<— Chapter 14 ~*~ Chapter 16 —>
She went from thick gray coat and golden eyes to satin blouse and velvet skirt in an instant.
“Invoker,” she purred. “What a pleasant surprise! And who is this with you?” she asked, turning her attention to Rat. “Ah, I should have known. You’re not still hanging around that avaricious coward from Outer-Kaluna are you?”
Rat squirmed. “Everyone wants to hire her, even the indel I run messages for. I can’t turn down messages can I?”
The Wolf gave him a pat. “You make good use of your magic. Look at you, escorting Invoker’s already.” She turned to Bernard with a keen look in her eye, straightening the purple silk hat on her head with purpose. “How may I be of service to you? You have but to ask, and we indel will serve.”
Her words, as smooth and silky as the hat she wore made him feel uncomfortable. It was one thing to hear indelfy being addressed in such a manner, it was another to hear them talk about Amy that way. Did Amy have any friends unmotivated by greed?
Rat mouthed something at him, and he realized he hadn’t given The Wolf a response. He pulled out a letter, sealed with the Duke’s personal emblem, and carefully noted her reaction as he passed it over. Nothing visible changed at first. She was still sleek and shiny, poised and perfect, yet the Duke’s emblem made her go—still.
“I see. Is this for me, or for someone I can take this to?”
He slid it into her hand. “To everyone in the Wolf Trap. The Duke suspects you have a spy in your midst.”
The Wolf raised an eyebrow. “We have enemies? Kaluna has always been such a peaceful city.”
Rat slunk forward. “He means the Stronghold.”
He expected her to fling the envelope back in a similar manner to Amy just a night or so ago, but instead she laughed. “This is our great enemy? Assassins with no combined strength? You must demand his Grace send out an army, not sneak around with letters, stinking of fear.”
Lights sparked in her eyes. “We will fight. We will throw diseased corpses at their doorsteps and hold them inside their own walls with blockades. The Stronghold has gone too far with these attitudes. We have no need of this letter of yours.
“One other thing, Schreber…”
The Wolf stilled. “What about him?”
“I think he’s one of them.”
The Wolf growled in protest, and then snapped her jaw shut. For one fierce moment he saw in her something more wolf than indel, and then she was back in fur and claws, loping away soundlessly.
Only Rat was left to him, and he just stared, wide-eyed. “Do you know what you’ve done?” he demanded.
<— Chapter 14 ~*~ Chapter 16 —>
The author of this website is a semi-professional short story author who chooses to remain anonymous for the writing of this novel. Her publications include 4 short stories and one honorable mention in a flash fiction contest.
Oooh wow! I like how there’s ‘magic out of nothing’ (hah! herbalists are awesome too!) and the hint of something very out of place in Amy’s life/mind/future. She is so very screwed. But then, I get the feeling that so is everyone else. She seems the vengeful sort – if she has to go down, everyone else is going down with her damn it all! Heh. The story’s taking a nice shape, I look forward to seeing what happens next
Hi there,
Thanks for the comment on my blog earlier.
I like what you’re doing here. And it’s good to see you’ve chosen to host the website yourself, and not gone for one of those free blogs, where you end up not owning your own content.
And WordPress is a brilliant blogging platform!
You are clearly a very good writer, keep up the good work.
Paul.
@ Paul – No problem. I enjoy your blog very much!
@ Zyrieen – oh yes. But when she goes boom, the whole world goes with it. O.o