The Riddle - Alison Croggon [187]
Maerad could not remain silent. All of them?
This time Ka did not look so insulted. There was a man of power among them, he said, but he could do nothing against the blessing of our Dhillarearën, and we tore out his throat. There were three other men who tried to run, and we hunted them down.
There was a young man, said Maerad. Not much more than a boy —
There was one more. Ka clearly was not going to be hurried in his story. He smelled of you most strongly, but your smell on him was not the fear smell. Our Dhillarearën warned us not to kill without need, to be just in our revenge, lest the blessing fade. We let him go free.
Maerad breathed out with sudden relief. At least she did not have Nim’s death on her conscience. She thought of Amusk with his throat torn out and felt no pity at all.
It was after that we saw the Daughter of the Moon, as we had been told we would. Here Ka courteously bent his head to Ardina, who had sat silently throughout his narration, and she gravely bent her head in acknowledgment. She brought us here and told us to wait for you. And so we have, and now we have come to the present time.
I saw you, said Maerad. I saw you from the sled. But no one else saw you.
That was the blessing of our Dhillarearën, said Ka.
I thank you from my heart, said Maerad, wondering if that was the correct thing to say to wolves. Ka seemed satisfied with her reply, and the atmosphere in the cave relaxed perceptibly; a couple of the wolves started scratching, and one pair began to lick each other fondly. The formalities, it seemed, were over.
You have hunger? asked Ka. You may eat. You may drink. We cannot leave until the storm has spent itself. That will take a light and a dark. We have all we need here. Then we will guide you to the mountains as swiftly as we may. Six lights and we will complete our journey.
Maerad salivated again at the thought of food. She paced over to the deer haunch, which was already half eaten. Another two lay behind it. She began to tear at it with her teeth, pulling off chunks of flesh and barely chewing them before she swallowed. When her hunger was sated, she came back to a place by the cave wall where there was a slight dip in the rock and curled up around her bulging belly, nose to tail, utterly content. It was not until then that she remembered that under normal circumstances such a meal would have made her retch with disgust.
Ardina nudged her with her nose, and Maerad sat up, blinking.
I will leave you now, she said. I must go back to my own.
I thank you, Ardina, Maerad said, and instinctively she leaned forward and nuzzled Ardina underneath her chin. Ardina stretched out her neck with pleasure and Maerad reflected with wonder that she would never normally dare make such a gesture with the Elidhu. There was no impertinence in it now, and there seemed no need for other words.
Then Ardina leaned down and licked Maerad’s left paw. She flinched; it hurt very badly now. Instead of her mutilated hand she had now a maimed paw, with two toes missing, and the scarcely healed skin had torn on their long run through the mountains. As Ardina licked the wound, the pain ceased. For a wild moment Maerad thought her paw was whole again, but she looked down and saw that her toes were still missing. But where they should have been the skin was black and smooth.
Remember your wolf heart, said Ardina. The Winterking has no power over that. And where he has no power, he cannot see.
But he can see me as a Bard? asked Maerad in a small voice. Must she remain a wolf forever?
He knows your Bard Name, said Ardina. That is the choice of your heart. And remember, daughter, it is for no one else to say the wrongness or rightness of what you do. I would not have helped you to escape from his stronghold if you had not wished it, even though your presence there was not something I would want. Not even I can see all ends, but I have been in this world long enough