Anxiety built as we drew close to Alnford Hall once more, Ábroðen's posture grew tense. He might have turned around and run again, except that I stayed beside him, my body bumping against his as we trotted back across the fields. When he slowed, I rubbed my head under his and licked his cheek, reminding him that I remained right beside him, that he didn't need to face the pack alone.
If anything, my presence was possibly the only support that could get him back among his people. If I could get past what he'd done to Conn when he'd had a semblance of freewill, then his pack could move past what he'd done without any, right?
Aside from that, his pack had sat in front row seats at the tragic fallout of Leof's time in Valhalla. They'd seen what it did to me, heard me scream with Conn's fear, witnessed him taking his pain and anger out on me again and again. They knew what could follow. They knew that it would take time for normality to resume. They would grant him that much. I believed that whole heartedly, because I knew they loved him.
As we drew closer to the hall, I noted that the doors had closed and the window shutters had slid into place, protecting the vampire residents from the sun. A small crowd still gathered at the steps though, wolves standing or sitting in a semicircle, around where Leof and Thel were holding court, perhaps attempting to reassure them that their Chief would indeed be alright. If anyone could persuade the pack of that, it was Leof. After all, he was alright, despite all that had happened to him.
Between us, with me bolstering Fenn and Leof bolstering the pack, we might just pull off this reversal of misfortune. Or rather, we could take horses to water, and Ábrođen and his people could decide whether or not to drink. I trusted them to do so.
The nearer we got, the more pack members noticed our return. They turned towards up, on or two at first, then groups of them. Each bowed slightly to their Chief, an expression of respect and submission, wolves responding to their alpha, the strongest of them, even if it might take him a little while to see that in himself.
When we reached the steps, I transformed myself into Fríge once more, while Ábroðen stood for a moment, uncertain, before shifting back into his human form and accepting the pair of jeans that his second-in-command held out to him. Even once he'd dressed, he did little more than stand on the top step, rubbing his chest as if remembering Viđarr's sword, and not meeting the eyes of those he needed to lead. Nervousness mounted on both sides of the divide again, and I longed to ease the uncertainty so that the wound could be healed.
Perhaps I wasn't the only one who felt the need to dispel the tension once more... Beside Thel, Cáfgár smirked at me, mirth and mischief twinkling in his eyes as he said, "So elegant, queen among gods. Doesn't Ésageard have stairs? Is this why you have a reputation for leaping over Milbank's banisters rather than walking down like a normal person."
"Everyone's a critic," I answered with a shake of my head, although my reprimand was good-natured. "It's the first time I've had so many legs to co-ordinate. How about I give you wings and see how well you do?"
"Can you fly?" he asked, his brows shooting up before he frowned in genuine concern. "And you wouldn't do that, would you? Not really? Wolves are meant to have their paws on the ground."
"You need to brush up on your mythology," I advised, then grinned, a little evilly, "And taunting one of the most powerful sorceresses you're ever likely to meet is so not smart."
With a thought and a flash of light, I turned myself into a falcon once more, launching myself easily upwards, circling over the heads of the fascinated wolves and then swooping at Cáfgár's head with the precision and speed of any bird of prey. Thel's mate threw up his hands in self defence and yelped in surprise. He ducked, waving frantically as I flapped around his head for a moment, before gliding back towards Leof and Ábroðen. When I returned to my humanoid body for a second time in as many minutes, I doubled over in laughter at the look of shock on Cáfgár's face, thoroughly unrepentant.
