Chapter 34: Face
Ice Wolf Clan's camp lay on the east side of the city. Violet walked less than half an hour to reach it. This time she didn't sneak around crouching outside the fence. She walked straight in. Ulric wasn't there. A young warrior recognized her and ran in to report. She stood in the camp a moment. Watched the ice wolves. Gray-white fur. Pale yellow eyes. Lying on the ground. Tails sweeping occasionally. Fatter than last time. Coats glossier. The food in Water City was good.
Ulric emerged from the largest tent. Bare-chested. Sweat across his chest. He had been wrestling inside. Mud still clung to him. "You again."
"Here again."
"Not here to eavesdrop this time?"
Violet neither denied nor admitted it. "Here to talk business."
Ulric grabbed a robe from beside him, threw it on, and crouched on the ground. "Speak."
Violet crouched down, meeting him eye to eye. "Last assembly, you wanted deputy command. I gave it. You wanted sixty extra barrels of water a day. I gave that too."
"What more do you want from me?"
"Not want. Repay."
Ulric's eyes narrowed. "Repay what?"
"Repay you face."
Ulric's fingers tapped twice on his knee. He didn't speak.
"Ice Wolf Clan people. Called 'dog keepers' by other tribes. You've fought twenty years. Killed three hundred Thorn Wolves. And the first thing people say when Ice Wolf Clan is mentioned is still 'they keep dogs.'" Violet's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. "You came to Water City wanting deputy command, wanting water, wanting to pound the table at assemblies. Not because you lacked sixty barrels of water. Because you wanted others to know. Ice Wolf Clan doesn't keep dogs."
Ulric stared at her. His lips moved. He didn't speak.
"I can give you that face. But not for free."
"What do you want?"
"I want your ice wolves. When the beast tide comes, I need them."
Ulric's hand pressed into the ground. His fingers dug into the earth. "You want my wolves?"
"Not want. Borrow. For the duration of the beast tide, your wolves are under my command. When the beast tide ends, returned to you."
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that I can let everyone know. The beast tide was won because Ice Wolf Clan's wolves charged at the very front."
Ulric's fingers loosened from the earth. He stared at her for a long time. "You take my wolves to fight to the death, and in return give me a title?"
"Not a title. A fact. Your wolves charge at the front, they'll kill the most wolves. Others will see. Once they see, they won't dare call you 'dog keepers' anymore."
Ulric lowered his head and looked at his mud-caked hands. A long silence.
"Let me think."
"How long?"
"Time to eat a meal."
Violet stood and walked to the fence. Crouched down and watched the ice wolves. The largest one stood and walked to the fence. Sniffed her hand through the wooden rails. Nose wet. Breath hot against her skin. She didn't pull her hand back. The wolf finished sniffing, licked her finger once, turned, walked back into the depths of the enclosure, and lay down.
Ulric's voice came from behind her. "It licked you?"
"Yes."
"It doesn't lick strangers."
Violet stood and turned. Ulric stood at the tent entrance, a piece of dried meat in his hand. He broke off half and tossed it to the wolf. The wolf caught it. Two bites and gone.
"You've thought it over?" Violet asked.
"Thought it over."
"What's your answer?"
"The wolves I lend you. But one condition. You can't use them like stones. They're my clansmen."
"I know. Your clansmen are Water City's clansmen too."
Ulric stared at her. He stuffed the remaining half piece of dried meat into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. "Deputy command still mine?"
"Still yours."
"Water still sixty extra barrels a day?"
"Still sixty."
"Then agreed."
Violet crouched down and pulled the small notebook from inside her coat. Drew a horizontal line through the row marked "Ice Wolf Clan." Crossed out. One account left. Silver Spring.
She placed the notebook back in her coat and stood.
"Ulric."
"Yes."
"Your wolf. What's its name?"
Ulric paused. He crouched down and patted the head of the largest wolf. "Gray Ear. Behind its left ear there's a patch of gray fur. Look."
Violet crouched down and looked. Indeed, hidden in the gray-white fur was a small patch of deep gray. Hard to see without looking closely.
"Gray Ear." She repeated the name.
The wolf heard its name. Its ear turned.
"It knows its own name." Violet said.
"Of course it knows. It's an ice wolf. Not a dog."
The corner of Violet's mouth moved. She stood and brushed the dirt from her knees.
"Before the beast tide, I'll come again. To say hello to Gray Ear."
Ulric looked at her. "You'll really come?"
"I will."
She turned and left. By the time she walked out of the Ice Wolf Clan camp, the sun had climbed overhead. Hot on her scalp. She pulled up her hood. The new Gray Rock hide robe had a hood. First time she used it.
By the time she returned to Water City, it was afternoon.
She didn't go to the granary. Didn't go to the salt store. Didn't go to the mine. Didn't go see Astrid. She went back to her small house first and opened the notebook. Stared at that last row. Silver Spring. Doesn't want to lose again.
She stared at those words a long time. Then she closed the notebook and placed it under her pillow.
Tomorrow, to Silver Spring.
But Silver Spring wasn't a road. Wasn't medicine. Wasn't blades. Wasn't face. Silver Spring was Astrid. And Astrid's problem was more complicated than all the others. Because what Violet owed her, and what she owed Violet, couldn't be settled on any ledger.
The egg moved beside her pillow. The light brighter than yesterday. She picked it up and held it to the window light. The translucent patch on the shell had grown to the size of a coin. The outline of the thing inside was clearer now. Four limbs. A tail. And on its head, what seemed to be two small protrusions. Didn't know what it was. But it was growing.
She placed it back beside the pillow.
Tomorrow, to Silver Spring. The last account.
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End of Chapter Thirty-Four
Ice Wolf Clan's account can't be repaid with water. Only with "face." Violet borrowed Ulric's wolves and gave him in return a chance to shut everyone's mouths. Gray Ear licked her hand. Ulric said, "It doesn't lick strangers." She crouched down and spoke its name. Its ear turned. Wolves recognize their own names, the way people recognize their own face. Four accounts crossed out in the notebook. One last account remains. Silver Spring. Astrid. Doesn't want to lose again. Harder than water. Harder than medicine. Harder than blades. Harder than face. Because winning and losing aren't accounts. They're life.