Wolfbreed (36 page)
Authors: S. A. Swann
“Wahoo!” he shouted as he hit the pool below with a cataclysmic splash. Lilly stared at the rippling water until Uldolf’s head poked up. He stared up at her. “Come on!”
She looked down at the pool and felt her heart racing, but she was not going to act afraid, not in front of Uldolf. It was still fresh in her mind how it felt when he had told her that she climbed well.
If she could do that, she could do this.
She stripped her clothes and tossed them down by Uldolf’s. As she did so, it occurred to her how important they had seemed yesterday—real clothes, a sign of her master’s approval. How was it that this boy’s approval had become more important?
The breeze touched her bare skin, and she felt herself break into gooseflesh. She wanted to change, to grow fur against the
chill up here—but it was exhilarating in a way she had never felt as a wolf.
She edged to the spot where Uldolf had jumped and she looked out over the water. It shimmered below her, reflecting green and blue. Uldolf floated off to the side, looking up at her and grinning.
She was actually going to do this.
Lilly jumped.
The air tore by her fast, sliding by her skin and whipping her hair up in a halo around her head. She fell feet first, the water’s surface racing up at her faster than she expected.
Then the water sucked her into a frigid embrace that turned her skin into ice. She gasped and sucked in a mouthful of water. Her body suddenly wanted air, and she had no idea where the surface was. Panic raged through her, and she could feel her body start to react, the bones beginning to crack and lengthen, the muscles tightening and swelling across her back, through her arms, her thighs, the jaw growing, the teeth.
He fooled us. He has to die!
Even disoriented, body screaming for air in the frigid dark, she found the strength to scream, “No!”
The words were nothing in this fluid hell, just more bubbles. But her body listened to her, muscles loosening, bones retracting into their human shape. The effort resisting the change was exhausting, and she felt herself sinking.
Something grabbed her under the arms. In a second, her head broke the surface, and she choked and sputtered and tried to suck in mouthfuls of air all at the same time. Uldolf held her, and even in the water, she could smell his fear.
“Are you all right?”
Lilly blinked, realized that she
was
all right, and turned around, tears in her eyes. “That was supposed to be fun?” She pulled herself away from him, and suddenly felt herself sinking again.
“No!” She grabbed for the only support within reach, throwing her arms around Uldolf. They both went under briefly, but Uldolf somehow managed to pull them back to the surface.
“I’m afraid,” Lilly whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Uldolf said. “Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t swim?”
“Swim?” Lilly asked.
ldolf spent a good part of the day teaching her to swim. By midafternoon, she gathered the courage to climb up and try jumping in again. This time she didn’t panic, and managed to keep her bearings, kicking her way to the surface. She burst through the surface, laughing and shaking the water from her hair.
When Uldolf told her, “You learn fast, don’t you?” her face burned with pride and she could barely whisper a “thank you.”
Eventually, Uldolf looked at the sky and said, “I have to go home soon.” He swam to the edge of the pool, where the floor was shallow enough for him to walk onto shore.
Lilly followed him, dripping, as he walked toward the boulder. “Do you have to go?”
He looked over his shoulder, saw her standing behind him, and his face flushed. “Yes.” He looked away. “I’ll be in trouble if I don’t go back with the other kids. I have a way to walk to get to those stupid cows.” He reached up and squeezed water out of his hair. “And it’ll take me a while to dry off.”
Even in the warm afternoon air, Lilly hugged herself and shivered a little. He sat down at the base of the boulder, drawing his knees up to his chin.
Lilly sat down next to him, imitating the way he sat.
“I wish you could stay,” she whispered.
“You have no idea how my dad would beat me if he thought I was running off on my own.”
Lilly nodded. “Yes, I do. My master …”
“Hey, you could come back with me …”
Lilly shook her head. “I would get in trouble if I did that.”
“Oh.” Uldolf paused a moment. “I’m not going to get you in trouble here, am I?”
Lilly looked over at him, and Uldolf stared at her with such concern that she almost cried. “No,” she said. “If my master finds out, I think I can explain it so he’d understand.”
“Good.” He laughed. “I don’t think I could manage that with my dad.”
Lilly nodded, even though, deep down, she knew there was no adequate explanation for how she felt, or what she was doing. “Uldolf?” she whispered.
“What?”
“It
was
fun.”
“I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.”
After a few minutes, Uldolf said, “Well, I’m dry.” He stood up, gathered his clothes, shook them out, and began getting dressed. Lilly watched him, trying to memorize every part of him—every part of this day. She never wanted to lose a moment of it.
He turned around. When he saw that she was still sitting naked by the boulder, he turned his face away from her. “I might be able to come tomorrow.”
“I’d like that.”
“Do you live out here?”
“No. I’m just waiting.”
“For what?”
“For my master to call on me.”
Uldolf nodded. “You’ll have to go away then, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I wish you could stay.”
Lilly closed her eyes. “So do I.”
“See you tomorrow.” She listened as he splashed off along the creek bed. After his footsteps faded into the woods, Lilly sat naked, cold, and alone, trying not to cry.
NoneAnno Domini 1239
Usquequo, Deus, improperabit inimicus?
Irritat adversarius nomen tuum in finem?
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever?
—Psalms 74:10
he wagon with Gedim and his family arrived in Johannisburg a little after sundown. The Germans drove the wagon up to the castle where they were faced with a few hundred other Prûsan residents of Johannisburg and the surrounding area. Other than a large canvas shelter that extended over half the crowd, and a column of hastily erected privies, there were no other accommodations made for the Germans’ “guests.” Armed and armored men guarded the perimeter of the crowd, none wearing the characteristic black cross of the Order.
Gedim saw a graphic demonstration of the seriousness of these men when a local man broke from the Prûsan crowd as Gedim’s wagon arrived. The man was dressed as a farrier and still wore the smock of his trade, as if he had come fresh from a stable. He was a fair distance from the noise of the wagon, so Gedim did not hear the words he spoke as he broke ranks from the mass of his fellows.
Whatever grievance the man had, it was answered by the butt end of a guard’s ranseur. The guard brought the shaft of the polearm to connect with the side of the man’s head. The farrier dropped as quickly as if the guard had used the bladed end of his weapon, and he did not move afterward. And as Gedim was unloaded with the
rest of the wagon’s occupants, a trio of guards came to carry the fallen man away.
“Mama,” Hilde whispered from behind him. “They hurt that man.”
“Shh,” Burthe told her.
It’s happening again
, Gedim thought.
They’re going to split us between the “good” Prûsans and the “bad” Prûsans
.
And somehow he got the sense that the dividing line this time was going to amount to more than a sprinkle of water and acceptance of a foreign god.
Gedim remembered how eight years ago the Order had gathered all the survivors of Mejdân. Those who had been baptized regained their homes—if they still stood—and their lands—if they had any. Those who refused …
The old priests had been burned in Perkûnas’s own holy fire, before the perpetual flame was extinguished and the sacred oaks cut down to make crosses for the new god’s church. Warriors like Gedim had been executed. Women and children had been taken away for slaves.
Eight years ago, knowing the consequences of refusal for him and his family, baptism had not been a hard decision for Gedim. He was not a particularly spiritual man, and it didn’t matter to him whom he was supposed to pray to. The Christians won, in a bloody and final way, and Gedim accepted that his family would then pay homage to the winner’s god. But as he led his family to a less crowded part of the bailey, he wondered what price the Christians would ask of him now.
hortly after the call for Vespers, a trio of men entered the crowd wearing white linen surcoats bearing the black cross of the Order. They carried baskets, and methodically handed out
bread. Gedim was insulted at being placed in the position of a beggar accepting alms from the Germans, but not enough to refuse when the knight held out half a loaf to him. He had a daughter, and that took precedence over his pride.