by D. Brumbley
“Are you suggesting that is my intention, master Gregor?”
“Of course not.” He said with a grin. “I would welcome the Ironborn into my home with the same hospitality as I welcome every other guest.” Which was quite willingly, since he and his people mainly lived underground in and around the Santorini volcano in Greece. “But I doubt all of our comrades feel the same.”
Coren smiled at Gregor’s response. The Fireborn could always be relied upon. “At this moment, the Ironborn are recruiting followers to rise against us. Our spies report that there are dozens arriving in Spain every day. I only mean to ensure that such a flow does not begin to come from our own loyal followers. Make certain of that, my lords, from your own homelands, and we will soon be prepared to deal with the Ironborn for good. Let me hear the Council’s voice in this matter.”
Gregor just laughed again and nodded his approval, as did Marc, since it was obvious that Alina wasn’t going to speak out against the proposal. Avery, the male Forestborn representative, agreed, as did Nikolai of the Earthborn. Strangely, Enri of the Skyborn shook his head against the proposal, but he was the only male member of the council that did so, and he was passed over.
Teresa shook her head, but by this point, everyone was ignoring everything she said, so no one made a comment about it. Ivy only nodded hesitantly because she wanted to make sure that her people were being taken care of before she pushed for anything else. Isela was in agreement with her Skyborn male counterpart and she shook her head, since she wanted to find a more peaceful solution.
Jeresa, the female Fireborn nodded, since she was a representative for her people and she knew that when the time came, they would get their own piece of the Ironborn. Too many Fireborn had gone down the last time. She was ready to crisp all of them if she was given the chance.
Relle, the Earthborn female also nodded, since she knew that their leader wouldn’t lead them onto a path that wasn’t the best one to begin with. She was smart, but she knew she wasn’t the smartest of the Council, and so she stuck to being a representative for the muscle. They would be there when they were needed and otherwise she defaulted to Coren.
“Well enough. With a significant minority duly noted in opposition, we will adjourn to our own people and remain in contact regarding our preparations and any new reports on the whereabouts or activities of the Ironborn dissidents and especially the Shadowborn and Candra.”
Everyone started to get up and go their separate ways, but then Teresa got up and looked over at Coren once more. “Candra has been in your care for over half of her life.” She said coldly, since she knew that Candra had been behind a lot of his power for a long time. The Council’s goal, apparently, was to make sure every member had their own Lightborn battery, but there had only been one usable for some time, ever since Lillet and Fernando had long ago refused to comply with any order they were given. “Why do you think she left? Reports say that she stood behind the Shadowborn as he destroyed a large portion of our forces.”
Coren slumped into his seat and rubbed his eyes as he answered, treating Teresa, as always, as a tedious child. “Lightborn cannot resist their Shadowborn counterparts. You know that just as well as I do. But with the Shadowborn removed, Candra will come back to us. She knows us well enough to know that the best place for her is here.”
“You’re sure?”
He leaned his head slightly to the side for a moment, looking bored again. “You’re not?”
Her glare turned almost deadly as she looked at the wolf that was supposed to be her partner in the Council, though they had been at nothing but odds since the very beginning. “Sure that your personal servant will come back to us once you’ve killed her own partner of preference, no. Everything else that you’ve been so sure about hasn’t exactly panned out exactly as you envisioned, has it?”
She knew it was bold to say so, but the purpose of the Council wasn’t to let one person lead. His position was merely one of wisdom and organization, of announcing official decisions made by the whole. He was a puffed up speaker for the Council, so far as she was concerned. They brought her up to the Council for a reason, after all.
“Nor have things come along quite as you imagined either, Teresa.” He said without looking away, and she could tell he wasn’t talking about the current political situation, but rather the situation between them. “Go take care of your river-dwellers. Prepare them for what is coming. And remember that we have been appointed here to do what is best for all our people.”
“Perhaps I’m not the only one who needs to be reminded of that, Coren.” She said with a growl as she got up and went off in her own direction.
It was only Alina and Coren left after everyone else, as usual, and so Alina moved closer to him. “Can’t we have her assassinated?”
He sighed deeply and leaned back in the chair, which she obligingly laid further back for him to make it into more of a reclining stone seat than a throne. “I wish. But everyone would know I had ordered it.”
Alina moved from her seat to slide into his lap, and then she leaned forward to get even closer. “I suppose we don’t need any troubles within the Council right now. We’ll deal with her later. What’s our plan?”
He kissed her a few times before laying his head back and answering. “Nickel and his pack will be looking for friends right about now, trying to prepare for our retaliation for what they did in Geneva, yes?”
“Mhm. Unfortunately.” She said as she stretched out along Coren, more cat-like than wolf-like for the moment.
“I suggest we send them some.”
She let out a growl of satisfaction and then she smirked as she kissed him several more times. “He’ll see that coming, but I still like it.”
He laid back with his hands behind his head as he kissed her. “They will need to be powerful and convincing friends. Chosen with care and discerningly prepared.”
“Indeed. I think we have plenty of friends who would fit the part.” She stared down into his dark blue eyes for a moment, holding his gaze. “We need to get Candra back.”
“We will.” The water in the glass beside them rose up in a group of thick droplets that came down on Alina’s back with a soft touch, sliding right through the shirt she wore and onto her skin. “It may be some time, but she’ll come back to us. And she’ll know even more just why she must remain in our care. Don’t worry yourself about her. I’ll see to Candra. You worry about finding us some friends to send to dear Saint Nick.”
Alina moaned at the feel of his water caressing down her skin in a way that was so simple and yet incredibly intimate. The throne he reclined in allowed him to sink in a little further into the stone as she pressed her body into his. “I know just who to send.”
* * * * *
Nick walked out of the house with his fingers midway through raking his hair back along his scalp, and a few guards followed behind him at a slight distance. The meetings had gone on all day and night, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had slept more than two hours at a time.
There were just too many people coming. They wanted more help, but none of them had had any idea just how many Ironborn were out there in the world to answer their call. And they weren’t just coming from other parts of Europe, they were coming in from every part of the world that heard about what was happening between them and the Council. And it was all on him. All of it.
He couldn’t bring himself to regret challenging his father for his position, and he certainly didn’t regret beating him to a bloody pulp, but the weight of everything pressing on him was overwhelming. The logistics alone of keeping everyone provisioned and sheltered was a nightmare, and he hadn’t found anyone yet that seemed capable of taking that responsibility off his shoulders completely. He was surrounded by counselors that all had different opinions on how things should run, and he couldn’t decide between them. He just needed a breath of fresh air. And possibly to have someone drive a metal spike through his brain and put him out of his misery. It wou
ld have been a most pleasant alternative to his present situation.
Zara was out and about helping with newcomers, directing them to the campgrounds set up as alternate housing for the moment. A few people were bothered by the temporary housing, but they were mainly the newly turned, since everyone else was used to getting down and dirty as wolves anyway. Between directing people, she was playing a game of catch with a group of little puppies, none of which were Ironborn. They came with their turned Ironborn mother and their Earthborn father, both of whom had pledged their help. Zara had a thing for puppies, since they were all so dependent on each other and their parents that they were a little web of cuteness that no Heartborn could ever pass up. It was a moment that made the stress of the greater situation disappear. It was pure innocence.
She had forged enough of a connection with Nick over the course of several conversations that as soon as he came closer to her, the dissonance of his stress and anxiety against the puppies’ laughter was a painful contrast. Nick sought something that was completely contrary to Zara’s nature, the need to be alone, and it was something Zara really could not fathom. He needed space to think, but she could feel his mind spinning in circles in the modicum of solitude that he’d found between buildings.
Zara looked up at him as he came closer and she tossed the ball one more time, which sent the puppies running in the direction where their parents were setting up camp. “You’re doing great, you know. I know that it doesn’t feel that way, but you’re doing better than you think you are.”
He didn’t even open his eyes from where he leaned against a wall, knowing it was her. He’d actually felt her listening to his thoughts, though he wasn’t sure how. “What did I tell you, Zara?”
“I’m sorry.” She said with a defeated tone. She then looked around and nodded to an area where tents were set up, but no one occupied them just yet. “You should be able to find a place to think by yourself over there. If you want.”
Beyond the tents, though, was Aura’s home. It was out by the fence line with the newcomers, who only knew rumors about her and would leave her more or less alone, so he didn’t get any closer to the tents. “I think I’d have to go to Mongolia to find a place clear enough to think at the moment. But there’s probably Ironborn there too, waiting for someone to lead them in a war.”
“These wolves just want a place to belong.” She looked over at the puppies who tumbled around and growled playfully with each other by the entrance of their tent. “They’ll do anything to defend a place where they feel like they can make a home. You’re doing a great job. And you don’t have to do it alone. You know that.”
“Sure feels that way most of the time. You try finding someone who can manage all this. Even finding someone who’s capable of buying tents in bulk without making humans nervous is hard to come by. The Stoneborn joiners are working as fast as they can, and we’ve already cleaned out every sporting goods store from here to…” He was starting on a rant, and he stopped himself with a hand over his eyes. “I’m sorry. But it’s just not that simple.”
“You won’t do anyone any good by keeping all of this responsibility to yourself.” She said quietly as she looked over at him again. “The Council’s fighters will never end. They have connections all over the world. Trying to fight that for your entire life will end up crushing you in the end.”
“That’s not a choice we have anymore. They declared this war when they attacked us on our road home. When they kidnapped Aura.” She could still feel the rush of emotion from him when he said her name, but he didn’t press it further. “Whether we fight this or not isn’t up to me. The only question is how. And where. And when.”
“So what would you say that you’re fighting for, then? Peace? Freedom? To be left alone? You will fight forever for that, if that’s what you want. Your children. Their children. Generations and generations. Because that’s how far the Council reaches. Across the world, across generations, there are people loyal to them. Many, many multitudes more than this force that you have here.”
“Is there a suggestion somewhere in our immediate future?” He said a little more angrily than he intended.
“Stop trying to take them down. You can’t.” She looked at him carefully, wanting him to really hear her. “When you can’t destroy something, you accept it and then you do something better. You make it yours.”
“If you’re suggesting that we try and join them again, you’re farther out of your mind than I thought was medically possible.”
“No. I’m not suggesting that at all. I’m suggesting that you take these people, all these people that are coming to you and pledging themselves to you as their ruler, and I’m suggesting that you make the Council yours.”
He glared at her and looked around at the rest of the people nearby with even more panic than before. “That’s not what we set out to do here. I’m no king or warlord or Council Speaker that I can lead people like that. That’s not why we’re here. All we ever wanted was legitimacy and equality for our people.”
“You’ve been dealing with the Council for a long time now. Your family devoted generations to doing things by their rules, and they still didn’t give it to you. How else are you going to get that unless you change the rules?”
He let what she said settle on his mind for a moment, his concerns forgotten in the light of the possibility she was suggesting. “You’re talking about a rival Council. Not just us against the Council but a separate alliance of packs against the established Council.”
“I can tell you that not everyone who follows the Council now is pleased with the things that they do. There are more people, other Alphas, people who could share the burden…who would support you.”
“And other packs, of other elements, would be distractions from us here.” He could see the logic in what she said, and he looked her over appraisingly. “I know of a few packs that we could start with, but you’re talking as though you have a few in mind.”
“I was their servant. I knew things that happened with them. Their relationships with people. I thrive on such things, remember?”
“What about your own people in Amsterdam?” He said with actual curiosity. “Or even in Rio de Janero? Isn’t there a pack there as well?”
“There’s a reason why packs are sparse on Heartborn. I’m not stupid. Get too many of us in one place, and it becomes a game of relationships. If you want this to work, focus on your base first. Then bring them in if you want.”
Nick watched her cautiously, trying, as always, to pick apart her advice for any poisonous traces of her former masters. But everything she said made sense. “If I do this, then it will be about all wolves. Not just pureborn. I will not start another Council to rival the first only to become what we hate.”
“Even more reason for people to love you.”
His eyes narrowed, and the momentary buzz of possibility passed in a heartbeat, leaving only the defensive nature that had defined him in recent days behind. “Now you’re mocking me.”
She looked confused and shook her head. “Not at all. I mean it. They need a reason to love you if they are going to be willing to follow you.”
He looked in her eyes for a few more moments, trying to tell for himself whether she was being genuine or not. He didn’t want to trust her or anything she said, but what she said made sense. He needed help, and he needed it from other packs, other groups of wolves that could show the Council that they were a force not to be taken out quickly. They had started a war on their own terms. If there were others willing to take it up, then he had no reason to deny them.
“If I’m going to start this alliance, then I will need to know which of my allies I can trust, and which I can’t. I can do that better through your eyes.”
She held his gaze, hoping that he would really believe her this time. She wanted him to believe her. “If that’s what you truly want.”
He didn’t blink for a long time as he stared into her violet eyes, and she could feel the fear and a
nger in him at the prospect of what he wanted from her. Look into my mind this once, Zara, and see what will happen to you if you lie to me. He said the words purposefully, deliberately, intending for her to hear them since he knew she would be listening, but what came after was quieter, since he didn’t mean for her to hear it, though he was feeling it anyway. The way she lied.
She took a step closer to him, but no more. It was clear what would happen to her, what he would do, what would happen to him. Zara had spent enough time around the people, around Aura, to know that Aura had always wanted to run. She’d always been looking elsewhere for something that would be hers, something that she could love on her own terms. But Zara and Aura were not the same, and she continued to look into his hazel eyes as she spoke. She ran, she lied, so that she could feel like she could choose what she wanted. I’m here by choice. What reason do I have to lie to you?
He looked her over once more and nodded. We’ll see. He stepped away past her, brushing against her in the process, but not looking back afterwards.
Zara watched him walk away and she smiled. Maybe he would finally warm up to her. Maybe he would finally see that she was more than a set of violet eyes. Once he was out of sight she sighed and went back to work, hoping that the puppies would wander back over to her again. He would see.
* * * * *
Once the meeting had dispersed, Teresa waited to send out a message to Isela and Ivy, since she knew that they were more or less in accordance with her ideas. It was several days before she got any response from either of them, but when she did, they said that they would rather meet in person than discuss anything over a message.
There was a pond that was close to where Teresa lived, surrounded by trees but otherwise distant from the rest of the populated world, that of wolves or otherwise. She was able to relax on the bank, Ivy against a tree, and Isela was comfortable pretty much everywhere. The two of them arrived together, but they all wordlessly settled in before Teresa said anything. They knew the conversation would not be over quickly.
