W&W Chapter Twenty-Two

In the normal course of things I would've been all over Jalin in a hot instant, pestering him to give. And might even have succeeded in squeezing some information out; he could be a stubborn kid, but he had a soft spot for me. And was I too noble to use this? Ha, what do you think?

But we were the opposite of alone. And Carson was speaking now, into the quiet I'd given him. I'd loosed the spell, but the memory of it was keeping these big yahoos mighty respectful. I grinned charmingly at the dozen or so who were eyeing me; they yanked their gazes away hastily as if meeting my look would blind them.

Except for this one imbecile. A big blond guy with cold pale blue eyes, who might have been considered handsome if his nose weren't just a bit beaky. Thin lips, too. We studied each other with a kind of mutual contempt for a moment, then he sneered and looked away.

Well. Here was one guy out of dozens who was less than impressed with my parlor trick. I might just have to try something more drastic to get this bird's attention.

"You of the outer tribes know I never request your presence lightly." Carson's deep, rich voice filled the arena. Now that everyone else was pretty much shut, the acoustics revealed themselves as close to amazing. Christ, a band could kick ass in here, electricity or not! "In fact, have never done so, save for when I came to these lands to lead you. And that was only courtesy, to make you aware that a king had come again." He smiled thinly. "And though some of you were less than pleased at the fact, all of you acknowledged me, before your visit was over."

My blond buddy snorted. Too softly for Carson to hear, but I had no trouble. Oh yeah, I would be kicking this guy's ass before the day was over. And I felt a little pleased, at Carse's last statement. Somehow I had no trouble reading into it that many of these large brontosauri had only been convinced of his royalty by getting their asses majorly kicked. I could only hope Blondie had been one of them.

"But today, there is a graver reason for my request. I have called you to prepare for war. Not mere skirmishes with Southern dogs, this time. Although they will be involved, as always they choose to stick long noses in our affairs."

There was a series of agreeing hoots at the expected Southern stupidity. Kinda like what you hear at a football game, ragging against the other team. Some of the hooters checked me guiltily, and I tried to convey by expression alone that if they were agreeing with Carson I didn't have a problem with them speaking out of turn.

Carson drew a deep breath, let it out. Everyone's attention was riveted on him, by now. "The War of the Wind's Four Quarters is finally upon us," he then said, quietly.

In fact, such a deal that everybody but me knew all about it. They all began talking at once again, going right over my question to hoot and beller scornfully.

"Forgive me, Lord Nightwolf, but you must be drunk or crazy!" one suicidal female idiot observed more loudly than the rest. "That prophecy is a myth! And that's a war that can never happen, anyways!"

"I have news that the East as well as the South rises against us." Carson's voice was calm. And his patience, in the face of this idjit's insulting tone, was more scary than anything else. At least to me.

"That is disturbing enoughif true. Why turn such news into a fool's prophecy, though. I would more expect such dribble from your poor excuse for a witchwoman!"

My blond buddy, natch, hopping into the fray to show his smarts by insulting both Carson and Smitty in one dumb speech. I fought back a giggle, not caring that he glared at me. Hell, I just couldn't hold it in. For such a big guy, he had a thin, reedy voice. After Carson's deep velvet tones, this boy's remarks seemed to be delivered in a squeak. Then I focused on the insults and glared in return. But Do'nar was on him before I could even form the words "Fuck off!"

"Some would consider the High King's word enough without further proofs, Sun Eagle. Men of some small intelligence as well as honor. But I guess that leaves you out, by thunder!"

I could feel fire magic boiling up in me, and I let it gather. It was only polite to let Do'nar have his say, and he was still talking. But when he was done I would be putting my two cents in. And guess what? I intended for once to make my opinion known without wasting any fucking time with chit-chat. I liked this bozo that much. He maybe should have been honored.

Of course, I might of known he was gonna say something to make my day. I just shoulda blown his head off immediately and Do'nar be damned.

The big guy was still sniping at this fuck, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. "I was stupid enough to believe, by thunder, that when I rearranged your teeth for you last Feast Day your manners would improve! But some people never learn." Hey, wasn't that what I had just thought? Me and Do'nar coulda been twins, mentally at least. Another scary thought.

"Be that as it may." What, was he trying to draw attention away from the teeth comment? Surely not! "I agree, South and East against us is a thing for thought. But the Four Quarters War of prophecy!" Suddenly, his voice was scornful again. "Impossible! Who represents the West?"

Slamming into me. All of a sudden, the cool strong force of the Darkelf named Stormblade. In my mind, my heart. In my very being.

It was like my whole life flashing before me. Every chance I'd missed, every stupid misstep I'd made. Win the lottery? Oh yes.



	PG-13 (still no sex!) Summary: Keith must reveal himself. It's such a bummer. War Council In the normal course of things I would've been all over Jalin in a hot instant, pestering him to give. And might even have succeeded in squeezing some information out; he could be a stubborn kid, but he had a soft spot for me. And was I too noble to use this? Ha, what do you think? But we were the opposite of alone. And Carson was speaking now, into the quiet I'd given him. I'd loosed the spell, but the memory of it was keeping these big yahoos mighty respectful. I grinned charmingly at the dozen or so who were eyeing me; they yanked their gazes away hastily as if meeting my look would blind them. Except for this one imbecile. A big blond guy with cold pale blue eyes, who might have been considered handsome if his nose weren't just a bit beaky. Thin lips, too. We studied each other with a kind of mutual contempt for a moment, then he sneered and looked away. Well. Here was one guy out of dozens who was less than impressed with my parlor trick. I might just have to try something more drastic to get this bird's attention. The thought wasn't all that distasteful. Cheered me up considerably, in fact. "You of the outer tribes know I never request your presence lightly." Carson's deep, rich voice filled the arena. Now that everyone else was pretty much shut, the acoustics revealed themselves as close to amazing. Christ, a band could kick ass in here, electricity or not! "In fact, have never done so, save for when I came to these lands to lead you. And that was only courtesy, to make you aware that a king had come again." He smiled thinly. "And though some of you were less than pleased at the fact, all of you acknowledged me, before your visit was over." My blond buddy snorted. Too softly for Carson to hear, but I had no trouble. Oh yeah, I would be kicking this guy's ass before the day was over. And I felt a little pleased, at Carse's last statement. Somehow I had no trouble reading into it that many of these large brontosauri had only been convinced of his royalty by getting their asses majorly kicked. I could only hope Blondie had been one of them. Not that he'd been improved by the experience. Some people just never learn. "But today, there is a graver reason for my request. I have called you to prepare for war. Not mere skirmishes with Southern dogs, this time. Although they will be involved, as always they choose to stick long noses in our affairs." There was a series of agreeing hoots at the expected Southern stupidity. Kinda like what you hear at a football game, ragging against the other team. Some of the hooters checked me guiltily, and I tried to convey by expression alone that if they were agreeing with Carson I didn't have a problem with them speaking out of turn. Carson drew a deep breath, let it out. Everyone's attention was riveted on him, by now. "The War of the Wind's Four Quarters is finally upon us," he then said, quietly. "The war of the which?" I couldn't help blurting it out. The way he'd said it, it was a pretty big deal. In fact, such a deal that everybody but me knew all about it. They all began talking at once again, going right over my question to hoot and beller scornfully. "Forgive me, Lord Nightwolf, but you must be drunk or crazy!" one suicidal female idiot observed more loudly than the rest. "That prophecy is a myth! And that's a war that can never happen, anyways!" "I have news that the East as well as the South rises against us." Carson's voice was calm. And his patience, in the face of this idjit's insulting tone, was more scary than anything else. At least to me. "That is disturbing enoughif true. Why turn such news into a fool's prophecy, though. I would more expect such dribble from your poor excuse for a witchwoman!" My blond buddy, natch, hopping into the fray to show his smarts by insulting both Carson and Smitty in one dumb speech. I fought back a giggle, not caring that he glared at me. Hell, I just couldn't hold it in. For such a big guy, he had a thin, reedy voice. After Carson's deep velvet tones, this boy's remarks seemed to be delivered in a squeak. Then I focused on the insults and glared in return. But Do'nar was on him before I could even form the words "Fuck off!" "Some would consider the High King's word enough without further proofs, Sun Eagle. Men of some small intelligence as well as honor. But I guess that leaves you out, by thunder!" There was a smattering of nasty laughter. The guy named Sun Eagle flushed richly. Good. He wasn't well liked, then. No one would miss his lame ass at all. Worked for me. I could feel fire magic boiling up in me, and I let it gather. It was only polite to let Do'nar have his say, and he was still talking. But when he was done I would be putting my two cents in. And guess what? I intended for once to make my opinion known without wasting any fucking time with chit-chat. I liked this bozo that much. He maybe should have been honored. Of course, I might of known he was gonna say something to make my day. I just shoulda blown his head off immediately and Do'nar be damned. The big guy was still sniping at this fuck, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. "I was stupid enough to believe, by thunder, that when I rearranged your teeth for you last Feast Day your manners would improve! But some people never learn." Hey, wasn't that what I had just thought? Me and Do'nar coulda been twins, mentally at least. Another scary thought. The bastard seemed disconcerted. Especially on a new wave of nasty laughter. "Be that as it may." What, was he trying to draw attention away from the teeth comment? Surely not! "I agree, South and East against us is a thing for thought. But the Four Quarters War of prophecy!" Suddenly, his voice was scornful again. "Impossible! Who represents the West?" Slamming into me. All of a sudden, the cool strong force of the Darkelf named Stormblade. In my mind, my heart. In my very being. "Where are the elves?" Oh God. I could feel Smitty's look, slamming into me. Jalin's look, hurting me past all bearing. Carson? I looked at him. His face was so white and still. He looked away from me. He wouldn't ask it of me. Oh, babe. It was like my whole life flashing before me. Every chance I'd missed, every stupid misstep I'd made. Win the lottery? Oh yes. I had the chance to change everything. Blow it? Within a heartbeat of it. I was so scared. I stepped forward before I could think about it too much, and yanked my hair back off my ears. "The elves are represented," I said. In a cold and toneless voice that really didn't sound like me at all.