My friend pulled me into my room and was quick to stoke the fire. I plopped myself on the foot of my bed and smiled at her. “That was fun.”

  Arian paused in attacking the red coals with the poker and frowned at the fire. “They are too reckless. What if you had fainted on the way down?”

  “But I didn’t and we’re all back safe and sound,” I mused as I fell back onto the bed. I stared up at the open rafter ceiling and smiled. “It was nice of them to do that for us, wasn’t it? I mean, they did sacrifice their clothes to do it.”

  A heavy sigh came from my friend. “Yes. They are both rather reckless. Dian learned that from Jin.”

  I turned my head to face my friend. “Speaking of danger, do you think there’s any of that from the wolf clan? I thought you guys got along now.”

  She resumed her poking at the fire and even added a log. “This is news to me, as well. I had heard nothing of these scouting parties until they informed us.”

  “What do you think these scouting parties want?” I wondered.

  She hung up her poker and turned to me where she wiped her hands on her bear-grease-soiled pants. “I am not sure. There have not been any scouting parties since I was born. Perhaps there is something amiss and they will inform my father forthwith about the issue.”

  A great hulking roar of some monstrous animal made me shoot up in bed. Arian stiffened and her eyes widened. “That is Lord Lujun’s roar!”

  The old guy certainly had impressive vocal chords. He let out another bone-chilling cry, this time much closer to the house. “What does it mean?” I asked my native friend.

  “It means he is announcing something,” Arian told me as she hurried to the door and stuck her head out.

  I joined her at the entrance and the pair of us stacked our heads around the corner to look down the hall. The front door was closed but a heavy commotion came from the yard.

  “Come on!” I whispered as I snatched Arian’s hand and tugged her down the hall.

  We tiptoed as fast as we could to the front of the house but forewent the door for one of the windows that looked out into the courtyard. Arian and I knelt below the bottom sill and peeked our heads over the top. The flickering light from the torches revealed dozens of men who had gathered in the courtyard. They included the freshly clothed Dian and Jin, and Lord Lujun who stood before Arian’s father. Both men had tense expressions on their faces and King Pangberan soon looked down the valley toward the beginnings of the city. He gave a curt nod in answer to something Lujun said to him.

  The lord bowed his head and hurried off, taking with him a dozen of the warriors. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I glanced at my friend. She bit her lower lip so hard I wondered how she wasn’t bleeding.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered.

  She shook her head. “No. I have not seen my father this worried since a fast spring thaw flooded the river and caused avalanches some ten thousand years ago.”

  Oh, goody.

  The atmosphere was tense enough that sweat beaded on my brow. All eyes watched the gate where Lujun had gone. The king stood still and resolute with his jaw lifted and stiff.

  Lujun returned after a long half hour, and he’d brought with him more than just his dozen companions. The bear clan members surrounded a group of some half dozen sinewy men. They were tall, with the one in the lead as tall as Dadan, and wore woolen clothes stretched into fine vests and pants. Black boots covered their feet and the tips were painted to resemble wolf toes. They each carried a quiver on their backs with a bow over the pack, and a short dagger was tucked into a pouch on their hips.

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  The leader was a half head taller than even his men and sported a crooked smile on his lips. He appeared to be thirty-five with a slightly unshaven rugged face a smooth jaw and bright orange eyes. His hair was specked with black streaks and the strands were combed backward over his back and tied at the waist by a black ribbon.

  He stopped in front of King Pangberan and inclined his head. “Greetings, King Pangberan. It’s been a long time.”

  “It has, but that doesn’t give you the right to trespass on my lands, King Waerg,” Pangberan shot back.

  King. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. So this guy was the ruler of the wolves. He deserved it, if for looks alone.

  King Waerg didn’t lose his good humor. “My sincerest apologies for the misunderstanding. You see, I merely wanted to ask you for an invitation to the Fur Festival.”

  Arian cocked her head to one side and a soft murmur of something escaped her lips.

  I scooted closer to her. “What is it?”

  Something about King Waerg’s eyes brought my focus back to the window. Had his gaze flickered over to us?

  Meanwhile, Arian shook her head. “The wolves have never attended the Fur Festival, nor even asked permission.”

  “Why not?”

  She bit her lip. “Many of my people display the pelts of their ancestors outside their homes.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t imagine seeing great-granddad nailed to somebody’s wall.

  “Why do you ask for such a thing?” Pangberan questioned his guest.

  Waerg shrugged. “Call it a whim, or perhaps I wish to bury the dagger, as it were.” He paused to pat the hilt of his short sword. “And I feel that my attending the festival will bring about such a result. However, I do not propose to come with my hands outstretched.”

  Pangberan tensed. “What do you propose?”

  The younger royal laughed. “Not what you imagine, I assure you. I wish to bring a few barrels of our best grain beer as a token of friendship. If I recall, the last time you had such a feast was after your victory over one of our scouting parties before the Tianfeld.”

  A murmur ran through the bear clan members. Apparently, the beer was remembered with fondness even if the makers weren’t.

  Pangberan lifted his chin and his sharp eyes studied his guest. “That is very kind of you but I wonder why you have decided to attend, and on such short notice. It is scarcely four weeks until the festival.”

  Waerg turned his head slightly and his eyes zeroed in on one particular spot toward the house. That spot was where I huddled under the window.

  A chill ran down my spine as he spoke. “Let us just say that I had a brilliant vision of my uniting with another and took that as providence.”

  Pangberan gave a harumph. “I see. Well, it would not be polite of me to refuse your kind offer. How many of your clan can we expect?”

  Waerg stared at my hiding spot for a moment longer before he returned his focus to the other king. He held up his arms on either side of him. “Merely the men you see here. We would not wish to cause a stir by allowing all of the clan to attend, at least not during the first gathering.”

  The bear clan chief nodded. “Then we look forward to seeing you at our humble festival. You, and your beer.”

  Waerg crossed one arm over his chest and bowed his head. His eyes, however, fixed on our window again. I noticed my companion shift a little and duck down lower. “Until then, King Pangberan. Good day.”

  Waerg turned and led his men out of the paddock. Lujun looked to his king for guidance and Pangberan nodded. The lord and his men slipped out to follow in the footsteps of the wolves.

  I turned and slumped my back against the wall. My lips were dry and my heart pounded in my chest. I jumped when Arian set her hand on my shoulder.

  I whipped my head around to find her staring at me with an eyeful of worry. “Are you well?”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat but my voice was still hoarse. “Did. . .was it just me, or did that guy look at us?”

  She shook her head. “No, he did not look at us.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “He looked at you.”