Page 62 of Moon Chosen

“But not tonight. Tonight send Davis to his cups and then you return to yours, old friend. Tomorrow is time enough for unpleasantness,” Sol said.

“Agreed,” Cyril said.

“Come, Nik.”

Nik was surprised when his father didn’t lead him back to his nest. Instead he spoke softly to Laru, who trotted ahead of them so that the revelers parted for the big Shepherd as they crossed the wide platform and headed up the winding stairs to Sol’s landing.

For a moment neither man spoke. They stood side by side, with Laru sitting between them. Nik stroked the Shepherd’s thick fur while his gaze took in the winking lights and flashing mirrors that glittered, firefly-like, across the city in the sky.

“I’ve moved up the foraging trip to Port City. You’ll need to be ready to go by the next full moon.”

Nik blinked in surprise. “So soon? That’s in, what, two more weeks or so?”

“Yes, a little over. I wanted to wait until the days were longer, but—” Sol broke off, gesturing around them.

“Yeah, I get it. The Tribe’s too crowded.”

“From overcrowding comes dissension,” Sol said.

“Speaking of dissension I need to tell you what happened today.”

Sol turned and leaned against the carved balustrade facing Nik so that he could meet his son’s gaze. “All right. Tell me.”

Nik drew a deep breath and let it out in a rush saying, “It’s going to sound unbelievable, and maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I misunderstood what I saw. But, Father, I give you my oath that I am telling you what I believe is the truth.”

Sol studied his son carefully. “Nikolas, you have never given me reason to doubt your veracity, and I do not doubt it now. Tell me everything,”

And Nik did. He left out nothing. He described the site by the creek and how Thaddeus had insisted that he and Davis send the Terriers after the Scratcher woman.

“Sun’s fire! I told Thaddeus clearly that he wasnotto hunt Scratchers,” Sol said.

“I did, too. It didn’t do any good. So, the woman panicked.”

“Which is understandable. We’d just taken captives the night before,” Sol said.

“And in her panic, she fell down a steep bank, breaking her neck,” Nik said.

Sol shook his head, intoning softly, automatically, “May the Sun light her way to the World Beyond.”

“Father, she spoke to me before she died.”

“Truly? What did she say?”

“It was so strange. I went to her to see if there was anything I could do to help her. She looked at me like she was happy to see me. Incredibly happy. She said she knew I’d come back to her. Then she died.”

“Why would a Scratcher be happy to see you?”

“I don’t think she was seeing me. She called me Galen, like she was seeing him instead of me.”

Sol’s reaction shocked Nik. His father’s face drained of color, and he closed his eyes as if he’d felt a sudden pain. The hand that he passed over his face trembled. Laru stirred, whining softly and pressing himself against his Companion’s side.

“Father? What is it?”

“I—I know the name.”

“Galen? You know a Scratcher named Galen?”

Sol met Nik’s gaze. “No. I knew a Companion named Galen. So did you.”