“Iunderstandthat what’s happening is unacceptable,” Ennar replied, with a growl in her voice. “I have students with me at our camp, they’re just children. And they have human families, you know.”
“Unacceptable? Who are you to decide that? Where’s your leader?” the mayor demanded. “Where’s Sigrid?”
“That’s wolf business,” Ennar snapped. Anders glanced sideways at Hayn, who grimaced. Anders was sure that Ennar was avoiding answering because she didn’t know where Sigrid was.
“If you want us to trust you, then—”
“Trustus?” Ennar growled. “You shouldthankus!”
“For destroying the city?”
“For saving as many people as we did!”
“Listen,” said the mayor, managing a hint of a growl himself. “The dragons weren’t attacking us. They were attackingyou. When we rebuild Holbard, it’ll be a city for humans. If there aren’t any wolves within our walls, the dragons will leave us alone.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Ennar breathed. “You’ve lost your minds if you think you can protect yourselves. And where do you suggest we go? Holbard is our home!”
“Holbardwasyour home,” the mayor corrected her. “It’s not there anymore, because you and the dragons destroyed it.”
Ennar didn’t reply, but a moment later Anders heard her footsteps as she stalked past him, and then the tent flaps fell back into place behind her.
Slowly, carefully, Anders and Hayn turned to face the mayor. He was still studying the way Ennar had gone, but then his gaze shifted across to Hayn, and he blinked.
“I didn’t see you come in,” he said, making a visible effort to pull himself together, standing up a little straighter. He sighed softly and sank down into his chair. “You can’t be serious. You haven’t brought more requests?”
“I’m afraid so, sir,” said Hayn. “The line outside is still very long. And your clerk is asking for someone else to come take a turn hearing the complaints.”
“Don’t they know we don’t have any power to helpthem?” the mayor demanded. “There’s not a secret stockpile of food in here. What could we possibly give them?” There was a kind of desperation to his tone, and he looked at Hayn as if he really might answer him.
Anders looked around at the unpatched walls of the tent, at the rugs on the floor, at the furniture, at the remains of the meal he could see on the table. If the mayor thought this was hardship, what would he think of the worst parts of the camp? Did he even know what was happening out there?
“Herro Mayor,” Anders began, before he even knew that he meant to speak to the man. He’d only intended to learn more about him, but now he found that wasn’t enough.
The mayor blinked and leaned sideways to see better around Hayn, studying Anders as though he had only just realized he was there. “Who is this child?” he asked, in the same voice that some people would say,What is this insect?
“My assistant,” said Hayn.
Anders had a lot of experience sensing when he was about to be thrown out of somewhere, and he could hear it in the mayor’s voice now. He knew exactly what Rayna would do, and quickly, he tried it.
“I’m sorry,” he said in his most respectful voice. “Idon’t mean to interrupt, Herro Mayor. I know you’re doing something very important. But there are lots of rumors out there. People are wondering about the wolves. We could answer their questions without them ever coming inside to you if we knew a little more.”
The mayor seemed somewhat mollified by this show of respect, and also interested in the idea of being left alone by everyone.
“We’re finished putting up with the wolves,” he replied. “It was their explosion of cold that nearly destroyed the city, and they failed to protect us when we needed them most. After a decade of promising us that they would defend us when the next great battle came, they left Holbard in ruins. The wolves have been grabbing for power for far too long, and whatever game they were playing this time, it went too far.”
Anders couldn’t help wondering if the wolves’ grab for power had gone even further than the mayor knew. There was the fake dragonsfire to think of, after all, and the Wolf Guard had been seen more and more around Holbard in recent months. The very day of Anders and Rayna’s transformations, the twins had been dodging guards all the way down to the port. The wolves had been everywhere, frustrating Holbard’s citizens, and all on the basis of a couple of dragon sightings.
Perhaps the mayor was right in part, and the wolves had been reaching for power—he could tell the mayor certainly saw this as his chance to get his power back.
Anders didn’t know what his face was doing as these realizations came to him, but the mayor clearly read his expression as meaning he was worried.
“Come here,” he said, a little bit gentler. “Everything will be all right. I’m going to look after our people.”
For a moment, Anders could see why the mayor had been voted in. When he remembered to smile, he was charming.
That didn’t change what Anders thought of how the mayor was distributing resources at the camp, though. It didn’t change the fact that he was in a comfortable tent, while there were families and children out in the cold.
“Are people really talking about this?” the mayor asked. “Are they worried about the wolves?”
