Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart by Jane Lindskold

Author:Jane Lindskold [Lindskold, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy, Wolves, Epic, Human-Animal Relationships, (v4.0), Firekeeper (Fictitious Character), Human-Animal Communication, Wild Women
ISBN: 9781417723935
Publisher: San Val
Published: 2002-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Grateful Peace found the two-and-a-half-day sleigh ride from the Stone Giant Inn to the city of Dragon's Breath one of the most exhilarating yet wearying journeys of his life.

Travel conditions were not to blame for the contradictory state of his emotions. The sleigh runners ran smoothly over the carefully tended roads. The horses—changed at every post-station—were fresh and not yet dispirited from a long winter's hauling. Indeed, they seemed to enjoy how the chill air made the weight of their dragon caparisons negligible, to be rejoicing in the absence of flies and dust.

Nor did Peace have any complaints regarding his attendants. Even the young man who had taken over for the groom murdered by the escaped Baron Endbrook was proving quite satisfactory.

Baron Endbrook—or rather his continued absence—contributed a sizable amount to Grateful Peace's worries.

Although guards had been after Endbrook almost from the moment of his mad dash from the Stone Giant Inn, the islander had escaped and careful searching had not yet discovered him. The searchers had found his horse that first night, but Waln had been nowhere about. The man had vanished as if the legendary White Sorcerers had scooped him up onto one of their traveling clouds and flown away with him to their strongholds at the peaks of the Eversnow Mountains.

After careful consideration, Grateful Peace had not elected to remain at the Stone Giant Inn while the search for Baron Endbrook continued. His primary responsibility was to bring Lady Melina to Dragon's Breath. The execution of Endbrook and the driver had been a mere matter of housekeeping. Therefore, Peace left his guards behind—he knew he could commandeer more at the first post-house he passed on his return to the capital—expecting them to tidy up this loose end without much difficulty.

Peace had anticipated that the rider who arrived at the inn where he and Lady Melina had broken their first day's journey would report Baron Endbrook found, killed (if he had not died already of exposure), and the little matter closed. The thaumaturge had been so irritated at the rider's report of failure that he had almost sent the man out again without permitting him time for rest or a meal.

Only the knowledge that acting out of pique was as foolish as making faces at the moon had caused Grateful Peace to curb his initial frustration—that and the awareness that Waln might have been found in the intervening hours since the rider had departed to bring his report.

The report that was carried to Grateful Peace late the second night—riders could race faster than even the best sleighs, especially with frequent change of mounts—had been no more satisfactory. Peace realized that he would arrive in Dragon's Breath before the next report could catch up to him, especially if the search was forced to spread out over a greater distance and farther to the south.

But the disappearance of Baron Endbrook was not the only thing troubling Grateful Peace. Lady Melina Shield herself was responsible for both a large amount of his worry and a sizable portion of his exhilaration.

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