. . ,” the male growled, his voice otherwise surprisingly normal. “Do we amuse you?”
It took Jarod a moment to understand that the question was focused at Maiev. She smiled defiantly at the leader. “We are here in the performance of our duty to the high priestess. You know that.”
“You found nothing to learn here last time.”
“Things change.”
The leader’s ears twitched in annoyance. “The king will speak with your high priestess and the archdruid.”
“Feel free.”
The worgen as a whole growled. They sounded more frustrated than angry, however. This argument had evidently taken place once before.
“You say things change,” the leader rasped. “What?”
“My brother here was nearly killed by a trap set for the Highborne.” Maiev did not explain the Highborne to the worgen, confirming what she had said earlier about their being aware of the spellcasters’ existence. “He was chasing a worgen at the time.”
The male did not look at Jarod. “Proof?”
“We found fur caught in the bark of the tree where my brother was lying.”
This garnered a derisive laugh from the entire pack. “Many animals in the forest.” He displayed his claws. “The hunting is good.”
“So long as you are only hunting deer and the like, not certain other prey,” countered Maiev.
The leader turned to Jarod again. The long muzzle came within an inch of the night elf’s nose. Jarod could smell the carnivore’s thick breath, but did not show any distaste for the odor.
“Tell me,” the worgen demanded. “You saw this one of ours?”
“No . . . I was in too much pain.”
“Hmmph. You would be feeling no pain at all anymore if he had attacked you as you claim.”
Jarod met the gaze steadily. “I never said he attacked me. He pulled me free of the trap. I do not know how, but he did. He was even sorry that I got caught in it.”
The ears of his questioner twitched in thought. The worgen leader remained in front of Jarod, but glanced at Maiev. “A different story from what you hinted. So a worgen on the hunt happens nearby. Out of respect to the high priestess and archdruid, he retreats when discovering night elves so close. When a fool follows, he even rescues the fool, and for that we’re judged monsters. . . .”
There were accompanying growls from the others. Jarod tensed, expecting to have to try to fight his way free even despite the impossible odds.
“We are only investigating every possible situation,” Maiev countered. “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, right?”
The worgen leader bared his teeth again. “You wish to question us, you come to us. It’s dangerous to sneak about here. Worse things than traps for magi. Younger worgen can get caught up in the hunt; they might leap before they realize that it’s not a deer.” His ears straightened. “By then . . . it could be too late.”
He made a dismissive gesture with one clawed hand. The other worgen moved back from the night elves. Jarod kept a wary eye on the worgen until they had moved a sufficient distance from the night elves, then joined Maiev and Neva.
The leader of the worgen party snarled. As one, the lupine creatures slipped back among the trees, moving as silently as any skilled night elf.
Jarod exhaled. “That was too close.”
“We were never in any real danger,” his sister countered confidently. “For all their bluster, they are just a bunch of humans.”
He grew angry. “Humans with claws and very sharp teeth—and you knew that they would come for us!”
“Easier than following after them. Think of it as a test. I wanted to see their reaction when I mentioned what happened to you. I saw enough. They know something. More than they realize.”
“I would have liked to have known what you planned.”
“You might have changed your mind in coming. I wanted you here. Besides”—she slipped her hand behind her; when Maiev brought it forward again, her brother saw that she was now armed—“we were not so helpless as you thought.”
Neva imitated Maiev, revealing that both females were armed.
Jarod snorted. This was the sister he remembered. Maiev would do anything to see her duty through to the end. It was something to remember while he helped discover the ones behind the assassinations of the Highborne.
“It is likely a night elf behind this,” he said with continued irritation. “Our people have a much better reason than the worgen to want the Highborne dead.”
Maiev began to head back toward Darnassus. “Oh, you are probably right on