Siebold

by Lee Savino

  Offa rose more slowly. He was nothing but a little man on the ground, screaming and ordering his men to fight his battles for him.

  “You wanted to kill a witch?” my voice rose as a tornado hit the ground at my feet, flinging mercenaries to either side as it cut a path straight to the bonfire. “Now you will burn.” The tornado hit the fire and became the fire, a towering wind tunnel made of debris and flame. Smaller tornados split off and seemed like living things, chasing down mercenaries and burning them alive.

  The screams rose from the earth and pleased the monster within me. But Offa was not dead. Not yet.

  The whole field rumbled. The earth beneath me cracked. The world split in two, a chasm opening and swallowing men whole. The jagged seam ran straight through the platform debris. It forked and kept going until at last it reached the place where Offa stood. A frightened yelp, a few flailing motions with his sword, and he fell. In an instant, he was gone.

  But it was not over. Power crashed through me, filling me to the brim until my eyes shone with a terrible light. A wave of fire hit the village, setting roofs aflame.

  Yesssss, something inside me hissed. Let it all burn.

  “Meadhan,” Siebold bellowed over the howling storm. He’d half fallen in the chasm and was hanging from a single paw. I sent a gust of wind to lift him out, and he went tumbling head over heels into the dust. The chasm shuddered and closed.

  But the fires still raged. My mother had been murdered, her body mutilated and thrown onto a pyre.

  They should pay, a monstrous voice inside me whispered. They should all pay.

  “Meadhan,” Siebold stood on two feet, a monster with a giant’s body and wolf’s head. I love you. I love you.

  Something shuddered through me.

  I love you. Come, let us build a life together. Come down, and we will build a home.

  The monster within me raised her head. Yes, this is what she wanted.

  I blinked and woke as if from a dream. I heard the frightened cries of the people below. Villagers running from their homes.

  This is not what I wanted.

  I threw my arms up. “Let the rain come,” I commanded. “Come and heal this land.”

  Yes, another voice inside me said. My mother’s voice. Well done.

  The air currents under my feet slowly died, lowering me to the ground. I stood with my head uncovered, my face turned up to the wave of rain as it came and snuffed the fires out.

  32

  Siebold

  She was magnificent, my Meadhan. I let the rain wash the blood and sweat from my fur, and watched her small form hover aloft in the air. Slowly the power drained from her and lowered her to the ground. I waited until she straightened and then rushed to her side.

  The beast within me would not rest until I checked her all over.

  “I’m fine,” she repeated over and over as my claws stroked over her brow, her cheeks and lips, her arms and sides and all her curves. “I’m fine.”

  But she stroked my face and fur, checking me over. The rain washed us clean and the storm blew away, leaving us blinking in the sun.

  I brushed water droplets from her brow, noting the golden shimmer. Meadhan, you’re glowing.

  She flushed. “I can’t help it. It will fade.”

  She seemed embarrassed, so I merely nodded. I didn’t tell her the truth: to me, she’d always glowed. From the first, I Saw her light, her true form. I’d always See her. To me, she would always rival the sun.

  “You did it.” I knelt so our heads would be the same height. I had shrunk a little. With every second that passed I looked more like a man. But I was still a monster. Meadhan’s monster.

  “We both did it,” she said. She leaned in and clasped me gently until I pulled her close.

  “Meadhan, my love, my own.” I thought of all that had passed. All the power that had its source in the small woman holding me. I had no words for it. “Are you all right?”

  She blinked up at me, then at the village. She stared at the closed rift in the earth where the bonfire had burned. When she looked back up at me, tears tracked down her dark cheeks. “No. But I will heal.”

  “Come.” I gathered her up and set her on her two feet. “Let’s go home.”

  33

  Meadhan

  If I’d had my way, Siebold and I would’ve slunk off into the forest. But I couldn’t leave without checking on the villagers. Few of Offa’s mercenaries were left. Fewer still were still whole. Villagers went from body to body, checking to make sure they were all dead.

  Alwyn and Cynog straightened as Siebold and I approached.

  “You saved us!” Alys cried out. Eira nodded, tears tracking down her face. “Thank you, thank you.”

  “We owe our lives,” Gruffudd said. He knelt, tugging his daughter down with him. The rest of the villagers sank to their knees, until I looked over a sea of kneeling people.

  “No, no,” I said, spreading my hands. “Do not kneel to me.”

  The villagers murmured to each other, but started to rise.

  “Mistress Meadhan,” Mistress Donna called. She emerged from the forest, led by Dafydd. The boy broke from her side and ran to me. I reached down and took his hand.

  “Are the bad men gone now?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I told him. “Forever.” I raised my chin and addressed the villagers. “If any of Offa’s men survived, send word to me and I will return to this valley.” I patted Dafydd’s shoulder and started to walk away. Siebold fell into step beside me. Best we left before the villagers decided I was a threat.

  But we’d not gone more than a few feet before Mistress Donna cried out, “Wait! Where are you going?”

  Something in her tone made me turn. “You do not want me to leave?”

  “You destroyed Offa,” Cynog pushed closer, stopping short when Siebold growled. “His reign is ended.” He spread his hands. “Who will rule this valley, if not you?”

  Rule? A lightning bolt fizzed from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. My hand gripped Siebold’s harder.

  ‘Yes,” Mistress Donna said, and glanced at her sons. They all were nodding. She cleared her throat and glared at the rest of the villagers.

  “Yes,” Gruffudd agreed slowly. “Yes.”

  “No!” The priest cried, shouldering his way through the crowd. “This is her! She is the witch! Kill the witch!”

  The villagers all stared at him. None moved.

  “Kill her.” Sweat ran down the priest’s forehead. “Kill her!” He picked up a rock and Siebold started for him.

  “No,” I grabbed Siebold’s arm. Though he was much, much stronger than me, he let me pull him back. He settled himself in front of me, shielding me from the priest.

  “People of the village, make your choice,” Siebold said. “It’s him,” he pointed at Father Gerald. “Or us.” He waited a long moment, but everyone was silent. He jerked up his chin. “Very well. We will go.” He whirled and put an arm around my shoulders, ushering me away.

  “No,” Gruffudd grunted, and then called louder. “No.”

  “What do you mean, no?” the priest cried.

  “You,” Gruffudd pointed at the priest, mimicking Siebold’s growl. “Go.”

  “Yes,” Cynog and Alwyn chimed in. “Go.”

  “Best be on your way now.” Mistress Donna folded her arms in front of her. “Before we decide it’s a mistake to let you live.”

  The priest looked from one hard face to another. “You can’t mean it.”

  “Go,” Gruffudd reached down and picked up a large rock of his own. “Or we’ll make you.”

  The priest retreated a few shuffling steps. He glanced around, still looking for an opening, a sign of mercy. But there was none.

  “Very well,” he muttered, and raised his voice in a pious tone. “The Good Lord said if we ever met a place that would not accept the truth, shake the dust off your feet--”

  Siebold growled. The sound was loud enough to echo off the mountains. The
villagers tensed and the priest scuttled away, but not before noticing Dafydd standing by.

  “Boy,” the priest snapped his fingers. “Come.”

  “No,” Dafydd said.

  “Boy, you will listen to me and come.”

  Dafydd shrugged and slipped past him.

  “Boy! I am your father.”

  “I have no father. That’s what you told me,” Dafydd called over his shoulder, and loped the last few feet to me.

  “Come,” Siebold said. “Let’s go home.” He tousled Dafydd’s hair. “You too, brave warrior.”

  The boy beamed up at him.

  “I’ll be by tomorrow,” Mistress Donna called.

  I was grateful for Siebold’s arm around my shoulders

  “So, we’re not leaving,” I said in a daze.

  “No,” Siebold grinned at Dafydd, who’d run ahead. “But we might need a bigger home.”

  “We will?”

  “For the boy. Don’t worry, I will settle him outside tonight.”

  “What for?” I asked. When I looked at his face, the heat in his eyes made me flush.

  “For privacy. I wish to have you to myself tonight.” And as arousal surged through me, he dipped his mouth to my ear, nipping lightly then sucking away the hurt before murmuring. “All this fighting makes me want you.”

  Epilogue

  Meadhan

  The clank of steel roused me from my nap. Loud cries drifted in from outside the lodge, along with the whine of weapons, clack of shields, and other sounds of battle.

  “Die, wolf spawn!” a high pitched voice shrieked.

  “Come take me then, whelp,” came a growl.

  More banging as the fight commenced.

  Then, “No, no. I told you. You cannot hold your shield like that.”

  “Why not?” Dafydd pitched, his voice matched Siebold’s, but it cracked halfway through.

  A lower murmur as Siebold explained. Then the mock shouts went up again, as Dafydd tried to attack, and Siebold deflected easily, continuing to lecture in a low voice.

  I relaxed against my pillow and smiled. Siebold and Dafydd sparred every day now. Most of the day, since I was finding it harder and harder to move.

  A twinge in my back made me moan. I tried to roll and found my big belly in the way. My arms flailed as I tried to get up.

  Meadhan? Siebold’s mind touched mine a second before his step sounded in the lodge. He appeared, frowning down at me.

  I smiled up at him from my half-propped position. “I cannot get up. I am too large.”

  “Here, my love.” He lifted me easily and carried me to the hearth.

  I groaned as I shifted in a new position, rubbing my belly. “This babe will come soon.”

  “Now?” Siebold asked, his eyes widening slightly with alarm.

  “No, not now,” I grumbled. “More’s the pity.”

  “Mistress Meadhan?” a woman’s voice called. Someone was at the lodge entrance.

  A half growl, half sigh rumbled in Siebold’s chest. “Why won’t they go away?”

  I reached up and clasped his hand, threading my small fingers through his long, ones. “It was your idea to build our lodge closer to the village.”

  “So you wouldn’t have to walk too far to market,” Siebold defended himself. “Not that you need to walk to market anymore. Everyone comes to you.”

  “I’m here,” I called, and when Siebold scowled, I wagged a finger at him. “Do not growl at my customers.”

  “They better not take long,” he said before rising. He would lurk by my side as I greeted and spoke with our visitors. He kept his arms crossed and glowered at them, especially if they were long in leaving. He did this every time.

  I secretly loved it.

  Today my visitors were Alwyn and Eira. “Greetings, Mistress,” the lovely young woman curtsied. I waved at her so she would stop. Half the village still fell to their knees when I passed. I’d gotten the other half to stop, but the bows and curtsies continued. Siebold had shrugged when I complained of it.

  You killed the one who’d rule over them. You’re their lord now. It is your due.

  “Mistress Donna sends her greetings,” Eira said. “She is busy with births in the neighboring village, but she says she will be back for yours.”

  “Of course. And how are you feeling?” I asked Eira, and she blushed. Her hand rubbed her still flat belly and she glanced up at Alwyn, her new husband.

  “The sickness still comes.”

  I nodded. “It might for a while. You might try these herbs,” I shared a packet of my favorite blend, explaining how to brew it.

  Eira took it with another curtsey.

  “Dafydd has the herbs for your mother,” I told Alwyn. “See him before you leave.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Alwyn said quietly. He held a large cabbage-wrapped bundle in his hands. “Here.” He laid his offering on our hearth. “Our thanks.” He bowed his head and put his arm around his bride. The new couple left soon after, with Siebold ushering them from my presence.

  “I wish they wouldn’t do that,” I sighed and pointed to the meat when Siebold returned. Since Offa’s death, I’d received gifts and offerings. Meat and grain, mostly.

  “They pay tribute. They know who saved them.”

  “I’m not their ruler.”

  “No?” Siebold shrugged. My skin prickled with magic as he called the Change.

  A large blond wolf stood in my lodge, its snout pointed at my hearth.

  “Don’t you dare,” I shouted, but it was too late. The wolf had gulped the meat, cabbage and all.

  Cabbage. Blech.

  “Serves you right. That was my meat!”

  The only meat you eat is mine.

  I threw a pillow at him, but the wolf had already trotted away. He disappeared, returning at dusk as a man with a great stag slung over his shoulders.

  “We feast tonight,” he called to Dafydd, who whooped. Together they loped into the forest to cut down a tree for our fire.

  Later that night, the sparks flew to the sky.

  “Boy’s growing,” Siebold said.

  “Mmm,” I agreed. In the past year, Dafydd had shot up like a weed. Not only that, he’d put on some much needed weight. He looked as healthy as one of Donna’s sons, ruddy cheeked. “He’ll be a handsome one.”

  “Handsome?” Siebold raised a blond brow.

  I rolled my eyes. “Not as handsome as you.”

  No one’s as handsome as me, Siebold spoke into my mind. Out loud he told a yawning Dafydd to go to bed. The boy obeyed, whining until Siebold promised another day of sparring. Once Dafydd was gone, Siebold turned to me.

  He strode my way, his large body fluid and supple, his hair glinting gold in the firelight. He stretched out beside me, twining my fingers with his. I still couldn’t believe this warrior was mine.

  “Meadhan,” he purred. His long fingers danced up my arm. I shifted in my seat.

  “Siebold,” I couldn’t help a little quiver in my voice. The sight of him, the barest touch and I was ready to lie with him again by the fire, under the full moon.

  The quirk in the side of his mouth told me he knew the path my thoughts had taken. We’re alone now…

  “Not quite alone,” I put a hand on my belly. The little one I carried gave an eager kick.

  “Soon, little moonbeam,” I crooned to the life inside me. The baby squirmed. “She will be as much trouble as her father, I can already tell.”

  “She?”

  “Aye.”

  Siebold’s eyes glowed with wonder. His fingers shook as his hand came to my belly. His daughter gave a mighty kick where her father touched and I glowed from the inside out.

  “Come love me, wolf.” I reached for him, and let him ease me over him. As I straddled him, he stroked my arm. If I looked hard enough, I could see the shimmer, faintly luminous in the dark. It was something I could not hide. But with Siebold here, I would never need to hide who or what I was ever again.

  ***
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