Pendant of Fortune (44 page)

“
Definitely.” Volle watched Helfer slip past the two guards. They turned their ears to follow him and then stepped up to the dais, dropping to their knees in front of Volle. The wolf’s tail was curled down between his legs, and both his and the stag’s ears were down. The stag was trembling slightly, and Volle could get a faint whiff of the anxiety they both were feeling.

“
My Lord,” the wolf said shakily, and then didn’t continue.

The stag glanced at him and said in a throaty voice, “My Lord. We have behaved disgracefully. We are here to ask you to accept our resignation from the palace guard as punishment for our treatment of you.”

They both looked down, waiting for his response. Flush with his triumph, Volle couldn’t recall the anger he’d felt at them earlier. He couldn’t bring himself to dismiss them. “I appreciate your gesture,” he said, “but you were only expressing your feelings for your fellow guard. I can’t say I blame you. Your resignations are not accepted.”

The stag gave him a grateful look and stood, bowing deeply. “Thank you, my Lord.” He stepped back.

The wolf remained on his knees. Volle bent down, paws on his thighs. “Is there something else?”

“
My Lord,” the wolf said. “I wonder if you would do me the honor of accepting my services as your personal guard.”

Volle blinked, and flicked his ears. “Your services?”

“
Yes, my Lord. I feel it is only just that I atone for my behavior, and it sounds as though some extra protection would not be unwelcome.” He swallowed, still avoiding Volle’s gaze.

Volle glanced at Streak, who just looked bewildered. Helfer, who had lingered behind the wolf and listened in on the conversation, gave him a smile and nodded his head enthusiastically.

Gently, he rested a paw on the wolf’s shoulder. “What is your name?”

“
Forrin Macleith, my Lord.”

“
Forrin, I would be honored to accept your services.”

For the first time, the wolf’s ears came up. He didn’t smile, but his eyes looked determined now, rather than ashamed. “My Lord, none will harm you for the remainder of this retreat. And I will bear witness to your actions should any question them.”

“
Thank you, Forrin.” Volle extended a paw. “I am truly and deeply honored. Please rise.”

The wolf did so, slowly. He was half a foot taller than Streak, and much broader across the shoulders than the slender white wolf. His muzzle was the more traditional grey, but had reddish tones that crept up to the backs of his ears and covered them in dark reddish-brown. His darker grey tail also had brownish hints to it, but Volle couldn’t see whether the rest of his fur followed suit, below the neat guard’s uniform. Golden leather wrist bracers and vest set off his red shirt, and his pants were of the same leather, trimmed with a red stripe down the outside of each leg.

“
Thank you for this opportunity, my Lord.” He stepped around behind Volle and stood there imposingly, waiting for Volle and Streak to move.

“
Forrin, will there be a problem with you leaving the palace guard?”

“
My Lord, personal guard duty for the nobles of the palace is one of the duties assigned to the palace guard whenever a Lord requests it.” He paused. “I believe that even though I asked your favor, it still counts as a request.”

Volle smiled. “All right. We’re going up to Lord Tistunish’s quarters. He’s a good friend of mine and we won’t be in any danger from him.”

“
As your personal guard, my Lord, I will remain wherever you ask me to, but I will respond immediately as I see best if I perceive a threat or danger.”

That sounded ominous, but Volle chose to believe that Forrin was sincere and would do his best. “Very good. I’ve never had a personal guard before, so please let me know if I’m doing anything wrong.” He smiled, trying to elicit a response, but Forrin only nodded.

Tish seemed surprised to see the large wolf, but nodded at Volle’s explanation without registering any surprise. He welcomed them all into the parlor; Volle and Streak sat down next to him, while Forrin waited by the door, arms folded. Alcis seemed unsure how to deal with the large wolf; the servant ended up straightening the dishes on the sideboard, casting nervous glances at the guard as he did so.

Tika was effusive, hugging Volle and Streak both despite their protests at their filthy state. “My dears, how frightening! How wonderful that the culprit was caught. Are you both all right? We’ve been so worried and there was nothing we could do. It’s been a terrible time.”

“
We’re fine.” Volle lied only a bit; the day alone in prison to recuperate had left him feeling almost fine. Only his member still ached noticeably, and he still had stiffness in his neck and shoulders. “It was a rough few days for us, too.”

“
Of course it was.” Tish drew Volle aside while Tika fussed over Streak. “My boy, I think you can finally relax. Without Dereath, without a witness, your hearing should be just a formality.”

“
I was hoping you could just get it canceled.”

Tish laughed. “No such luck. I do have to find out who is taking over the prosecution’s case, though.”

Forrin cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sir?”

Volle and Tish both turned to look at him. “Yes?” Tish was tall enough to look the guard straight in the eye.

Forrin’s ears flicked. “My Lord, I believe Lord Wallen will be taking over those duties.”

“
How do you know that?” Volle asked.

“
While we were escorting Lord—the former Lord Fardew from the room, he bent to Lord Wallen and said something about getting the papers from his desk. I regret that I did not hear more.”

“
Thank you, Forrin.” Volle stroked his whiskers. “Wallen doesn’t like me.”

“
No. I rather thought it would be either him or Villutian.”

An idea occurred to Volle, and he turned back to Forrin. “Did you happen to overhear what he said to Lord Whassel?”

“
I only heard one name, my Lord. He said ‘Angeline.’”

Volle frowned, his ears sliding back and then up again. “That doesn’t mean anything to me. Tish?”

The black wolf shook his head. “Nor to me.”

Volle sighed. “I don’t trust him. Even in custody.”

Tish put a paw on his shoulder. “You should be prepared to realize that he may not face punishment for his crimes. Nobles rarely do, and even though he is not born a noble, he will benefit from having had the title. In addition, those in his position are often privy to delicate information with which they can leverage favor—at least enough to avoid the gallows.”

Volle’s ears lay back, and he was vaguely aware of Forrin’s doing the same. “We’ll see,” he said.

“
He won’t be involved in the Defense Ministry any more, you can be sure of that.” Tish was trying to reassure him, but Volle didn’t feel comforted.

“
Who will be running it now?”

Tish shook his head. “I am not part of those deliberations, thank goodness.”

The obvious insincerity of that sentence made Volle grin. “Oh, I thought you knew everything that went on at the palace.”

“
We are not, you may have observed, at the palace.” Tish looked back at him loftily, but with a twinkle in his eye.

“
You have an excuse for everything.” Volle shook his head. “All right. I hope we can at least assume Dereath will be in prison for the next few days.”

“
I suspect he will remain in custody until the King returns to the palace. I would not be surprised to hear of an escape somewhere along the way back.” The old wolf shrugged. “It has happened before and will happen again.”

“
Mm.” Volle considered that. “But not always.”

“
No, not always.” Tish met his eye.

“
What are we talking about?” Tika was pulling Streak up to join them.

“
The next Minister of Defense,” Tish said smoothly.

“
Oh? Who will it be?”

He put an arm around her. “Nobody knows yet, dear. I believe the King will delay his decision until he returns to Divalia.”

“
Most likely. He has time. Did they send a messenger back to the palace with the news?”

“
I would imagine so.”

Tika changed gears. “Listen, dear, I was thinking that we might take a stroll around the castle for an hour or so. See some of the battlements, perhaps. I understand that some of the original reliefs are still there.”

Volle started to shake his head, but Tika silenced him before he could say anything. “And it might be nice for these two to have a little privacy.”

Tish grinned. “I have been wanting to visit the battlements before we go.”

Streak slid a paw around Volle’s waist, but the ache in Volle’s sheath made him say, “Actually, I think I would rather have some lunch. Aren’t they serving now?”

Tish and Streak stared at him, while Tika said, “Yes…I believe they are.”

Volle looked back, trying to pretend that he didn’t understand why they were all shocked. “Maybe we could just freshen up a bit in your bathroom?”

In the bathroom, as they daubed themselves liberally with a pine-scented powder and then brushed it out, Streak whispered to him, “Are you all right?” Volle nodded, not feeling inclined to talk about it. Streak persisted. “What’s the matter?” Then his eyes widened and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Is it something about…Dereath?”

“
I’ll tell you later,” Volle said quietly, and then raised his voice. “Actually, I would really like a nice water bath.”

“
We’re going down to the resort to visit Dewanne tomorrow. Would you like to come along?” Tika offered from the next room.

“
I think I’d really like to, thank you.” Volle smiled at Streak. “You’ll love this place.”

Streak nuzzled his eartips. “If you’re there, I will.”

Lunch was dried fruit and dried meat with fresh bread, but Volle thought it was the best thing he’d tasted in days. He kept looking at Streak sitting beside him and wondering how he could ever have had doubts. Even through the pine scent, he could smell Streak’s strong lupine scent, and it was sweet to his nostrils. Nobody else seemed to mind or notice that they smelled a bit stronger than nobles were used to. Several nobles stopped to greet him and wish him good fortune, or express their disbelief over the way the inquest had turned out. Lord Alacris shuffled up to him and said gravely that the kingdom appreciated what Volle had gone through.

You have no idea
, Volle thought as the bear walked further down the table.

Forrin didn’t eat with them. Volle asked him about that, but he said that his job was to guard Volle during meals. Indeed, he scrutinized everyone who approached, and some of the smaller nobles were visibly intimidated by his presence. Volle decided that he didn’t mind that so much, and so he took a cloth napkin and wrapped up some bread, fruit, and meat, and presented it to Forrin when they rose at the end of the meal.

“
From now on,” Volle said, handing the package to the surprised guard, “I would like you to eat with us. I think you can be as effective a guard sitting down, and certainly more effective than on an empty stomach.”

Forrin blinked, but accepted the food and the command. He bowed. “As you wish, my Lord.”

“
There are some groups going to do outdoor painting this afternoon,” Tika said, coming up behind them, “or you could go practice archery or swordfighting with some of the others. You’re free to do what you want.” She wagged her tail and smiled as she said it.

Volle looked at Streak, who shrugged and smiled. The fox turned to Tish and Tika. “I think perhaps we’d just like to take a walk together. It’s been a while.”

Tika smiled, and Tish said, “Good idea. We’ll see you tomorrow at the resort, then?”

Volle nodded. “Sometime in the morning.”

“
Not too early.” Tish grinned, and patted them both on the shoulders. “Today went well. I hope the rest of the retreat goes as well. I have a feeling it will.”

They waved as he and Tika left the room, and wandered out themselves a moment later, with Forrin preceding them. “Where are we going to walk?” Streak asked.

Volle smiled. “I don’t know. It’s just nice not to have any obligations, and to see you again.”

“
Yeah.” Streak pulled him close and nuzzled him. “I was really worried when they took you away.”