Page 156 of The Black Witch

“Is he like my toy, Momma?” one of the boys asks with morbid enthusiasm. He pulls a wooden figurine out of a little sack he’s carrying. It’s a scowling Lupine with glowing eyes painted bright amber, his hands morphed into hairy wolf hands with long claws.

“That’s him, all right,” Auralie agrees, nodding.

Aislinn’s nephew dumps out the rest of his toys onto a nearby table, and all the familiar wooden figures spill out: evil Icarals, flames in their palms; sinister Vu Trin sorceresses; an evil-looking Fae queen; and the valiant Gardnerian soldiers, some on horseback.

“I’m gonna have the soldiers kill him!” the boy announces as he begins to set the Gardnerian soldiers up in a circle around the Lupine.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Liesbeth says, pleased.

The little girl, Erin, looks worriedly toward the door. “Will he come back?” she asks Liesbeth, clinging to her skirts.

“Oh, honey, he won’t bother you.” Her mother reassures her. “Look at all the Gardnerian soldiers here. You’re quite safe. And when Marcus Vogel takes over as High Mage, the brave soldiers like Poppa will get rid of them someday. Then no one will have to worry about them ever again.”

And we can all live happily-ever-after, I think sarcastically. It’s becoming unbearable to remain silent, yet neither one of us can say anything. If we do, Aislinn’s sisters will become suspicious about our intermingling with Lupines, and those suspicions will surely find their way back to Aislinn’s father.

“The Lupine...he hasn’t bothered me,” Aislinn ventures weakly. “He and his sister leave everyone alone. They keep to themselves.”

“Nonetheless,” Liesbeth says as she deftly restrains the toddler who’s running in circles around her legs. “I wish you’d hurry up and fast to Randall. Lupine men see an unfasted woman and think she’s easy prey. Plus, once you’re fasted and married, we can all be together again.”

“We miss you, Linnie,” Auralie laments, a deep sadness in her eyes.

“I miss you, too,” Aislinn admits, her voice tight with longing. Aislinn is looking at her sisters the way you stare at a boat that’s sailing off, leaving you behind.

“Aunt Linnie, you promised in your letter that you’d play with me when I saw you,” Aislinn’s niece entreats, pouting up at her aunt. “I brought my new marbles to show you!”

“Oh, show her, Erin!” Liesbeth enthuses. “They’re from the Valgard glassworks, Tierney’s father’s shop.”

Little Erin opens up a black velvet bag with a red, tasseled pull string, and we all reach in to pull out the large marbles. We hold them each up in turn so we can peer through them at the swirling colors that catch the surrounding light.

Aislinn holds one up, studying it closely. “Look at this one, Elloren,” she breathes. “It’s so beautiful. It reminds me of something...but I don’t know what.”

She hands it to me, and I look through it with her as she leans close, studying the bright amber globe with me.

“Oh, I know,” she says, smiling with sudden realization. “It’s just like...” She catches herself, colors deeply and looks away, her smile disappearing.

I turn back to view the swirling orb in my hand. Itisbeautiful, just like she said.

The exact color of Lupine eyes.

CHAPTER FIVE

Howl

A few days later I hear the howling.

Aislinn and I are eating lunch in the dining hall. I look up from my food to see what the commotion is.

It’s coming from a group of Gardnerian military apprentices, all with white armbands.

Fallon Bane sits imperiously in their center, her military guard nearby.

Other young Gardnerian men soon join in, and the dining hall begins to sound like there’s a wolf pack running around in it.

In the center of all the animal noises stands Diana Ulrich. She strides down a center aisle toward us, chin raised, a large plate of food cradled in both hands, a bag slung over her shoulder.

As she passes, young men laugh and proposition her.

“Hey, wolf-girl!”

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