"She's the high priestess of Selune!"
Tal smiled over his teacup. "She likes me."
Feena turned away but glanced back at him out of the corner of her eyes. Rather than rise to the bait, she returned to the subject at hand. "Mother will give us a sending if someone spots Rusk."
"Isn't it dangerous for her to stay so close to the pack?" asked Tal. "Even with two of you there, aren't you horribly outnumbered?"
"She can take care of herself," said Feena. "Selune grants strong powers against shapechangers."
"They didn't stop Rusk last time," said Tal.
"That wasn't our fault," protested Feena. "He surprised us. It didn't help that you'd locked yourself inside a cage and were no help in the beginning."
"I was only in the cage to keep from hurting-"
"Girls, girls," said Chancy. "You're both pretty."
"You stay out of this," said Feena.
"He'll probably come during a full moon, won't he?" said Tal, pouring more tea.
"Not necessarily," said Feena. "Unlike you, he can change shape whenever he likes. So can most of his pack."
"You're going to teach me how to do that, aren't you?" said Tal.
"Maybe," said Feena. "It all depends on you. Not everyone can manage to ride the moon."
"It won't matter if he just wants to kill you this time," suggested Chaney. "You did cut off his arm, after all. I'd be pissed about that. Wouldn't you, Feena?"
Feena ignored the remark. "Rusk is a proud man. You wounded his pride as much as his body, but I don't think he wants you dead."
"Because he thinks I'm this Black Wolf?"
"Where did you hear that?" demanded Feena. Her voice was tinged with alarm. "Did Rusk say it to you?"
"Actually, I heard it from you," Tal smiled, "when you and Maleva left my tallhouse." When Feena looked perplexed, Tal added, "My hearing has been getting keener. I wasn't trying to spy on you."
Feena frowned. "Never mind the Black Wolf prophecy. It's nothing to do with you anyway."
"It's a prophecy? I thought you said 'heresy.' That's what Dhauna called it."
Feena looked to the heavens in exasperation. "Stop calling her that! It gives me the creeps."
"So tell me about the prophecy."
"It's something Rusk believed. The temple of Selune declared it heretical back in the Eighth Century."
"Why?"
"Because it is heresy. It combines legends from the cult of Malar with philosophical discourses from sages devoted to Selune. Besides, it's a load of rubbish that's been the cause of no end of trouble since Rusk first heard about it."
"Because Rusk thinks I'm the Black Wolf? Or because he thinks he is?"
"It's nothing to do with you or Rusk, and it's bollocks anyway!"
The shop owner returned with a platter of steaming pies, setting them before each of his guests before hastening back to the kitchen. He looked glad to escape his bickering patrons.
For a while they ate in silence, blowing on the molten spoonfuls of thick gravy filled with chunks of meat and vegetables before tasting them. Chaney managed to burn his tongue and flapped his hands helplessly until one of the cooks ran to him with a cup of cold water.
Eventually, Tal broke the silence.
"All right, so you don't want to talk about the Black Wolf, whatever that is. How are you planning to help me learn to 'ride the moon'?"
"Is that another country euphemism like 'roll in the hay'?" asked Chaney. Feena flicked a glob of hot gravy at him, and it stuck on his cheek. Chaney wiped it off with his thumb and sucked it clean.
"It means controlling your change, making it happen when you choose. It's hard, and not everyone can do it."
"How do you know how to do it?" said Tal.
"It's something the clerics of Selune have been teaching for years. It's a discipline, a kind of meditation. It would have been a lot easier if you were one of us, because then you could take the moonfire. It'll be even harder for you, since you have the attention span of a toddler."
"She's got you there," said Chaney. "Master Ferrick was always calling Tal 'unteachable.' "
"I've been doing very well lately, thank you. I've won a challenge almost every meet these past two months. You could've watched me whip Mervyn Elzimmer next time if you hadn't dropped out."
"Too expensive," said Chaney. Before Tal could offer to pay his tuition, Chaney added, "Besides, I'm a lover, not a fighter."
Feena appraised him again, shaking her head in disbelief. When Chaney saw that she was looking down on him, he sat up straight.
"I guess everyone moved up a rank when Malveen quit," said Chaney.
"He didn't quit," said Tal. "Pietro sold Arryn Kessel one of those weird paintings of his and said Radu was just out of town on business."
Like most others in Selgaunt, Tal had little use for the peculiar Pietro Malveen, but he admired Pietro's older brother and hoped one day to challenge him to a match at Ferrick's. First he would have to earn that right, however, and the prospect of testing his skill against that of Ferrick's best student drove him more than any other force to hone his skill.
He had little hope of besting Radu Malveen at the blade, he knew, but Tal consciously tried to imitate the older man's cool grace. Some might consider him aloof, but most of the other students were young and shallow in comparison, a good fifteen years younger than Radu.
"Can you two save the gossip for another time?" said Feena impatiently. "It's not as if I know anything about your little social circles."
"Sorry," said Chaney.
Tal nodded. "All right, when do we begin learning to ride the moon?"
"The next full moon," said Feena. "But there are things I can show you before then. Breathing's the first thing."
"I think he's got that one licked," said Chaney. This time it was Feena who kicked him under the table. "Ow! Between the two of you, I won't have a leg to stand on."
"Actually," said Tal, "Breathing is one of the first things Master Ferrick taught us. Breathing and balance."
"That's good," said Feena. "It's probably similar to what we'll be doing."
Chaney opened his mouth to make another jest, but one dire glance from Feena shut it again.
"What are the two halves of balance?" asked Feena.
"The red and the white," said Tal. "Aggression and passivity, anger and calm, force and acceptance."
Feena looked impressed. "Then you understand that Malar is the red, Selune the white."
"Motion and stillness," said Tal, nodding.
"Good and evil," offered Chaney.
"No," said Feena and Tal at once.
"Malar is evil," corrected Feena. "That is, evil in the sense that we understand it. His followers are cruel and often wicked. But for what we're discussing, it's not a question of good or evil. It's the light and the darkness, the moon and the shadow."
"And you want both of them inside of you," said Tal. "Right?"
Feena nodded, not in response to his question but in silent appraisal of all he had said. "I think this just might work," she said.
"I hope so," said Tal, "because otherwise I'm going to have to charge you for the room and board."
Chapter 9
Greengrass, 1371 DR
They reached Rusk's lair the next morning. There was no sign of the lodge at first. Instead, Darrow saw thirteen colossal stone fangs curving inward to form a wide circle among the trees. Most of the fangs were twice the height of a man, but three had broken off at various points. On all of them were carvings of wolves, wildcats, boars, and other predators-including spear-wielding human hunters.
At the center of the ring was a ragged pit filled with cinders and bone fragments. Beside the fire was a low stone altar, its scarred face stained with blood. All around its edge was carved the symbol of Malar: a ragged claw. At its base were scattered weathered skulls of every sort of prey, including humans and elves.