Chapter 6: The Acting Wise Woman’s Advice
Chapter 6: The Acting Wise Woman’s Advice
Anneliese POV
Of all the outrageous statements that came out of Patch’s mouth on a regular basis, offering to escort her and the patients to Wildefell topped the list. In a good way. He’d sulked every minute he spent at Cyran’s bedside, and yet he somehow bonded with Cyran over silly jokes. Very funny jokes, like the one about the dark sorceress failing in school.
Other witches and wizards would tear Patch apart for laughing and joking in the face of such evil. How narrow-minded. Didn’t they know that self-righteousness was a major food for demons? That they saw that buttoned-up judgmental attitude as an invitation to try and influence someone?
She rather looked forward to introducing Patch to her mother’s biggest rivals in the Wildefell Witch Circle. They’d all be consulting their oracles and trying to figure out what sort of exotic and bizarre creature had landed in their midst. There might even be a few people reaching for their anti-fainting potions.
Jiro spoke up while she collected her thoughts. He seemed extremely pleased by Patch’s request, from the way his turquoise eyes lit up and his big smile. “That’s an excellent idea. You are the Intelligence Chief, as you say, and once Cyran is awake and up to answering questions, he might feel more at ease surrounded by the witches … it’s a neutral site.”
“And they did save him in a way,” Patch pointed out.
Anneliese exchanged glances with Garnet, who had to be thinking along the lines of Anneliese’s thoughts, namely that Cyran might answer questions more easily if he didn’t have to face the disaster and heartbreak he’d created.
Jiro looked satisfied. “Dane? Lilia? What do you think?”
Dane grinned at Patch. “I knew you had it in you to be the adventurer among us, pup. You also happen to be the only Cresta who can undertake such a journey. Therefore, it gladdens my heart that you volunteered.”
But Anneliese wondered about that. Dane’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Lilia rested her hand on Patch’s shoulder. “He already knows Wildefell, and he’s the only shifter we can risk sending.”
Kyon had joined them, and after conversing quietly with Azandra, he weighed in. “He just might be our best option, if he can resist making fun of every human he meets and all their strange customs. But he’s a lot smarter and more aware than we think.”
His optimism disappearing, Dane glared at Kyon. “Thank you. You just reminded me that we’re throwing him into a nest of humans. Moon Goddess help them. And us.”
A brick wall would be soft compared to the sturdy and solid Kyon. “You just said he’s the adventurer among us.”
“A moment of madness,” Dane muttered. “He’ll be on his own.”
Anneliese put her hands on her hips. “I’m human as well as a witch–”
“That doesn’t count,” Dane protested.
Anneliese lifted her eyebrows, dyed pink. “Oh, I see. I’ve spent my life among humans, buying clothes in their shops, watching them chase magical powers and objects as if it were that easy to get them or use them properly, and seeing them walk around blind to the wonder around them that they take for granted. From the time I could crawl, I learned how to hide my magic side in case I met people who wanted to use my powers for their own gain.”
Like Xidorn Reynard, she thought.
Barrett nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure you did. Patch is probably as safe with you as with anyone.”
“Thank you. Barrett understands. Patch isn’t going to be alone, not like a certain Alpha was months ago,” Anneliese said, fixing her gaze on Dane, who looked away. “And except for getting poisoned, he did fairly well for himself–even found his fated mate and changed the shifter lands forever. Or am I remembering that wrong?”
Lilia added dryly, “He was also healed by devastatingly gorgeous witches.”
She heard Kyon and Jiro muffle chuckles with their hands.
Dane suddenly looked like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie tin. “I’m not doubting your ability to conceal Patch, or his gift for thinking on his feet.”
Anneliese felt a moment of sympathy for Dane. After such a major change with Jiro now living in Crimsontail territory, an Alpha in his own right, Dane had to let another brother make his own fortune, even if Patch wasn’t moving to Wildefell. Anneliese would never want him to. She loved the shifter lands too much. Loved being with Patch in his natural shifter state … naked and ready to change into a wolf at the drop of a hat.
She reached out and put her medicine-stained and red hands in his big ones. They’d been strong and reassuring even when he lay as weak as a newborn lamb in Lilia’s room in Wildefell months ago. She’d felt his nobility then and had seen the way his seriousness and moments of sly humor reduced Lilia to blushing and shyness at times.
“You know me, Dane. You know I speak my mind.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fenrir’s breath, yes.”
“Patch will be fine. I promise. Now, stop fretting. In no time at all you’ll be a father and you need to save all your worries for those babies.”
Patch burst out, “I haven’t disappeared, you know!”
“You don’t say,” Kyon said dryly. “Pipe down. Your potential fated mate has turned Dane into butter. Even faster than Lilia.”
Jiro and Garnet laughed but with affection on their faces.
Dane shrugged, surrendering. “We need to get Cyran out of here for his own safety.”
Barrett’s gray eyes were serious. “Agreed. Although why anyone would be stupid enough to try anything under Jiro’s watch and mine is beyond me.”
Jiro met both their gazes. “Emotions are high, as you all know. And our intelligence says that Hades’ followers are now dabbling in mind control spells. Those ‘outraged citizens’ might not be acting of their own free will.”
Lilia paled. “By the Twelve Priestesses, you’re right. It’s not impossible. We have a few tests we can perform. I can teach Roslynn because we do have to go home eventually.”
Kyon held up his hands. “Not before we get Patch and Anneliese safely out of Crimsontail territory with Cyran and Tulaska.”
Anneliese grinned. “I have a few ideas, and I think that part of the journey will actually be fun.”
Patch’s wicked grin made her disregard the danger. The minute Cyran laughed at Patch’s jokes, Hades’ followers and the troublemakers in the Crimsontail Shadows Pack didn’t stand a chance. She walked over to Patch and murmured, “I think we should put our heads together in private.”
* * * * *
Azandra POV
Seeing Patch and Anneliese together, scheming about the mayhem they would cause whoever opposed them, Azandra thought that her predictions were Wise Woman worthy. She’d foreseen Jiro’s and Garnet’s romance. She had also been aware of the mischievous moments, the flirtatious glances, and the verbal arrows that flew between Patch and Anneliese. And then, of course, there was her vision shortly after Kyon won her hand in a shifter challenge against Marcus Mond.
She’d seen the future pups she and Kyon were going to have playing with their Cresta cousins. One of the cousins had red fur and Jiro’s eyes … and another one had black fur and a pink patch on its face as well as Patch’s eyes. A strong sign if there ever was one!
Patch and Anneliese were fated mates, but Anneliese seemed unaware, even though she’d probably been told. Azandra had no idea why Anneliese, who noticed everything, couldn’t see her future mate right in front of her, ready to follow her anywhere. But then, she thought with a blush, she was hardly one to talk after she didn’t notice that she and Kyon had been childhood sweethearts in hiding until a newly mated Lilia surprised them with that revelation.
Did Tulaska Volkov ever suffer from such blindness? It seemed like she came into the world howling and knowing people’s futures. And now Azandra had to step into her role for who knew how long.
Patch made a purr of contentment as Anneliese huddled with him and Azandra cast aside her doubts for the moment. Enough insecurity and dithering! She was the Evenhide Wise Woman. And she would push those two together.
As she strode over, Roslynn Rossa, who was as powerful as Tulaska in her own way, stopped her. “I don’t think the direct approach will work,” Roslynn said as she grimaced.
Azandra raised her reddish eyebrows. “Is this some Wise Woman mind trick? We’re both more direct than Tulaska.”
“She’s only direct when people need the message hammered into their brain,” Roslynn said, moving her ash-blonde braid to the side. “Anneliese has heard how that boy feels from the way he teases her. Then, he volunteers to escort her to human territory of all places. Because she’s a witch, she’s probably more sensitive to the connection between fated mates, but she seems to want to deny it.”
Azandra rubbed her chin. She’d never asked Anneliese about her romantic history, and Lilia and Ravyn never mentioned anything. True, Anneliese seemed bubbly, worldly-wise, loving, joyful, and ready to encourage her friends and loved ones in romance. She claimed credit for pushing Lilia toward Dane, and Azandra was fairly sure that at some point Patch had convinced the witch to join “Operation Romance” on behalf of her and Kyon. And of course Anneliese supported everyone’s current favorite pair, Jiro and Garnet.
She whispered in Roslynn’s ear, “Do you think that all her matchmaking and encouraging people, and she’s been successful with two Alpha and Luna pairs and with me and Kyon, is an attempt to create the love story that she’s afraid to find for herself?”
“It could be.” Roslynn glanced at Dane checking Lilia’s belly, round and glowing with pregnancy, and also Jiro and Garnet quietly talking, and Kyon watching Azandra with love. “Although I doubt the couples in question care what her motives are.”
Azandra blushed. “True. And if she has those motives, she’s probably not aware of them.”
Roslynn smiled knowingly and stretched in a leisurely manner, the way she did in her daily Movements of the Moon class that Jiro and Garnet, and now all the Crestas, were addicted to. “Well, she needs to become aware, and this journey to Wildefell is the way. The Moon Goddess, like Tulaska, is excellent at dramatic gestures to get our attention.”
“With a little laughter into the bargain. Follow my lead,” Azandra murmured, and walked over to Patch and Anneliese.
Roslynn muttered, just before they reached the duo, “Tulaska knew what she was doing when she picked you, Azandra Cresta.”
With a lump in her throat, Azandra whispered, “I hope she wakes up soon so you can tell her what you just told me.”
“What makes you think I haven’t already? And I know she heard me.”
Patch interrupted their intense conversation. “Wise Women whispering together. I don’t know if I should be afraid or not.”
“Remember, laughter casts out fear,” Roslynn told him.
“And it’s the best medicine for the body, mind, heart, and soul,” Azandra added. “A little advice for you two as you embark on this journey.”
Anneliese and Patch exchanged a charged glance and smile. “So, we’re armed with laughter,” Patch said. “What else do we need for this extended trip into the human world?”