Spider Wars: Book Three of the Black Bead Chronicles by J.D. Lakey Page B

out and rejoined the rest of the caravan as it turned up
Orchard Trail and headed north.
    “ The Little Mother lost
control of her mount,” Sigrid reported. “Meshel caught it just as
it was bolting,”
    Cheobawn squeaked in
outrage.
    I was not running away ,
Cloud Eye said, affronted. Cheobawn patted her sympathetically.
    I know you weren’t. You
were being very brave. Let me sort this out , she said.
    Hayrald ignored her. Instead
he eyed Sigrid.
    “ If that is true,”
Hayrald said slowly, “then Blackwind Pack owes you their gratitude.
Good job, Alpha. Rejoin your Pack.”
    Sigrid reined Star around
hard and kicked her into motion. Hayrald watched until Sigrid joined
the rest of the column before he turned his attention on Blackwind
Pack. More correctly, it was Connor he studied. Cheobawn was starting
to get annoyed. Was she invisible?
    “ I would have you escorted
back to the stables but I need every hand to help with this round up.
Why is it, young scamp, that I find you in the center of every brawl
I encounter? Do you love my attention so much that you risk spending
the rest of the winter scrubbing the slime out of the intake valves
in the waterworks?”
    “ I was just ….” Connor
started his defense but thought better of it. He sighed and repeated
his standard apology. “Sorry, First Prime. I will try to do better
next time.”
    A dark cloud gathered behind
Hayrald’s eyes.
    “ No, I don’t think you
will. I think you like being a screw-up because it is the only thing
you are good at,” Hayrald said, his voice hard. Cheobawn gasped at
the hurtful words. Connor did not flinch but what skin was visible
above his mask had taken on a ghostly pallor. “Explain yourself,
now,” the First Prime snapped, refusing to allow Connor to hide
behind his silence.
    “ I was doing my job, First
Prime!” Connor shouted, his back rigidly at attention, his eyes on
the distant horizon. Connor was not as practiced at this kind of
confrontation as Sigrid nor was he as innately diplomatic as Tam. He
could not hide what he was feeling behind an emotionless mask. Eyes
snapping in rage, he turned his head to meet Hayrald’s glare head
on. “Because no one else wants to be bothered to do theirs,”
Connor added through clenched teeth.
    “ What’s that supposed to
mean?” Hayrald growled ominously.
    “ You know,” Connor
accused hotly. “The Elders, Mother and Father alike, have turned a
blind eye to what goes on in Blackwind Pack. Is your silence
disapproval or affirmation? To tell the truth, I don’t care. When
the teachers refuse to teach, the students have to live by their own
rules.”
    With a visible effort,
Connor reined in his anger and then added coldly, “You have no
right to question our judgment after the fact.”
    Cheobawn stared at her
packmate in amazement. Suicidal as it was, it was well said. Connor
had obviously put a lot of thought into that speech. She wondered how
long he had been rehearsing it in his head. Cheobawn risked a glance
at Hayrald. Hayrald’s eyes had disappeared under a glowering brow.
    “ Go join Vinara’s
column. We will discuss this later when I have more time,” he
snapped. Connor hesitated, glancing at his Ear, a sick look of
desperation on his face. “Get!” Hayrald yelled. Connor wheeled
Kite Wing around and set her into a gallop towards the retreating
backs of the riders. Cheobawn watched her packmate go, refusing to
meet her Da’s eyes.
    “ That boy would chew
through walls for you. You should use him better,” Hayrald mused.
She looked around. He was not watching Connor now. He was watching
her.
    “ That was mean,” she
said.
    “ No. That was kind. I just
reminded Connor that being Third is not about being least. He will
thank me later, when his anger has faded.”
    “ The older kids pick on
him because of me,” she said, as if this justified Connor’s
words.
    “ I can do nothing about
that. He will have to sort it out on his own,” the First Prime said
a