The Ascension by Kailin Gow Page A

about sharing, they’l regret it.”
    The bleating voices weren’t far off. Worse, they were getting closer. Gem knew that she had to get out of there before more satyrs arrived, so she turned back to the party. She found her way hampered by the sudden grip of the wolf’s teeth on the hem of her dress.
    “What?” Gem demanded. “What do you want?”
    The wolf let go and bounded away a few steps, then turned back to look at her.
    “You want me to fol ow you? Of course you do.” Gem looked back to the party and the wolf growled, just a little. “Al right, al right, I’m coming.” The wolf yipped once and set off across the lawn. As it headed towards the waiting woods, Gem did her best to keep up.

Chapter 7

    Gem ran after the wolf for what felt like an eternity, though that was probably just the effects of trying to keep up with four legs when she only had two. She wasn’t sure what people back at the palace would say when they found out that she had absconded in the middle of their party, but right now she didn’t care. Not if it got her further away from those satyrs.
    The trees flashed past as they ran, but eventual y Gem had to stop, leaning against one of them in exhaustion. To her surprise, the wolf stopped too, looking at her with those soulful brown eyes. It lay down, obviously waiting for Gem to recover.
    Were wolves general y that accommodating ?
    As an experiment, Gem held out her hand to the creature. It hesitated only a moment before moving forward to nuzzle her hand and lick her fingers. The sensation of the rasping tongue tickled, and Gem fought not to laugh as she sat down at the base of the tree, folding her legs under her. The wolf responded by putting its head on her lap, looking up at her with what Gem could only construe as a contented expression.
    Because the wolf didn’t seem inclined to constrain her from doing so, and because it was the first reassuringly normal thing she had run into since she had arrived in Myriad, Gem let herself enjoy the simple closeness of the creature. She petted it, running her hands through its fur the way she might with a dog’s, then hugging it close. The wolf didn’t seem to mind. In fact, it seemed to almost relish the contact.
    Sitting there, Gem tried to keep her mind just on the wolf, but it wasn’t easy. Fragments of thoughts about Henry Word, her parents back in Manhattan, even Sparks and what he’d turned out to be ran round in her mind. With a start, she realized that sitting here under the shade of a tree was the first time she’d had to truly stop and think about things since Henry Word had told her the truth. More than that, it was the first time that Gem had allowed herself to think about it al . Back in Anachronia, it had been easy to pretend that there was too much to do, and that stopping to think meant being remiss in her duties as a ruler.
    What did she think though? Truthful y, Gem wasn’t sure. Her feelings, as far as she could tel , were spinning round in a maelstrom , wil ing to forgive everyone involved one moment, then angry with them the next. How were you supposed to react to things like this? Gem shook her head, trying to clear it. Until she actual y found Henry Word- her father, she added mental y, trying the words on for size- there wasn’t much point in speculating. For now, it was enough to just sit there, cuddling a remarkably congenial wolf, and trying not to think about what might have happened at the party if it hadn’t arrived.
    They stayed like that for long minutes, until final y Gem had to shift positions a little before her legs went to sleep. A growl escaped the wolf’s jaws, low and threatening.

    “Wel , I’m sorry,” Gem said, “but I can’t just sit stil forever.”
    The wolf ignored her, leaping to its feet and growling louder. The growling wasn’t directed at Gem though, but at the woods around them. The growl rose to a crescendo as the wolf stiffened, staring out into the trees.
    It was like the