Jerome stood and bowed to the group. “I’ll take my leave. If I see Chal on my way out, should I let her know about this one?” He gestured to Legacy as he addressed the wolf and the mare.
Janus nodded. “Yes, if you could. I’ll call her in a few moments in any case if we don’t see her first.”
“Will do.” He turned and strode to the door, then announced as he opened the door, “I’ll return shortly!”
After the Golden Guard had closed the door, the two remaining equines and the wolf, looked at each other in silence for a minute. “Well,” Snowhawk began, exhaling heavily as she first looked down, then back up, “what now?”
“We could take him on the grand tour, at least until we can meet up with Chal.”
Snowhawk gave a nod of agreement.
It’s cute you’re going through all this… Emerald’s voice snarked in Snowhawk’s mind, right as she went to stand.
Snowhawk reached a hand up to massage her head, under her horn. Can you just… not?
We need to talk.
Snowhawk grumbled, mouthing out, “That’s all you fucking do.”
Both Janus and Legacy looked at her. “Snow?” Janus asked, concerned.
“I need… a few moments,” she replied, sinking back into the chair. “Start showing Legacy around, I’ll catch up to you.”
Janus frowned. “I’m not keen on the idea of leaving you alone.”
She waved dismissively at him. “I’ll be fine for a few minutes.” Both he and Legacy started to protest, but she waved them off again. “I just need to talk to Emerald. I’ll catch up.”
Once the two males were out of the room, Emerald asked, Have you figured out where your protector wolf is?
“Would I be here if I had?”
Point taken. I might have a suggestion for you.
“Then just tell me and stop being cryptic. You being in my head gives me enough of a headache.”
Once again, Snowhawk had the urge to shrug. I could toy with you more, but at the same time, I know you’re impulsive enough to go there, so… Kieran has a home by the sea, just north of Di’aru.
She groaned, throwing her head back and leaning back in the chair. “If it wasn’t near the damn slaver city, I’d say something about it being a cliche location.”
Yes, well, that’s been pointed out to him before. He doesn’t care. It’s easy to find feeding there, should he need it. We found that, I should say.
“It’s concerning, more so than it would have been a few months ago. I have heard from a recent traveler that the city is worse than ever.”
Emerald gave a sharp, short laugh. Wonder why?
She narrowed her eyes, frowning. “Yeah, well, I’m sure if your empire had done it’s damn job and not ignored the problem when they started trickling in, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
Emerald was silent. The slavers were first noticed when I was 6. I was 11 when those laws went into effect. If you have blame to toss out, it’s not at me. I did what I could in the short time I had to do it. I was 36 when those bastards killed me, like you were when that mark sliced your throat open.
“I didn’t realize you were that young,” Snowhawk replied after her own silence.
Kieran was working with Onyx on tracking down the known cells. One small group slipped through the city borders we’d established. My mate was captured and soon after killed. You know the rest. Emerald sighed. Because of his duties, Kieran was not around when my mate was taken. But he had tracked them down and was, for what it’s worth, near by when they killed me.
“Did you regret it? Either going after them, or him turning you?”
I didn’t think about it at first. Then I realized I would never hold my child again. The only way I could not regret it was to continue tracking down the slavers and destroying them.
Her word, “destroy,” was perhaps a view into how much hurt she felt. She couldn’t just kill them, or chase them off. They would be destroyed, like a defective clock, or a rotten fruit. “I’m sorry.”
Emerald was silent again for a half minute. I can’t stand Janus. He’s one of them. The vitriol flowed from her words. And you willingly went back to him.
“He saved me. Had I not come here, and he not spoken up, I would’ve been killed.” She sighed. “Ulmer purchased me the day after I tried to kill a breeding stallion. Again. Apparently, I was meant for Adian, but he refused me. He didn’t know. Janus heard and stepped in. It’s all in my file…”
Then, now that you’re free, go to Kieran. I’m sure the other wolf is there. You can spend your time with him until I can return. I’d rather deal with the one that said no to a slave than the one who owned not only you, but your cousin.
“She was a show piece. And likely got the diplomatic nature. I seem to have your temper and attitude.”
Once I’m more than a voice in your head, I will see to it that you aren’t touched by him again.
“If I’m in control, that’s not your decision to make.”
We’ll see. Her words were terse, and the feeling she was “there” vanished from Snowhawk’s mind.
*********
Legacy bristled as he walked next to Janus. The wolf was just pointing out features of the home, but he was having a difficult time coming to terms with working with him. “Janus…” he began.
“Yes?”
“This wasn’t my first idea, and I’m not sure how to deal with… all of this.”
The wolf looked at him and gave a small nod. “You’re uncomfortable. I get it.” Janus sighed, then glanced around, and gestured into a nearby room. The two walked in, and sat on opposing chairs. Between them was a low table. “I know your history with the slavers isn’t pleasant. I know about you and that golden stallion, and your captures. You weren’t young, and I personally think that was a bad move on the captors part to keep you alive.”
Legacy recoiled at his words. “How would you know?”
The wolf shrugged. “Word travels. And my uncle did have a cordial relationship with your owner.”
“Bryce took off to Di’aru with Jerome and a small handful of others when the uprising started. I didn’t ask what happened to him, though I can’t assume he’s alive if Jerome is here.”
Janus nodded at this. “Likely not. That all said, I have no intention of even trying to bring the slavers back into power. Neither my brother or I were much in support of it, but we didn’t see an alternative. Ulmer’s death was an opening.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Snowhawk means the world to me. I’ll do whatever I can for her. I almost lost her a few months back, and that was nearly too much. I want you to know that we have the same goal.”
Legacy dropped his head, looking at his hooves as he scuffed them through the rugs. “I’m still not super comfortable with all of this.”
“I understand,” Janus nodded. “I want to reassure you as much as I can, but I know only time will bring trust.” The wolf stood, and gestured to the door. “Come on, let’s finish this tour.”
*********
“I don’t know why you’re waiting around, Kier,” Anya’s voice rung through the halls.
“Because neither the wolf or the mare are ready,” the Chernomor replied.
Adian’s eyes narrowed. The two were in one of the rooms near the front of the castle. He heard their conversation through partially open doors. He could likely have heard Anya with them fully closed. I have to get back, he thought. I’ve been here almost six weeks.
“Then just bring her here anyway! It’s not gonna make a difference if she’s here before or not! Might speed it all along if she sees some place she’s been to before.”
“It could, or it could set everything back, or even completely destabilize her. These things cannot be pushed.”
“Have you seen it before?” The disdain rolled into the hall on her words as he crept closer.
The Chernomor’s response was terse. “Once.” Adian couldn’t see his face, but the heavy silence afterward was enough. As long as he’d been here, he’d rarely not heard Anya if she was in the house and awake. Whatever the stallion had said, combined with whatever expression he had, silenced her.
Silence wasn’t ideal for him, though. If she was loud, it would, hopefully, hide his escape, at least enough to get him outside. He was fast on his own, and if any legends he had heard of Chernomor were true, then he may be able to outrun these two.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
The wolf crept past the partially open door, listening for either Anya or Kieran. It seemed that the Chernomor was going to continue his story.
“Snowhawk isn’t the first of Emerald’s descendants for her to attach to. I found the last one to. Another mare, more similar to Emerald than Snowhawk is.”
Adian wanted to hear more of this tale, but he’d reached his goal: a window that had been long broken, but the Chernomor wasn’t interested in repair of this worn-down building. At least not where he usually spent his time. He may not have been the owner, and just found the place after the last one died, but, who knows. Immortal or near immortal creatures likely have issues buying property.
The window regularly creaked as it swung with the wind. They were near the sea, so there was always, always wind. He waited for another moment, still listening for either hooves, or the click of Anya’s claws, and after hearing nothing, he hopped onto the window sill. He creaked the window open as little as needed for him to slip through, though it was still wider than the wind would usually have pushed it.
The faintest sound of hooves on hard floor came through the window. No voices, so perhaps he was just pacing, as he often did. He sighed with relief and crept away until he was out of direct line of sight, and then began to run, hoping he was heading north, and would find a road or path soon.
Adian didn’t have to travel long until he found a road, one of the more main ones, by the size and condition. None of the roads, main or not, were well groomed between the cities, and travel often took much longer than it would have otherwise.
He knew, based on where Kieran’s home was located at the sea side, which way was north, and towards Ametiton. He didn’t know if he was south of Di’aru or not. As a lupino, travel through Di’aru would be relatively safe, and he could perhaps hire a ride back there. Even if the city disgusted him.
Adian didn’t have to travel long before he found out the answer. Kieran’s home was indeed south of Di’aru. He sneered and gave a disgusted sigh as he saw the city appear before him. “Maybe I can at least find a fucking cab…”
Darkness was setting in as he entered the city. He hated the idea of being anywhere in this place, but it was this or who knew how long to travel back on foot. Sure, he might have some speedy movement now but he didn’t know what toll it would take on him to travel that far. He looked around for any advertisement or community board that might have information on it, but everything was either empty, vandalized, or otherwise non-existent.
He did, however, find a shady bar. “Good a place as any,” he shrugged as he walked toward the door.
Though it was dark, it was still only early evening. Winter and all. The bar was mostly deserted, except for the feln bar tender, a lupino bouncer who was currently downing some pain medication, based on the bottle near him, and a pair of dephin males at the bar. Near the door, opposite the bouncer, was a board with posting for folks looking to hire or be hired, local businesses, both legit and not so, and things for sale. Some of which included slaves. He knew he was not hiding his disgust well, but he also, at seeing the board with a handful of delphin and feln for sale on it, didn’t really care.
He did spot a for hire ad, and as he pulled it from the board to read closer, one of the delphin walked to him.
“You lost, friend?” the delphin asked, folding his arms across him and shifting his weight onto one hoof.
Adian paused and glanced at the other male first, then only turned his head toward him in the slightest, feigning an interest more in the paper in his hand. “You could say something like that.”
“That’s our ad you’re holding. Come over and chat.”
Adian gave a half shrug, then turned toward him. And promptly stopped. He hadn’t gotten anything resembling a close look at him, until now, but…
“Something wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
He was nearly the spitting image of Snowhawk. “I think I know your mother.”
The delphin shrugged. “Maybe knew, based on what we were told.”
“No, I mean, know now.”
“See, now I’m really interested. So let’s go talk.” He turned and walked back toward the bar, waving the other delphin to him, then looked back to Adian and did the same. The other male’s resemblance wasn’t nearly as strong, though the golden tones that he carried led to a potential father.
Adian followed the two to the far end of the bar, joining them at a table away from any potential passers-by.
“What’s this about our mother?”
“I mean, what do you know?”
“Her name was Snow-something, and she supposedly died or almost died and is probably dead now. Because she was… kind of a bitch?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Adian grinned. “The shortest version is: she almost killed a breeding stallion for the I can’t recall how many-th time, and her owner was fed up with her doing so, so she was sold. To my uncle.” He paused, thinking, “I mean, she did almost die after that but that wouldn’t have been a story you likely would know.”
“So are you–?” the golden-toned male began.
“If you’re asking if I’m her owner, not int he least,” Adian replied, shaking his head. “I’m just trying to get back to Ametiton.”
The two discussed between themselves for a moment, then the one who’d first spoken to Adian looked back at him. “We’d talked about going there, since most of the slavers have been booted. Not like we couldn’t handle ourselves if worse comes to worse.”
“I’d assume so, if you’re free in this city.”
“We worked, bought our ways out, and now, if they try anything…”
“I guess if what you say about our mother is true,” the golden-hued one continued, “then we take after her.”
Adian grinned again. “Get me to Ametiton. I’ll see to it you are both set up as well as we can make it, I can offer you jobs, if you want to do some security work, and you’d even be near your mother.”
They whispered to each other again, then each turned back to Adian, and extended their hands. “It’s a deal.” As Adian reached out and shook their hands, the first one he’d spoken to introduced himself finally. “I’m Jesse.”
“I’m Liam,” the golden-toned one replied.
Adian nodded. “I may I know who your father is as well.”
Jesse smirked and stood. “This sounds like it’ll be an interesting drive.”