Page 26 of Weaving Winter

“We’re generally misunderstood,” she made a tsking sound and her horse began to move ahead. “Come, we ride in by Bran’s side. Family always goes first, since we’re the nobles.”

I felt odd, riding past the line of others, who had stopped to wait. We fell in behind Bran, and then his immediate guards came after us. As we rode along the path winding up the mountain toward the castle entrance, I wondered what was going to happen next.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Castle Eleago reminded me of tales my mother had told me of the few times she’d been inside of castle walls. Massive stones and mortar built up the sides, and the entrance was large enough for several carts to pass through. The entrance was actually a barbican, with two massive portcullises, one in front, one at the other side, so as to trap invaders between the two if needed, cordoned off from either side.

Turrets rose high above the curtain wall on the back side, two of them connected by a passage protected by battlements. On the front, two rounded watchtowers rose, facing the open road. The battlements around the watchtowers allowed archers to shoot from above. The castle wall was large enough to enclose an entire village, and since I didn’t see many houses outside of the castle, I assumed the Wolf People lived together, within the curtained city.

Crows lined the castle walls, watching us as we approached. As we rode up to the front, the guards opened the iron latticed gates. They bowed as Bran rode through, then stood back for the rest of us to enter.

“How many of you live here?” I leaned over to ask Fenling.

She shrugged. “I think we have around five hundred people living within the walls. There are a number of others who live just in the thickets of the Bramble Fel Forest. All told, we have about a thousand people here. There are other Wolf tribes, but they don’t live near us.”

As we passed the gatehouse, entering into the main yard, I saw dozens of small wooden houses, built inside the castle walls. The Prince’s residence was central, a great keep built of stone just like the rest of the castle, and a balcony, with battlements, surrounded the entire structure. None of the houses were attached, but they surrounded the keep like a bevy of suitors around the most marriageable girl in town.

I stared up at the massive structure as a sudden cavalcade of noise assaulted my ears. After so long in the forest, hearing only the quiet talk of a handful of guards, the hustle and bustle of daily life felt alien. We rode along, with a few of the children racing after the horses. I smiled down at them, waving. They seemed to know I didn’t belong, because several of them stared at me with wide eyes, looking confused.

We approached the entrance to the keep, where the guards took our horses. I glanced at Yaran, who was carrying my saddlebags. “What about my things?”

“They’ll be delivered to your quarters. Don’t worry, no one will touch them or go through them.” Fenling pointed to a side stairwell. “Come. While Bran visits his brother, I’ll take you to your quarters.”

As we headed up the stone stairwell along one wall, I glanced back at the cobblestone court where the spread of vendors and stalls were closing for the night. An uneasiness that I hadn’t felt among the scouting unit began to creep around me, though I couldn’t understand why. Nobody looked furtive, I didn’t see any fights breaking out…but immediately, I knew that I didn’t belong here. What was I going to do when I settled in with the Wolf People, if Eleago continued to feel this odd?

By the time we reached my chamber, I was looking over my shoulder, but no one followed us. We reached the fourth floor of the keep, where Fenling stopped in front of a door.

“This is your room,” she said, then pointed to a room down the hall. “That’s my chamber. You can always knock on my door if you need something. I’ll assign a servant to you as soon as I drop off my things.” She unlocked the door and handed me the key. “Come in and see if this will meet your needs.”

I entered the room, looking around. It was spacious, with a large bed piled high with blankets. A massive fireplace was built into one wall and Fenling immediately struck a flame to it, using the lantern she carried. As the kindling took the spark and flared to life, the illumination lit up the room. There was no window, but massive tapestries draped down the walls—probably to keep in the warmth. They were woven with silvery blue thread, embroidered with winter scenes of wolves and forests and the moon.

“This is beautiful—are you sure you don’t need it for somebody else?” I asked, turning around in wonder. My entire childhood home would have fit in this one room. If the guest quarters were this nice, I wondered how grand the family rooms were.

“It is pretty,” Fenling said, standing back. “But it’s just a modest room in the keep. The prince likes his environment…adorned.”

I hesitated for a moment, but had to ask. “Do you like your cousin? The prince, that is?”

Fenling turned away, her voice dropping. “He’s not like Bran, I’ll tell you that.” She paused, then leaned in, cupping her hand to my ear. “The walls have ears. We’ll talk about this later, when we’re outside.”

I nodded, smart enough to recognize a warning when I heard one. I let out a sigh and bounced on the bed, grateful as the billowy bedding encased me. “This is luxury. Our house, when I lived in the village, was nice enough but nothing like this. My mother would fall on her face if she saw where I’m at.”

“Did you love her?” Fenling sat on the bed next to me.

“Yes, actually, I did. My father didn’t treat her very well. Or me, for that matter, but when I learned to hunt, he said that at least I was useful. He blamed my mother for being timid. She wasn’t, except around him, because now and then he let his temper slip.”

“Did he hit her?” Fenling grimaced.

“Yes. A few times. She always told me that if he was hitting her, I was to run to my room and hide until it was safe to come out. But he only whipped me when I was young. I learned to mind my manners when he was near. It helped that I liked being in the woods, hunting. I think he wanted a boy.” I had thought I had come to terms with his disappointment, but a faint ache in my heart told me that I wasn’t fully over it.

“I can’t stand men like that,” Fenling said. She frowned, glancing around the room. “Do you feel like a walk? I can show you around the square before full night hits.”

I nodded. If the walls had ears, this would be a good time for her to tell me whatever it was she wanted to say. “Yes, I’d like to stretch my legs after so long on a horse.”

I pulled on my cloak and gloves, then followed her out, locking my door.

Fenling led me down a different staircase. It was secluded away from the more public staircases like the one we’d come up. As we wove through the hallways, I quickly realized that the keep was a giant maze for anybody who didn’t know it well. I kept quiet, though, waiting till we emerged in the main courtyard.

By now it was nearing twilight, and the vendors had closed their stalls. Here and there, soldiers wandered the courtyard, and a couple of times I caught sight of what looked like an inhabitant of Eleago, burdened under a basket of what looked like bread or some other food, hurrying toward one of the houses.

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