by Megan McCoy
Zyon tightened his grip to reassure her he was remaining dutifully by her side. Once more he contemplated how he had ever pleased the gods to deserve her. As exhaustion claimed him in the quiet as well, one thing was clear, Zyon was assuredly grateful for their generous blessing.
Chapter 4
Illayda wrapped the cape around her tightly.
It was slightly more difficult to do after arming herself with some arrows and a small bow. Excusing herself briefly as the men headed to the barns to ready two mounts, Illayda felt more comfortable with the weapons. Sneaking in after relieving her small bladder in a neighboring outhouse, she slipped them under her cloak before meeting back up with Jai and Odin.
Her nerves were still on edge, knowing that Iver would not be happy she’d tricked them into taking her without his permission. But in her mind, leaving Bear Claw armed, with two armed guards was much improved from her former escapades as a princess of the Willow Kye. Before, she would have never taken back up at all.
She met the men at the stables as promised, and Jai helped her mount one of the tamer mares, and then slung himself up behind her. Illayda still wasn’t a comfortable rider, Jai and Odin were blissfully unaware of the position she had knowingly put them in.
Jai could feel the bow and arrows strapped to her back but said nothing. For all he knew, Iver had told her to take the added protection, and by now, everyone knew how skillful she was with a bow.
As they galloped past the gate, the guards on duty didn’t stop them to warn them of the wolves. They were younger men and assumed that Iver had given permission for the group to leave. Illayda was covered completely and unrecognizable.
One made a comment to the other about possibly stopping them, but he shrugged it off. Jai and Odin were known to be trusted men of his majesty, so in his mind at least, they would never leave the safety of Bear Claw if they hadn’t spoken to the king first.
Reclosing the gate, they waited for their relief to come and take over so, they could finally head to their tipis to rest. They had shoveled half the night, as the village was pummeled with heavy, wet snow. They’d been given gate duty for a month, after Quinn caught them cavorting with a group of women when they were supposed to be training.
The night shift was the hardest job in the village in the winter, and both men were exhausted. They had to do it all again in a few hours, so getting warm and eating took up more of their thoughts than inquiring about who had just left. With yawns and moans, they sat back down, fighting to keep their eyes open as they waited.
For the time being, all was quiet in Bear Claw.
Quinn’s tracks were barely visible this far from the gates, and the higher they climbed out of the valley, the more blustery it became. Visibility was weakening, but Lutta’s camp wasn’t too far. In the summer months, Illayda made it in less time than it took to walk from the gates back up to her and Iver’s rooms in Peetohwah and back again to the gates.
Today, on horseback, it was taking slightly longer because of the deep snow. They had to travel paths that were not yet traveled enough to pack down and be safe.
Lutta liked to say it was close enough to visit, but far enough that a deliberate plan had to be made to make it worth the effort.
As the weather deteriorated, Illayda remembered his words, and had to agree they had merit. A few times, she wished she hadn’t needed the Red Cedar so badly, as the whip of snowy wind pelted her face.
It was of little surprise, when trudging along, Lutta met them on the path. Being the seer, he had known of her pending arrival and had gone out to meet them. Appearing like a ghostly mirage in the distance, he called to Odin who was keeping diligent appraisal of their surroundings for any wildlife that might appear out of nowhere.
“Tracks,” Jai said pointing to a large cluster of paw prints.
Odin sank to the ground going past his knees in snow. “Pythrow Wolves?” he guessed, but looked to Jai for confirmation. It seemed odd that they would be this far west.
Furrowing his brow, Jai jumped down too, kneeling closer to get a better look. “That would be my guess,” he replied.
Both men looked apprehensively around them. These wolves were no joke; especially in numbers such as the tracks foretold.
Lutta drew closer and captured their attention. His bow was ready, as he tried to yell to capture their attention. The howls of the wind made hearing him impossible, until he was closer.
Raising their bows, the two men prepared for an attack, until Illayda screamed for them to lower their weapons. “Stand down, it is Lutta!”
As his face came into view, Odin and Jai breathed a sigh of relief and did just as she ordered.
“My word, old man,” Jai started. “I nearly fired on you.”
Lutta brushed the comment off, thinking nothing of it. “Wind like this, you’d surely miss,” he teased.
“Lutta, I assume you know why I’m here?” Illayda said with a tiny smirk.
“I have the Red Cedar. I just wish you’d have sent word to me by pigeon. There are Pythrow Wolves hunting in the area. A great deal of them if I were to be honest,” Lutta stated, while thrusting his hand up to her.
Illayda took the offered ingredient she was so desperate to acquire with pure joy etched across her delicate features. “Oh, thank you!” she cried happily. “I knew if anyone could have it at this time of year it would be you.”
Lutta chuckled.
“How’s Mother?” Illayda asked.
“Well, but worried about you coming out in this weather,” Lutta replied, leveling her with a stern look of concern. “As am I. I don’t think Iver will be pleased.”
Illayda had the decency to look ashamed. Lutta would know she had tricked the men accompanying her, but whether he planned on telling them was left to be seen. Getting down from the horse, into the snow, to give him a warm embrace, she said, “Well, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
Odin and Jai overheard and turned like venomous snakes. “Iver doesn’t know?” Jai asked looking ready to throttle her.
“How could I explain this to him? It’s his present. I don’t want to give away the surprise.” Illayda said nervously. Her back went up, as the two guards became hostile in their condemnation.
“You’d have a lot more than explaining to do, if you were mine,” Odin snapped, hurt and angry that he had fallen for her dubious plan.
Illayda lowered her eyes apologetically.
“Well, lads what is done is done,” Lutta said. “She will pay very soon for her ill-timed actions. The king and Quinn are approaching. They will need to pass here to head to Preet’s Point, and from what I can gather, that is their intention.”
“What’s done is done my arse, old man,” Jai spat furiously, pointing a finger at the queen, who looked on the verge of tears. Addressing her, he spoke with malice in his voice. “I knew you were up to no good the moment you approached us. As soon as I see Iver, you will pay for your deceitful game. Don’t think Odin and I will be accomplices any longer. You will remount with me and behave, or so help me, I’ll whip your devious backside myself.”
Illayda looked at him pleadingly. “Jai, you can’t.”
Glowering down at her, he grasped her wrist, pulling her back toward the horse they’d shared and snapped, “Watch me.”
“We are wasting valuable time,” Lutta interjected. “The wolves are circling us, I’m afraid we must prepare for an attack as we back toward my camp. It isn’t far, just over that peak. The longer we are out here, the more risks we are taking. Iver will run right into us, but in the meantime, Jai, we need to get out of the open and arm ourselves for battle.”
Jai stopped dead, contemplating Lutta’s words. He wasn’t a man known to panic, but at that moment, Jai wasn’t sure what he should fear most, the wolves or Iver. Releasing Illayda, he hissed, “You little brat. If Iver or Zyon punishes me for this, I’ll make it my mission to report every time you blink your eyes the wrong way, to make you pay. I swear by the gods.”
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br /> Illayda knew he was serious and wasn’t sure what frightened her more, facing the deadly carnivores, having Iver catch her here in the midst of chaos, or how angry Jai was about her tricking him.
All three, combined, were bringing her to the edge of an anxiety attack that she really didn’t have time for. Pushing the panic aside to try and get the fear under control, Illayda braced for whatever hell she caught first. Her first priority was to get out of harm’s way in order to worry about the rest.
Gulping and inhaling a big breath of cool air, Illayda focused on Lutta. “Please, tell me, what do you see?” she inquired, nervously biting her lip.
“Unfortunately, My Queen, there is no room for debating. Iver is not yet aware of your absence, but my sight tells me he will be soon,” Lutta said sadly, leading his daughter to the mount. “Up on the horse now, love. Let’s get you safe.”
Odin stiffened drawing the others attention with a low warning. “Too late,” he said, keeping his voice restrained from revealing his fear. “No sudden moves.”
Turning, Lutta and Illayda immediately froze when they saw what was causing the alarm. Approaching slow and purposefully, were the massive canines they had just spoken of.
“Get into a huddle. Move as one,” Jai snapped, survival instinct and training knew that like with most predatory animals, the wolves worked to divide and conquer. The weakest link would be lost, and at the moment, that was the pregnant queen.
Iver finding they had come here was one thing Jai knew he had to face, allowing a pack of wolves to harm the king’s wife and unborn babe was quite another. Survival mode snapped them all to attention, and no one argued the wise orders being given.
Putting their backs together, Odin said, “Lutta, what good is sight when you didn’t see this coming?”
Lutta drew his bow up in an armed position to fire. “I do believe I said the wolves were circling and we were wasting time.”
At all angles, the beasts strode forward. Their fang-like canine teeth flashed, as they advanced from the shadows of the concealing woods. Their intimidating strides hinted at the deathly plan they had in mind. Some were salivating at only the thought of what was about to happen.
Odin rolled his eyes heavenward, gulping back the dread he couldn’t completely devoid from his voice. “You could have clarified that better.”
Lutta being Lutta, allowed a jab from the guards. “I may have said or done a lot of things, my boy. Could’ve, should’ve, but didn’t. When you get to be my age you’ll understand more.”
Odin raised his bow. “Your age,” he spat. “I’d settle for tomorrow years old. We will never defeat all these to get to be your age. If any of you are religious, I’d say make your peace.”
Illayda removed her bow from beneath her cloak and readied an arrow. Abandoning the decision of mounting the horse, she switched into warrior mode, even though she had never fought in a battle.
“Make your own peace, Odin. Others who wish to live raise your arrows and let them fly on the count of two. Jai, Lutta, you let them fly at the pack. I’ll set mine to the sky above them so ones will be hit at random. Ready one, two!”
The arrows set loose in a scatter, all flying in different directions confusing the advancing animals.
The wounded dropped on muffled cries, as Illayda’s strong commands rang out again. “Fire again! No stopping.”
Odin followed the orders like a true soldier, obediently, and without thinking. More arrows spewed from the decisive warrior pack, wounding and killing. On the third fire, many wolves were at a stalemate, not advancing or retreating, just taking in the bloodied scenes around them to gage their enemy. Growls of temper were still hinting that the battle was far from over, and Illayda called out, “Again!” She unleashed another arrow to assert her dominance over the pack.
As soon as one arrow left the bow, each member of the team was loading another to fire.
Faced with the deadly uncertainty, the pack began to fall back. It was impossible for them to gage which way was safe to run forward at the stalked prey. Instinctively, they knew the only thing they could do was retreat.
“Don’t stop,” Illayda commanded loudly. Her small batch of arrows was becoming smaller, and panic began to swell in her chest at the thought they had no plan B. Odin and Jai had a larger supply of arrows, so when she was completely out, she snatched a batch from Odin and continued firing.
About fifteen animals were down, either from fatal wounds or serious ones that left them incapacitated.
“I’m out,” Lutta said with a note of concern.
“I’m down to my last ones,” Jai added.
There were still a few wolves not yet satisfied with leaving with nothing, as Illayda struggled to think. She could tell by their pace and predatory glares they were completely prepared to die for their meal.
“Ready to make that peace yet, My Queen?” Odin snapped, irritated she had saved them the first time, when it seemed to just delay the inevitable.
Illayda shot him a glare of irritated warning. “How did a man so gutless survive so long?”
Shrugging haphazardly, Odin replied, “By knowing when to stay and when to run.”
“Running is not an option and I prefer to think dying isn’t either,” Illayda hissed. “Lutta, if you see a third option, I’d like to hear it.”
Lutta chuckled, admiring his daughter even more for her wit under such stress. “I doubt that, My Warrior Queen. However, the third option has just arrived.”
Illayda fired one of her last remaining arrows hitting a wolf straight between the eyes with deadly accuracy. “I’d take the God of the Underworld appearing to save us, if he swooped in and saved our foolish skins.”
With a wink and a nudge to the far left of them, Lutta said, “Be care what you wish for, daughter.”
Off in the not so distant distance, a group of riders and horses began cutting the distance between them. When arrows shot out now from another area, in such ferocity, the wolves had no choice but fall back or die.
A momentary relief sank into the smaller group’s bones, as they praised the gods of their reinforcements.
It was Quinn that Lutta and Illayda noticed first. He was savagely following after the dwindling pack, shooting as many as he could in the back. With him were several riders, all following suit.
Jai and Odin leaned forward gasping for breath as the fear evaporated. The emotions made for a vibrant hue of gratefulness for the help and anxiety over nearly being killed.
Lutta grasped Illayda to his chest, finally allowing his great fear for her wellbeing to show in the form of tears. Kissing the top of her head, he said, “You must learn to send the parrot or pigeons to ask me for things, child.” With a broken voice, he held her a little tighter. “You never leave Bear Claw without Iver’s guidance or my own. Is that clear to you?”
Illayda accepted the embrace of Lutta, feeling her own tears start. She could have been killed or have gotten others killed all over a stupid gift. Looking up into his eyes with a quivering lip, Illayda said, “I just wanted Iver’s first present from me to be perfect, Lutta.”
“I know, my foolish child. I know,” Lutta responded, unashamed of cradling her a little longer in his fatherly embrace. “But my first gift to your mother and Iver was you. Material things can be replaced, sweet girl. Nothing is more precious than loving someone, and sometimes it’s all right for that to just be enough. That is the true spirit of this time. The one that will carry with us through all the solstices that follow, love.”
Pausing to allow the depth of the sentiment to resonate with her, Lutta said, “There is nothing more precious than a person who devotes themselves to another. Gifts are tokens of our affection; never confuse the two.”
“Illayda!” Iver’s confused but booming voice rang out.
She stiffened as Lutta released her. Fear trickled down her spine, knowing the gentle scolding from her father was nothing like the one she was going to get from her husband. Slowly turning to
face his direction, she looked up impishly as he dismounted, sank down in the snow and advanced.
A look of pure horror flickered over his face before it registered the anger that she deserved. “It is you!” he raged wildly, halting a few steps away as he seemed to need to breathe before coming closer.
Guilt flooded over her, knowing the shock probably knocked the wind from him when his brain began to process the danger she had been in. The betrayal in his eyes was proof he hadn’t known she was even beyond the safety of Bear Claw’s gates. It would be a long time before he trusted her again, and the thought made her eyes fill with tears. Lutta was right, she never should have confused a gift as being more important than her own safety. Her affection for her husband should have come before any gift.
“I can explain,” she began, trying to reason with him.
Iver had grown cold and detached; it was a way she had seen him before, but never with her.
Quinn and a few other men had ridden up behind them, and Quinn issued orders for the men to go after the retreating beasts that had almost made a meal out of the queen and two of the border guards Zyon had a strong affection for.
Flinging herself forward, Illayda wanted to say more than she was sorry, but those were the only words that croaked out between her trembling lips.
Iver laughed a dismissively when he heard the apology and put his hand out to stop her from coming closer.
She froze in her tracks, succumbing to the outpouring of emotion over the entire ordeal.
Shaking his head crossly at her crocodile tears, Iver turned to Quinn who was standing silently behind him.
It was difficult to judge Quinn’s opinion of the situation because he wore the warrior expression that came with his job. Quinn’s first loyalty was to his brother, even if he felt sorry for the helpless look on Illayda’s face. It was not his job to console her. It was his job to obey orders.
