by Claudia King
"That woman is not me," Netya replied.
"No, not yet. But perhaps one day."
Any more discussion of the sombre topic was averted when the sound of hurrying paws reached their ears. Adel put down her cup and rose to her feet suddenly. A large, distinctively marked wolf was beating his way toward them, skirting around the camps of slumbering bodies until he was at the foot of the hill. Caspian snuffled awake with a start, a growl in the back of his throat as he rose up to challenge the intruder. The wolf paused, but a moment later Caspian seemed to recognise him, dipping his head respectfully and moving aside.
When the male approached Adel he stepped out of his wolf's body and made his own bow of greeting. No longer clad in his coat of fur, Netya recognised him as Alpha Turec.
The den mother ignored the formality and hurried forward, eager to hear whatever news he had brought for her. "Have the alphas spoken?" she said.
Turec nodded. "At first light this morning. It was not a long discussion."
"And what of it? Have they agreed to accept my clan?"
The alpha's hesitation and the grim look on his face were enough to tell Netya all she needed to know. Fear crept its way into the pit of her stomach, and she thought she saw her mentor's fingers tremble.
"I am sorry, but the alphas refuse to acknowledge your authority," Turec said. "A clan of women with no warriors of its own cannot stand equal to the rest of the great packs. You still have our respect, Den Mother, but you must pledge yourself to a true alpha before the gathering ends." He lowered his voice. "And I would suggest doing so soon. You and your seers will be seen as the greatest prize this gathering has to offer once word spreads that you are no longer under our protection."
"I will pledge myself to no alpha," Adel said.
"For the sake of your followers, you must," Turec insisted. "I would offer you my clan's protection, but we have not the strength to contest Miral if he desires to claim you for himself. If you do not find a strong alpha, then a strong alpha will find you."
Netya's unease was building. The hundreds of slumbering bodies spread out across the clearing around her no longer seemed quite so friendly. How many pairs of eyes were gazing in their direction from afar already, hungry for an unclaimed prize?
"What about Khelt?" she said hurriedly. "He will protect us, surely!"
"Quiet, girl!" Adel snapped, holding up a palm to silence her before turning back to Turec. "Thank you for sharing this news, Alpha. Now leave me and my clan to make our decision."
"Make it quickly," Turec said, then turned and disappeared down the hill with his wolf's tail bouncing behind him.
"Khelt is our only choice," Netya whispered, trying to still the fear in her voice. The others were waking up, roused by the conversation. Caspian strode toward them with a look of concern on his face.
"No, girl," Adel said. "I came to this gathering prepared to make a place for myself with no allies at my back, and I still mean to."
"How?! What power do we have to do such a thing?"
The den mother glanced around as her followers began to draw close. "A power the other alphas may not yet believe. But when they gather tonight, I will show them why I am worthy to sit at their side."
Adel called for the others to gather around the fire, and began to explain her plan.
The lingering tension that had underpinned their time at the gathering built like the slow beat of a drum as the hours passed, straining within Netya's chest like a bough on the verge of breaking. All she knew was that they were to assemble before the alphas that evening, stand their ground, and show no fear. Adel had spoken with Ura and Yenna within the privacy of her tent, but aside from the two elder seers no one had been told anything more than Netya. It was not unlike Adel to keep her plans private and guarded, but the secrecy did little for Netya's peace of mind.
She tried to speak with Caspian as they waited anxiously within the camp, but the precariousness of their situation made it difficult for her to find the right words. She would have liked to have his comfort that day, but the events of the previous evening made their moments together uncomfortable and awkward. The time was not right for them to reconcile, and so Netya resigned herself to yet another gnawing worry in the back of her mind as she sought our Fern and Wren's company.
No one else approached the camp that day, perhaps thanks only to Caspian's surly-looking wolf pacing tirelessly around the base of the hillock, but Netya could tell the news of their predicament had begun spreading. Mid way through the morning she noticed a group of Miral's hunters building a fire nearby, and the nauseating feeling in her stomach only grew every time she looked up to see they were still there, watching with the silent eyes of predators.
Some of the lesser alphas came and went with their own groups in tow, watching and conversing with the others for a short while before either settling down to keep their own vigil, or disappearing back into the crowd. Sooner or later the tension would break, and the first alpha would make his move. Netya could only guess at what might happen then. Those who desired Adel and her seers for themselves might challenge one another, or come to the den mother directly with their demands. From what she knew of the Moon People and their ways, she doubted it would end without bloodshed.
By the time the sky began to fade with the first touch of dusk, Netya's worry had almost exhausted her. She hated to sit and wait with so much uncertainty hanging unresolved. Many times she considered seeking out Khelt on the other side of the clearing, but with so many eyes on her it was impossible to slip away unnoticed. And would she even make it through the gathering on her own? She was now just as much a prize as Adel, and she doubted many of the eager young alphas would be able to restrain themselves if the opportunity of bringing a promising young seer into their fold arose, even if she was a sun wolf. Without an alpha to protect her, she was as vulnerable as she had been the night Khelt first found her on the edge of her people's farmlands.
It was almost with relief that she rose to her feet and turned to face the gathering once night had fallen and Ura touched her shoulder with a whisper that it was time. She was ready to do anything; even confront her greatest fears if it meant putting an end to the awful strain of waiting.
She donned her white wolf pelt as she had been instructed, joining the other seers in wearing their ceremonial garb of gowns and animal headdresses. She had not seen Adel for several hours, but the flicker of flame shone through the stitching in the sides of her tent.
Ura disappeared inside, a few muffled words were spoken, and when she re-emerged she was not alone. Netya almost flinched in fear, her eyes widening at the sight of the woman who followed. If Adel had cut a striking figure before, she was now a fearsome nightmare, drawing the darkness to her like a spirit come to life. A smile touched the den mother's lips at the reaction from her followers, each and every one of them staring in awe at their leader.
The black feathers Adel had been collecting for the better part of a year adorned her shoulders, fashioned into a mantle that stirred and fluttered in the breeze like the wingbeats of a hundred black butterflies. It put even the grandness of Octavia's red headdress to shame; majestic and mysterious and imposing all at the same time. It was truly a garment fitting of a great seer, though it was no longer a seer Netya saw when she looked upon her mentor. Before her stood a witch. A sorceress. And perhaps that was exactly what Adel desired to be seen as.
The charcoal painting the den mother's eyes was thicker and more elaborate than ever, curling in strange patterns across her temples and glistening with something that made it shine whenever the firelight caught it at the right angle. Her fox pelt headdress was marked with the same dark streaks, and somehow Adel had managed to pry open the dead beast's empty eye sockets and affix within them two slow-burning coals that glowed dimly in the dark and sent thin tendrils of smoke curling up from her scalp whenever they nudged against the aged animal hide.
She was beautiful and terrifying, and even Netya felt the urge to look away
whenever her eyes lingered on her mentor for more than a few moments. Here stood a woman whose appearance spoke of deals with demons and romance with dark magics. Even though she knew it not to be true, part of Netya still questioned whether some splinter of the unnatural might take root in her soul if she gazed upon the den mother for too long.
"They believe us a coven of witches," Adel said, "and so that is what we must become in their eyes. If they will not respect us, then they must fear us. That is the only way we will win our place at this gathering."
Netya almost believed it. Had she been a rival alpha, she suspected she would have forgotten any desire to bring Adel into her fold in a heartbeat. There were some things that were better left in the shadows, far from sight and mind.
Caspian was the only one whose concern still seemed to outweigh his awe, but he fell in quietly at the rear of the procession as Adel led them down the hill. Netya wondered desperately what he was thinking, but she was quickly called to the head of the column to walk at the den mother's side. She wondered whether she, too, cut an imposing figure with her features cast in shadow and hidden beneath the fangs of her wolf pelt. She did not feel imposing. Every part of her prickled with fear, but she strove to contain it as they approached the fires of the wolves who had been watching them all day long.
Adel's feet were bare, Netya noticed, and the base of her gown still dripped with the water of a fresh wash, but her step never faltered as she made directly for the centre of the clearing. Several men rose from where they were seated, closing in around them in a loose semicircle.
"Keep walking," Adel said softly. "Follow me all the way to the central fires, then wait. Whatever happens then, do not be afraid."
Peering out from beneath her headdress, Netya saw the approaching crowd falter as one by one they laid eyes upon the den mother. Warriors who looked capable of standing toe to toe with lions stopped in their tracks, suddenly unsure of what they were facing. A young man recoiled with horror when he caught sight of the embers smouldering within the eye sockets of Adel's headdress, tripping over his companions as he tried to back away. The hubbub of voices that had followed them on their first entrance was replaced with mute silence, and wolves who might have challenged them mere hours earlier backed away in uncertainty, even the bravest of them cowed by the atmosphere of unease that preceded Adel and her followers like a chill fog.
It was not all abject fear, Netya realised. Some were afraid, but most were simply unsettled. They did not know what it was they now looked upon, nor how to react. And so they waited, parting silently to allow the procession of seers through. The stray whispers Netya heard this time were dark and hesitant, like the thin trails of smoke that rose from Adel's headdress, voiced and lost again within moments. Would it be enough, she wondered? Could her mentor strike such unease into the hearts of the alphas that they would reconsider their decision? It still seemed a slim hope, but Adel was cunning. If anyone had the words to convince them, it was her.
The central fires had begun to burn down low, their roaring heat settling into a comfortable warmth which signalled the alphas had begun their meeting. Netya could see them beyond the flames, seated in a circle with food and drink spread out between them as they talked. Her heart sank a little lower. She knew little of their ways, but everything about the gathering was steeped in ceremony. Now that they had begun their talks, she suspected it was already too late for anyone else to join them. Even approaching the circle now seemed dangerously disrespectful.
One by one the alphas turned their heads in Adel's direction. They were close enough now for Netya to make out their features. Khelt pressed his lips together, his expression drawn and perplexed. Turec shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck distractedly. Adel's father began to rise to his feet in alarm, but the dark skinned alpha shot him a glare and motioned for him to remain seated, before looking back in Adel's direction with curiosity.
A respectful quiet was maintained in the area around the alphas when they were together, but that night it seemed almost the entire clearing had fallen silent. The hubbub of distant talk was numbed from Netya's ears by the crackle and pop of the fires growing louder every second. She heard Miral's voice clearly, a laugh on his breath as he turned to look at the new arrivals.
"She plans to make even more a fool of herself. What is she thinking?"
They were only a few paces from the fires now.
Gheran's beady eyes widened, emerging from the sagging folds of his face in a furious expression that threatened to freeze Netya in her tracks as the old man's inner alpha rose up. "This is a meeting of alphas, Den Mother Adel," his voice boomed through the silence. "Your presence is not permitted."
Not a single person spoke. It seemed half the gathering was watching in stunned silence as the group of seers violated the authority of the alphas by approaching them so brazenly. Netya could barely breathe. She almost failed to realise they were about to walk directly into the coals of one of the central fires until it was too late. Fern grabbed her arm and tugged her back at the last moment. No one did the same for Adel.
The den mother stopped one pace short of the fire, the flames licking at the base of her gown as she locked eyes with each and every one of the alphas in turn. Her fingers curled within her sleeve, so quickly it was barely noticeable, then she lifted her palm and opened it toward the sky. Every eye followed the gesture. The moon shone down from high above, as if Syr herself was pouring her power into the den mother's hand.
In the days that followed, those who had borne witness to what happened next would have sworn they saw dark spirits leaping from the fire around the den mother, the smouldering eyes of her headdress burning brighter as her skin glowed with the shine of pure moonlight. For she was a sorceress unlike any they had ever known, and she proved it to them on that night.
Even the stoic alphas recoiled in astonishment as Adel cast her palm downward and the coals erupted in a plume of violet fire, flaring around the hem of her gown and licking at her body as she stepped barefoot into the red-hot embers without so much as a flinch. The gout of purple flame fluttered and died in her wake, but the den mother cast her palm forward once more, and a second burst of colour erupted from the coals at her feet, flaring and dimming down to a dull violet flicker as she walked through the flames and stepped out on to the grass within the centre of the circle.
"Now," Adel said. "My pack and I will be given our place."
Not even Miral spoke a word of objection as the den mother knelt down to join the circle.
—17—
The Ways of Witches
Adel did not sit with the other alphas for long that night, and Netya was unsurprised when they called an early end to the meeting and withdrew back to their private camps. After the den mother's powerful display of magic it seemed that no one was able to focus on the talks and challenges they had been prepared to engage in that evening.
Caspian ushered the rest of them a respectful distance away so that the alphas could converse in private, and this time when the crowd parted for them it was with an air of chilly reverence. After all, if their den mother could perform such feats of power, what else might her followers be capable of? Even though Netya had been as astonished as any of them, her unease began to settle as she saw the way men and women alike seemed to shrink beneath her gaze. It was no replacement for the atmosphere of comfortable acceptance she had felt prior to that morning, but anything was better than feeling like prey surrounded by a pack of ravenous hunters. It was just as Adel had said: If they could not win the respect of the other packs, then at least they could be feared.
Netya did not want to be feared. Even as her own discomfort diminished, it gave way to a strangely lonely feeling. Was this what it felt like to hold Adel's power?
The den mother lingered behind as the circle of alphas slowly dispersed, pausing to share a few brief words with Octavia after the others had gone. Netya and the rest followed her back through the crowd to their camp a short while later, wh
ereupon Adel disappeared inside her tent with Ura.
The others settled down in silence, most of them still just as awed as the rest of the gathering.
"How did she do it?" Fern murmured. "She called the coloured flames before, when we escaped Miral, but I have never seen her walk upon fire."
"It can be done," Yenna said, "but not over coals that burn so hot. And Adel's coloured fire—that is something that no other seer has ever summoned."
"It had to be, for the other alphas to be convinced of her power," Netya said. She looked to Caspian, but he was staring out across the clearing with his back turned. Many of the new fires that had sprung up nearby had now been abandoned.
It was not the first time in her life that Netya's curiosity had led her down a dangerous path, but she had to know. Rising to her feet, she hurried to the hill's summit and stopped in front of the den mother's tent. The light of a fire flickered inside once again. Steadying herself with a deep breath, she lifted the flap and ducked inside before Fern's anxious calls could stop her.
Ura rose to her feet immediately with a glare. "Netya, you cannot enter—"
"Let her be, Ura," Adel said, her brow twisted with discomfort as she sat upon her log seat, one leg crooked as she propped her left foot up across her right knee. "She is my apprentice."
The elder seer still seemed apprehensive, but after a moment she nodded and knelt back down. Adel's eyes remained on Netya as she sank silently into a sitting position to watch while Ura leaned back down and continued what she had been doing. The den mother's toes were blistered from the fire, but as she looked closer Netya could see that Ura was carefully prying loose flat pieces of hard resin that had been affixed to the soles of Adel's feet with some kind of plant glue. Then she recalled the water she had seen dripping from the base of her mentor's gown. Even from a short distance away, it would have been almost impossible for anyone to notice such things.
