Chapter 23: Chapter 21

Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer

Chapter 21

“I thought you were going to see the healer?”

“I was, but if Hati can be stubborn then so can I.”

Vali looked unimpressed. “You look like someone tried to cook your hand. I would get that checked. Or at least seasoned.” He grinned wide.

I rolled my eyes. “My youngest sibling might have found that chilling, Lokison.”

But when I dared look down at my hand, my stomach heaved. It looked better than the pain told; though one spot in the centre of my palm showed a spiderweb of cracked skin. A few small blisters dotted my lower arm too. And all the skin below my elbow that wasn’t cracked, bleeding or blistering, was red raw. It reminded me of when Mànas had spent too long lying in the sun one summer. His skin had peeled for days.

And so I found myself heading to Eirny’s quarters anyway, one hand keeping the torn seam of my dress together while I attempted to hide the other from view. Thankfully, the Northern quarter of the castle where Hati’s quarters and the Healer’s Wing resided were often quiet.

A male about Fionnlagh’s age swaggered past with a bandage over his chest and smile that told me he’d gotten in a challenge amongst his peers that he’d won. He struck me as familiar in some way but I couldn’t place how.

We found Eirny tossing a bloody bowl of water out the window in her small room where she kept her books and herbs. Her hair was tied back and covered by cloth as usual, stray wisps of gold and grey flying out. She wiped a hand across her forehead as she turned, violet eyes becoming alert when she realised she wasn’t alone.

“I not long finished sewing your cousin up and now you’re here too?” she huffed a breath. “Your family alone keep me running about.”

I grimaced, glancing back down the hall after the young male who’d passed us. I that who’d he fought? “Is Fionnlagh alright?”

“Grinning bigger than Ull is. Fionnlagh may have lost the fight but he won what he was after.”

“Ull?” I wondered out loud, my suspicions confirmed when Eirny gave me a sly smile.

“Ull’s sister is currently at Fionnlagh’s bedside. . .”

“Their fight was over Ulli.” I shook my head in amusement. “Sin mar a tha e. I suppose she must have been somewhat impressed.”

Eirny chuckled. “Oh no, she was furious her brother and the male she has interest in crossed claws over her honour as if they had the right. Most of their wounds came from her putting a stop to it before Fionnlagh made a fool of himself. Ull is three years older and a warrior. Your cousin is lucky he was only bruised and winded, and suffered no broken bones or severed limbs.”

Pride welled when it shouldn’t have. Fionnlagh could have gotten seriously hurt. How much of a lesson I would teach him later would depend on whether he was the one to challenge first, or Ulli’s brother.

“Thank you for taking care of him. I know you must be awfully busy but I am afraid I too am in need of your skills.” I bit my lip and stepped closer before adding more quietly. “I have news to share as well, and need of your wisdom. Hati. . .he is going to need you, I think, though he will put up a front.”

Violet eyes searched my face for a moment, and her hand reached out to grip my arm, her lip trembling. “I doubt you are talking about Gerlac’s arrest which can only mean. . .” She swallowed hard. “It was not an imagining was it? I heard the call of Fenrir on the wind.”

A shiver went up my spine. “Yes. How did you hear?”

“He is of the Vargr, Eabha. The First Alpha. When the First Alpha calls for his pack, the pack hears no matter where they are.”

“So all the Vargr in our pack would have heard?”

Expression grave, she gave a sharp nod. “All of them.”

“None will answer though, right?”

Her hesitancy to reply made the pit of dread in my stomach open up like a gaping maw. Did Hati realise this? Did he believe some of the Vargr might leave? Surely not. The pack had made their choice when they split between he and Sköll. Fenrir’s escape wouldn’t change their loyalty now, would it?

I’d nearly forgotten all about my reason for coming here until a stressed flinch of my fingers sent a burning reminder.

Eirny’s nose scrunched as I let out a hiss of pain. She pried my hidden hand before her and tutted at the mess.

“What in the name of Freyja happened?”

“I will tell you everything, but then you must go to Hati.”

She sighed gently. “Fenrir is not the reason you want me to see him is it?”

“Not the only one. He was forced to play his final part in the story of Ragnarök. He is not himself.”

The longer I was mated to him the more I could sense his emotions, but all I could sense now was an empty shell. All emotions shoved away so he could function as the Alpha he thought he needed to be. Something about the look on his Aunt’s paling face and restless gaze made me grow even more wary.

She pulled me so close her lips met my ear and implored, “Hati is a good male but that does not mean he and his Sköll are nothing alike, and grief, regret, guilt, it can make wolves do rash things. He must not be left alone.”

“Caldar is with him.”

“Good.”

Yet it wasn’t good. Because Eirny had just confirmed my fear. Hati was a brash male with a strong sense of pride and duty, and both those things had been shattered with what he perceived as his own action, and not calculated manipulation.

“You can wait out here, Vali,” Eirny said, eyeing the fidgety male with dislike.

He didn’t care, wandering over to one of the torches to heat his hands at the flame. I called him back, deciding he’d be better left with a task than to his own devices.

“You never met the spy did you?”

“No. I once saw them in passing but they were hidden in a cloak. Nobody leaves Sköll’s keep without a trace of that darkness on them though, and I can sense that here in the castle.”

“So if you saw the spy here, you’d be able to sense that darkness on them?”

He made a face. “Perhaps. If it were that easy, the Vargr would probably have picked up on them by now. You yourself would have too, I imagine. With the wards around your territory, I doubt Sköll or his minions would be capable of shielding their presence.”

“So they’re either shielding themselves which would mean we’re looking for someone with magic, however not strong enough for the wards to block them, or. . .“

“Or they’re covering the scent of magic on them,” Vali offered. “Easy enough to do with a strong perfume like Ingrid wears.”

Could Ingrid be fooling us all? Could she have pretended friendship while plotting revenge for my taking her position? Would she have let her father get caught?

“I want you to look around. With Gerlac arrested everyone will be gossiping. Listen and watch. You know what to look for, and I’m sure you know how to remain unseen.”

Vali smirked and bowed low. “As my lady commands.”

In a blink, as the flickering torch cast a shadow over his form, he vanished.

Eirny told me what she’d heard of Gerlac’s arrest while she cleaned me up, going so far as to take my ruined dress and let me borrow one of her plain grey woollen ones. My hand she took gentle care off, dabbing an ointment on the worst of the burns. In turn, I told her all that had occurred in Asgard, in between memorising her instructions to re-bandage my hand if it did not heal well by morning.

“Whispers are abound,” she said as she began to show me how to wind the bandage coated in a moisturising paste around my hand and up my arm. “This pack is balancing on a cliff edge seconds from crumbling.”

“Do you think any of the pack will leave,” I said repeating my earlier question she’d chosen to ignore.

She sighed, and sat back on her stool. “Of the Vargr? I doubt it; not if reinforcements come from Odin. Skin shifters, however long they’ve been amongst the beings in stories of gods and monsters here, may flee at the sign of war. They did not come here to fight in Ragnarök. They came here for safety.”

“Then we must make sure we are careful until we rebuild the castles defences. The pack don’t need to fight. There must be a way to keep the skin shifters out of this.”

“The fear of Blood Drinkers and hunting humans keep them here too,” Eirny pointed out. “Our worlds are all colliding. It’s all in motion, it has been long before Hati killed Sòl, long before Freyja placed you on this earth.”

“May it end soon.”

Lavender eyes darted up to meet mine. Maybe it was the venom in my tone. Or the agonising weariness. I wanted to stop running. Stop fighting. Maybe that was the key. Maybe instead of trying to avoid Ragnarök, I should dig in my paws and turn to face it with bared teeth.

“Don’t lose yourself to prophecy, Eabha. Hati did, and it led him down a dark path. Sköll did, so deep and so far he can never be anything else but the wolf who will devour the moon. For Hati, the sun will still rise tomorrow.” She stood and urged me to as well, leaning in to press her cheek to mine. “I must go check on my son. My advice on Gerlac would be this, if he is innocent, do not free him until you have found the true culprit. Chaos from the inside will bring this pack down before any outside force does.”

“I will relay your advice to Gerlac. He will do what is good for the pack.”

Eirny chuckled. “You already thought of it. Good. You are learning. Gerlac will be proud.”

I wasn’t so sure. But knowing Eirny would be at Hati’s side gave me a measure of relief.

Setting off towards Ingrid’s chamber, I couldn’t shake the feeling I would be met with her father’s wrath more than his gratitude.

The halls were nearly empty. Perhaps not everyone was convinced Gerlac was to blame if wolves were keeping to their dens. Even as the hours drew late, there were normally a few pack members wandering the halls. More than the shadow who’d been echoing my movements ever since Eirny had parted to find Astrid and see Hati. Vali’s silence was impressive, as was the way he slipped easily out of sight if I so much as tilted my head to catch a glimpse of him.

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

“Arguments in the food hall. Your father was there, listening intently. Gerlac is not well loved but many respect him, suspicion is rife and accusations more so.”

“So you didn’t find anything.”

Vali scoffed, appearing at my side. “Let me finish. There was a female there, sat amongst other high-ranked wolves. She was silent the entire time. Her scent was somewhat familiar, she walked out so quickly I didn’t get the chance to take a good whiff. Want the meat?” He grinned and spun to walk backwards so he could face me, reaching out to stroke a finger up my arm. “She had traces of magic on her skin. As if someone with the stain of darkness had brushed up against them.”

I paused. “You didn’t get her name? What did she look like?”

“Eabha!” Linnea appeared frantic as she ran over, mousey hair escaping the loose braid flopping over her shoulder. Anxiety radiated from her. “Thank the Lord you’re here. The wolves on guard wouldn’t let Ingrid past to speak to her father. She’s inconsolable. I don’t know what to do.”

She shrunk at the sight of Vali, and jumped when I reached out to assure her she was safe.

“You should hurry back to your den,” I advised. “I’ll look after Ingrid, and settle matters with her father.”

She straightened up with wide eyes. “Will you set him free? Ingrid is so sure he is innocent but. . .”

“But?”

Her mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish before she shook her head and hunched in on herself. “No, nothing. It wouldn’t be right of me to say. She is my friend, and her father has been kind to me when many do not even notice I am there.”

“I am your Alpha, you can trust me with anything.”

She nodded, hands fretting in front of her.

“Linnea?” Ingrid stepped out of her door, green eyes narrowed and tone sharp as she called out, “What are you all doing out here?”

“Nothing!” Linnea replied, shuffling back. “My mother will be looking for me. She only allowed me to leave to drop off the basket for you.”

Ingrid cocked a head at her friend, lips pursed as she waved a hand. “Very well.”

The shy, or terrified, she-wolf wouldn’t meet my gaze. Linnea rushed past with her head down and gave me no hint as to what she’d been trying to tell me. Ingrid’s presence made her stop. . .and Ingrid had seemed nervous to find us out here.

Vali was still twisted in the direction Linnea had disappeared, a frown on his face which he blinked away. When he caught me looking, he shrugged. “She was flushed.”

“So?”

“Excitement and fear both make one’s heart beat faster; you can smell the adrenaline, see the pupils dilate, and they can be hard to tell apart. . .but fear, typically, is not the one to make one blush.”

“What is he talking about?” Ingrid asked tersely, wiping her face as if that would hide the fact she had been crying.

Vali and I shared a look, but I gave a subtle shake of my head, facing Ingrid again with a small smile. “Nothing. Are you ready to visit your father?”

“I just need to get the basket Linnea brought. Loa prepared food for my father as I doubt he’s being fed well while being kept in a cage as a traitor.” She turned on her heel to enter he r bedchambers again, reappearing with a woven basket covered with a plain cloth. “I’ve spoken with some of Father’s allies who are willing to speak on his behalf if it comes to that. Others have agreed to comment on behalf of his character, and as witness to the crimes levied against him.”

“He’d be proud,” I said.

For all she was falling apart, Ingrid was keeping herself together just as well, acting with the thought and calculation of a wolf brought up amongst human court politics. At that moment, I envied her skill. It was what would have made her a good Alpha Female. It was what I sorely lacked.

She tried to smile at the compliment but her lips only managed a twitch. I slid my arm through hers, linking our elbows together as Astrid had done when I needed support.

“Pack stand together,” I told her, giving her another lesson in being wolf. “You have helped me, your father has helped me, so I will help you. Now, tell me everything you can. Who knew of your father’s excursions, Ingrid? Can you think of anyone close to your family who would want to undermine Gerlac? Or even yourself?”

She scoffed. “I was to be Alpha Female, now I will most likely be mated off to another high-ranking male, human or not. My father sits on the council, has money, titles and influence to his name. Many crowd around him in hope of gaining favour as much as they hope to see him fall, and be the one close enough to take his place.” She let out a heavy sigh. “It could be anyone Eabha. Wolves seek position in the pack just as humans seek power.”

“And one who was brought up between both worlds would want both,” Vali pointed out.

Something flashed across Ingrid’s face.

“What? What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said slowly, her brow creasing as she shook her head. “Nothing. I see betrayal everywhere at the moment. If you hadn’t been away with Alpha Hati, I would be pointing the finger at you for framing my father to secure your place as Alpha Female.”

I snorted. At least she was honest.

Ingrid cringed and placed a hand on my arm. “Forgive me, I did not mean it like that. You would never.”

“No, not unless he crossed me first,” I replied, equally as honest.

Ingrid gave me a watery smile. A glimpse of understanding passed between us.

In a part of the castle needing more repairs than others, holes in the wall covered with useless flapping fabric, two hulking Vargr stood on either side of a small wooden door gilded in iron. Their lips curled on sight of Ingrid, but they kept their growls to themselves when they saw I was with her, straightening up and standing tall.

“Alpha Female,” the female said, bowing her head. She stood taller than her male counterpart, and her skin was covered in a number of scars. I was sure she had been the one I’d seen sparring with Hati what felt like years ago now.

“You denied Ingrid access earlier, why?” I asked.

The Vargr shared a look but neither could give me an answer.

“You will let us in now,” I ordered, a gruffness to my voice I hoped was authoritive “Ingrid has every right to see her father, and I wish to hear what Gerlac has to say.”

I held back on adding that Hati had approved, needing to have them obey because I had asked.

Another uncertain glance was shared between them.

I knew my position was new, untried and untested, but seeing them debate whether or not to obey tested my wearing patience. When I let a trickle of my power out to electricity the air alongside a low growl, they made their decision. The female pulled out a huge set of keys and unlocked the door, swinging it open for us to enter.

“Thank you.” Stepping aside, I allowed Ingrid to pass first, giving the guards a withering look.

Vali, with boredom hooding his eyes, turned on his heel and mumbled something about finding a place to sleep. I let him go, stepping into the room that smelled of damp and cold.

The door slid shut behind us.

It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the din. Melted wax dropped off a table, the single candle lighting the room billowing so much smoke into the air it was a wonder Gerlac wasn’t coughing. The candle would sputter out soon, and I couldn’t see anymore lying around to replace it.

“Father?” Ingrid clasped the metal bars separating one half of the small room from the other.

Movement, the shuffling of clothes and boots against stone, Gerlac appeared in the orange glow, his face haggard and worn, but his eyes still bright and steely. He appraised me slowly. “Come to gloat?”

“Gloat?” I looked down at my borrowed dress, burnt hand and blood splattered skin. “Does it look as if that is why I am here? Is that really what you think of me?”

“She has come to set you free, father. She knows you are innocent.” Ingrid reached through the bars to clasp her father’s hand in hers. “I brought food for you, from Linnea on orders of Loa. You still have allies.”

Gerlac took pause. “Have you come to free me?”

“I have, if that is what you want.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to be let out of this cage? I may live amongst humans, but I’m as wolf as you and don’t take kindly to being locked up like a rabid animal.”

I took a step closer “Because, maybe revenge will be worth a few more hours of discomfort.”

That got his attention.

“You want to use me,” he surmised. “To draw out the real perpetrator?”

“Caldar said there was other evidence found that forced him to have to take you in. I need you to tell me everything if I’m to help, and you will need to trust that I am here to help.”

His gaze lowered, his brow furrowing for a moment before he lifted his head. “I trust you. As I trust should anything happen to me, you will make sure my daughter is taken care of. Everything I have becomes hers, make sure of it.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you, Father,” Ingrid assured him.

His hand pet hers. “Of course not, my little wolf.” He nodded towards the table. “That was found in my rooms when they were searched, that is what sealed my fate. However, I vow that I have never seen it before in my life, not until they pried it from the spot it was hidden.”

I moved over to the table, eyes straining in the poor orange glow. Placed evenly across the surface were a pile of burnt and charred papers written in the familiar hand of Gerlac, and a dagger. A dagger coated in what I mistook at first for rust, but an inhale of musty air told me it was actually dried blood.

“Bruadar,” I murmured, feeling fingers of ice creep along my skin as I stared at steel that had taken a life as if being in it’s cursed presence would stain me too. “This is the knife that killed Bruadar. It was found in your rooms?”

“Beginning to doubt my innocence?” Gerlac asked, his expression grim. “Others began to doubt me too when it was found, but I was just as shocked as the rest of them. Someone placed it in my rooms.”

“You didn’t catch any unfamiliar scents near your den?”

He shook his head. “Not that I noticed. I allow a rare few into my bedchamber. . .”

“You think it was one of these rare few?”

“Council members, Ingrid and her closest are the only ones who would dare go near my rooms. Either one of them did it on the orders of another or as the actions of our mystery traitor, although you know as well as I, that this wolf amongst us is adept at concealing their scent.  How are you going to catch them?”

“I’m a hunter,” I said, determination lifting my head. “I’m going to set a trap, a trap that relies on the pack thinking I believe you are the traitor.”

And no god would be able to save them when I got them in my claws.

It was no wolf who did this. No true wolf would use a weapon. And as much as I hated to admit it, all the evidence was pointing right at Ingrid. A female doting on her father, pouring him a glass of wine and  picking up the food wrapped in cloth to keep warm from the basket to pass through the bars to him. The food he set down, but the wine he drank in loud gulps, and when he was done he passed the cup back for more. When he finished another cup, this time of water, he wiped his mouth and set his forehead against the bars.

Eye closed, I could practically hear his mind turning over my proposition.

“I will remain here,” he finally said. “If it will give you time to trap the spy, I will hold the blame until it can be placed properly.”

“Father, no! What if they are not found? Then the pack might truly believe it is you who has betrayed them,” Ingrid argued, green eyes wide and wild.

“Many already believe it, my daughter. What is the harm in letting them think it a little longer, especially if it will mean the traitor thinks they have gotten away with it? Pride will fill their head, they won’t be as careful, they will make a mistake. Then, when they have been caught, I will be released and cleared off all charges, held as the hero who helped catch the enemy, rather than suffer doubt and suspicion from the pack if I were to be released now with so much against my name.”

I doubted any amount of reasoning would persuade Ingrid this was a good idea. She clutched onto his hand with such might her fingers whitened, her gaze sweeping pleadingly to me. She didn’t want to see him remain imprisoned.

“I have spoken with some of the others,” she told me. “Those with Jarldoms and Lordships who are loyal to my family, those who believe my father is locked in here because of you.”

“Is that a threat, Ingrid?”

Her jaw clenched, but then her eyes softened and she lowered her gaze. “It is a warning, and a clue. Someone has played this game very well, all the pieces are so carefully placed that every faction of the pack can cast blame on another.”

Just as I feared; that the pack would tear itself apart before any outside force attacked.

A heavy knock on the door interrupted us.

Ingrid’s expression creased and she clung onto her father all the tighter. I had to avert my gaze as the pair stood forehead to forehead, Gerlac murmuring softly to her in their own tongue to sooth the shaking female.

“Walk out with your head held high and your cheeks dry,” he ordered. “Keep Eabha close.”

“I will,” she promised. “We’ll get you out, Father. You rest, and eat.”

He smiled and made a show of sitting on the rickety stool in the corner of his cell and picking up the basket of food. My nose scrunched as the overly sweet smell of the buns all the cubs were eager to have wafted into the air, alongside the smell of salted meat. The smell tickled my nose, and a thought in my head. . .everywhere I went that same sickeningly sweet smell seemed to haunt me. . .was it strong enough to mask a scent?

Another hefty knock battered the door.

Our time was up. Apparently being Alpha only got you so far when Vargr had their orders.

“A moment!” I barked, allowing Ingrid time to wipe her eyes and pinch some colour back into her already blotchy cheeks.

When she was ready, her chin was held high, her shoulders back, and her eyes glinted with an inner steel.

Gerlac smiled proudly where he watched her. When his gaze met mine, he gave me a firm nod. He would hold firm. The spy would be in our grasp soon.

“Get some rest,” I advised Ingrid once we were ready to part ways. “Bar your doors and keep those you trust close until we finish this. No one must know I am on your side yet. The pack must think Gerlac is the traitor.”

For a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she leaned down and pressed her cheek to mine. “I will remember you stood by us.”

I chapped on the cell door to let the guards know we were ready to leave. It swung open and Ingrid hurried down the hall with her head bleed down. Following her out, equally as filled with trepidation and exhaustion, I paused as the door was locked behind me.

“Replace the candle inside,” I said over my shoulder to the two guards. “And fetch another blanket. He may be a prisoner but that’s no excuse to leave him blind and cold.”

When I heard a grunt, I shuffled to Hati’s den and crawled gratefully into bed. I didn’t notice Caldar rising from a chair by the fire and slipping from the room. Arms came around me, tugging me to a warm chest, soft breath billowing against my hair as my mate clung onto me as tightly I clung onto him.