Two Wolf Kings, One Lie Chapter 05 (Continue)
The echo of the horn had barely faded before shuffling footsteps came from outside.
A group of people filed in. At the front: a heavyset man in a dark cloak with gold trim, the White Wolf Clan’s mark stitched across his chest. Behind him came seven or eight attendants – all richly dressed, their sword handles set with jewels, walking with their chins up and eyes that looked down on everything.
“Who?! Who dares disrespect my daughter?” the man bellowed as he came through the door, his voice filling the altar. “My daughter – Gary’s daughter – and you think you can push her around?”
His gaze swept the room and settled on the Silver Wolf Guard. A sneer pulled at his mouth.
“Oh – and who might this be,” he said, dragging out the words as he strolled toward one of the Silver Wolf
Guard members and looked the silver armor over with
clear contempt. “The Silver Wolf Guard. In front of
other clans, you might count for something. But in
front of us in front of the White Wolf Clan –”
He reached out and shoved the guard’s shoulder.
“You’re nothing.”
The guard didn’t move.
The instant Gary’s fingers touched the silver armor, his
wrist was caught.
The grip was like an iron clamp – thick–knuckled, impossibly strong. Pain shot through Gary’s hand; his face changed, and he was about to react-
“Gary.” The guard’s voice was low, like a blade dragged across stone. “A side branch that caught a little of the White Wolf Clan’s shine and has been showing off about it ever since. That mark on your chest – did you steal it, or borrow it?”
Gary’s pupils shrank. Every bit of color left his face.
Only then did he notice: this “ordinary guard’s” armor was different from the others‘. The edge of the pauldron was ringed with a tight row of wolf’s–tooth marks – the sign of an arena champion. He stiffened, raised his head, and followed that iron–grip hand
upward – and saw the face.
The face he had seen only once, from far away, at the top of the fighting arena.
Erik turned slowly to face him.
Firelight fell on his hard, sharp features, catching an
old scar at the corner of one eye. He wasn’t wearing the
fighter’s armor he was known for – just a plain silver
battle dress – but the force that had been built from
years of survival in blood couldn’t be hidden by any
clothing, no matter how fine.
“Gary,” Erik said his name one word at a time, quietly
but heavy as a hammer to the chest. “What did you just say the Silver Wolf Guard was – in front of the White
Wolf Clan?”
Gary’s legs started to shake.
He knew this face. The whole White Wolf Clan knew
this face.
Erik – the youngest arena champion the White Wolf
Clan had seen in ten years. Forty–seven wins in the arena, never beaten. The Alpha himself had given him the champion’s armor. In the entire White Wolf Clan, except for the Alpha, no one dared raise his voice
around him.
And Gary had just shoved him.
“Lord Erik…” Gary’s voice came out like something
squeezed through a closed throat, every word shaking.
“I… I didn’t know it was you… I truly didn’t know…”
Luna stood nearby, all traces of pride gone. She
watched her father cower and scrape and stamped her
foot in frustration. “Father! Why are you scared of him?
He’s just the captain of the Silver Wolf Guard! You’re White Wolf Clan! Stand up!”
“Shut up!” Gary spun and screamed at her, his voice
wild with fear.
He turned back. His knees gave, and he dropped hard to
the ground.
His forehead hit the stone with a dull crack. He crawled
toward Erik, both hands trembling as he cupped the tips of Erik’s boots and pressed his lips to them.
“Lord Erik, please… spare us…” Tears and mucus smeared his face, his voice dissolving into crying. “We are only a side branch – we just borrowed a little of the
White Wolf Clan’s name. Our pride got the better of us
and we went around using that name… We didn’t mean
- to. We never wanted to bring shame to it…”
Every few words, he kissed the boots again. His forehead knocked against the ground, again and again.
“Please, in your mercy, let us live… I’ll never do it
again. I swear, never again…”