Maiden's Wolf (In Deception's Shadow Book 3) (24 page)

“This battle,”
Silverblade said. “But if Ironsmith’s last words are to be believed we have a
big problem. If Lord Master Trensler has already managed to invade the Dead
King’s domain, we will have to act quickly.”

“We will deal
with that tomorrow, if it has indeed come to pass. Besides, the Twelve are
coming together. More will likely make their way to us.”

Caltanwyn cleared
his throat. “About that. One more has come to join your ranks.”

When Silverblade
looked at the much-younger lupwyn, it was in time to see him discard his armor
and the padding underneath, exposing his chest. One of the symbols of the
Twelve had burned away his fur, leaving behind the shimmering mage mark.

Silverblade
laughed and gave Beatrice another swift kiss. “I see your words are already
coming to pass. Tomorrow, we will see where Lord Master Trensler really is.
Tonight, we will lick our wounds and rest.”

By the lack of
fighting sounds in the distance, they knew the battle was over by the river as
well. But there would still be much that would need their attention, not the
least of which would be the uneasy truce with the humans of River’s Divide.
Silverblade decided in that instant, politics was the job of leaders. Ashayna
and Sorntar could deal with that mess. If it looked like the younglings needed
help dealing with the humans, Silverblade would offer it, but if not, he was
more than happy to sit back and simply be a soldier. He was no diplomat.

Glancing sideways
at Beatrice, where her death magic still flickered about her and the pack bonds
glowed silver-bright upon her body, he decided she didn’t look very diplomatic
at the moment, either.

“Come,” he said.
“We should go see if our leaders require anything of us. And we will introduce
the newest member to them as well.”

*****

When they emerged
from the forest, it was as they expected. The battle was over and the last of
the acolyte bodies were being disposed of by Ashayna Stonemantle. She used the
fierce, fiery power of the destroyer, saying she didn’t trust the acolytes’
master not to try and resurrect his minions out of the dust.

When she was
finished, there wasn’t even ash. With the battlefield purified and the land rid
of the last traces of acolytes, she turned and walked to her father. She seemed
hesitant until he reached out and took her in a rib-cracking hug.

From what
Silverblade understood, humans had very little knowledge of true magic, only
the lies the acolytes had told them.

So it was
reasonable to assume that even the seemingly stoic Ashayna Stonemantle had
dreaded telling her father about her magic. It might take the humans a long
time before they trusted those with magic, but one father accepting the magic
of his daughters was a start. Perhaps one day, Beatrice would be able to walk
freely among her people again, too.

“My ‘people’
accept me just fine,” Beatrice said as she gestured at the pack surrounding
them. “Although, maybe they are used to more variety, since their alpha is
half-phoenix.” She grinned and stroked a hand up under his wings. He felt her
healer’s magic running over him again, learning his new body. She clearly
delighted in his ability to change his shape.

Her fingers found
the wing joints on his back and began to explore. Perhaps he should tell her
that was an erogenous zone for the phoenix.

Hmmm, or perhaps
he wouldn’t. Just yet.

In the days
following the battle with the acolytes, an uneasy peace fell over the port city
of River’s Divide. General Stonemantle, his senior advisors, and city officials
met at the outskirts of the city and there treated with the kings and queens of
both the lupwyns and the phoenix, the Council of Elementals, and the Leaders of
the Twelve.

Silverblade was content
to stand at the back of the tent with the stallion mage, Shadowdancer, and his
herd mistress, Sorsha Stonemantle. Beatrice and Caltanwyn were on his other
side, and both seemed bored out of their minds. He couldn’t blame them for
yawning and fidgeting—politics and treaties were not his favorite pastime,
either.

Beatrice started
to run her fingers in his feathers again. The night before, he’d taught her
about feather care and mutual grooming, although it was purely the grooming
part he’d been interested in. Besides, she was being subtle and he doubted if
any of the humans would notice.

Occasionally, one
of the human advisors or city officials would glance toward the back of the
tent, but their eyes would slide past him and land on the stallion mage. Beatrice
had explained that long ago, the people of the empire once worshiped a
mythological creature called a centaur. The stallion mage looked very much like
one of those creatures.

It suited him
well enough if the humans wanted to stare at Shadowdancer instead of him.
Although, by the stallion’s darkening expression, he was getting tired of all
the stares.

Silverblade was
just settling in for a long wait made tolerant by Beatrice playing with his
feathers, when there was a commotion outside the large tent. It sounded like a
company of horses.

A female voice
full of authority rang out. “Where are my daughters?”

There was a
greater commotion outside as guards shifted and changed locations, and he was
certain he heard a sharp, ‘get out of my way’ followed by a, ‘now, you idiot!’

“Lady
Stonemantle, if you will give us but a moment…” a human guard said.

“No, I won’t give
you a moment.”

The tent flap was
thrown aside and a woman, just beginning to show the markers of time in her
hair, came storming in. She was immaculately groomed, hardly a hair out of
place. If he hadn’t heard the horses with his own ears, he would’ve assumed
she’d been in the camp for some time, for she looked nothing like a woman who
had just galloped from River’s Divide for this meeting.

She covered half
the distance to the table, halted sharply, and scanned all the faces of those
present within the tent.

“Well, there’s
two of them, at least.”

Lady Stonemantle
made straight for her daughters, undaunted by the number of nonhumans in the
room. After looking them both over, she gathered them in her arms for a swift
embrace and then turned her attention back to the Crown Prince of the Phoenix,
likely because he was the one person of authority on the side of the Elementals
that she’d already met.

“I thank you for
bringing two of my daughters back safely, but there seems to be one missing,”
Lady Stonemantle said with a tilt of her head. Her sharp gaze warned the others
in the room to speak only the truth, or risk a mother’s rage.

Silverblade was
pleased that he was not in any way related to this matriarch. He had met
Beatrice’s grandmother several times during his scouting mission, and Old
Mother, while gruff, was also plainly spoken. There was no political intrigue
or doubletalk to worry about.

No, he did not
envy the Crown Prince of the Phoenix inheriting Lady Stonemantle as a second
mother. But then again, perhaps Lady Stonemantle would seem pleasant compared
to the prince’s own mother, Queen Talnarra of the Phoenix.

Ashayna
Stonemantle looked less than happy and explained that Lamarra was still back in
the Elemental city of Grey Spires, under the protection of another. When Lady
Stonemantle’s eyes narrowed, Prince Sorntar jumped in to smooth things over as
much as possible.

Silverblade
wasn’t really listening any more. At least they both still had mothers. Pain
lanced through his heart, fresh grief welling up within his soul, threatening
to choke him. After a few deep breaths, he managed to master his emotions
enough not to betray them outwardly. Even killing Acolyte Ironsmith had done
little to dull the pain. He hadn’t expected that it would, but he’d still
hoped.

He took some
comfort in the fact that his own mother’s bravery and strength had allowed him
to escape, to find Beatrice, and to warn the others of the danger the acolytes
represented. In that way, he knew his mother’s sacrifice had saved many more
lives.

A delicate hand
intertwined with his, and Beatrice turned to him, bumping her shoulder into his
side gently. “We did well. Success would not have been possible had your mother
not gotten you free of the acolytes’ nets that first time, which in turn
allowed you to find me. I fully believe it was her spirit which kept you going
that day. Your body and Larnkin were very weak. By rights, you shouldn’t have
survived long enough to reach me, but you did.”

She paused and
tugged at his arm until he started to follow her. Together they snuck out the
back of the tent, leaving the leaders to hammer out the treaty. She headed to
the river. All signs of the battle had been erased. Other Elementals had been
responsible for that bit of magic.

“I always thought
it was the mage mark that saved us,” Beatrice continued when they were far
enough away not to be overheard by anyone else. “But it never reacted like that
again the other times we ran into acolytes. I think that first time was the
result of your mother’s spirit protecting you, one last gift to her son.”

He ran a finger
along the intricate mark, feeling the slow pound of his two phoenix hearts
underneath. “I like that thought.”

“After this
present drama is finished, we will discuss other personal things, attend to
pack business, and together, teach the pack to sing your mother’s memory to the
moons.”

Beatrice had
already absorbed much knowledge of his people through her pack bond. “That
would be a nice tribute. Once we free my father from Grey Spires, and I have
shared with him everything about what happened to my mother, I will share what
you said as well. I think my father will like your idea for a tribute. Thank
you.”

*****

After many
candlemarks of debating, the Elementals and the humans eventually worked out an
agreement. They would forge another treaty with the people of River’s Divide—a
marriage treaty where Ashayna and Sorntar would be wed in the way of human
tradition. Silverblade thought it sounded like a sideshow to soothe the humans
and explain why there were so many Elementals within River’s Divide. No one
wanted the city’s populous to learn that the treaty was really the beginning of
a strategic plan for war against the acolytes back across the ocean.

The Elementals
had decided they could not risk allowing the festering infection that was the
acolytes to grow stronger and General Stonemantle agreed. But that would be
days of planning and first they needed to find out what had befallen Lamarra.

Silverblade
didn’t think the others would like what they’d found. So far, fate or the gods
had been tossing pairs of the Twelve together. If he followed that line of
reasoning, it led to the fact that Lamarra was the Dead King’s match. And if
he’d chosen a Dead Queen, they were likely already too late to save her. And
were he the Dead King, Silverblade thought he’d understand if he would fight to
keep his queen.

Looking down at
Beatrice, he knew if anyone tried to separate them, he would hunt down those
foolish enough to do so. He planned to keep Beatrice for the rest of his life.

Besides, she had
another ninety-seven days of courtship to complete. And he was very much
looking forward to each and every one of those days.

Beatrice started
to laugh, clearly reading his mind again. Not that he ever tried to block her.
He liked having her there—a part of his heart, mind, and soul.

“My beloved Silverblade.
I would court you for a century if that was what it would take to earn your
trust.” Beatrice stretched up on her toes and planted a kiss on his mage mark.

He lifted her
higher and when her fingers found their way into his crest, he started to coo
in the embarrassing habit phoenix had. He nuzzled her jaw, placing kisses
there. “Hmmm, I’m pretty sure my weak-willed lupwyn soul will succumb in less
than one hundred days. I’d never survive a century.”

“Good. Because a
century of phoenix courtship likely would drive me to take up some kind of
blood sport out of pure frustration.” She pressed another kiss to his cheek and
then her expression turned serious once more. “I suppose I should start
learning how to master my pack bonds soon. The other eleven Talismans are still
lost out in the world somewhere and we need to find them before we can strike
at the acolytes across the ocean.”

“Tomorrow. We can
start your training tomorrow. Tonight, I have other plans.” Silverblade grinned
and decided it looked to be a fine evening for courtship.

The
End

Did
you enjoy Maiden’s Wolf?

If
you have a moment, please think about leaving a review.

Reviews
help authors tremendously and are greatly appreciated.

Thank
you!

I also have a monthly newsletter for fans,
highlighting future projects, sample chapters, freebies, review copy giveaways,
contests and a chance to grab 99c new releases and other discounted book deals!
To gain access to those kinds of fun tidbits and bargains, just join my
newsletter below.

http://lisablackwood.com/join-the-newsletter-here/