Feena sat with her head on her knees for a long time. Tal waited on the other side of the tree, wishing he could say something useful. After he'd described the fight at the Wide Realms and the taunts the pack had used to draw him out, she'd asked him to go away from her. Not knowing what else to do, he obeyed.
At last, she composed herself and told her about Eck-ert's brush with death and the man she caught watching the theft of the bail money.
"Radu Malveen," said Tal. "He is a dangerous man, but I never thought he was a criminal."
"According to this Darrow, he wants nothing to do with Rusk's plans for you. It's his mad brother who's behind it all."
"But why?"
"Darrow didn't say-or wouldn't. All he cares about is freeing Eckert's daughter."
"Do you trust him?"
"Not even a little."
"But do you believe what he's saying is true?"
"Some of it," she ventured. "But he did nothing to stop Radu from killing Eckert. If he really wants to save the girl, why didn't he try to help her father?"
"He didn't stand a chance," said Tal. "Radu is the best swordsman in the city. I would hesitate before facing him, too."
"Would you?" Feena said sharply. "You're probably twice as strong, now. Wouldn't you just love a good fight, a chance to prove you're better?"
"Why are you snapping at me?"
"Because you spit on everything Selune offers, and she still gives everything to you. You don't deserve to be the Black Wolf."
"What makes you think I'm the Black Wolf after calling it a heresy for so long?"
"Your changing in the playhouse, that's something only true lycanthropes can do. Even we don't have that level of control over the transformation. Only the Black Wolf could do that."
"I thought you didn't believe in the Black Wolf."
"It's a heresy, you idiot! I'm not allowed to believe it, but that doesn't mean it's not true on some level. Maybe it has nothing to do with prophecy or fate," she said. "If there's any truth to it, then it's old mortal wisdom."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe the 'Black Wolf is just a metaphor for your own strength," she said.
"You make it sound like anyone could be the Black Wolf."
"Maybe anyone can," she said. "Anyone can learn to ride the moon. Maybe being the Black Wolf means you're so close to the moon that it's easy for you. It's a gift. I just never thought it would be wasted on some spoiled, conceited city boy!"
"Hey, I didn't ask for any of this," complained Tal. "Everything that's happened has happened to me. You're the ones who decided to keep me drugged while you decided whether or not to kill me. Rusk is the one who tried to kill me in the first place. I didn't do anything to you people."
" "You people,' " she parroted. "Anybody else is 'you people' to you."
"That's not fair! I meant everyone who came looking for me, to tell me what to-"
"I can't believe Mother saw anything in you. You're spoiled and selfish! You don't see anything beyond your own desires. The Black Wolf isn't for someone like you. It should be for someone who cares about other people, someone like-"
"Like you, maybe?" Tal snapped. "You're jealous, aren't you? Well, as far as I'm concerned, you can have the Black Wolf and everything that goes with it. But Selune didn't choose you, she chose me. All you can do is try to make me do what you think is best."
Peena balled her fists and trembled in her fury. She tried to speak but could only grimace and spit incoherent curses. Then a triumphant smile crossed her lips, and she raised her chin and looked at Tal through slitted eyes.
"What did you just say?"
"I said, all you care about is making me do what you want me to-"
"No, before that. You said Selune chose you."
"I didn't mean…" Tal sputtered. "I mean… you know what I meant. I've got the Black Wolf in me, and you wish it were in you."
"Selune did choose you, though," said Feena. She flexed her fingers to let the blood back into them. She took a couple of long, slow breaths before continuing. "I can't keep denying it. There is good in you; I've seen it. You're just so damned stubborn you won't let yourself accept the responsibility."
"What responsibility? A great big bloody wolf bites me and all of a sudden I have responsibilities?"
Feena laughed, as much at herself as at Tal. The sound was strained. The news of her mother's death was still gnawing at her, and she was putting on a brave face.
"I'm sorry, Tal. It's been easier for me, growing up with the wolf. I have to remember it's not the same for you." Her smile turned sad. "Mother did think a lot of you, you know. She was a good judge of character."
"Are you sure she's dead?" asked Tal, even though he too believed the pack's boasts. "Rusk isn't exactly what I'd call trustworthy, and he's cruel enough to lie about something like that."
"Rusk is many things, many bad things," said Feena, "but he's honest, in his way. He doesn't lie to others so much as he deludes himself."
"You've run into him often over the years?"
Feena hesitated before answering. "Not as often as I'd have liked."
She sounded as if there was more to tell, but she stopped talking.
"He and Maleva, they knew each other a long time," suggested Tal, hoping to encourage her to continue.
His own words triggered something in his imagination. A shape of past events was forming in Tal's mind. Feena had been born with the wolf inside her, but Maleva wasn't a nightwalker. Assuming they were rare beings…
"Oh," said Tal as the realization struck him.
Feena still did not speak, nor would she look at him. Tal tried to make eye contact, but she kept her gaze on the ground.
"Rusk is your father," he said.
Without raising her eyes, Feena nodded.
"Oh, no." That made everything much worse. "Oh, Feena." Tal put a big hand on her slender arm. Feena flinched but didn't pull away. "I'm sorry. It seems so obvious now. I should have realized."
Feena glanced at Tal's face, but whatever she saw there made her shy again. She turned away and hugged her arms tight to her chest. When she spoke, it was with her back to Tal.
"He roamed with his Hunt, as he called them, so we saw him only when he brought us meat every month. In the beginning, Mother was always happy to see him, and he'd stay for a day or two. When he was off again, she told me stories about him. He was her hero.
"When he was just a boy, a cleric of Malar did a divination for him. The old man said that Rusk would cast a shadow on the moon. Everyone knew that meant the Black Wolf, which the clerics of Malar hold as true prophecy. No one knew when it would happen, but everyone believed it, especially Mother. She was banished from Moonshadow Hall because she said as much to the high priestess there. She thought Rusk would be the one to put the nightwalk-ers back in harmony with the world.
"On holidays we'd go with him to the Feast of the Stags. Everyone knew Rusk the Hunter. He was the best tracker, the best provider. When he came to a village and promised the people meat throughout the winter, they knew they would not go hungry. We were so proud of him. I was proud to be his daughter. The Huntmaster's Daughter, I called myself. Mother didn't like that, but I thought she was jealous. I was a child…"
She trailed off, sniffed, and cleared her throat, but Tal could see by the set of her shoulders that she had more to tell. He wanted to touch her, to hold her perhaps. He wanted to say something to make her feel better, but he could think of nothing. He waited patiently while the autumn wind blew fire-colored leaves about their legs, their fragile edges scratching on their clothes and naked feet. After long minutes, Feena spoke again.
"The arguments began just before my first blood. Mother had begun sending me away when Rusk came, but I sneaked back and listened. Rusk knew the wolf would come with the blood, and he wanted to take me to the High Hunt that summer. Mother wouldn't allow it. She said Rusk had promised to change the Hunt. He told her change takes time, but now I think he never wanted it to be different from what it was. Do you know about the High Hunts?"