Assassin's Quest

"No." I said it flatly, tired of the argument. I wished an end to it, and so resorted to the oldest tactic I knew for diverting people when they asked too many questions about me. "Tell me about yourself," I urged him. "What did your mother teach you, and how?"

He smiled, his cheeks wrinkling fatly about his black eyes and making them smaller. "It took her twenty years to teach it to me. Have you that long to hear about it?" At my look he added, "No, I know you asked but to make conversation. But I offer what I see you needing. Stay with us a bit. We'll teach you what you both need to know. But you won't learn it in an hour or a day. It's going to take months. Perhaps years."

Holly spoke suddenly from the corner in a quiet voice. "We could find him a mate as well. He might do for Ollie's girl. She's older, but she might steady him down."

Rolf grinned widely. "Isn't that like a woman! Knows you for five minutes, and already matching you up for marriage."

Holly spoke directly to me. Her smile was small but warm. "Vita is bonded to a crow. All of you would hunt well together. Stay with us. You will meet her, and like her. Old Blood should join to Old Blood."

Refuse politely, Nighteyes suggested immediately. Bad enough to den among men. If you start sleeping near bears, you shall stink so that we can never hunt well again. Nor do I desire to share our kills with a teasing crow. He paused. Unless they know of a woman who is bonded with a bitch-wolf ?

A smile twitched at the corner of Black Rolf's mouth. I suspected he was more aware of what we said than he let on, and I told Nighteyes as much.

"It is one of the things that I could teach you, should you choose to stay," Rolf offered. "When you two speak, to one of the Old Blood it is as if you were shouting to one another over the rattle of a tinker's cart. There is no need to be so … wide open with it. It is only one wolf you address, not all of the wolf kindred.

No. It is even more than that. I doubt if anything that eats meat is unaware of you two. Tell me. When was the last time you encountered a large carnivore?."

Dogs chased me some nights ago, Nighteyes said.

"Dogs will stand and bark from their territory," Rolf observed. "I meant a wild carnivore."

"I don't think I've seen any since we bonded," I admitted unwillingly.

"They will avoid you as surely as Forged ones will follow you," Black Rolf said calmly.

A chill went down my spine. "Forged ones? But Forged ones seem to have no Wit at all. I do not sense them with my Wit-sense at all, only with eyes or nose or…"

"To your Old Blood senses, all creatures give off a kinship warmth. All save the Forged ones. This is true?"

I nodded uneasily.

"They have lost it. I do not know how it is stolen from them, but that is what Forging does. And it leaves an emptiness in them. This much is well known among those of the Old Blood, and we know, too, that we are more likely to be followed and attacked by Forged ones. Especially if we use those talents carelessly. Why this is so, no one can say with certainty. Perhaps only the Forged ones know, if they truly `know' anything anymore. But it gives us one more reason to be cautious of ourselves and our talents."

"Are you suggesting that Nighteyes and I should refrain from using the Wit?"

"I am suggesting that perhaps you should stay here for a while, and take the time to learn to master the talents of the Old Blood. Or you may find yourself in more battles such as the one you fought yesterday." He permitted himself a small smile.

"I said nothing to you of that attack," I said quietly.

"You did not need to," he pointed out. "I am sure that everyone of Old Blood for leagues around heard you when you fought them. Until you both learn to control how you speak to one another, nothing between you is truly private." He paused, then added, "Did you never think it strange that Forged ones would spend time attacking a wolf when there is apparently nothing to gain from such an attack? They only focus on him because he is bonded to you."

I gave Nighteyes a brief apologetic glance. "I thank you for your offer. But we have a thing we must do and it will not wait. I think that we shall encounter fewer Forged ones as we move inland. We should be fine."

"That is likely. The ones that go so far inland are gathered up by the King. Still, any that may be left will be drawn to you. But even if you encounter no more Forged ones, you are likely to encounter the King's guards. They take a special interest in Witted folk these days. Of late, many of the Old Blood have been sold to the King, by neighbors, and even family. His gold is good, and he does not even ask much proof that they are truly Old Blood. Not for years has the vendetta against us burned so hot."