolfs was now staring at the challenger as he sweated.

“Perhaps another test of leadership, then. How do you trick trolls who have captured your mate?”

“Trick them? I would kill them!”

“All three? They might be stupid, but they were big and armed. Do you think two would sit politely and wait while you dealt with the third?”

Wolf was shivering beneath her, and she didn’t think it was fear. The big man was visibly getting squatter and hairier. Frantic to distract them both, Virginia blurted, “Fine, do you want to talk about killing? Are you strong enough to kill an evil queen? Do you even know how?”

Now all the yellow eyes were on her, and she gulped.

“You stabbed her, lady, we all know that,” a voice said from the other side of the table. “Easy enough for the desperate.”

There was an odd buzzing in her head, making it hard to think. “Yes, I was desperate.” It was true. But there was something else she wanted to say, it was just on the tip of her tongue-oh, the horrible buzzing! What a disgusting dark pub, she just wanted all this nonsense to be over so she could go home. Home... why did she ever leave it? Oh, there was something important, but she couldn’t think of it. Well, it couldn’t be that important, could it? She’d think of it later. After she went back home.

“It’s not brave or clever to be desperate,” the voice pointed out. True, it wasn’t. But there was something different, something important, oh, what was it? Something about the queen... but she hadn’t been brave, she’d just been scared and desperate, frantic for...

Frantic for her mother to recognize her! Virginia gasped deeply as she shook off the Persuasion. “It’s still terrible to kill your mother. Are you strong enough to do that?” She twisted around to glare into the eyes of the speaker, daring him to try any more tricks. “Could you spend your whole life waiting and waiting for your mother to come back, and just when you find her, have to kill her? Could you? Oh, God...” Tears burned her eyes, Wolf’s arms were a prison around her, and she felt her nails punch through his flesh.

Something warm and wet touched her hand. Flinching, she turned to glare at the fur-Wolf, who licked the back of her hand again, then cocked his head, ears slightly flattened. “I have done many things to become Wolf, and many more now that I am in Wendell’s Wolfpack. But I could not do that, Lady Wolf.”

Someone said warningly, “Fourth Wolf...”

Fourth Wolf curled his lip, exposing fangs as long as Virginia’s little finger. “They pass the tests! He’s clever, she’s brave, and neither one will bully nor back down. I have to report back to my Squadron in three days, and I don’t want to waste them watching you get into a marking contest just to see who can make the bigger puddle!” He sat down with a thump. “Cecilia, bring me food, I want to talk to these heroes!”

The stunned silence was broken by Addie. “You tell ‘em, Unca Wolf!”

The circle broke into laughter, followed a second later by the rest of the room. Congratulatory nods and backslaps were given to Wolf and Virginia as the Wolfs dissipated, and a table was dragged over for Fourth Wolf. He was, Virginia realized nervously, large enough to eat off the plate while still sitting on the floor. But he thumped his tail in a friendly manner when he caught her looking at him, and he even suffered Addie to run up and ruffle his fur.

The biggest wolf in the circle, who had stayed silent throughout the entire exchange, just had one parting comment before he disappeared into the twilight. “Welcome to the Council of Wolfs. We’ll hold an extra meeting tomorrow to discuss the king’s needs and ours.”

After all the testing and dominance battles, Virginia had expected great drama from the Council. Judging from their scars and attitudes, she expected arguments to be won by the last wolf standing. Surprisingly, the reality was a lot like a board meeting, only without the big table in the middle. The Council members went to a large field, sat in a circle, and took turns making careful announcements that managed to negotiate without ever contradicting each other, giving an order, or asking for a favor.

“It is good for many packs to be together like this, as the Council can meet without members leading their whole pack through another’s territory.”

“It is my experience that people most fear a large gathering instead of many smaller groups.”

“A large gathering is easier to defend from enemies.”

“Many packs require much land.”

“Woodland is best for us who prefer to hunt on four feet.”

“Part-wolves prefer a village. It suits our shape. Our human cousins and in-laws feel more secure on farmland.”

“The farms in the Fourth Kingdom are already spoken for.”

“So are the villages.”

“So are the woods. They are full of gypsies.”

She’d expected action, adrenaline, blood. In reality, it was all a little bit boring.