Seeing him her eyes glowed life for moment, then dulled, as if recalling
some bitter and irreversible truth. She rose and stood before him,
brushing his ear with her snout, then stepped back and addressed him in
the ancient and subtle language of the wolves.
'Brother of my husband,' she said quietly. 'I am heartened to
see that you live and flourish, but I fear that your time here is
wasted. Shar-hai will never allow you to take me. He draws too much
pleasure from seeing the house of Shaezar in ruin.'
'Wife of my dead brother,' he replied with equal detachment.
'I am alive but do not flourish. How could I live in peace with the
chosen of my heart brought to shame?' He turned away, then gestured
toward the cub. 'What of the others?'
'They are dead. The half-breed has killed all males he has not taken
to himself, or has need of now.' Bitter silence. 'Why have you
come?' He loved her too much.
'I am going to challenge Shar-hai for leadership of the pack. His
pride will not let him refuse me. While his attention is drawn, you
must flee with the cub to Skither's cave. It is the one place he
dare not follow. There you will be safe among friends.'
'But he will kill you.'
'Yes, or I will kill him. Either way I cannot forsake my obligation
to the pack, or to you.
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