"Oh, yeah," I said, "I meant it."
"Then Gregory was right."
I frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"He said you were their leoparde lionne,their rampant leopard."
"I don't know the term," I said.
Gwen answered. "Leoparde lionneis a term from French heraldry. It's a leopard, or even a lion, rampant in action on a crest. It symbolizes brave and generous warriors having done some brave deed. In this case it means a protector, even an avenger. Gabriel was a lion passant,a sleeping lion. He led but did not protect. In effect, Gregory did not merely refuse to harm Sylvie, he also told the Master of Beasts that if he was harmed, you would save him."
"How can I be their leopardewhat-you-call-it if I'm not a leopard?"
"Leoparde lionne," Sylvie said. "How can you be lupa and neither be wolf nor our Ulfric's lover?"
She had me there.
Fresh tears streamed down Sylvie's face. "Padma tried to get Vivian, his personal pet while he's here, to do things to me. Said I liked women, and maybe that would loosen my tongue. She refused, and she gave the same reason that Gregory did."
I remembered Vivian staring at me, her frightened eyes pleading for me to help her. "Shit, you mean she really expected me to rescue her tonight."
Sylvie just nodded. Gwen said, "Yes."
"Shit."
"I honestly didn't think of it until after we were in the Jeep. I swear I didn't think of it sooner," Sylvie said. "But I didn't say anything, because I wanted them to suffer. I can't stop hating them just like that. Do you understand?"
I did. "Sylvie, you and I have one thing in common. We are both vindictive as hell. So, yeah, I understand, but we can't leave them there like that, not if they were expecting to be saved."
She wiped at the tears. "You can't go up against them tonight. We can't do anymore tonight."
"I'm not planning to fight anymore tonight, Sylvie."
"But you're planning something." She sounded worried.
I smiled. "Yeah."
Gwen stood. "Don't be foolish, Anita."
I shook my head. "Foolish. I'm way past foolish." I stopped in the doorway and turned back. "By the way, Sylvie, don't challenge Richard, ever."
Her eyes widened. "How did you know?"
I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'll kill you if you kill him."
"It would be a fair fight."
"I don't care."
"You haven't seen him, Anita. He's on the edge. You can forbid me from challenging him, but there are others, and they won't be nearly as good for the pack as I am."
"Then make it carte blanche," I said. "If anyone kills Richard, I'll execute them. No challenge, no fair fight, I'll just take them out."
"You can't do that," Sylvie said.
"Oh, I think I can. I'm lupa, remember."
"If you forbid fights of succession," Gwen said, "you're undermining Richard. You're saying in effect that you don't believe he can really lead the pack."