After dinner, Lommy scampered back to the playhouse with a napkin full of meat for his brother, Otter. Unlike Lommy, Otter was shy of people. He rarely emerged from the rafters of the Wide Realms, where he controlled the trapdoors and other mechanical devices above and below the stage.
As Eckert cleared the table, Tal and Chaney descended into the cellar. The cellar entrance and the tiny window had both been barred and boarded, as had the door at the top of the stairs. Once the room had held an impressive collection of wine as well as some tools and packing crates. At Tal's command, Eckert had moved everything to the upper floor, leaving the cellar bare except for a single wooden chair and a huge steel cage. Fresh straw was strewn on the flagstones beneath. Reassembling the massive cage had taken the better part of a dark night and a flimsy story about Quickly wanting the cage out of the way backstage at the Wide Realms.
Tal pulled off his boots and stood up to unlace his shirt.
"That Feena is really something, eh?" Chaney nudged his friend with an elbow. He held an oil lamp in one hand, a big key ring in the other. "Do you miss her yet?"
"What are you talking about?" Tal draped the shirt across the back of the chair and unbuckled his belt.
"I've seen the way she looks at you, too." Chaney smiled, but only on one side. "All that fighting, it's just repressed desire. Believe me, I know about women. She's not here just because you turn into a cute puppy now and again."
"You're drunk," said Tal, knowing he was not. Neither of them had much to drink this night, though Tal had gorged himself intentionally. The last thing he wanted was for the wolf to spend the night hungry. "She's a religious fanatic."
"She was just disappointed she's not the one watching you undress."
"Don't be stupid." Tal laid his breeches on the chair and stepped out of his underclothes.
"It's a good thing she hasn't seen you naked recently," said Chaney. "Have you noticed how much hairier you've gotten?"
He had noticed. He'd had plentiful body hair before, but it had thickened everywhere, especially on his arms. The only place he was glad for more hair was over the ugly wound Rusk had given him. Thick, ropy scars crossed his belly like white roads in a black forest.
"Maybe I should have Eckert help me shave."
"Then he would quit," said Chaney. "Say, that's not a bad idea!"
"Take it easy on him," said Tal. "The only reason he keeps quiet about the wolf is that he's afraid my father would have me locked up in Stormweather, and he'd lose his job."
"I suppose you're right."
"Besides, I kind of like him."
"I thought he irritated you, too."
"Sure, but he's funny, and he's a great cook." Tal walked into the cage and closed the door behind him. It snapped shut with a resounding clang.
"That's true," said Chaney. With a moment's effort, he made a long, satisfied belch.
"I can't take you anywhere," said Tal, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Lock the door."
"You don't take me anywhere, lately," said Chaney. He turned the big key until the lock clicked. "After the moon, we should celebrate the success of your cunning plan. The girls at the Black Stag have been asking after you since that hunting trip."
"Yeah? Which ones?"
"All of them," said Chaney. "You're more competition when you're gone than when you're there. Everyone loves a mystery. You want something to sit on in there?"
"No, just the straw's fine. You should probably go upstairs, now. The moon's coming."
"How can you tell? It's like a tomb in here."
"I can feel it." Tal patted his belly.
"It's those cakes," said Chaney. He belched again. "I'll see if there are any left."
"Don't forget to put the mattress against the door."
"Don't worry. Howl all you want. The neighbors won't hear a thing."
"Thanks."
Chaney spun the key ring around one finger and walked up the steps. He paused at the door. "You sure you don't want me to wait down here? At least let me leave the light."
"No. I'd rather be alone," said Tal. "But thanks."
"No problem, my friend."
"I mean it, Chane."
Chaney grinned, but his eyes looked sad. Despite his bluster, Tal could tell that his friend was worried. "See you in the morning."
" 'Night."
Tal sat cross-legged on the cage floor. The straw wasn't thick enough to make a comfortable seat over the steel bars. He'd have to ask Eckert to fetch more for tomorrow night. The full moon transformed him for three nights last month, and he expected it to do the same this month. He put the thought aside and concentrated on his breathing.
Under Master Ferrick's tutelage, Tal had learned to focus his mind before a fencing match, beginning with his breathing. Once the rhythm of his lungs was deep and steady, he imagined the concentric rings of the dueling floor. One had to keep one's eyes on his opponent, not the boundaries, but he had to know where the boundaries were without looking. Tonight, Tal's opponent was inside him, so he had to focus inward. That was a trick Master Ferrick had never taught him. Tal wished he had progressed further in his fighting studies. He was not a particularly good student, relying too much on his natural strength and speed and not enough on tactics.
His thoughts would not settle themselves, so Tal tried imagining himself on a warm, dark sea. It was something Maleva had said that gave him the idea. The seas were tied to the moon, and nightwalkers changed as the tides ebbed and flowed. Tal closed his eyes, and soon he imagined he could feel a distant force pulling at his body. He no longer felt the straw beneath him nor the cool air of the cellar. He felt only a vague and formless call, and he knew it was the moon. He had sensed it earlier, a vague attraction pulling at him. Not at his body, but at something inside. He tried to isolate the feeling. Was it pulling at his heart? At his guts?
He couldn't tell. The only sure feeling was a gentle wavelike motion, barely discernable. He could almost hear the sound of crashing surf, though Selgaunt Bay was much too far away for it to be real.
It was like being drunk, but only faintly. As the sensation grew stronger, Tal felt a sudden flush of fear. His concentration broken, he felt the cold steel bars of the cage pressing against his legs and buttocks. His arms were sweating where they pressed against his thighs. A cramping pain wrenched his lower back, and he twisted onto his side with a groan.
There he curled like a child as the pain rushed up into his shoulders and down each leg. He cried out and instantly prayed that neither Chancy nor Eckert would heed him. Now the sound of rushing water filled his head, almost deafening him to his own cries and shouts. Hot rain pelted his brain, and a warm surge filled his whole body, pushing it out in shapes it was never meant to take. Lightning coursed through his nerves, leaving agonizing spasms in its wake.
Despite the darkness, Tal saw a crimson wall rise to surround him, closing in to press against his eyes, then through them to his panicked brain. The red fury penetrated his body, filled him to bursting, and blasted his conscious thoughts to oblivion.
Chapter 3
Alturiak, 1371 DR
Darrow began his new service with mingled hope and trepidation, yet working for Radu's strange brother was more agreeable than he could have expected. His awe of Stannis was mingled with dread, for he realized his new master was some sort of monster.
Unlike the monsters he had heard described in songs and tales, Stannis was talkative, even friendly, in stark contrast to his taciturn brother. His exaggerated charm soothed the horror Dar-row felt in his new master's presence. As long as he avoided looking directly into those molten eyes, Darrow could address Stannis naturally, as if his master were a mere mortal.