Persephone didn’t want to hear any more, but the words continued to flow over her. “When Maeve found me, I could tell she’d been weeping since I left. Old Maeve looked at me like she was dangling off a cliff and I was holding the other end of the rope. She wanted me to tell her where I left the baby. She was going to go get it and run away, I think. Too late, of course. I couldn’t risk losing the respect of Reglan and my father. Still, I had to tell her something.”
It can’t be true. Reglan would never have had a child with Maeve, and if he had, he certainly wouldn’t have ordered it killed just to save himself embarrassment. That wasn’t the man I knew. That wasn’t the man I loved.
And yet, she was certain Konniger wasn’t lying. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he refused to look at her, in the way he was wringing his hands, and in the confessional tone of his voice, which sounded heavy and ashamed. Besides, Konniger wasn’t smart enough to come up with all those details—he wasn’t making it up. He was telling the truth. “What did you say to her? What did you tell Maeve?”
“I told her a story about her prayers being answered—and they were—in a way. I told her that the gods had taken her little girl and changed her into a bear, a beautiful little cub. She believed me because she had to, because the truth would’ve killed her.”
“You said she and Suri went to save her daughter? What did you mean?”
Konniger took a long inhalation, made a peak with the fingers of both hands, and gestured resignation by spreading his thumbs. “Maeve—she wasn’t content to accept that her daughter was safe with the gods. I should’ve said that the infant turned into a raven and flew away. Instead, Maeve pictured this poor abandoned bear cub starving without a mother to provide for it, and she went looking. Every day she went to the forest, and I was terrified she might find her baby’s remains, probably eaten by wolves. Wouldn’t have taken them long to find her, not with all the wailing. I figured Maeve would eventually give up, but damned if she didn’t find an abandoned cub. She took to feeding the animal, bringing food to the forest. I forgot all about it until the bad winter when the bodies disappeared.”
Persephone and Reglan never learned what had happened to the bodies, just those terrible footprints in the snow. They didn’t want to investigate too much for fear of what they’d find. In an attempt to stave off rumors that would devastate a community already desperate, she and Reglan spread a story. They stomped out the prints and said wild animals had dragged off the bodies, but Persephone knew that wasn’t true. She could still see those footprints in the snow beside the drag marks. Small feet had made them, a woman’s feet.
“Maeve was feeding her daughter our dead. I didn’t say anything. Maybe I felt too guilty. Maybe I was scared Reglan would blame me. I’d just become the new Shield, remember? Didn’t want to mess that up, and I didn’t think anything would come of it. Never crossed my mind to wonder what would happen once a bear got used to the taste of human meat. You see, that winter, while all the other animals were starving, Maeve’s daughter grew big. She grew strong and lost her fear of people. After having a taste of us, we became her preferred food. That’s what the bear thought when she came across your son—food.”
“The Brown? Maeve thinks The Brown is her daughter?” Persephone squeezed the pillar hard. “What are they going to do?”
“I don’t know. Maeve woke me up before dawn, saying she was going with that loony mystic who knows how to drive the demon out of The Brown. I guess they think they can turn her back into a human or something. Maeve was so happy. Crazy is what she is—has been since Reglan made me take her daughter. She and the mystic left a couple hours ago.”
“And you let her go? Why didn’t you tell the truth?”
“See, that’s the thing.” Konniger looked into the flames of the fire with a haunted grimace. “Maybe it is the truth. I mean, Maeve searched the forest every day after I left the baby. She never found it, but she did find an abandoned bear cub. Maybe the gods were listening when I told her that. Maybe they heard and made it true.”
“You have to do something!” she shouted. “Get the men together.”
“And do what? Go where?”
Overhead the scratching continued.
“The wolf,” Persephone said more to herself than to Konniger. “Follow the wolf!”
Persephone ran across the room, rounded the banister, and raced up the steps. “Arion?”
“Persephone, don’t come in. The wolf wants out!” Arion called through the door. Persephone didn’t need the warning as the door shuddered violently. “Suri isn’t here. She left her wolf with me. She’s going after a bear and said Minna would get in the way.”
Claws attacked the door, rumbling the wood against the frame. The ferocity of the assault halted Persephone and made her hesitate.
“Are you all right in there?”
“Yes,” Arion replied. “But I think you should send help for Suri. I’m worried she might get killed. She thinks a demon possessed a bear or something.”
Even the Fhrey was worried!
“Minna?” Persephone said gently. “Can you hear me, Minna?”
The thrashing of the door stopped, and the wolf cried mournfully.
“What is the wolf doing?” Persephone asked.
“Lying in front of the door, smelling you.”
“Hey, Minna. Remember me? I need you to take me to find Suri. You’d like to see Suri, wouldn’t you?”
“The moment you let that animal out, you’ll never keep up with it,” Konniger said as he climbed to the top of the stairs and stood behind her.
“I’ll need a leash,” Persephone said.
“That’s a wolf, not a dog. It’ll tear you to pieces.”
“I don’t think so.” Persephone hoped that was true. It should be true. Minna had never showed any sign of aggression toward anyone on the dahl, not even the sheep or chickens, but then, Suri had always been with her.
It was what the tree said to do. And if you can’t trust an ancient talking tree, what was the point of having one?
“Here.” Konniger slipped off his belt and held it out. “For all the good it will do you.”
“Don’t give it to me,” Persephone said. “You do it. I’ll call the men together and tell them that you’re organizing a hunting party, and that—”
“I’m not going anywhere. If you want to do this, you’ll do it on your own.”
“What? Are you serious? Your Keeper of Ways is going to get killed because of a lie you told!”
“I won’t send men against that bear again. You of all people know the danger. The Brown isn’t just a bear. Who knows. Maybe your mystic is right. Maybe it is a demon.”
“It’s not a demon. But it will kill them!”
“I won’t allow any men from this dahl to commit suicide going after that bear. I’m not as stupid as Reglan.”
She glared at him, furious.
How can he just stand there? How could Mari have allowed such a man to become our chieftain?
Persephone found it hard to believe Konniger could be so cowardly, even when young. To take a baby from its mother and abandon it was despicable. But now he had a chance to make up for that mistake and he refused. Konniger would stand by while two women went to their deaths because he was too weak to own up to an embarrassing lie.