Page 64 of Oath of the Wolf
Cenric wasn’t sure if the king was referring to the fight or getting to shove Ovrek face first into a wood pile.Either way, the answer was the same.“Yes, lord.”
Ovrek grunted as if he understood exactly what Cenric meant.“You always were an insolent boy.”Even as he said it, he swung an arm around Cenric’s shoulders once again, like a dear friend.Like a proud father.“You feast beside me tonight, young wolf.”
That would have meant far more to Cenric if Brynn hadn’t still been lost in the woods, accused of murder.
13
Brynn
Brynnwokeshivering,asquirming Guin in her lap.Everything was cold and while she was not quite wet, there was a kind of perpetual dampness that came with being in the forest.
She set the puppy down, letting Guin bounce and pace in all directions.Guin sniffed in an easy circle, marking her territory and chewing on the ferns curiously.
Brynn relieved herself and tried to ignore the gnawing in her stomach.Drawing her shawl tighter around her shoulders, Brynn considered her options.She had few.As it was, she didn’t speak the language, and she was obviously Hyldish.
Perhaps she should yield to the Valdari.They would have had time to think over this whole situation and perhaps things had calmed down.But a part of her knew that whoever she might be able to find in order to surrender, they would not be understanding.
Cenric had to be under guard, else he would have found his way to her by now.With Snapper’s help, she should have been easy to find.
Breathing deep, Brynn closed her eyes and reached out forka.This forest was ancient, a place where life and death had intersected, overlapped, and comingled for eons.Brynn would be surprised if this place hadn’t already been old by the time the First of Fathers had arrived on these shores.Brynn could feel life seeped into the very earth, throbbing beneath her feet even as it blossomed all around her.
Past the trees, she sensed the small woodland animals and insects that made up every forest.Life was a golden haze in this place.
The presence of large shapes flickered into Brynn’s awareness.Was that elk?
Brynn wasn’t sure that there were elk in Valdar, but if she focused, she could sense the shapes of men on their backs.Horses carrying mounted men, if she had to guess.
Brynn’s heart leapt into her throat and she snatched up Guin.They were hunting her.
Adjusting Guin in her arms, Brynn tried to think.This was all a huge misunderstanding, perhaps, but she doubted that a confrontation with warriors would go well.If they attacked her, she would defend herself, and that would escalate a situation that was already beyond rationality.
Guin gnawed playfully at Brynn’s hand.She strained, reaching up to lick Brynn’s face as she whined.She must be hungry.
Shushing the puppy, Brynn headed away from the riders.She was wandering farther into the forest, away from Istra.
It would be too easy for her to get lost in this unknown island, especially with the sun mostly hidden by the tall trees.
Brynn caught voices at her back.The men must have found her trail.Brynn had no idea how they might be managing to track her in this soggy tangle of a forest, but it seemed the Valdari knew their own land.
Brynn desperately didn’t want to fight them.It wasn’t that she couldn’t win, it was that she probably could.These Valdari were unfamiliar with sorceresses.
“Brynn!”a familiar voice roared.So, they had sent Hróarr after her.
For a moment, she considered surrendering.Hróarr was probably as close to a friendly Valdari as she was bound to face.
Then Hróarr’s voice rang out in a loud shout, his words sharp and demanding, more of a snarl.That was not the voice of a man interested in hearing explanations.
She didn’t want to risk hurting her husband’s cousin.He was the closest thing Cenric had to a brother.
The horses made good time, chasing after her through the brush.Brynn raced, but in her damp dress with Guin in her arms, it was all she could manage.
She could move faster if she dropped Guin, but couldn’t bring herself to do it.The puppy bounced awkwardly at her side, woofing and whimpering.
Up ahead, Brynn felt thekashift.Something was off.The feeling of wrongness hit her like a blow.
Brynn broke out of the tree line to find utter carnage.She had never thought of felled timber as carnage before, but that seemed the only fitting word.
Brynn had seen trees cut down for lumber and hauled off, but that had not happened here.These trees had been hacked down and left like so many corpses.Their leaves had withered, indicating they must have been felled some time ago.
