fell into a space that was wide and smoky and filled with light and fire and blessed warmth. Thirrin brushed the snow from her frozen eyelids and looked around. They were in a cave filled with massive hairy creatures who, on seeing her, threw back their heads and howled.
The Wolffolk had found them.
14
The werewolves ate a lot of meat. And they were not fussy about whether it was cooked or raw. But they quickly guessed Thirrin and her party preferred it when it wasn’t actually bleeding, and they soon had huge piles of sizzling hot steaks heaped before them on rough platters made of flat pieces of stone.
They all ate ravenously, the warmth of the cave flowing over them and slowly thawing out frozen fingers and limbs. As soon as she felt the blood pulsing strongly through her veins again, Thirrin climbed to her feet and checked over her escort. Amazingly, none had any permanent damage apart from a few very mild cases of frostbite.
There was an inevitable nervousness among the soldiers; the werewolves may have been allies, but the friendship was very recent, and there was a history of literally centuries of conflict between the two races. But apart from a few wary glances and weapons kept close at hand, the escort conducted itself properly.
Even the horses were in good shape, standing patiently in a corral the Wolffolk had made with branches at the back of the cave. They were eating a rough fodder made up of dried grasses, nuts, and the same sort of lichen Thirrin had noticed the bison eating earlier in their journey. At first the horses had been very nervous about the werewolves, shying and snorting whenever they came near, but when the Wolffolk spread the fodder on the floor of the corral and then ignored them, they settled down.
Thirrin now allowed herself to look around the cave. It was huge — almost as big as the Great Hall in Frostmarris, except here there were at least eight fires, not just the one that had occupied the very center of the hall. Each of the fires burned on permanent-looking hearths, and they all had troupes of the Wolffolk gathered around them in what Thirrin assumed were extended family groups. But the central hearth was the biggest, and here a particularly large werewolf wearing a silver collar sat surrounded by dozens of others who seemed to be receiving orders or bringing over choice cuts of meat.
This was obviously the center of power in the cave, and taking a deep steadying breath, Thirrin immediately headed for it, collecting Oskan en route. As soon as the huge werewolf noticed her approach, it stood and, incredibly, curtsied.
“Greetings, My Lady Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Wildcat of the North, Queen of the Icemark. I am Baroness Lishnok Grin-Skull of the Wolfrock Grin-Skulls. Perhaps you have heard of my family?”
Thirrin was still recovering from the sight of seeing this huge creature curtsy, and for one dangerous moment she almost giggled, but she quickly regained control and answered with extreme politeness. “Greetings, Baroness Grin-Skull. My entire party and I owe you our lives, and the House of Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield will forever remember this. The fact that I do not have a deep knowledge of your family is a fault that is entirely my own, and I can only plead that the hostilities that once existed between our races are to blame. But from this day forth, the House of Grin-Skull shall be known throughout the Icemark.”
The Baroness simpered at this courtly reply and, extending a hugely clawed paw, she invited Thirrin to sit beside her. Thirrin gladly accepted another helping of cooked meat from the werewolf’s own plate and, making room for Oskan beside her, they began to practice their skills of diplomacy.
“Tell me, Baroness, has this … dwelling been in your family for very long?”
The huge wolfwoman looked around the cave with pride. “Over ten generations of Grin-Skulls have been whelped in this hall. It was here that Baroness Padfoot White-pelt founded the Grin-Skull dynasty after fighting in the Blood Wars against the Vampire King and Queen more than three thousand moons ago. She took the new family name to commemorate personally flaying the skin from the face of the Vampire standard-bearer, and it’s been carried with pride ever since.”
“A very worthy genesis for an illustrious name,” said Oskan, helping himself to a slab of meat. “But now your people are allied to Their Vampiric Majesties, are they not?”