This was a disaster. Crossing the Scottish Wolves at this scale would require unprecedented amounts of diplomacy to right the wrong Tadhg had sanctioned—and holy feck, actually funded.
But I was the High King. I had to stop this, to end this farce and go into full crisis mode.
Yet, I couldn’t look away.
“What do you say, High King?” Tadhg asked beside me. “We’ve gone through all this trouble to acquire our prophesied queen. Can we keep her?”
Nothing could be heard save for the crashing of the ocean against the cliffs beyond our front door as the Shadow and Mountain Kings awaited my answer.
Death
Sadie
The world was black,but swirling with voices. Mine, Naomi’s, Alban’s, and two strangers I didn’t know.…
“Naomi!”
“Sadie, run!”
Me in Wölfennite: “What is happening? Why are these mossy wolves attacking us?”
“I think they’re Irish,” Naomi answers. “They are once again here to kidnap all the unmated she-wolves.”
Me: “Oh, heavens!”
“No idea what the two of ye are saying, but if ye come with us nice and easy, no one will get hurt — aw, feckin’ hell. What’re ye doing here, Kingdom Defender?”
Naomi’s voice: “Alban!”
Echoes of Malcolm and Gavin proclaiming “Remember the Irish!” rings out over the conversation.
“Stay where ye are, Defender,” the scariest of the two wolves growls. His voice is so feral, he barely sounds human. “If ye make me cut our she-wolf, I’ll gut ye and feed yer entrails to the forest boar for their supper.”
Our she-wolf???
“So, you ken my title,” Alban answers the feral growler, his voice shockingly unafraid. “Then you also ken I can’t let you take any of these females out of here without a fight.”
The less scary Irish Wolf speaks up: “Kingdom Defender, this situation isn’t the same as in the 1500s.”
“So, you’re not looking to steal all our females? Again?”
“Not all of them, no. We will leave behind the mated ones this time. The ones we do take will be brought back to our kingdom to give our males their consideration for matehood. But in the spring, they will be given a choice about staying, and the ones who are not heat-mated and no longer wish to stay with us will be delivered back here to Faoiltiarn. Tell your king he has my vow on that.”
“Tell him yerself. After I deliver you to the dungeon cells underneath the castle.”
“There are two of us. And one of you. We can do this the easy way, where you step aside and let us leave. Or… we can do this the hard way and risk the life of the precious first baby born to the Faoiltiarn royal family in over thirty years.”
“Either way, she is ours! We will not be leaving Dùn Faoiltiarn without her.”
The sound of the scariest of the two wolves sticking his tongue out and licking Naomi’s neck. Actually licking her!
Me, screaming in English: “Leave her alone!”
Naomi calling out: “Stop! I agree to go with them. Just take the baby. Take the baby so she doesn’t get hurt.”
Alban: “I cannae let you make that sacrifice, Naomi.”
Naomi insisting: “It’s not up to you. I made sure the rule was included when we put together the New St. Ailbe Ordnung. She-wolves can come and go as they like—without restraint or repercussion.”
