Jean Johnson - The Wolf

He found her on the dock, legs dangling over the edge of the jetty, several yards above the waves of a low tide.

She'd thought about attempting to fly due west toward the mainland in the owl shape that had brought her down here, and then transforming into her river-otter shape for the remainder of the swim, but she wasn't too sure about the currents. They had been stronger than anticipated during her arrival, and she knew they curled back out to sea again at some point after sweeping past Nightfall in their journey south.

Besides, there really wasn't anywhere for her to go. The only friend she had outside of the brothers and a handful of her uncle's servants was Cari of The Trenching Wench. As much as she enjoyed lovemaking with Wolfer, she didn't think she'd enjoy it nearly enough with anyone else. Not enough to enjoy making a living at it, at least.

Still, when the tall figure padded quietly up to her, paused, then lowered himself to dangle his own booted feet over the waves, Alys knew that the man beside her had forgiven her for her role in her uncle's atrocities; if he hadn't, she didn't think he would have done something so friendly as seat himself beside her.

That it was Rydan, howeverand not Wolferwas a little startling. Even unnerving. Alys didn't quite understand him, and frankly never had. A sidelong glance at his pale skin, lit only by scattered starlight and the slightly thickened sliver of Sister Moon peeking out through the clouds off to the west, showed he wasn't angry. Enigmatic, but not angry.

As a young boy, he'd been energetic like his brothers, yet a tad moody. Not sullennot alwaysbut moody in the sense that his emotions flitted more strongly and rapidly through him than they had through his siblings. As he'd grown into puberty, she recalled him becoming more and more moody, not just in the sullen sense, and then becoming withdrawn. Gradually, he had ceased being enthusiastic about joining the others in their activities, withdrawing from even his twin, Trevan, at times.

Now he was a night-dwelling enigma. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind as he sat next to her on the edge of the stone-and-wood pier. The only thing Alys knew for certain was that somehow he understood the choices she'd been forced to make, and the fact that her regrets were honest ones. And this, without a word being spoken between them.

His presence was oddly calming. Even when Sister Moon disappeared behind a thicker bank of clouds on the horizon, leaving them in near-darkness, she didn't feel threatened by him. There was no doubt in her mind that he could be quite scary if he put his mind to it. Possibly even more terrifying than her uncle; he just had that sort of air about him. But he was gentle toward her. The corner of her mouth quirked up. If you can count ignoring me most of the time as part of being "gentle"

"Give him time."

Alys jumped a little. She hadn't expected Rydan to speak. "Erm Wolfer?"

A soft sound escaped him. It could've been a snort, with a little more effort behind it. "Who else?"

"O-Okay" she agreed. They sat there for a little while, and she kicked her feet, trying to figure out what that meant. "How much time?"

"Another hour, maybe two. I'll talk to him, if you like." At her startled look, he glanced over at her. Alys silently wished the moon would come back, because it was hard to tell if that really was a smile curving his mouth, the night was that dark around them. "Knock some sense into him."

"I didn't want to help my uncle," she asserted quickly. "I just didn't have much choice"

"I know."

They sat for a little while more, listening to the waves lapping at the dock and the beach around them. Alys cleared her throat, kicking her feet again. "He scares me, you know."

"Wolfer?"

"Broger," she clarified. Then amended quickly, "Well, Wolfer does, too. But more because I'm afraid of disappointing him to the point where he'll just hate me, and and won't love me anymore. Uncle terrifies me. And I don't know how to stop him. I don't know how anyone can."

"We're strong enough to destroy him," he reassured her quietly, shifting as if to get up.

Alys reached out and touched his arm, stopping him. "No, you're not."

His arm shifted out from under her fingers, reminding her that, as Rydan had grown older, the less he had liked being touched by anyone. She lowered her hand. He didn't seem to take offense, despite the subtle removal. Indeed, the moon peeked out from the clouds just enough to show that one side of his mouth had curved up. "I could've destroyed him when I was sixteen, little one. I've only grown stronger and I have several brothers to back me up."

"Are you strong enough to stop his magics from flinging a Death Curse back upon you?" she challenged him sharply as he started to rise again. He paused and frowned at her, crouching next to her on the edge of the pier.

"A Death Curse?" Rydan asked, staring at her. The moonlight brightened further, allowing her to see his frown of confusion.

"He wove spells around himself. Anyone who kills him, or even attempts to kill him, will have a Death Curse flung back upon them. Especially if they use magic," Alys told him. "He bragged about it to me, when one of his rivals sent an assassin. The man tried to knife him in the back and found himself torn to shreds by the magic protecting my uncle. He said that 'neither spell nor sword from an enemy's hand can cut me down, without destroying the source of my harm.'" She shivered, crossing her forearms over her chest. "I fear what would happen in a direct confrontation with him.

"I even thought about siccing his own beasts upon him, thinking the magic would retaliate against them, not me but they're enchanted against that. And he he drew upon my energies while he was recovering from the knife wound. Not just me, but from Uncle Donnock and Cousin Barol, toohis own sonthough mostly from me." Her left arm twisted behind her back, pressing against the spot where her uncle had been stabbed. "I suffered phantom pains for almost a month, though his wound seemed to heal in a matter of days."

Rydan pushed upright, then looked down at her, studying her in the moonlight. "If this is true"

Her fingers rubbed the silver diamond embedded in her sternum through the fabric of her tunic. "I wish it weren't. I don't dare get get pregnant while he still lives. I fear he might have some spells laid upon me to draw power from the flesh of my flesh, as it were, as well as my own flesh directly. The protective spells Morganen and I came up with only protect me from the effects of his magic." Glumly, she stared out at the glimmering surface of the sea. "I despair sometimes of ever being free Truly free, I mean."

"I know."

They stayed like that in the moonlight, Alys sitting on the edge of the dock, Rydan standing next to her like a dark sentinel, both of them quiet. A short while later, as Sister Moon descended closer to the horizon, he turned and padded away. After a moment, Alys craned her head over her shoulder to watch him go but when she looked, he was gone. Not even his footsteps could be heard anymore.

Nothing disturbed the dark quiet of the shore behind her. She was alone. And somehow, I'm not surprised he can disappear into darkness, as if he were a shadow himself

Facing forward, she stared across the sea again, lost in her less-than-happy thoughts.

"You re an ass."

Wolfer jumped and whirled around, fingers slipping off the braided hair tied around his wrist. His eyes sought the source of the insult, finding it in the pale hands and face of the sixth-born Corvis son. Once again, his younger brother had managed to sneak up on him. "I hate it when you do that."

Rydan's mouth curved in one of his rare smiles. "I know. And you're still an ass."