Related to events happening here!
Zahi hated messy jobs. She much preferred things to be quick and clean. But, she thought as she stood over a shallow basin, washing partially dried blood from her arms and face, sometimes it was just messy, and that's the way it went. And things only seemed to be getting messier. She'd lost half a dozen Blood Wolves to this business with the Mountain Cats. And then this semi-cryptic letter from Rufus before he took off.
"I can sense some unrest that I'll deal with when I return," she repeated the words in her head. There had always been a faction within the Blood Wolves that wasn't entirely satisfied with their lot. Not an altogether rare sentiment amongst those who wielded martial power, whatever the group. It'd been gaining some momentum before the tragic death of Zahi's predecessor and she thought that she had dealt with it rather swiftly when she took his place. But since the arrival of Torak and what was widely seen as her joke task of babysitting him, she knew it was growing again. She wondered, too, if there wasn't some other element at work, but for now it remained hidden to her.
Well, it was only a matter of time before she dealt with Torak. The Red Jackal was just waiting for him to step indisputably out of line, and then that was that. She didn't maintain her authority by killing every Wolf who annoyed her, or she'd have done it long ago.
The door to her quarters creaked open. It was Spot. The Shadow Wolf, an eccentric but a loyal one, never knocked. Zahi wouldn't normally tolerate this, but Spot was one of the few Wolves she really trusted and the younger woman gave her no other trouble. Still, she gave the Shadow Wolf a disapproving look as she closed the door behind her. "That's going to get you killed one day," she said as a greeting.
Spot gave a little shrug and leaned in the doorway, a knowing smile on her face. "I brought you some presents. Souvenirs from Ketra and a few other things I picked up along the way. Which one do you want first?"
Zahi dried herself. Her clothes were still blood-stained, but that could wait for now. "Why don't you tell me about your trip to Ketra first."
Spot grinned. That she would do gladly. Though Spot told the events gleefully, delighting in Torak's missteps , Zahi frowned while listening to it. Even if she was waiting for this kind of stunt from the new "Shadow Wolf," she still didn't like hearing about these kind of antics that could be associated with the Soot Wolves.
"But here's the best part. I only read one of them, but I think they're all the same. Here's your first present," Spot announced proudly, handing the bundle of envelopes over to the Red Jackal like a cat presenting its owner with a particularly tasty mouse.
Zahi's eyes widened, and then narrowed, as she read the letters.
This was exactly what she had been waiting for. She could finally relieve herself of the teleporting tin man. "Did you already show these to Lupus?" Zahi asked. With the Red Wolf gone, these should have been brought first to the Beta Wolf in his stead.
Spot shrugged again. "No," she answered airily. "I wanted to bring them to you first. But I think someone might have already brought him some news," she admitted, "because I was also given this on my way over here."
Spot handed Zahi the letter sealed with the symbol of the Beta Wolf.
Torak too valuable. Discipline him however you wish, but do not kill him. Rufus won't look kindly on discarded tools when he returns.
- Canis LupusThe blood drained from the Red Jackal's face. Not in fear, but in cold anger. This directly undermined her authority. She didn't "discipline" and all of her Wolves knew it. Torak was a greater liability than any of them were at the moment. Any Blood Wolf who directly went against her orders would wake up dead. She couldn't maintain that power if she couldn't apply it uniformly. She didn't care if the idiot could teleport into the richest treasury in Arca. Surely this fact was not overlooked by either the Red or the Beta Wolf. Which, she wondered, really wanted to keep Torak alive.
But Jonathan Amsel was such a sycophant that she had a hard time imagining the Beta making the decision on his own. Whoever it came from, this order would not help handle Torak, and it would certainly not help handle the uneasy Blood Wolves.
Spot bit her lip while watching Zahi process the short note. She didn't know what it said, but she could guess. She offered with a forced cheerfulness, "Still one present left!" With that, she opened the door to the quarters for the Dire Wolf who she'd left waiting outside.