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“I am still so confused about so many things,” I said, rubbing my free hand over my face. “To be honest,” I glanced to Magnus again, “I wish the two of us could have had a moment to speak in private, for me to seek your council on…so many things.”
Magnus shrugged and raised his hands. “Why not consult with me now? I’m certain the others wouldn’t mind.”
“I think it would be a grand idea for you and Magnus to talk,” Neil said, encouraging as always.
“I have to dispose of Barthold’s body,” I said, my throat squeezing. “And arrangements have to be made to return this food, or at least the dishes it was delivered on, to the palace. Someone needs to speak to Sai to tell him that you’ve all decided to leave and that…and that I’m leaving with you.”
I made the final decision in that very moment. Magnus was willing to have me in Gravlock, or so it seemed, so I would leave when the others left on the morrow.
Magnus waved away my concerns. “I am quite certain that Sai will find his way down to us as soon as he hears from Lady Rozynov about the circumstances of our lunch being delivered.”
“And I can sort the food, store what we can eat later, and organize the dishes and baskets to be returned to the palace,” Avenel spoke quietly by my side. He glanced across to Gennadi, then Kliment and Nikandr. “I’m sure the other pups would be happy to help.”
“We would,” Kliment said, brightening at the idea of having something to do.
“I’ll take care of the body,” Jace said in a grim voice.
He glanced to Jorgen, who recognized the unspoken request and said, “I took the man’s life, therefore I should be responsible for helping him to his final resting place.”
“You’ll need my help as well,” Hati said, standing and resting a hand on Jorgen’s shoulder.
“And I need to bathe and change my clothes,” Peter said rising. “Neil too. I can’t believe none of you made fun of me for how dirty I am.”
“It’s because you’re dirty all the time,” Jace teased, standing as well and sending Peter a wicked look.
That made Peter laugh, which seemed to lighten the mood considerably. Everyone got up from the table. I rose and helped Avenel up, then paused to kiss him indulgently, just because I needed it.
“Come,” Magnus said, gesturing for me to walk with him around the side of the cottage. “I think it would be wise for us to speak without distractions.”
“Agreed,” I said, blowing out a breath and falling into step by his side.
“I would suggest we speak in my cottage, but the very idea of my loves bathing only a room away is the most acute distraction I could possibly imagine,” Magnus went on with a sly look as we headed for the street lined with empty cottages.
My first instinct was to grin at the heated statement and to find Magnus amusing. My heart nearly stopped a beat or two later when it dawned on me that that was the sort of thing Magnus said to the other Wolf River leaders. Not only that, I’d responded to his jest with sympathetic feelings. I knew how I would have felt knowing Avenel was bathing in the room next to where I was having a meeting.
Those tumultuous feelings burst out of me with, “Magnus, I don’t know who I am anymore or where I stand.”
“How so?” Magnus asked, clasping his hands behind him and regarding me seriously as we walked slowly along the empty street.
I sighed. “It feels like just yesterday I was a carefree boy, fucking around with my friends and laughing at how stupid we thought our men were.” As soon as I said that, I realized how Magnus might take it. “Not you, of course.”
Magnus laughed aloud. “I am quite certain that Peter and Neil have spoken at length about how stupid they find me to be from time to time.”
I sent him a guilty half-smile. “Actually, they have only ever spoken adoringly of you. But I said some horrible things about Maldurik.”
I hung my head for a moment. I was surprised that Magnus didn’t take me to task for speaking disrespectfully about a man who he counted as a friend, who had died to protect the Wolf River Kingdom, to protect me. That only seemed to confirm the uncomfortable feelings that threatened to swallow me.
“I don’t want to say that agreeing to take Avenel as my pup was a mistake,” I started, choosing my words carefully so that I didn’t make myself sound more innocent than I was. “I love Avenel more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”
“And love is a beautiful thing,” Magnus agreed with a nod. “When it comes into your life, if you’re clever enough to recognize it immediately, it can bring you untold joy.”
I wondered if that was Magnus’s subtle way of telling me he understood all about falling in love fast and hard. From what Peter and Neil had told me, Magnus had known within weeks how deeply he loved both of them. He hadn’t felt it necessary to wait and fall in love slowly, like some people did.
That wasn’t what concerned me, though.
“It changes things, doesn’t it,” I said, turning to look at him as we passed several cottages with overgrown gardens and vacant windows. “I will be able to return to the Wolf River Kingdom and live freely and openly there, because, as I understand it, under wolf law, because I have taken a pup of my own, Tybalt cannot claim me as a pup.”
“You are correct in that assumption,” Magnus said. He tilted his head to the side in consideration, then went on with, “I suppose Tybalt could attempt to assert some claim over you if he was truly of that mind, but in the first place, I doubt he would dream of it, since he’s already claimed another city-born pup, a refugee from Mayskova.”
