Page 79 of Wolf's Bane
Boxon Hill
Marechal House
The fever brokethe next day, leaving Solenne weak and listless. The headache lingered, making it impossible to read. Her foot kept her immobile, even though she hobbled about the room and thought she was being secretive, leaning heavily on furniture for support. Her pride prevented her from asking for help to the toilet, and he’d let her keep her pride.
Charlotte visited frequently with her notebook of wedding ideas that grew at an alarming rate. “You’re not upset, are you? Alek said you wouldn’t be. And why should you be? I have Lionel, and you have your Aleksandar.”
“It is either the fever or the headache, but I don’t remember agreeing to a double wedding with Charlotte and Chambers,” Solenne said. He patted her hand and opined about the virtue of knowing when to go accept defeat.
So, that happened. A double wedding, just like in a novel.
Luis kept them updated on the werewolf that attacked her. The beast had been trapped in Chambers’ barn and burned to death, so that situation reached its conclusion. Not enough of it remained for Luis to say if it was the one that attacked her and Miles on the full moon, but everyone agreed that it must be.
Alek made himself a constant fixture, of course. He only left her bedside to fetch a tray of food or more tea. She was beyond tired of tea. One morning he disappeared for a few hours, returning with the smell of woodsmoke and charred flesh. The beast that attacked her had not warranted a burial, instead it had been hacked into pieces and burned until only ashes remained.
Godwin only visited when Solenne slept, and then only briefly. It was as if Alek and Godwin could not abide being in the same territory together. They bristled and postured, but standing watch over Solenne was very much Alek’s responsibility and he would not back down.
They did not speak. When one entered the room, the other left, which suited Alek just fine. He resisted the urge to ask Luis about Godwin’s mood or how he took the news of their engagement. The worried look in Luis’ eyes was enough.
When Solenne asked him what they would do if Godwin proved impossible to live with, he told her to rest and focus on getting better. He’d figure it out.
“Better? Bed rest is insufferably boring,” she complained.
Alek knew what Solenne would never admit: with nothing to do and unable to read, her mind spun in circles, worrying about the problems she knew of and the problems she had no means to foresee. To give her the diversion she needed, Alek read aloud until she fell asleep, sometimes continuing on until his voice rasped. He chose the most worn, well-loved books, figuring they had to be among her favorites.
After five days, Dr. Webb declared her fit enough for short excursions. No long, rambling walks about the countryside. No running from monsters.
“I really don’t plan for such things,” she said. “Now take me out of this wretched room. I cannot abide it one second longer.”
Alek took her to the stone circle on Boxon Hill for an outing. Invigorated by the cool fresh air and sunshine, her energy quickly lagged, requiring him to carry her to the top, where she found Luis and Miles waiting with a picnic lunch spread out on a blanket.
“This is marvelous. Thank you,” she said, accepting a plate.
A bright, clear day, the prairie rolled out westward from the hill in waves of grass, turning gold after a long summer. Autumn and the harvest would be upon them soon, along with cold rains, snow and dreary gray days. From this vantage, Alek could not tell which were native grasses and which were planted by humans. At this distance, it all looked the same.
This was the edge of civilization. Humanity had settled further west, but the untamed wilderness pushed them back. It was hardly an inspirational story, but practical. Humans had not been on the planet long, in the grand scheme of things. Humans planted their seeds, bred their animals transported as frozen embryos—he had no idea what that meant or how it worked—shaped the landscape, and still, the land rejected humans. It was beautiful and wild.
“Is it true you went into the West Lands?” Luis asked. “How far did you make it? Did you reach the mountains? The city in the mountains?”
Luis continued to pepper Alek with questions until Miles interrupted to remind him it was time to return to the forge. “I’m making my own armor,” Luis announced with pride. “Isn’t that amazing?”
Solenne leaned her back against Alek. “Tell me I do not wear that ridiculous expression when I look at you.”
“Do not ask me to lie,” he replied. She elbowed him. When he regained his breath, he asked, “Are you well? Do you need to return?”
“Not yet. I missed the sun. The thought of returning to my bedroom feels confining,” she said. Though she would not admit it, Alek could tell that the short excursion drained her energy. “Is it true about your grandfather? Tell me again.”
“All I know of Maksim, I learned from your father. If there’s more, we have to ask him.”
Solenne frowned, clearly disliking the notion of speaking to her father. “I like that way you said we.”
“You’re my anchor.” His arms tightened around her and the thread that bound them together sang with happiness. “You can’t get rid of me.”
“What are we going to do? Charlotte is planning this wedding, I have no idea how we can afford even half of it, and my father is…you know how he is.” Stubborn. Inflexible. That went unsaid. “If we stay, he’s always going to order you around like a servant.”
Godwin did that now. “We can’t live under his roof and avoid him forever.”
“We can try. It’s a big house. He’s avoided me for the last few days.”
