Wolves In Spring

Written by: cloudyautumn

The dragon may have three heads as the curtain closes on the War of the Five Kings, but the game continues.

THE GIRL WHO BECAME SOMEONE

"This is what you have decided?"

No One did not turn around. She knew that the principle elder stood directly behind her. She had not heard his approach, but his smell was too distinctive for her not to have noticed. He was unarmed as always, and No One firmly believed that if she were to turn around and face her elder now, his face would be the very picture of serenity and kindness. There was probably a smile upon his lips and hovering around the corners of his eyes, too.

"Yes." Her voice did not betray the infirmity she felt. "Will you stop me?"

Her Kindly Man replied slowly, as if weighing his words before they tumbled past his lips.

"No, child." Another pause. "You and I are but humble servants of Him-of-Many-Faces. If this is the path you choose, then someday He will come to you and enact his own price."

Whether that was a threat or a promise remained unsaid. She pushed open the weirwood doors and walked through the threshold at an unhurried pace. He made no move to pursue, as he'd said. The doors swung shut behind her, jolting her out of her false calm. Down the stone steps she went, taking two or three at a time like a gamboling fawn on unsteady legs. After she reached the bottom, she went immediately for the loose stone that housed the last, and perhaps greatest of her childhood treasures. Fingers scraped against rock before coming to rest against cold steel.

"Needle," she breathed, before gathering the slender blade up and clutching it to her chest. Nudging the stone back in place with her foot, she took one last look at the great black and white doors looming above her before fleeing down the cobbled road.

END OF CHAPTER