Wren exited the tent after three lionesses, each with a smile on their faces. He kept his head bowed, avoiding the gaze of the women when he sat down beside Siobhan. She frowned at the sight of his returned short, greasy brown hair and blue eyes. Whatever herbs the shifters had given to heal his wounds had also stripped his body of the changeling potion.
"They were purring when they worked on my gash," he mumbled.
Siobhan grabbed his chin and turned his head. A faint red mark cut through his temple. His neck wound had already healed and vanished, it hadn't been deep. The gash on his temple would scar, but would heal as well. Herbs were the one magic she'd never mastered and always marveled at their effect on a human.
"The changeling potion is no longer effective." She released her grip and returned her gaze to the fire.
"Can you give me another one?"
Siobhan shook her head. "Nay. There is no more. We could detour to the High Mages down the range a little, but I suspect you don't wish to doddle any further."
Two lionesses stepped in front of them, handing them each a plate of food. One with skin as dark as night splattered with golden spiral tattoos brushed a hand against Wren's cheek. A deep purr rumbled in her throat. Wren jerked his head away, eyes wide.
"He is claimed," Siobhan said.
"I know," she said, still purring, "I was simply wondering if you cared to share for the evening? He could warm my bed quite nicely."
"I will be warming no one's bed tonight!" He swatted her hand away and jerked the plate from her.
Her purr loudened. "Feisty. Just how I like them." She leaned over and licked his face. "Please let me borrow him. I promise I won't break him."
"Unless he agrees to it . . ." Siobhan grabbed a handful of the stringy chicken on her plate. ". . .then as he says, he will be warming no bed tonight. Find your seed elsewhere."
The lionesses purr stopped as she stepped away. "Pity. I've never had human before."
"Were they seriously planning on . . ." Wren shook his head as the lioness sauntered away, shaking her hips in what Siobhan knew was supposed to be seduction. She'd performed that very move on more than one occasion. A single glance over her shoulder confirmed it. The lioness puckered and blew a kiss toward Wren before taking a seat with the rest of her sisters.
"Aye. They'd have taken turns mating with you in hopes you plant a seed in their bellies. Once they knew at least one of them carried your offspring, you'd become part of their winter feed."
Wren jumped. "Wait. You mean. . ."
"They would've eaten you in more ways than just pleasure." Siobhan smiled. She didn't need better lighting to know Wren's cheeks turned red. "Best eat, moron. You may feel nauseous from the herbs they gave you and the food will counter the effects."
Fire danced in the pit, illuminating those gathered around it in an orange glow. The lionesses gathered on one side, leaving Wren and Siobhan to their own log. Snow drifted around the camp, vanishing within the blazing warmth. It wasn't heavy, not enough to coat the ground away from the fire, but Siobhan knew it was a matter of time. She glanced to Wren. He ran a finger through his smooth potatoes and chicken slivers as if looking for hidden poisons.
"You're claimed by me. If they didn't poison my food, they will not poison yours."
"What does that mean? Claimed by you?"
"It simply means you're under my protection. So long as I live, this pride will not harm you."
"They called you Ice Fang."
Siobhan nodded and took another handful of food. Shifters, being born with animals instincts, didn't believe in utensils. They ate with their hands and drank from bowls. If plates weren't necessary to keep the food off the ground, Siobhan was sure they wouldn't use them either. Everything about their kind was primitive. When the great heat burned during the summer, they chose to sleep under the stars. Their tents only came up during the winters. It made it easier, sleeping on the dirt, to scatter in the event of the Vanguard Generals. Siobhan always wondered if the reason they, and many other shifter tribes, chose to winter in the foothills of the mountains was because of the protection the High Mages had throughout the range.
"Why do they call you Ice Fang?" he asked.
Siobhan glanced to Wren. Orange and shadows fought against his face. It made his chin look oddly square and his nose small like a button on his shirt. Tangled knots of hair coiled around his forehead becoming dark vines against his skin. She raised a hand, intending to brush one of the lumps out of his eye but caught herself. Instead, she grabbed another bite of food, hoping he hadn't noticed.
"My magic is ice and water based." She took another bite of her food, hoping Wren would drop the subject of her power.
He didn't.
"And why the fang? Are you a shifter?"
She sighed. "I'm not telling you what I am, Wren. There are reasons for that. If a time comes that you need to know, then I will tell you. Right now, you don't need to know and my secrets protect me from those who would do me harm."
"If we're going to travel together, you need to learn to trust me," Wren mumbled, his mouth full of food.
Siobhan licked the last of the food off her plate before setting it by her feet. If Elias had been there, he'd have scolded her for such poor manors. Lionesses surrounding them wouldn't be an excuse for a lack of etiquette. She closed her eyes and could picture his lecture as he paced, hands tucked in his robes, and shook his head. In the years since she fled home, she became almost as animalistic as the shifters surrounding her. There was freedom in not caring about proper etiquette and she wasn't sure she'd ever return to that life even if she could.
"I could say the same about you," Siobhan finally spoke. "Had you listened to me about the chasm, we might be half the way to Firnlan by now instead of having to detour to the mountains. Besides, this isn't about trust. The magic community stands together as one, they will protect my secret, as I will theirs. Outside of them, the fewer who know, the better it is for me. Ears in the lowlands are not always safe to spill your secrets to."
Wren tapped a hand against his tattered pants, scanning the line of lionesses on the other side of the fire. With smoke blowing around them and flurries of snow, many were little more than a blur mixing with the dance of flame. He finished his plate, placing it on top of Siobhan's, and leaned forward.
"Okay. So there are mages and Aquantian's and, apparently, a you. Are shifters mages?"
"Nay. Again this is a case of not all magic belongs to mages. Shifters are their own race, divided into tribes. The tribes are not always called tribes, but they're all the same. In this case, this is a pride of lionesses. Along with them, there are six other primary shifter tribes—wolves, bears, birds, foxes, mutts, and reptilian. There is an unofficial tribe that is a mix of many cast offs, but they are not recognized by the shifter councils."
"Are there no lion shifters? I've noticed there are no men, outside of the children, here."
"There are lion shifters. The boys you see here will become lions. However, once they reach puberty they're sold. Some are sold to other tribes as protection, particularly to the bird and reptilian shifters who are not adapt fighters, while some are sold to human families sympathetic to the magic cause and in need of children of their own. Lions have no formal tribe. Many will join the mixed tribe as they become adults."
"Why? Who could sell their child like that?"
"Lionesses . . ." Siobhan puckered her lips. She wasn't entirely familiar with the ways of the lioness prides. Truth was, she didn't understand how they could give up their young simply because of the sex they were born into. Elias had explained it many times, but it didn't make circumstances any better. It was disgusting, the way they cast them off without a care. "They feel their prides run more effectively without the influence of men. The boy stays around long enough to learn control of his ability, but after that they're considered a nuisance. Their mothers make sure they're sold to a proper place, they're not simply herded off like cattle at an auction."
"That makes it so much better," Wren spat.
"So sorry your ivory tower was so immaculate it held no skeletons!" Siobhan placed a hand to her chest and feigned horror. "How dare the world not be all sunshine. This is the reality of the real world, Wren. Not the coddled one of a lordling."
"I didn't live in an ivory tower."
Siobhan raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
Wren grinned; the shadows made his cheeks appear to dimple. "It was a Villa on the coast overlooking the port of Crestborne."
"Of course it was." She slid down from the log, using it to prop up her back. Her long legs stretched close to the pit. Fire felt warm against the soles of her boots and she was tempted to kick them off and allow her bare feet to roast against the flame. While Wren had taken his detour through the chasm, she'd changed back into her lose fitting, more comfortable, hunting clothes. They were in dire need of a wash and reeked from days of sweat, dirt, and grime. It would be the first thing she did when she met up with Elias at Rosie's in Firnlan—bathe and wash her clothes. If she had her way, Wren would be tossed in his own bath to clear the greasy mess from his head. While she'd allow bad habits to take place, bathing was one she stayed on top of. Days on the road annoyed her when the sweat and dirt built up. At least with the cart she could've used Elias' water barrels to do a quick cleanse.
"So Vanguard mages aren't all mages then?" Wren asked.
"No, they're all mages. There's no shifters or Aquantian's among them."
"But you said the bracelet is dangerous for all with magic, not just mages. How can other races be protected?"
"They aren't protected. It's just the bracelet has a different effect on them." She sighed. Goddess he had too many questions and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into the tent Briana gave them. Sleep dragged on her eyes, a yawn often broke her words. "In the case of shifters and Aquantian's, the bracelet still turns them into the mindless drones of the Vanguard. The problem is it also completely strips them of their magic. Aquantians already don't have use of their magic out of the waters, but combine that with the bracelet and they can never use it. Same with shifters. When the bracelet is on their wrist, they can't shift. It renders both species useless to the Vanguard."
She tilted her head back to gaze at Wren. In the dim light of the fire she couldn't be sure, but it looked like his skin had paled to a ghostly white. Both fists clenched and released against his knees. The ends of his lips twitched as he stared into the fire. Flame reflected off his iris' and danced with his pupils.
His voice was faint when he asked, "What do they do to them if they can't use magic?"
"They're publicly executed. Made to be an example of because of the hell that is supposedly magic and all we stand for."
Wren closed his eyes and stood up. "We need to leave. Now!"
Siobhan bounced to her feet and grabbed his arm before he could stomp off toward the horses. Ayla, sitting on the end of lioness line, hissed and watched them. One hand rested on a dagger tied to her side. Briana, sitting beside her, touched the younger shifters shoulder. Siobhan knew Wren's sudden shout and her quick rise had probably startled the already on edge shifter. Had she been in Ayla's shoes it certainly would've shocked her. She positioned herself between Ayla's line of sight and Wren's.
"It's already started snowing, Wren. During the day it makes travel in the foothills hard enough, but at night? Impossible! Not without the vision of a shifter or a moon to guide us. We would lose our way faster than you could pray to the Goddess for our safety. There are winter wolves out there, especially here in the foothills, who would like nothing more than to feast on our bones."
"I don't care! I have to get to the spires!"
She placed both hands on his chest, hoping to stop him. Wren pushed her aside as if she was nothing more than a sack of flower petals. Both feet tripped over each other and she fell to the dirt. Ayla chuckled and stood up, clapping slow.
"The great Ice Fang, felled by a human." Other lionesses joined in her clap before Briana stood up and hissed. Her pride immediately silenced, even Ayla, though she didn't quiet without yet another glare toward Siobhan.
Siobhan ignored them as she climbed to her feet and grabbed Wren's arm. He jerked it away and growled. For a second, she thought his eyes flickered with the narrowing of his pupils. Both hands pounded against his thighs as he glared at her. She tilted her head to the side, still staring at his eyes. It had to be the trick of the flames and shadows combined with her exhaustion. Wren hadn't become stronger and his eyes hadn't flickered.
"Wren," she said, keeping her voice level, "the horses are exhausted. I'm tired. You're tired. If this is about Natalia—"
"Don't you dare speak of her as if you understand!" he shouted. "You don't! In fact, I don't think you've given a shit about anything in your entire life. Oh look at me, I'm Siobhan, the great warrior thief. I know everything and if you don't agree with me, you're just a moron!"
Briana stepped toward Wren, touching his arm. He raised a hand as if he were going to push her away the way he had Siobhan. The collective growl of the lionesses around them seemed to halt his movement. With a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.
"I have to get to her." His voice cracked. "You don't understand, Siobhan. Don't tell me she's already gone."
"Then tell me. Make me understand because right now I see a love-struck fool ready to get himself killed. What good are you to Natalia if you're dead yourself?"
"Talk to her, boy," Briana said, "Ice Fang understands more than you think, but you must give her a chance."
Siobhan didn't know why Briana came to her aid, the squabble was between her and Wren, but she was grateful for it. Wren's shoulders sagged as he released a breath. Firelight glinted off the drops of tears forming on the corners of his eyes.
"In Crestborne we didn't know magic was more than just mages. We thought it was all the same. So when . . . when Natalia shifted they thought she was a mage. She was gone within hours. I didn't know. Oh Goddess, I didn't know."
"Your fiancé is a shape-shifter?" Siobhan touched Wren's other arm.
He nodded. "Aye. She turned into a lioness to save my life."