Ander - Part 2: Subchapter 17
17
In truth, Ander didn't have nearly as much time left as he had hoped. At this very moment, inside a tent on the other side of the Cora, his father was holding a war council with his most trusted warriors, and the tracker that had found his wayward son. Most of the Wolves were very impressed by how quickly and efficiently he had tracked Ander to the other side of the Cora, but not Kadai. He knew things about Wardo the others did not, things that could never come to light.
"They don't even have a wall?" Kadai said, looking down at the crude map Wardo was drawing in the dirt.
"Some of the private homes have fences of wood and stone, but nothing we couldn't just jump over, and certainly nothing to protect the whole village. It's mostly just farms on the outside, with smaller houses packed together in the middle."
"How many are we talking about?"
"I have no idea, Chieftain. Ander spotted me before I could scout the area proper, but judging from the number of homes, I'd say the Foxes outnumber us at least two to one."
Garten scoffed at that. He was one of Kadai's strongest warriors, almost able to spar with Banno on equal ground, and he never took any threat too seriously. "That doesn't say much, Wardo. The female we had locked up was a tiny little thing. I can't imagine the males could be more than a step or two taller, at most. I could easily handle two of them by myself. By the Cora, I wouldn't be worried even if they outnumbered us five to one."
"But they have Ander," Nilia added. Not many she-wolves ever felt the calling to become warriors, but they tend to be doubly fierce in battle, perhaps to prove their worth to their bigger male counterparts, and of all the she-wolves to ever join the ranks, Nilia was the fiercest by far.
"So?"
"So, this is the same Wolf that killed Banno with naught but a single arrow and a broken bow!" All eyes flickered to the bow in question, hanging from the support post in the middle of the tent, the broken halves lightly tapping against each other while the early morning light threw curved shadows like horns against the rippling canvass.
It was the only trace they could find.
"Ander doesn't scare me," Garten said. "He's a coward who betrayed his tribe and fled over the mountain. After seeing Wardo, he's probably fled again. I say all that with the utmost respect, Chieftain."
Kadai nodded, but this whole mess was making him feel sick to his stomach.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Wardo said as he put the finishing touches on his map. "From what I saw, him and that vixen were getting awfully friendly with each other. I doubt he'd just leave her, especially after everything he's done in her name. Murder, treason, that's a high investment indeed."
"I agree with Wardo on this one," Nilia said, "But if Ander has indeed joined with the Foxes, we may have to fight him, as well."
"A single Wolf among Foxes won't make a bit of difference," Garten said.
"You shouldn't underestimate him, Garten. How many times have you sparred with Banno, and how many times have you lost?"
"That traitor is not Banno, and I am getting sick of you constantly comparing the two! Ander and I never sparred even once, the coward! But if we did, you'd know I could beat him on my worst day!"
"That's just speculation! None of us knew what Ander was capable of until a few days ago! For all we know, he's shared every bit of his knowledge with the Foxes. Our fighting style, our numbers, even our exact location! If you take him lightly, then -"
"Bah! Let them be prepared, I say! Might make the battle more fun. And if Ander decides to join in, then all the better! Personally, I can't wait to -"
"I know my own son!" Kadai shouted, killing the argument right there. "Above all else, he hates fighting! There is no way he'll raise his hand against his own people!"
"But, Chieftain," Garten said, "he already has."
Kadai sighed. "I know, I know..." He reached up and rubbed the spot above his left eye. It was always there that the worst of his headaches started, and he could already tell this one would be very bad indeed. The past few days have been utter hell. In all his years of caring for this tribe, he's never had to endure a hardship like this. His eldest son, murdered in cold blood by the hands of his second. And now his youngest was slowly but surely going insane. The others haven't noticed yet. They simply believe him to be engulfed in anger and grief, as was to be expected, but none of them knew Hezzi like he did. They've never been very close, but now the child was moving even further away from him. He used to run around outside all day long, marvelling at the simplest things. Kadai once found him sitting perfectly still in the woods for over an hour, patiently watching a spider spin its web. But now? He shuts himself away in his tent for hours at a time, never speaking to anyone. They've had to resort to bringing him his meals like a prisoner, and even these went uneaten half the time.
This was even worse than that horrible night twenty-three years ago when Shekka -
No, he didn't want to think about that. His heart was heavy enough without the weight of those dark memories pressing in on him. Those dark, bloody memories...
And speaking of Shekka, where was she in all this? Instead of sharing her grief with him, her husband, she was off somewhere praying to the Cora. Sometimes he suspected she would rather have been mated to that idol of wood and stone than him.
All this - all of it - was brought about by Ander's murderous hand.
But still, even now, something bothered him. It's been bothering him since the very first moment Hezzi came out of the rain with his story.
If there was one thing Ander hated even worse than fighting, it was killing. He was loath to kill even a deer to help feed his family, so why? Why would he kill his own brother? What could have driven him to such a desperate deed? Love for a Fox he's known less than a day at the time? No, that can't be it. Something must have happened, but what? If only he could -
"Chieftain?" Wardo interrupted his thoughts.
"Hm?"
"You were gone for a while, Sai."
"That's because I was thinking, you fool!"
Wardo bowed his head in apology. If Kadai didn't have this monstrous headache throbbing behind his eyes, he would have given the Wolf a good smack. As is, he couldn't bring himself to do more than massage his temples and close his eyes against the glare.
Why, Ander? Why did you have to do this to us?
Something must be done.
"We will march upon the Foxes' valley," Kadai said, "and we will give them one chance to surrender my son. Only one. Garten!"
"Yes, Chieftain?"
"Prepare your warriors. All of them. We move out tonight."
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