Sadie
I WAITED UNTIL THE MOON WAS HIGH IN THE SKY TO UNTANGLE myself from Navin’s warm arms and creep from my bed.
The waning moon welcomed me as I padded on bare feet through the cool earth.
I loved her in every form, but this . . .
here beneath the pine trees of Damrienn was my favorite way to view the Goddess.
I heard the soft hum long before I spotted them.
I walked through the woods, following the sound until I spotted Galen den’ Mora.
Ora sat on the back steps, watching as the oxen grazed through the forest undergrowth.
Haestas had taken off on her midnight flight to scour the southern forests for deer to eat—hopefully she’d bring some back for us.
I still wasn’t sure if Navin had to command it from her every time or if it was an ongoing order.
I pondered the magic as I wandered. The nighttime forest was a quiet whisper apart from Ora’s song.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked, surveying them from head to toe.
They wore a deep purple dress embroidered in giant sunflowers and evergreen sprigs.
Beaded earrings hung from their lobes and silver and gold bangles ringed their wrists.
Their face was fully painted, making them look more like they were about to attend a ball than sit in the forest by themself.
“I missed this,” they said with a shrug. “I wasn’t able to dress myself how I like for a very, very long time when I was a prisoner. I’m enjoying my freedom now.”
I hadn’t considered that. How simple it felt to me to be able to rim my eyes with kohl and wear my favorite knife belts. How so much of one’s identity could be stripped away with the control Nero was imposing on the humans of his court.
“Not to mention I’m a nighttime creature, much like your kind,” Ora added, their eyes crinkling with warmth. “I’m used to keeping all sorts of hours in this job, performing until the sun rises.”
I grunted an acknowledgment and wandered closer into the pool of moonlight that filtered through the tall trees.
Ora kept their eyes fixed on the oxen as they said, “I already know what you’re going to ask me.”
“Then you already know I won’t take no for an answer,” I countered, folding my arms around me and smoothing down my pebbled cold skin.
Ora chuckled, a smile tugging at their ruby lips. “You are exceptionally fierce, Sadie Rauxtide.”
“I’m also exceptionally right,” I pushed. “We need to see what these songs can do. We don’t need to hunt monsters across the desolate regions of Aotreas. We don’t need to master every species. We just need to learn to control one.”
“You’re right,” they said with a shrug. “If Rasil gets even a whiff of this knowledge, though . . .” Their eyes grew vacant, leeching their warmth.
“Like so many of the magics we protect, we protect them for a reason. I am afraid if anyone besides us learns of the bounds of this power, it could destroy us all.” They slicked their obsidian hair off their face, their jewelry tinkling at the movement.
“I never wanted this, you know—humans versus Wolves. Songs versus howls. It should have never been this way. But people who want peace and harmony are often too placid to fight those who want power. I’m afraid we’re going to need to be more fearsome if we’re going to bring this world back. We’ll need to make sacrifices.”
Their eyes finally lifted to mine and I met their gaze. “Which is why we need to figure out how to do this. Just you and me,” I said with a nod. “If you could control Nero . . .”
Ora’s throat bobbed. “Too long the Wolves have controlled the humans, but I do not like the idea of the humans controlling the Wolves, either.” They sighed. “This power cannot go unchecked. I love my people, but there’s a reason these songs were hidden from the hungry eyes of people like Rasil.”
“Do you see our cause as the same as his? If ever there was a time to use these songs, it is now,” I urged. “This moment in time is why they weren’t destroyed completely. Humans might not exist at all if we don’t stop Nero.”
Ora hung their head, and I knew I’d won. “I don’t know how far we can push this, but we can try.”
“Thank you for trying.”
With even that small sense of relief, I stepped behind a tree and tugged off my nightdress. I shifted, the change taking me quickly as I relished the delicious feeling of being in my furs under the swollen moon. I prowled back out and stood in front of Ora.
They shook their head. “It will never stop being miraculous, seeing you do that.” They pulled their wooden pipe from the bag beside them. “You ready?”
I nodded.
Ora was about to lift their instrument to their lips when Navin stormed through the forest. “Stop,” he growled, sounding wolfish and predatory in his own right.
He was shirtless, only in his light linen trousers, his hair still mussed from sleep. I swore he grew an inch with each step, reminding me just how tall and formidable he truly was.
He glared at Ora. “How could you do this?”
Ora didn’t look ashamed, just calm and a little forlorn. “This is bigger than either of us, Navin,” they said. “I know you love her.”
“I don’t just love her,” Navin spat. “She is my song, Ora. Have you forgotten what that means? What she means to me?”
Ora’s eyes bracketed with sorrow. “I know exactly what it means. And I know you will lose her, Navin. We will all lose each other if something isn’t done.”
“I don’t like this,” Navin ground out, standing in front of me and crossing his arms.
I darted back to the tree, shifting as I ran, and yanked back on my nightdress.
“I wanted to do this,” I said, even as my throat was still reforming. “I asked them to do this for me.” I stood in front of Navin with my arms crossed.
“There’s death in the air. Monsters with a vendetta against us.” He glared at me. “You snuck out of bed. I woke up and you were gone. I—”
“I’m sorry,” I said, placing a hand on his chest. And I was. For someone who had been alone for so long, it was strange to have to consider another when making a decision. I hadn’t, and I realized how much that must hurt.
His hand instantly lifted to cover it, holding me to his warm bare skin. His head dropped, his eyes closing for a second to ground himself in my touch. I knew he was trying to win the battle with his anger.
“I don’t want you to be controlled by anyone,” he said.
“The idea that someone could get into your mind, could make you do things against your will . . .” The muscle in his jaw flickered as if the very thought pained him.
“I can’t bear it.” He looked back at Ora.
“This magic needs to be destroyed. We cannot use it. Not every Songkeeper is as trustworthy as the ones in our retinue.”
“The songs are already being used, Navin,” Ora stated calmly. “If Rasil teaches even one of his brethren to use the sacred songs and summon more monsters into existence, it would mean more sorcerers, too. And we both know it’s only a matter of time before Rasil uses the power of those songs again.”
“Which is why you need to use magic of your own.” I stepped between them again. “One that doesn’t summon more dark magic, only controls it.”
Navin’s eyes dropped to me. “Where does it end?”
“These questions would make you a good ruler,” I pointed out. Ora hummed in agreement. “It ends when the Golden Court is safe, when the humans of Damrienn no longer live in fear of Wolves. It ends when everyone is as free as I am right now, asking that you train this magic on me.”
I lifted on my toes and kissed him. He softened into my touch. “Not fair,” he murmured against my lips.
“You see?” I said. “I have a magic all my own. We all have our ways of controlling the other.”
He chuckled and then pulled me back in to kiss me again.
A twig snapped from behind me, and I whirled to the sound.
I spotted him instantly.
Icy dread curled in my gut at the sight of those eyes, that face, so similar to my own.
“Hector.”
My brother held my gaze for one second before he turned and ran.
“We’re under attack!” I screamed and three Silver Wolves came shooting through the forest.
I KNEW IT WAS MY FATHER AND UNCLES INSTANTLY, BEFORE I even had a chance to study them in their furs. I’d wondered when Nero would send them to find us. My family and I had unfinished business.
“Go warn the others,” I shouted, shoving Navin behind me.
“Ora, you go,” Navin called, moving to stand by my side again.
He grabbed two knives, one from each of his boots and passed me one.
I lifted my eyebrows, impressed. “I learned from the best,” he said with a wink, turning so we were back-to-back as my father and uncles circled us like vultures to a carcass.
I resisted the overwhelming urge to shift at the sight of them circling us. I wanted to be able to call out warnings and directions to Navin in the melee if needed.
Navin whistled out for his dragon, but Haestas had taken to hunting in the evenings and was probably too far away. We’d have to keep her closer now that we had this target on our back.
That was, assuming we had a second chance . . .
Ora shot through the forest back toward the library when Hector ran out of the woods, shifting into his Wolf form as he chased after them.
“No!” I screamed, my hand reaching out as if I could stop my brother.
With a barked command from my father, Hector paused and turned back to the clearing. I was equally relieved for Ora and terrified for Navin and me—four Wolves against the two of us—all of them warriors, all my family.
Hector stood stock-still, neither moving to my father’s aide nor turning away and I wondered if my father commanded his son to stand there and watch how real Wolves fought.
Watch as I teach your sister a lesson—the memory of my father saying that phrase so many times flashed in rapid succession in my mind.
More, I remembered all the times I was bade to watch as my father took out his aggression on Hector under the guise of “teaching.”