Daughter of the Moon (The Moon People, Book Two)

by Claudia King

Khelt paced up and down the length of the tent, growling and muttering to himself like a frustrated beast. "You tie me up in your threads," he spat. "Does Caspian know of this?"

  "He was too weary from his night of drinking and fighting for us to speak of it. But you and I both know he would agree with me."

  "Would he?" Khelt murmured. He seemed unconvinced. "Curse you for taking him from me, this is why I need that man at my side." He paced for a while longer, then rounded on her. "If I do this, then you must understand one thing, Adel. If you fail to protect your pack, then I will not allow those who follow in your footsteps to fall along with you. I will bring them back into my clan by force if the only other choice is to watch them be claimed by another alpha."

  The den mother nodded solemnly. "Be it you or any other alpha, I would have failed either way."

  Khelt nodded abruptly, paced a few more times, then turned back to her. "Very well. I will do as you ask, but only for the sake of Caspian and the others."

  "Thank you, Alpha." Adel bowed graciously. She was willing to let Khelt have his moment of supposed victory. He thought he had struck a fair compromise, but as always he had not thought it through. If Adel and her clan fell victim to another alpha, he would be too far away to intervene in time. He might not even learn of what had happened until the next gathering. There would be no refuge for her followers back under the protective wing of their former alpha, try as he might to convince himself of it.

  Her business done, Adel ducked out beneath the tent flap and made her way back into the trees.

  Approaching Khelt's camp had been simple, but the den mother was less welcome in the next pack's territory she sought to enter. This time, however, it was no alpha to whom it belonged.

  Octavia's camp was nestled half way within the trees, bordered by a loose ring of her warriors' red-feathered spears driven into the ground with the tips pointing outward. It was a clear warning for outsiders to keep their distance, and the rest of the clans seemed happy to leave the strange female-dominated pack well alone. A great tent, equally as lavish as the throne she had been carried in upon, dominated the centre of Octavia's camp, supported by the low branches of the trees and surrounded by several smaller shelters that housed her warriors.

  As the spears they carried suggested, her pack seemed strangely averse to taking the shapes of their wolves, and the two sentries watching the camp's entrance were armed not with their teeth and claws, but with long wooden clubs into which sharp blades of bone and flint had been pressed. The pair rose to their feet when they saw Adel emerging from the trees, the red feathers in their hair bobbing as they lifted their weapons.

  The den mother bared her palms to them openly, slowing her pace and coming to a halt a few yards away. "I seek an audience with your leader."

  "Octavia seeks her own audiences when she wishes to speak with outsiders," one of the women replied. "Return in daylight, and perhaps you will find her in a better mood to speak with you."

  Adel lifted her chin and pulled her cowl back partially, though not far enough to reveal herself to any who might be watching from a distance. "Tell her Den Mother Adel wishes to speak with her."

  The warrior smiled, lowering her weapon. "There is no need. You are the one woman she has been eager to speak with since we arrived. She wondered whether you would come to us first."

  Adel returned the smile, though internally she was already regretting her decision. If Octavia has been just as interested in her, then she had sacrificed much of her bargaining power by being the one to make the first move. Perhaps it would have been wiser to wait.

  "Come." The warrior motioned with her weapon. "She will not object to your interruption."

  Adel followed the woman through the camp while the other sentry sat back down at the entrance, pulling her cowl forward again as several of Octavia's other followers eyed the stranger in their midst. It was dangerous to have come here alone, but Adel needed to know where she stood in the eyes of the closest potential ally she had.

  Relatively little was known of Octavia's clan among the other packs, at least since she had wrested leadership from her former alpha. They made their den somewhere beyond the southwestern borders of Miral's territory, distant and isolated from the others. Adel knew that at least two other alphas had made attempts to attack and subjugate her clan in the past, but their warriors had been hunted and picked off one by one in the marshlands near to Octavia's territory until they turned tail in fear. She seemed a cunning and ruthless leader, one who fought fiercely to protect what she had made for herself, and willing to go to extreme lengths to preserve it.

  Though many of the males in Octavia's pack had been exiled following her ascent to leadership, Adel recalled there were many more who had simply disappeared.

  The warrior stopped at the entrance to the central tent and lifted the hide flap, remaining outside as the den mother ducked in. A rich scent of spiced herbs assailed Adel's senses, the rush of warm air welcoming her far more pleasantly than the draft of Khelt's tent had. The broad interior was strewn with woven mats laid over the grass, illuminated by four clay braziers each held up by a wigwam of freshly cut wooden poles. In the centre sat Octavia's throne, now draped with thick furs, broad enough to be used as a bed. Upon the seat sat the woman herself, dressed plainly in a loose wrap with her braided hair hanging free and her bare legs exposed. At the foot of her throne knelt the pack's alpha, though if his title had been little more than ceremonial before, it seemed utterly farcical now.

  The handsome golden-haired man was barely clothed but for a loose leather kilt, cradling his mistress's ankle in his hands as he lavished attention on it with his tongue and lips, worshipping her more obediently than any concubine Adel had ever set eyes upon. Octavia glanced up at the den mother's arrival, making no attempt to interrupt her alpha's attentions as she inclined her head with a relaxed smile.

  Adel walked forward cautiously, trying her best to appear unperturbed by the scene, though she still allowed her eyes to wander curiously to the alpha as he caressed his female with adoration.

  "Even my pack must have its males," Octavia said, brushing her toes up beneath the alpha's chin. "A select few to give us children. Though only the obedient ones."

  "So I can see," Adel replied. "The other packs would not approve."

  Octavia shrugged lightly. "What will they do? I have demonstrated my strength in their eyes, whether they approve of me or not. Only Miral still seeks to challenge my pack."

  Adel motioned to the alpha, who still seemed oblivious to her presence as he suckled upon his mistress's toes one by one. "And yet you hide this from them, yet show it openly to me."

  "I will hide nothing from you, Adel. Consider it a gesture of my trust. Men are bound by many things, but as women we are free." She leaned forward to curl her fingers through her pet's golden hair. "When you take away a man's need for honour, his status, his lust for strength and power, you see how little he truly is. I have no interest in the other packs save for keeping them out of my territory. But you I will deal with."

  "It pleases me to hear that," Adel replied. "You know I mean to make a place for myself alongside the other alphas."

  Octavia shook her head. "They will not accept you."

  "They accepted you."

  "I came to them with my former alpha's skull in hand and cast it into the fire before their eyes. I came with three dozen warriors at my back and those who defied me bound as slaves, gifts to the other clans. You think you come with power, but not in the eyes of the men who sit at the centre of that circle. They see only what they can take by tooth and claw. But I see the truth of it. The women who travel with you and the talents you possess are worthy of greater respect than a hundred warriors."

  "Then I will need your voice to be heard," Adel said. "I would be glad to count you as an ally should you help me secure my place."

  Octavia paused, her long-nailed fingers curled against her cheek. Unlike her warriors, she was not a physically powerful or impo
sing woman. The man grovelling at her feet could have broken her neck like a dry branch if he so desired. And yet, she held him captive like a bee drowning in its own honey.

  "Even with my assistance," Octavia said, "they would not accept you. They will pick your clan apart like carrion feeders, and I have no desire to see that happen." She rose to her feet suddenly, tugging her foot away from the alpha and sending him scuttling off to the side. "I can offer you more than that. My clan has few seers, but with your assistance we would become powerful indeed. Not even Miral would dare challenge our strength."

  Adel kept a steady eye on the other woman as she shook her head. "I will not pledge myself to another leader, not even you."

  "I do not ask for your blind loyalty, I am no alpha!" Octavia swept forward with a grin, seizing Adel's hands in her own and clasping them to her chest. "I would make you my den mother, leader of all your seers and of mine. I have heard the tales of your wisdom. We would lead our pack together, strong with warriors and guarded by the spirits. No clan would dare to harm us!"

  It was Adel's turn to pause and consider. She studied Octavia's expression for any hint of deceit, but the woman's eyes only glittered with burning passion. A joining of their packs was perhaps both wise and timely. If Miral threatened both of them, then it made a great deal of sense. If the den mother chose to strike out on her own, then she risked much. She thought back to the harsh winter, and the grim days following the flood when her pack had been cold and hungry. If Octavia proved true to her word, then they would no longer have to live in fear of such hardships.

  "We would be equals?" Adel said. "Leading together? And your pack would accept this?"

  Octavia nodded excitedly. "Everyone knows your name and the tales that are told of your power." She reached up to stroke the den mother's cheek with a gentle palm, staring deep into her eyes. "It would honour us greatly to have the beautiful Adel among our pack."

  "You would welcome us all? Even the sun wolf and the males who follow me?"

  For the first time Octavia's warm expression faltered. She allowed her hand to drop. "The sun wolf would be welcome, but we have no need of males. They are unnecessary."

  "They are the mates of two of my seers, and the third is as good as the same to my apprentice. You would be asking me to break them apart."

  Octavia's brow wrinkled in frustration. She let go of Adel, turning and pacing in the direction of her throne, before spinning back to face the den mother again. "Perhaps we could make room for one. He could be taught to be subservient. Your pack will learn to do without the others, just as we have."

  Adel closed her eyes, her heart sinking. The sound of Netya's weeping earlier that night was still fresh in her memory. She could not force her pack to choose between loyalty and their loved ones again. They had already sacrificed so much in leaving Khelt's clan behind. What had been the point in the past year if not to build something better? Octavia's offer was tempting, and at many other times in Adel's life she knew she would have accepted without hesitation. But she cared for the people who followed her. Cared, and perhaps even loved. The title she carried was more than just a name. Women like her were mothers to all their pack. There were many years when Adel had felt no such bonds of kinship with the people she watched over, but those times had passed now.

  Octavia was no den mother. Perhaps that was why she did not understand.

  "Then it pains me that I must refuse," Adel said. "I cannot force such a parting upon my pack. They have sacrificed enough already."

  Octavia pursed her lips. "Two males, then. It will be difficult, but perhaps one of my other men can be gifted away to another pack to make room."

  Adel shook her head. "I cannot. My followers are not like yours. But even if our packs are not to be joined, I would still be glad to lend you the talents of my seers in exchange for your friendship."

  The other woman bowed her head, remaining silent for a long time. The alpha knelt beside his mistress's throne, eyes flitting anxiously between the pair. Adel's heartbeat quickened, waiting for the answer that might decide the fate of her pack at the gathering.

  "I am greatly saddened," Octavia said. "But you will need help to survive among the other alphas." She looked up with a smile, and Adel let out a silent breath of relief. "Miral will be the one to watch out for. If he can find no success in harrying my pack, he will turn on yours."

  "Any assistance you can offer would be well received," Adel said. "I do not have the strength to fight him, but perhaps there are other ways."

  Octavia nodded, climbing back into her seat. "His hunters are strong, but they are poor trackers. I have remained hidden from them for many years. If you wish to remain safe, you must make your den somewhere difficult for them to find. There are valleys to the north—"

  "Yes, I found them also. To the east of Miral's hunting grounds."

  Octavia nodded, massaging her neck in consideration. "You cannot rely on hunting in his territory. You have food? And water?"

  "Before long we shall. There are waterfalls and fresh springs, and ground for cultivating plants."

  "Very good. You must train your followers to mask their trails and hide their scents. The best way to distract Miral is to divert his anger toward the other alphas, so when you speak with them..."

  Octavia continued to offer her advice, calling for a wooden seat to be brought in along with fresh food. She and Adel talked long into the night, sharing their plans and parleying future favours. They spoke with the guarded restraint of two leaders who were not yet friends, but by the time the den mother slipped back into the trees behind Octavia's camp shortly before sunrise, she suspected she had won her first genuine ally.

  She had not been accepted into the circle of alphas yet, but with Khelt and Octavia's assistance she now stood a chance.

  —16—

  Dark Magic

  Netya awoke the following morning cold and stiff, her eyes still sore from last night's tears. Caspian had not returned to her side, and the memory of what had happened made her feel his absence more keenly than ever. She had been worried when he did not return, but reassured herself with the knowledge that he was more than capable of keeping himself out of trouble. He would not be dragged into some brawl like the men from the other packs.

  Except he had. Was it Khelt's doing? Or had Caspian's patience finally worn out? She knew he was upset with the lack of intimacy they had been sharing, and the strain of adapting to his new role in Adel's pack. Had she driven him away?

  Rather than moping, she wiped her face with a handful of morning dew and dragged herself out of her chilly furs. The mornings were the quietest time for the Moon People, especially at the gathering. Long nights spent in revelry or hunting under the stars finally came to an end when the sun came up, leaving the merrymakers to sleep their weariness away till noon.

  It relieved Netya to see the form of Caspian's wolf curled up at the foot of the hill, still dozing with his bushy tail draped over his muzzle. But her relief was not enough to overcome the lump of hurt still weighing in her throat. She left him to sleep, finding no one else awake in the camp save for Adel. She was sitting up outside her tent with a bowl of tea bubbling in the fire, sipping from a steaming cup. She looked as though she had been awake all night.

  "Den Mother, have you not slept?" Netya inquired as she huddled up beside her mentor and filled a cup of her own, blowing off the steam as it cooled.

  "There is much to be done now that the alphas have assembled. I will find time to sleep another night."

  "When will that be?"

  Adel gave her a faint smile. "Hopefully this evening. But tomorrow I may end up saying the same thing."

  "You need your rest, Den Mother. You said yourself that we must keep our wits about us at the gathering."

  "Very wise, my young seer. Though is it really me you are worried about this morning?"

  Netya sighed, glancing again in Caspian's direction. Nothing ever slipped past Adel. "Do you know?"

  "I
overheard."

  "I am sorry for not coming to you. I was upset. Caspian... I did not expect this from him. Do you think he was hurt? He did not look hurt, but— Oh, I did not even think to check properly!" Netya almost rose to her feet in distress, but Adel motioned for her to calm down.

  "Spirits help you, girl, and they wonder why I have no time for love! Caspian is fine. He drank too heavily and fought for his woman's honour. This is the way of men, even the wise ones sometimes. Do not worry yourself to distraction over your first quarrel."

  Netya gave her mentor a sceptical look. She was not convinced, and she was not a foolish girl any more. "What do you know of love?"

  Adel grunted and sipped her tea. "Enough to know there are greater concerns in life to fret over."

  "Did you have a love once?"

  The den mother stared out over the assembled gathering, though if her eyes strayed anywhere in particular it was impossible to tell. "Perhaps, before the world showed me her true face..." She caught herself and grunted again, looking back into her tea. "No, it is a forgotten memory. Do not ask me of such things, for I have nothing to tell. Let us worry over you. What of your wolf? Has she been responding better since our arrival?"

  Netya did not like her mentor's abrupt changing of the subject, but she knew better than to argue with Adel. "I suppose so. I have not sought her out again, but she feels a little more contented."

  "And what of your dreams?"

  "Some have been troubled, but not many."

  Adel nodded. "It will take time for you to overcome this, but every step is an important one. Perhaps soon you will be ready to commune with your animal side once more."

  "And my training as a seer? Is that to continue again too?"

  "I hope so. If this gathering goes well for us, then with a little fortune I will be able to devote myself to training you once more. I still believe in your talents, Netya." Adel glanced at her, a strangely distant look in her eyes. "The path we have chosen is a dangerous one. If the spirit world claims me before my time, then I must know there is a woman who can lead as den mother in my place."