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“I am not a Tarloux lover,” he said. “I am a historian, and what I have found in the history books tells me the Tarloux are worse than any leader the werewolf world has ever had. They are an empire intent on creating a dynasty, not a community. They wanted power and prestige, but they wanted to earn it, not inherit it. That I have found to cause more pain than any other kind of endeavor. But the old royals aren’t saints; as I said before, the people didn’t rebel against them because of their appearance. They looked impeccable, clean, and in control andgave a sense of piety to the people. They were deeply religious, but not to their own benefit. It was to the benefit of the people. They gave them a status they could look up to, but on the other hand, they recognized they could never attain it. They made a rat race.”
“But it was a beneficial rat race,” one of the men we were sitting with said.
“Of course. All rat races are beneficial. If we don’t have it, what shall people design as their purpose? The difference between the rat race the royalty made and the one the Tarloux made was that the royals were clueless about what they had created. They saw a system that worked and relied on it. The Tarloux created the system, and they made tweaks to it to see that they weren’t visited with the same fate they gave the royals. But life is a cycle. Time always rebirthed. Humans are always rebirthed,” Patel said and took another sip of his wine, then he looked at me. “I see your mother in your eyes.”
“You knew my mother?” I asked, surprised.
“I knew both your mothers,” Patel said, and that got Luke’s attention. “I told you life is a cycle,” he continued. “There are parts of that cycle that extend out and touch other parts. Your mothers came to me on different occasions with the halves of the pendants you both carry now. They wondered if I could help them find the other half. They knew what it meant, and they both wanted to be the ones to herald in the new order or restore the old order, as they both put it. They were both scared for their lives and the lives of their kids. They knew if they died, the burden would be passed to the two of you, and they didn’t want that. They didn’t want you to go up against the Tarloux family that had been hunting them for a long time. But I told them theycouldn’t fight fate, and they couldn't rewrite destiny. What will be will be. And here we are.”
“So you’ll fight with us then?” I asked.
“It isn’t up to me,” Patel said. “These men here lead their own families, and I lead them. It all depends on them whether or not we’ll go to war with you.”
“Do you want to go to war?” Luke asked. He sounded aggressive and looked squarely at Patel.
“As I said, what I want doesn’t matter.”
“No,” Luke insisted. “I asked you a question because the answer matters to me. You said if we win this, we’ll need diplomacy, but we’ll also need authority. So, I am asking you, with authority and as a man who holds authority, do you want to go to war with us?”
Patel smiled slyly and took a while before he answered. He looked at the other men beside him and nodded. “Yes, I want to go to war with you.”
“Who then will stop you?” Luke asked and looked at the other people by the table, almost like he was daring them to oppose.
“Not us,” the first of them said. “We go to war with you, Son of Peline. Bearer of the Stone.”
Soon, the air was filled with people declaring their intentions to fight with us, and at that moment, I had never felt more fulfilled. We were doing this for the right reason, and because of that, we were bound to win. We had to win so it wouldn’t all be in vain. I remembered what I told Nellie, and I intended to keep it that way.
There was only one way this ended, or it doesn’t end at all.
Chapter thirty-five (Hayley)
We still didn’t have enough numbers to go up against the Tarloux. We’ve gathered about five thousand wolves from the three families, which was about half the number of the Tarloux’s forces, and even though the others seemed pretty confident in the ability of their forces, I still had doubt in me.
Patel seems to think a two-to-one disparity isn’t a big deal, and they have us. Once we activate the moon stone, we will go through the Tarloux forces like they were grass. That was the reason they all agreed to come with us. The moon stone was a great power no one had ever seen at work before, but they all trusted it. They were all trusting in Luke and me and relying on us to bring them victory.
I wanted victory, but would it be at the price of so many werewolves' lives? That was troubling. We were back in Nillport and at the reservation, where the army had set up camp in the woods. It has been a week since we got back from our travel and everything seemed to be going well. The battle was getting closer, but there was no set date yet. We have spies within the Tarloux ranks now, and it was safe to assume they have some within ours too. This was how wars are fought—with deceit and blood.
Bonne said we’d take the Tarloux when they are at their weakest and have to fight the battles at the mountains. We held the higher ground here at the reservation, and all we needed to do was split our army in two, make one attack through the cityand force the Tarloux to move towards the plain closer to the mountain. We’ll meet them at the plains, but we’ll still have some soldiers left in the mountains, waiting to pick off whatever was left of the Tarloux army.
Bonne thinks we’ll win and shares in the hopefulness of Patel and the others. He also has his herbs which he says will give us an edge, but who’s to say the Tarloux won’t have herbs too? They have been preparing for this moment for years now. This was the reason they were getting children from James. Children to help them fight battles like this.
I don’t share in their hopefulness, and I wish I did. I heard trees move behind me, and I jumped up, sniffing the air. I recognized the smell immediately. It was Ilad. He was our spy within the Tarloux ranks. He was doing a very dangerous job, but it was one he was good at, and he’d found me the second day after we arrived in Nillport. It was surprising that I had thought of him while we were traveling, and then he showed up. He’d asked for a way to help me and wanted to join our side, but Bonne had other businesses for him.
“You should teach me how to do that,” I told him as I sat down again. He moved so quietly, almost like a ghost which was why I didn’t pick up his scent and sound through the woods until he was almost behind me.
He sat down beside me, looking reticent as ever. He is so small that it is easy to forget about him. Even with his small size, he had a way of making himself smaller and fitting into tiny spaces, all so he could listen better. He knew a lot about everyone in the Palace.
“The Twins think you’re a fool for not looking for more numbers,” he said and looked at me. There were no emotions in his eyes, just a man delivering a message. I had often wondered about his story, but today wasn’t the day to ask him that. I got a sick feeling that that day would never come and Ilad would be dead at the end of this war.
“We hold the higher ground,” I told him. “The terrain gives us a better advantage to charge.”
“They won’t come to you in the mountains, and even if they did, they would still beat you. I’ve seen them train, and I’ve seen the way they fight. They are deadly. You need a larger army, Hayley. This is a war you cannot afford to lose.”
“But there are no more armies,” I said. “These are the only ones that are bold enough to take a stand against them, Others are shit terrified, and they are right to. They want to stay back and see where the chips fall and just live after that. I don’t blame them, Ilad. This isn’t their fight to fight.”
“This is everyone’s fight. There are people out there that will still listen to you. People who know what they get to benefit from the restoration of the old ways. People who are living in fear now, but with you, they won't have to live that way.”
“Who are you talking about?” I asked him, and he looked at me before jumping up.
