Chapter 9
The sun had set by the time they reached the mouth of the cave, and Gabriel's absence did not bode well for his mood at their return. Malachi had rushed her through the forest, almost panicked at the thought of being out after dark, but Emle could only move so quickly with her ponderous stomach.
She stopped him just inside the cave. His muscles were taut with tension, quivering as he forced himself to stand still beside her.
"You've done nothing wrong," she said, struggling to keep her voice light. "Nothing at all. You did what your Master requested--I am home safe."
"That remains to be seen," Gabriel said from the doorway in the back of the cave. "You were gone for the better part of a day!"
Malachi fell to his knees in the sand that covered the cave floor and cowered there, as if he expected to be beaten in front of her. Or if he expected the truth to be torn from his mind, which Gabriel could very well do.
"We need to talk," she said firmly, moving to stand in front of Malachi. "He did what you asked, Gabriel. I saw the Healer, and she said that our daughter is healthy and happy."
That--as nothing else would--gave Gabriel pause. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes silver reflections of fury, and then shook his head. When she touched his arm, she found it rock hard and quivering, as if he barely held back the urge to pummel his Hound into unconsciousness.
"You were gone the better part of a day," he said, his voice dead calm.
"It takes time to walk the miles to and from that house," Emle said, and placed one hand on her stomach. "Did you expect that I would be able to run?"
Her tone of voice surprised him enough to deflect his fury--at least for the moment. He glanced at her, consternation now evident in his gaze. "No, of course not. But--"
"If I understand it correctly, all you had to do was open the bond to see that we were not in danger," Emle said sharply. "You need not take your frustration out on Malachi. He did a wonderful job of protecting me."
Gabriel frowned at his Hound. "Malachi has never learned the proper place for silence."
"If I am to stay here, then I need to know these things," Emle whispered. She released his arm and stepped backwards, placing herself between Malachi and Gabriel again. "You will not punish him for speaking with me, my love."
Gabriel clenched his hands into fists.
"Please, my lord. I did as you asked. I brought her back safely." Malachi spoke in a rush, his voice a thready whisper. He had not moved from his place on the ground.
"So you did." Gabriel's voice held neither condemnation nor praise.
Emle was not certain what happened next. She started to speak, but something--some vast, invisible thing--pulsed through the mouth of the cave and hit Gabriel square in the chest. He staggered back--his gaze registering both shock and pain--but before Emle could go to him, Malachi whispered Josiah's name.
"Who is Josiah?" she asked, and the world righted itself in an ear-popping instant.
For a moment, Emle could not remember how to breathe, much less how to speak. She took a step, slid in the sand, and would have fallen if Gabriel had not caught her arm.
"My lord--" Malachi's voice was hoarse. He staggered to his feet, forgetting his previous fear. "My lord--was that--what was that?"
Instead of getting angry, Gabriel stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. "That was--strange," he finally said. "And warrants exploration, in the morning."
Something had changed, but Emle did not know what. The intricacies behind Gabriel's relationship with his Hunt were too complicated for her to figure out without much more information at her disposal.
"He was a student at Darkbrook," Malachi said, picking up the thread of story even though Gabriel had not given him permission to speak. "A gifted student."
"You--You allowed a Hound to attend school? At Darkbrook? In full view of the Council?" Emle shook her head. "And yet you punish Malachi for--"
"That was ten years ago," Gabriel said calmly, but his gaze was troubled, as if he had also asked himself the same questions. "I will explain. I promise you that. But I--" He sighed, as if there was no easy way to say what he wanted to say. "I was always rather--fond--of Josiah."
He turned abruptly and vanished through the doorway, leaving Emle alone with Malachi.
She glanced back at him and wondered if he would answer any of her questions.
"Josiah was his favorite," Malachi whispered with no ill-will. "He was also a very talented wizard. He made some of the furniture in the house, and created the wards."
"He made the furniture?" Emle couldn't imagine a wizard doing something so mundane.
"Yes," Malachi said. "From the house itself."
"And then he just vanished? With no warning? Could he have run away?" She couldn't imagine a gifted wizard allowing himself to be ruled by the Master of the Hunt.
Malachi shook his head. "Don't even suggest that. Josiah wouldn't have run away."
"That's true," Nathaniel said from the open doorway. "Josiah is the only one of us who asked to be a Hound."
"Why does that make a difference?" Emle asked. "Malachi said that you all gave Gabriel your lives and your loyalty--"
"But we did not ask to be his Hounds," Nathaniel said, stepping out into the cave. "Josiah did."
"I don't understand," Emle said.
"Our Master--Our Master has given us leave to speak with you freely," Malachi whispered. "So we can explain. But we still--you still--" He took a deep breath.
"Yes." She still had to ask him about Jordan, and try to deflect his fury when he discovered that they had been seen. "I will do that first."
It was strange, walking between two Hounds in human form. Stranger still to see the two of them standing in the living room, awkward and uneasy.
"Where is he?" Emle asked.
Nathaniel avoided her gaze. "He said he would be in the library."
"No. I am here." Gabriel's appearance put both Hounds on edge. "I was unable to track the origin of what we felt, other than it came from Faerie."
"What we felt--" Malachi shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest. "My lord, we were seen."
Emle gasped. "Malachi!"
The world stood still for a moment that stretched into eternity. Gabriel did not move from his place in the doorway, but Malachi fell to his knees, his eyes tightly closed as his Master--and there was no doubt--tore the information from his mind.
"We were seen by a ten-year-old child!" Emle shouted, struggling to move past the horrible slowness in the air. "A child who has been left to fend for himself by the Council!"
"And you want him to come here?" Gabriel's gaze was far past silver now. "To expose the Hunt's last secret to a human child?"
"But Lucas knows," Nathaniel said, his fists clenched at his side. "You said--you told Josiah that Lucas knew he was a Hound. I remember that. And Malachi--"
Gabriel's fury was swift to strike. Despite the fact that he still had not moved a muscle, Nathaniel flinched back as if he had been struck.
"I am sorry, my lord, but I speak the truth." Nathaniel did not raise his voice, but his gaze was full of fear. "Please don't do this--"
Up until then, Malachi had not made a single sound. But now he screamed--a wailing keen that chilled the blood in Emle's veins.
Greatly daring, she stepped between Master and Hound and folded her arms across her stomach.
"Stop. Please stop," she whispered, struggling to stay calm.
Behind her, she heard Malachi collapse, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. For a moment, the only sound in the room were his sobs.
Gabriel stared at her. "You wanted to bring him here? Why?"
"Because a ten-year-old human child should not be allowed to wander the forest at will," Emle said, raising her chin. "It's June now. What will happen when the weather changes? He shouldn't have to live his life alone just because the Council is afraid of him!"
"I am sorry, my lord," Malachi whispered behind her. "I neither saw nor sensed any signs of habitation. I failed you."
Emle glared at Gabriel, daring him to agree with his Hound's assessment.
Gabriel closed his eyes. "No. You did not fail me. You brought Emle back unharmed." He turned, then, and vanished down the dark hallway, as if he could not bear to continue the conversation. Or perhaps he felt a bit guilty that he had overreacted.
Or that he had reacted exactly as Malachi had expected.
"Mama?" Eri's small voice echoed from the hallway, and she appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide. "Mama?"
Emle glanced back at her daughter, then turned and sank down on the floor beside Malachi. "Malachi, are you--"
"No. He is not well." Nathaniel pulled him up and half-carried, half-dragged him over to the wooden bench against the wall. But Malachi pushed him away and fell against the wall, sliding into a heap on the floor. "It hurts, when he--when Our Master does this."
Malachi whispered something Emle didn't catch. Nathaniel stiffened at his words, but gave him no reply.
"What did he say?" Emle asked. "This is my fault, not his. He tried to tell me how Gabriel would react, but I--I did not believe him." She held out her arms and Eri ran to her in Hound form, whining softly.
"He said he would have rather stayed a Hound," Nathaniel said stiffly, "and if you knew anything about Malachi, you would know how--" His voice broke. "How ludicrous that sounds."
"I apologize," Emle said, although she knew it wasn't a comfort. She glanced down the hall where Gabriel had vanished and felt a twinge of unease. "Perhaps--Perhaps Eri and I should go elsewhere, for a time. I seem to have made a mess of things, and I--"
"No!" Malachi whispered the word. "No. This is not your fault." He opened his eyes, squinting a little at the dim light, and stared at her through red-rimmed eyes. "I chose of my own free will to tell him."
"To protect me?" Emle asked, hugging Eri to her chest.
"No. Yes." Malachi closed his eyes. "Because I didn't want him angry at you."
"I think it's a little late for that," Emle whispered. "I never should have considered the possibility of bringing Jordan here. Not with the binding's destruction so close. This is my fault, Malachi. And I apologize for hurting you."
Malachi blinked at her. "You did not hurt me." But there were tears in his eyes as he spoke.
Emle glanced down the hallway again. There was a light now, flickering in the library, and she wondered if Gabriel could hear their conversation through the Hunt's bond.
"Are you to stay in human form, then?"
Eri shifted shape. "Mama, I heard--Malachi, are you okay?" She crawled across the floor to him, hesitated, then held out her hand.
After a moment, Malachi took her hand. "Yes."
"Until our Master tells us otherwise," Nathaniel whispered. "Yes." He sat down on the floor beside Malachi, whose eyes had closed again.
Emle squeezed Eri's shoulder and kissed the tears from her daughter's cheeks.
"I'll be right back."
With some trepidation, she crept down the hall until she stood in the doorway of the library. Gabriel stood at the window, staring out at the dark forest, his back straight but his shoulders slumped.
"They are still grieving for Josiah," she said, keeping her voice soft. "And I believe Malachi half-intended to hurt that child, just to save himself from your fury."
"I know." Gabriel's voice shared nothing.
"And this is acceptable? That he was so frightened of you that he considered murdering an innocent child?" Emle's voice rose, despite her efforts. "Perhaps I am not meant to be here after all. I thought--I thought I knew you. But you are not the man I thought I knew."
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned away, intending to walk back to the living room where Malachi, Eri, and Nathaniel waited.
"Emle."
"It's late," Emle whispered. "And I am weary. Our daughter is frightened, and thinks this is all her fault. And I do not wish to argue with you."
"Nor I with you," Gabriel said, his voice equally soft. "I--I did not mean for this to happen."
Emle suspected it was probably as close to an apology as she would receive. "No one did," she said. "Malachi least of all."
"The child you mentioned--I know of him," Gabriel said, still facing the window. "Lucas told me he would be living in the forest." He hesitated. "He did not inform me that he would be living in that house."
"Perhaps he doesn't know," Emle suggested.
"He knows." When Gabriel turned around, his eyes had returned to normal. "There is little Lucas doesn't know."
"Jordan was to wait at the house until dawn," Emle said. "After that, he said he would go to another of his safe places."
"Yet you did not tell him where it was you wanted him to stay," Gabriel said softly. "Don't you think he might be a bit--uneasy to stay with the Wild Hunt?"
Emle had not truly thought that far. "Perhaps," she said, allowing him that. "But he's only--"
"Ten years old." Gabriel sighed. "Yes. I know." He hesitated. "Eri is ten years old, and I wouldn't want our daughter living in the forest by herself."
"Perhaps if you have the Hounds look in on him--" That would still not solve the problem of a child living alone in the forest, but at least he would have some small sort of protection.
"No." Gabriel moved away from the window at last, and gathered her into his arms. "You were right, milady. A child should not be living in this forest alone."
Emle's heart leaped. "You--You are going to allow him to come?"
"I'm going to send Malachi to ask him to come," Gabriel said. "If he wants to, of course. I will not force him." He closed his eyes for a moment. "If--If you help me, I will not force anyone ever again."
Emle lay her head against his chest. "You will have to trust my word and listen to me," she said. "And you will have to trust your Hounds."
That would be the hardest part of all, she thought.
"Why did Josiah ask to be a Hound?" It was a blatant change of subject, but Gabriel did not seem to mind.
"He was dying," he whispered. "Starving to death. He'd lost his family in a plague, and he was delirious."
"How old was he?" Emle asked, thinking of Jordan.
"Thirteen." Gabriel hesitated for so long that Emle began to think he would not finish the story. "We came upon him--my Hounds did, at least. But instead of running or begging for his life, he begged me to turn him into a Hound."
"And you did."
"No one had ever asked to become a Hound," Gabriel said. "Of course I did. And he served me well, both in human and Hound form."
"And he ended up having a talent for wizardry." Emle closed her eyes when he stroked her hair.
"And I doomed him by allowing him to study at Darkbrook," Gabriel whispered, stricken. "If I had--"
Emle put one finger against his lips. "Hush. You cannot change what happened, Gabriel."
"I know." He sighed and took her hand in his, then kissed it. "I know. But that does not stop me from trying to prevent such a thing from happening again."
"By tormenting your Hounds?" Emle asked. "By punishing them?" She shook her head. "That is not the way to keep them, Gabriel."
"They cannot leave," Gabriel said. "They cannot escape me. Sometimes--Sometimes the power I hold over them is too much for me to bear."
"Malachi told me that he gave you his life and his loyalty a long time ago," Emle said. "Don't abuse such trust, Gabriel. He is your Hound, yes. They are all your Hounds. But they are alive, and they have wants and needs just like us." She paused, waiting to see if he would reply to that, then asked, "What about the others?"
"I told Malachi that I would allow everyone to shift again as soon as we were free of the Council's binding," Gabriel said. "I shouldn't allow--"
"The Council's binding expires in two weeks," Emle said. "Surely two weeks will not harm anything--will it?"
"Seth, Thomas and Zechariah are hunting for dinner," Gabriel said. "I suppose--I suppose I will allow them to shift as soon as they return." He hesitated. "The others have not been Hounds as long as Malachi and Nathaniel. They were the only survivors of the time before the Council's binding, when the only thing I could obey was Jacob Daulton's order of vengeance."
"Jacob Daulton? That name seems familiar--"
"He used to own the house you visited today," Gabriel said. "He was the last Daulton to live in it. The Council owns it now."
Emle shivered, remembering some of the echoes she'd felt while exploring. "Malachi had said that the man who lived there was not a beautiful man," she said. "I had intended to ask him further questions, but that's when I saw Jordan in one of the upstairs windows. And he--he ran back into the house."
"Yes. I saw all of that from Malachi's memory," Gabriel said. "And I--I overreacted. These past ten years have not been easy for all of us." He kissed her, then, and hugged her before letting her go. "You were right, Emle. It is late. Go to sleep in good conscience. There will be no more punishments tonight. I promise you that."
"Will you talk to Eri?" Emle asked. "She is frightened of what you did to Malachi."
Gabriel sighed. It was not a sigh of resentment, but more of dread, as if he did not relish the questions their daughter would inevitably have.
"She is tired too," Emle said. "Be gentle with her." Struck by a sudden thought, she spoke before she considered the impact of her words. "Perhaps--perhaps it would be easier for you if you treated your Hounds like your children instead of your servants."
For a very long moment, Gabriel did not reply to her outburst. In fact, he stood as if frozen, his gaze far away now, unseeing.
"I am sorry. I spoke out of turn," Emle said.
"No. You spoke the truth." He smiled down at her, but his smile was both troubled and sad. "And perhaps--perhaps that is all I need to do."
She realized then how much of an impossible task that would be for him to accomplish. "It was only a thought," she ventured, half-wishing she had kept her mouth shut.
Gabriel laughed then, an actual laugh, as if he could read her mind. "It was a good thought," he said, and kissed her. "Go to sleep, milady. I will take care of my Hounds and I will speak to our daughter. And no one else will be harmed by me tonight."
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