Chapter 40: Moon Silver's First Cry
Gray Ear stayed in Water City for three days.
In those three days, every morning he followed Violet to the training grounds and lay beside them, watching her teach the Self-Defense Force how to kill wolves. At noon he followed her to the granary to check the ledgers and lay at the door waiting. At night he followed her back to her small house and slept in the doorway. At first the people of Water City stopped to stare. An ice wolf lying at the granary door. Anyone passing by took two extra steps around. After two days they got used to it. Even the ones who used to detour stopped bothering and walked straight past Gray Ear. Gray Ear didn't even open his eyes.
The third day, in the afternoon, Ulric came. He crouched down and patted Gray Ear's head. "Three days you've stayed. Had enough yet?"
Gray Ear's ears swiveled. Didn't move.
"He doesn't want to go back." Violet said.
"It's not that he doesn't want to go back. He wants to watch over you."
"Watch over me for what?"
"Watch whether you die or not." Ulric stood. "When a wolf accepts a master, it follows. You spoke to him. He sniffed your hand. You fed him dried meat. He's accepted you."
Violet looked at Gray Ear. Gray Ear rested his chin on his front paws. Eyes half-closed.
"His original master was you."
"It was me. But he chose you." Ulric's tone was flat. Couldn't tell if he was pleased or displeased. "An ice wolf acknowledges one master in its life. When Gray Ear accepted me, I was only fifteen. He followed me for twenty years. Twenty years, and he never followed another. You're the second."
"I can't raise a wolf. I have a child."
"A child is a child. A wolf is a wolf. Gray Ear doesn't need you to raise him. He'll find his own food."
Violet crouched down and stroked Gray Ear's head. Gray Ear's ears swiveled. A low rumble came from his throat. Not a threat. Comfort.
"You stay." She said.
Gray Ear's tail swept once.
Night. Violet sat on the steps outside her small house. Gray Ear lay at her feet. Moon Silver lay in her palm. Moon Silver was a size larger than the day it was born. Fur denser. Silver-gray. In the moonlight like a small wisp of fog. Its eyes still not open, but it could crawl now. It crawled back and forth across her palm. Paws very soft. Tickling her skin.
Leon walked over and sat beside her. He looked at Gray Ear. Then at Moon Silver.
"You're raising two now."
"One came on its own. One was stuffed into my hands."
"Which one was stuffed into your hands?"
"The small one."
Leon reached out a finger and touched Moon Silver's head. Moon Silver's head turned. It opened its mouth and latched onto his fingertip. Toothless. Couldn't hurt. Like being held by a piece of soft flesh. Leon's finger twitched. He didn't pull it back.
"It's biting you." Violet said.
"Doesn't hurt."
"It's hungry."
"Hungry and it bites everything?"
"Hungry and it bites anything."
Leon pulled a piece of dried meat from inside his coat. Broke it into grain-sized pieces and placed them on his fingertip. Moon Silver sniffed. Turned its head away.
"It doesn't eat meat. Drinks milk."
Leon put the dried meat into his own mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.
In the distance, the sound of stones being moved from the east side of the city stopped. The wall had risen to the height of two men. Gray Bone said they could cap it tomorrow.
"The wall is almost finished." Violet said.
"Once it's finished, the city is built."
"Once it's built, then what?"
Leon looked at her. "Then guard the city."
The two of them fell silent. The wind came through the gorge, carrying the chill of the North. Gray Ear's ears swiveled. His nose twitched. But he didn't raise his head.
Moon Silver turned over in Violet's palm. Its small paws kicked the air. Then it opened its mouth.
It cried.
The sound was very small. Like a cat's mewl, and not like a cat's mewl. Higher. Thinner. Like wind passing through a crack. But it was alive. With breath. With warmth. It was crying.
Violet looked down at it. Moon Silver's eyes were still closed, but its mouth opened and closed, one cry after another. Not hungry. Not cold. Not afraid. It just wanted to cry.
"It can make sounds." Leon said.
"Yes."
"Didn't you say it was mute?"
"I thought it was."
Moon Silver cried a while. Tired itself out. Its mouth closed. Curled in her palm. Its breathing slowly steadied. Violet pressed it to her chest and felt that small body rise and fall. Gray Ear raised his head and looked at the Moon Silver in her hand. Then lay back down.
"He recognizes it." Leon said.
"Who?"
"Gray Ear. He knows Moon Silver is your child."
Violet said nothing. She placed Moon Silver back in the eggshell. The eggshell could no longer contain it. Moon Silver was a size larger than the shell. Half its body hung outside. She cupped her hands around it, afraid it might roll out.
"Tomorrow I'll make it a nest." She said.
"I'll help you make it."
"You know how to make a nest?"
"I do. Gray Rock people can make anything."
Leon stood and left. After a few steps, he stopped. Didn't look back.
"It cried very beautifully."
He left.
Violet lowered her head and looked at Moon Silver. The moonlight fell on it. Silver-gray fur gleaming. Its mouth slightly open. A tiny tip of pink tongue showing.
"You cried very beautifully." She whispered.
Moon Silver's tail moved once.
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End of Chapter Forty
Gray Ear stayed. Ulric said a wolf acknowledges only one master in its life. Gray Ear acknowledged her. Moon Silver cried its first sound. Very small. Like wind through a crack. Leon said, "It cried very beautifully." The wall is almost finished. The city is almost built. Then guard the city. The beast tide hasn't come yet. But the wolf is at her side. The child is in her palm. The wind blows from the North. Carrying the chill.