Pendant of Fortune (45 page)

“
That’s when I stopped being worried about you.”

They emerged into the large confluence, where a crowd of people milled about, talking. Volle’s ears flicked around, catching pieces of the discussions; most of them concerned the morning’s hearings, those who’d been there filling in the ones who’d missed it. Nero and Archie stood at the base of the staircase, talking quietly with a trio of bears. Volle recognized Lord and Lady Barclaw, and Lord Quirn, as he drew nearer, and he would have passed on by if Lady Barclaw hadn’t seen him.

“
Vinton!” The large bear turned and scooped him and Streak into the gathering with a warm paw. “We were just discussing your harrowing adventures. Are you feeling better?”

“
Much. Thank you.” He smiled. “We really owe our thanks to the captain here. He believed our stories and found the proof to back them up.”

Nero harrumphed. “As I have said in the past, belief is not my job. I simply noted that your stories seemed to concur more closely with some of the minor details of the crimes that perhaps others might have overlooked.”

Lord Quirn ignored Volle completely, making a show of listening only to Nero. “What sorts of details?”

Nero quickly gave up any pretense of being reluctant to speak. “For example, although the scissors were lying on the floor, they had clearly been thrust deep into the throat. There was no reason for the murderer to have pulled them out again unless he was intending to dispose of them—which didn’t fit with the pattern of an impulse murder.”

“
What if it were premeditated?” Lord Barclaw said.

“
Then the murderer would have brought his own weapon.” Volle chimed in. Glancing past Nero to the staircase, he saw Dereath’s rabbit servant leaning against the banister, listening to them. There didn’t seem to be any malice in his expression, but Volle kept an eye on him anyway.

“
Quite right.” Nero nodded. “Additionally…well, there is a forensic expert in Divalia, name of Macey, a coyote. He’s doing some wonderful things with murder investigations. I’m sure he could have made more of the scene than I could have, but I did notice that the wound appeared to have been made at an acute upward angle. That suggested an attacker more rat-sized than wolf-sized. And lastly, there was no scent of fear on her body. A mouse, surprised by a wolf one and a half times her size, could hardly help a burst of fear. Yet there was none on her body—suggesting that her attacker was someone who knew her.”

“
Brilliant.” Lord Barclaw smiled. “Delighted that you’re working for us in Divalia, captain. We can rest easier at night.”

“
I only wish I could prevent as many crimes as I solve,” Nero said, and his eyes when Volle met them seemed to be very sad. “If I had trusted Lord Vinton sooner, the unfortunate guard might still be alive.”

Volle shook his head. “You had no reason to trust me.”

“
Looking behind you just leads to chasing your tail, boss,” Archie said with a grin.

Nero sighed and nodded. “True.”

“
Where are you boys off to?” Lady Barclaw asked Volle.

He looked at Streak and smiled. “We’re just going to take a walk and spend some time together. It’s been a while.”

“
Very nice. Don’t let us keep you any longer.” He patted them both on the back and then looked across them to Lord Barclaw. “Why don’t you ever take me for a walk?”

Lord Barclaw smiled. “We go for walks all the time.”

“
Oh, how could I forget? We walk to dinner, to lunch, to the King’s hearings…”

Volle grinned and extricated himself from the group, waving to everyone as he did. Forrin, who had waited patiently outside, set off again, but before they’d gone more than ten feet, the large wolf guard whirled to meet a figure who was running after them. He didn’t draw his sword, but he dropped to a defensive posture, and the figure, little more than half his size, drew up short.

It happened so quickly that Volle had only seen it out of the corner of his eye, and not until he turned did he recognize the rabbit. He didn’t call Forrin off, but he did say, warily, “What can I do for you?”

The rabbit, eyes fixed on Forrin, stepped back. “I, er…” He took another step back. “I just wanted to…you see, I don’t have a Lord any more, and I don’t particularly want to go back to Divalia.”

“
Why not?”

The rabbit shuffled his large feet. “I heard that he’s a murderer. I won’t be able to get another job in the palace. And I rather like it here. I know you’re staying with Lord Ikling. I was wondering if you could ask him if maybe he needs another servant for his mansion.”

Volle chuckled softly. “I’ll ask. Are you staying here until then?”

The rabbit nodded. “In Lord Fardew’s quarters. I mean—”

“
What’s your name?” Volle asked, realizing he didn’t know.

“
I’m Terril,” he said, and then took another step back as Forrin growled, his ears dropping. “What?”

“
You’ll address Lord Vinton as ‘my Lord’ or ‘sir,’” Forrin snarled.

“
I’m…sorry, my Lord,” Terril said.

“
It’s all right.” Volle patted Forrin. “Thank you, Forrin.”

“
So you’ll ask him? My Lord?” Terril added the last part quickly with a glance at Forrin.

“
Yes.” Volle waved a paw. “I should see him tonight, so I’ll send someone up with an answer tomorrow.”

“
Thank you, my Lord.” Terril turned and walked slowly back up the stairs.

“
I don’t trust him,” Streak muttered. “Anyone who worked for that rat…”

Volle shrugged and flexed his wrists, remembering the slide of the knife blade across them and through the leather straps. “But Helfer likes rabbits,” he said with a grin. “Though I’m not sure he’d be a good match, actually.” Someone who “wasn’t interested in that sex stuff” might hold little interest for Helfer.

“
I wouldn’t think so.”

“
I’ll mention it to him, anyway.”

“
I don’t trust him either, my Lord.” Forrin turned his head partially as they made their way through the crowd.

“
Why not?”

“
He didn’t have any respect for you. And his scent was weak.”

“
I noticed that too.” Volle shrugged. “Some people are born like that.”

Forrin looked doubtful, but didn’t say anything else.

As they made their way to the main gate, Helfer caught up to them. Forrin’s ears turned at the sound of running footsteps, but he relaxed when he saw who it was. They stopped just before the large doorway.

“
Volle, Streak,” Helfer said. “And…Forrin, right?”

The wolf nodded. Volle grinned. “Why in such a hurry?”

“
I ran into Tish, he said you were taking a walk. I was going to ask where.”

Volle looked at Streak and let him answer. “No plans,” the wolf said.

“
Might I suggest a trail down the mountain to the mansion? It should take you a few hours and you’ll arrive in time for dinner.” The weasel’s eyes glinted brightly.

Volle canted his ears. “Why?”

Helfer shrugged and grinned. “I’m about to take a buggy down and put together a little evening celebration for you. It’s a nice scenic walk, and as pretty a day as you’ll get up here. And it’ll give me time to arrange everything. It’s not easy pulling this off at the last minute, you know.”

“
Hef, you don’t have to do that.”

The weasel raised a paw. “Hush. Don’t you think I’d jump at any excuse to throw a nice party?” He grinned, his little tail wagging. “Besides, it’ll look good. I can invite the nobles and maybe that plus the orchard visit and the brewery sampling next Caniday will salvage this visit. It’s hard to get over two murders.”

Streak grinned at Volle and gave a small nod and shrug. “All right,” Volle said. “If it means that much to you…”

“
Great!” Helfer clapped his paws together. “I’m off now. Roferro’s here, he can take you to the trail head. He’ll go with you if you want.”

“
Might be best,” Forrin rumbled. “To have someone who knows the way, I mean, my Lord. If you trust him.”

“
You can trust Roferro,” Helfer said before Volle could respond. Forrin looked to Volle for confirmation, and Volle nodded.

The trail Roferro led them to was wide enough for two to walk side by side, so Forrin accompanied the otter while Volle and Streak walked some distance back. For the first hour or so, they wound their way through boulders and loose scree, and more than once Volle had to stop and pick a pebble out of his paw. The slopes were occasionally steep, but all were easy to navigate; the problem was that conversations tended to be interrupted, and eventually they stopped trying to talk.

He had to admit that the rocks were pretty. The primary material was a grayish-black rock veined with white quartz, but scattered throughout the area were smaller rocks of reddish and orange sandstone. Streak found a small rough rock that was bright white: a piece of pure quartz crystal, and he gave it to Volle with a smile. Twice they saw small rodents scurrying for cover behind rocks, but other than that, the place was devoid of life.

The rocky path opened out onto a large meadow, and here the trail became less distinct. But Roferro pointed across the meadow, explaining, “There’s a spring on the other side. We used to come play here as kits.” He jogged across the soft, springy grass.

Forrin looked back at Volle, his tail wagging slightly, and Volle waved him on. The grass was smooth on his paw pads, and on the other side of the meadow he could see trees and hear the burbling of the stream. Birds chirped, and small animals rustled through the grass and bushes. In contrast to the rocky part of the trail, the meadow smelled and sounded alive.

The pastoral setting lifted his spirits and he supposed the others felt the same. Forrin jogged after Roferro and he and Streak followed at a more leisurely pace.

“
I suppose you have to go through the harsh place to get to this one,” Streak said.

“
I’m glad we’re through our harsh places.” Volle slipped an arm around his waist. “I was beginning to wonder if there would be an end.”

“
I know what you mean.”

They walked in silence for a few more paces, and Volle could tell Streak was struggling with something. He let the wolf sort out what he had to, and perked his ears when the wolf’s white muzzle opened.

“
You know, for all the time I was in the cell, I mostly thought about how I’d let you down. I wondered if you’d come back for me or just let me go.”

“
Let you go? Why would I do that?” He said it somewhat uneasily, trying to forget the temptations he’d had, telling himself that he’d never really considered them.

Streak lowered his head. “We hadn’t even been around a day and I managed to stumble into a murder and get thrown in jail.”

“
So? That wasn’t your fault.”

“
We didn’t know that until today. And anyway, you think that makes me feel better? I got tricked like some backwoods farm wolf.” His ears drooped. “Which is what I am.”

“
That’s the wolf I fell in love with, and I won’t hear a word said against him.”

Streak smiled then, but weakly. “You know what I wanted more than anything, there in that cell?” Volle shook his head. “I wanted to be back with you on the farm, away from all this. There’s just…so much.” He brought his paws up, then dropped them back to his sides.

“
We don’t have to go back to the farm now, though. As soon as my hearing is over, we can go to the palace.” Volle was fighting back the crawling sensation at the back of his neck. He suspected he knew where this was leading.

Streak didn’t talk for while, just looked down at the grass as his paws shuffled through it. “This is nice, here,” he said finally. “We don’t have mountains back at the farm.”

Volle lowered his ears. “You don’t want to go to the palace.”

“
I don’t know.” There was an undertone of anguish to his voice. “I want to be with you, but now I’m…I’m frightened.”

“
I can protect you there,” Volle said. “I have friends, and…” He trailed off, as Streak was shaking his head.

“
I’m frightened that I’ll let you down,” the wolf said quietly.

They had almost reached the spring, and Volle stopped to look into Streak’s eyes. He touched his nose to the wolf’s and breathed softly. “You won’t let me down.”