Chapter 13
Anna couldn’t stop shivers coursing through her. She dared not close her hand around that cold object. It might dissolve and soak through her skin, and then she would fall asleep just when she most needed to stay awake.
She found Penelope Ann hard at work in the house. Baskets of food and overflowing bowls filled the main room. Anna’s eyes widened. “What’s all this for?”
“Didn’t you hear?” Penelope Ann asked. “The Guards are coming here tonight.”
“I heard,” Anna replied, “but they don’t need all this. Why are you going to so much trouble?”
“The Guards are coming,” Penelope Ann told her. “All the Guard.”
Anna stopped. “All the Guard? Do you mean, from the whole village?”
“Not just the village,” Penelope Ann replied. “They’re coming from all over the territory. Aquilla’s called a council of war. This is the final step in his plan to start another war with the Ursidreans.”
“But why would he do that?” Anna asked. “Why would he want to destroy the Ursidreans and his own people in the process?”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “I can’t explain it. He started out wanting justice for his brother. Now his hatred has spread to the whole Ursidrean faction, and he wants to destroy them. He doesn’t care what it costs to do it.”
Anna pushed past her into the house. “We have to stop this. We can’t let his madness ruin all our lives.”
“How?” Penelope Ann asked. “The Guard will meet here, and when they’re through, Aquilla will kill Menlo. Once he does that, there won’t be any way to stop the Ursidreans from retaliating.”
Anna stopped in front of the counter loaded with food. She turned to Penelope Ann. “That’s why we have to stop Aquilla from carrying out his plan. We have to stop them from meeting, and we have to stop them from killing Menlo. If we don’t stop them, no one will.”
“How can we?” Penelope Ann asked. “The Guards are already on their way here, and Aquilla won’t listen to a word we say.”
A smile crept across Anna’s face. “He doesn’t have to listen.” She opened her hand.
Penelope Ann inspected the small round object. “What is it?”
“I have no idea,” Anna replied. “Piwaka gave it to me.”
Penelope Ann’s mouth fell open. “Piwaka?”
Anna nodded. “He said to mix it with their food, and the Guards would fall asleep.”
Penelope Ann stared at her. “Piwaka said that?”
Anna nodded again. “He wants to stop Aquilla from killing Menlo and starting another war, too.”
Penelope Ann squared her shoulders. “That settles it, then. If Piwaka cares enough to give you this, we’ll do it.”
“Then what?” Anna asked. “What will we do after their asleep?”
Penelope Ann’s face cracked into a grin. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Anna smiled back. “Right. We’ll get Menlo as far away from this village as possible. With any luck, he’ll be halfway over the Eastern Divide before they wake up.”
They turned to the counter together, and Anna dropped the object into a grinding mortar. She crushed it with the pestle, and they combined it with the food Aquilla and his Guard would eat.
They barely finished in time before the tread of feet on the balcony startled them from their work. Penelope Ann whirled away from the counter, but only Piwaka stood in the door. A dozen or more Avitras filed in behind him. They formed a circle in the middle of the room, and Aquilla came last. He took his place on the couch, and the Guard sat in a ring at his feet.
Then another group entered. They filed into the room in silence, but they just kept coming, more and more of them. The line never stopped. They formed successive rings outside the first circle until seven rings of men filled the house.
Anna and Penelope Ann kept out of the way, but Anna couldn’t take her eyes off those feathery warriors. Every shade of their plumage caught the light, and their eyes burned with mysterious fire. They filled the house until not a square of floor space remained. Piwaka sat at Aquilla’s right hand, and every face turned upward to listen to Aquilla. Anna touched Penelope Ann’s hand, and the two women slipped out of the house.
They waited on the balcony for the meeting to end. The sun went down, and the sky blazed with color. Stars twinkled overhead, and the voices of the treetop creatures died away. Lights glowed from windows throughout the Avitras village, but their light no longer warmed Anna’s heart. She no longer belonged in this village.
“What will you do when Aquilla wakes up and realizes what happened?” she asked Penelope Ann. “He’ll be angry when he figures out he’s been tricked.”
“I’ll blame you,” Penelope Ann replied. “I’ll tell him I knew nothing about it.”
Anna laughed. “Perfect.”
Penelope Ann didn’t laugh, though. She didn’t even smile. “The real question is what are you going to do when he finds out.”
Anna wiped the smile off her face. “I’ll go back to the Lycaon. I’m finished with the Avitras.”
Penelope Ann’s head whipped around. Then she sank back against the railing and nodded. “I didn’t want to admit to myself that you didn’t belong here, but now it makes sense. I wish it could have been otherwise, but I can see you’ve made up your mind.”
“It isn’t just all this mess with Aquilla,” Anna told her. “When Menlo leaves, I’ll have no reason to stay here.”
“When will you go?” Penelope Ann asked.
“Tonight,” she replied. “I’ll leave as soon as I know Menlo is safe.”
Penelope Ann’s eyes widened. “So soon? But you haven’t made any preparations for the journey.”
“Like you said,” Anna replied, “it won’t be safe for me to stay any longer. I’ll find my way to the Lycaon territory. Once I cross the border, their warriors will take me to the village. I can hold out that long. My cousin is one of them. She’ll make sure I’m all right.”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “I hate to see you leave like this. At least let me help you make you some food for the journey.”
“There isn’t time,” Anna replied. “In a few minutes, Aquilla will call us back in to serve the Guard their refreshments. We have to stay where they can see us until they fall asleep. After that, we’ll have to move fast to get Menlo out of the village without being seen.”
“What if one of the Guards doesn’t eat the food?” Penelope Ann asked. “If even one of them stays awake, we’re sunk.”
“I would be surprised if Piwaka eats the food,” Anna replied. “Maybe he’ll help us deal with anybody who gives us problems.”
Penelope Ann cast her a sidelong glance. “You’re making one mistake. They won’t be giving us problems. They’ll be giving you problems. Once the Guards fall asleep and you let Menlo out of the store room, you’re on your own. I can’t help you anymore.”
Anna took hold of Penelope Ann’s shoulders. “You’ve done enough, and I’m grateful for your help. None of this would have been possible if it hadn’t been for you. I only hope you can live in peace with Aquilla after this.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Penelope Ann replied. “Once Menlo is gone, Aquilla will go back to the way he was before. With the possibility of war off the table, he’ll settle down to the same quiet life we had before.”
“I hope you’re right,” Anna murmured.
“I am right,” Penelope Ann replied. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Anna’s head shot up. Penelope Ann gazed at her with steady determination. Then Anna smiled at her. “I should have known you would take control of this situation.”
“Aquilla is my mate,” Penelope Ann told her. “I love him, but I won’t let him ruin our lives with some crazy idea about the Ursidreans. You concentrate on getting Menlo away from here and leave Aquilla to me. Between Piwaka and me, we’ll quell any sign of unrest from him.”
“All right,” Anna replied. “I trust you.”
A bubble of voices rippled out of the house, and Penelope Ann pushed herself off the balcony railing. “That’s the signal. The meeting’s over. Let’s go.”
The Avitras milled around inside the house in clusters of conversation. Piwaka stayed by Aquilla’s side, but a delicate smile played on his lips. Whatever happened during that meeting, the result delighted him. Everything was going exactly according to Piwaka’s plan. All Anna had to do was keep up her end of it.
She and Penelope Ann carried the bowls and platters of food around the room. Every time one of the Guards took a handful of nuts or a sample of Penelope Ann’s delicacies, Anna committed the man’s face to memory. Under the guise of attending to the Guards, she made sure everyone present got something to eat, even Piwaka and Aquilla. Penelope Ann did the same thing.
Penelope Ann lingered at Aquilla’s side with his favorite seed mixture, and he smiled at her while he helped himself to it again and again. After more than two hours of constant attention, the food disappeared and Anna made less effort to circulate among the Guard. If Piwaka’s magic bullet didn’t do its job after all the food they ate, it wouldn’t work at all.
At last, Aquilla clapped his hands and announced they would play a round of issingass before they brought out the prisoner for questioning. He sat on the floor with Piwaka and the oldest Guards, and the game started.
Anna and Penelope Ann retreated again to the balcony, but this time, they kept the men in sight through the window. One by one, the younger men not included in the game relaxed in the corners of the room. They leaned against the walls or stretched out on the floor to watch. Their postures became more and more relaxed, and they observed the game with smiles and half-open eyes.
One by one, the players were eliminated until only Piwaka, Aquilla, and two other older men continued to play. The night wore on, and some of the younger men fell asleep where they were. Piwaka showed no sign of noticing them. He concentrated on the game. In the end, he and Aquilla eliminated the other players, too.
Penelope Ann leaned close to Anna. “You better go get him. You won’t have a better chance than right now.”
Anna shook her head. “Not yet.”
She clenched her hands together in knots. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two men’s faces. Aquilla didn’t realize it, but they played for the future of the Avitras people. Aquilla might be the Alpha, but it was Piwaka who played to save his people from Aquilla’s madness.
He and Aquilla played against each other for more than an hour before Piwaka leaned back in triumph. Aquilla’s laugh rumbled through the house. “You always were unbeatable.”
Piwaka reclined on the couch. “Then you should know better than to play against me.”
Aquilla sighed and leaned his head against his hand. “It must be later than I thought. Look at these louts. They’re all asleep.”
“What do you want to do about the prisoner?” Piwaka asked.
“We can deal with him in the morning,” Aquilla replied. “I got the Guards’ approval. That’s the most important thing. We can deal with the prisoner when they wake up. It will serve the same purpose.”
Piwaka nodded. “I could go to sleep right now myself. I never felt so tired. Maybe it was something in your mate’s food.”
Aquilla laughed again and leaned back on the couch. He threw his arm over his eyes......and the next minute, silence descended over the building. Anna barely breathed. Piwaka’s head lolled to one side, and his lips pouted open. The rise and fall of his chest moved his head up and down.
Aquilla slipped down the couch until his body stretched the length of it. His arm still shielded his eyes from the light. The gentle tide of breathing filled the room, and bodies covered the floor from the front door to all four walls.
Penelope Ann grabbed Anna by the elbow and spun her around. “Go!” she hissed. She propelled her toward the store room.
Anna didn’t hesitate. She hurried around the house and took hold of the bar across the door. She lifted it silently, but nothing could wake those men up from the influence of Piwaka’s sleeping drug.
The door creaked when she pushed it open. There stood Menlo in the same strong, straight, alert posture. His eyes flashed when she opened the door, and he brandished the weapon, but he relaxed when he saw her. “It’s you.”
Anna rushed into the room. She took his hand. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”