All watched now as the angry black air curled up into itself, then fled back to Rusk's body, where it hovered over his gaping mouth. It whirled impatiently, unable to return to its ruined home.
'What is it?' asked Tal.
'Rusk,' said Feena. 'That's my guess. It's Rusk's own black spirit.'
'Was that the plan, Sorcia?' Darrow called out to the elf. 'To force his own essence into the Black Wolf?'
'You're such a tool, Darrow,' said Sorcia. 'You don't deserve to know.'
'But I do,' said Tal. He stalked toward the elf, Perivel's blade firmly in hand. 'Is he right?'
Sorcia crouched, torn between running and fighting. As Tal loomed over her, she knelt down instead, hanging her head low. 'It's true.'
Tal cast his gaze across the other surviving werewolves. One by one, they lay themselves on the ground. Those in wolf form put their heads on their paws, while those on two legs bowed grudgingly.
Selune formed a narrow arc as she peeked out from the shadow. As her barest light fell upon Rusk's black soul, the cloud evaporated in a high, grating squeal that hurt Tal's teeth to hear. In a few seconds, it was gone.
'It's over,' said one of the werewolves. It was one of the two Tal had fought the night before. Tal had heard him called Karnek.
'No,' said Tal, 'not yet. The Malveens still have Eckert's daughter.'
'She's probably already dead,' said Sorcia.
'Shut up,' said Darrow.
'No one hears you, traitor, weakling, tool!' she spat at Darrow. 'Rusk used you as he did because you had already proven yourself a weakling and a toady to the Malveens.' She turned her back on him and addressed the other werewolves. 'With Rusk dead, there's no reason to stay here.'
'Talbot is the one who killed him,' said Darrow. 'It's his decision, not yours!'
'You people follow whoever kills your last leader?' said Chancy incredulously. 'Rusk wasn't the only one who was mad.'
'You know nothing,' said another female werewolf. She had twisted her blond hair into a crude braid while in human form. 'We respect strength but do not follow blindly.'
'It doesn't matter,' said Sorcia. 'We shouldn't be here. We should never have left the woods.'
'Then go back,' said Tal. The werewolves looked at him in surprise. 'Get out of my city, and stay away. If you come here again, I'll make sure you never leave.'
'But what about Maelin?' pleaded Darrow. 'You can't face the Malveens alone.'
'He's not alone,' said Chaney. Feena had healed his injuries, and both of them stood beside Tal, staring down the pack.
Darrow watched as the pack gathered around Sorcia. They took wolf form once more before loping out into the night.
Turning back to Tal, Darrow pleaded, 'At least take me with you.'
'Put on your pants,' said Tal, throwing the garment at Barrow's chest before collecting his own fallen clothes. After the first season at Qmckly's, Tal had learned to shed his modesty with his clothes, but the constant and unintended nudity was becoming annoying.
'How can we trust you?' asked Feena. 'It sounds like you've betrayed everyone you served before.'
'I know how it looks,' said Darrow, 'but all I want is to help get her out of there.'
'Do you know a spell to tell whether he's lying?' Tal asked Feena.
'Not until dusk tomorrow,' she said.
'We can't wait that long. When Rusk fails to return, they'll kill the girl.'
'Why not just turn this one over to the Scepters?' suggested Chaney. 'He's proof that none of this is your fault. You didn't kill anyone except these monsters.'
'What about the girl?' said Tal. 'Even if Eckert has been feeding the Malveens information to use against me, she did nothing to deserve this. Besides, if the Malveens are behind this, I want to know why.'
'It's because of your father,' said Darrow. 'At least, that's what Stannis says.'
'What are you talking about?'
Darrow told them the story of the pirate Lady Velanna and the fall of House Malveen, along with Stannis's undying grudge against Thamalon Uskevren.
'That's the stupidest thing I ever heard,' said Chaney. 'What could he hope to gain by turning Tal into a werewolf?'
'At first, I don't think he had a plan,' explained Darrow. 'When he heard Tal escaped the werewolves, he hoped Rusk could control him and use him to embarrass the family.'
'But Tal already does that. Ow!' He rubbed his head where Feena had rapped him with her knuckles.
'Even if Rusk couldn't control you,' said Darrow, 'he figured your fights with your father and brother would eventually lead to bloodshed.'
'That's ridiculous,' said Tal.
'Maybe not,' said Feena. 'Those who don't learn how to ride the moon often give in to the beast. Remember how hard it was for you to control your anger when you were newly cursed?'
'Maybe so,' said Tal slowly. 'Still, I have a hard time picturing Radu Malveen as part of such a scheme.'
'He hated it from the start,' admitted Darrow. 'But you can't count on his standing aside and letting you take Maelin. He won't permit anything to hurt his family.'
'Well, he should have thought about that before he helped hurt mine,' said Tal.
He turned back to where Sivana and Mallion sat beside Qmckly's body. They had covered her with a gold and white cloak, the one they used for monarchs in the plays. Ennis sat against the foot of the stage, his big body quivering as he wept. Tal went to kneel beside them.
'It's not your fault,' said Sivana. 'You're thinking it is, but it isn't.'
Tal started to answer, but Mallion interrupted him. 'She's right. Maybe they wanted you, but they hurt people wherever they go.' He cast a rueful eye toward Darrow. 'Be careful of that one.'
'I will,' promised Tal. 'When we get back, we'll take her to the House of Song. Whatever it costs, we'll have High Songmaster Ammhaddan bring her back to us.'
Sivana lost her composure at his words. 'No,' she said. 'Qmckly's will… she left it with me. She doesn't want us to… she said she liked the life she had and wouldn't want to bollocks up a second one.'
Tal's breath caught in his throat. That sounded just like Mistress Quickly.
'Do you want us to come with you?' asked Mallion. Tal could tell by the tone of his voice that he hoped the answer would be no.
'Stay with her,' he said. 'And sing her a prayer for me.' 'We'll sing a few for you, too,' said Sivana. 'Milil and Oghma grant you a great show. Knock 'em dead.' 'That's what I intend to do.'
'I have a bad feeling about this place,' said Feena.
The four of them stood within the shadowed courtyard of House Malveen. The weird gargoyles watched them as they made their way toward the central building. Selune had emerged from the eclipse as brilliant as ever, but even her silver light could not penetrate the lowest gloom.
'What kind of feeling?' asked Chaney. 'Magic? Evil?'
'Yes,' said Feena.
'Quiet,' warned Darrow. He touched hilt of the long sword he had borrowed from Mallion, grateful that Tal had not insisted he go unarmed. 'He might have set the spawn to guard the warehouse.'
Tal willed his eyes to shift to wolf form. It felt as natural as squinting, and it allowed him to see light too faint for his human eyes to perceive. The details were lost, but he spotted the movement of a rat none of the others saw dash across their path.
'We need light,' said Feena. Even if the three werewolves shifted to four legs, Chaney would be left blind.
'All right,' said Tal, 'but brace yourselves.'
