Chapter 488: The Wolf - Part 1
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*****
RETH
Raking a hand through his hair, Reth sat back in his chair across from Behryn. Hollhye watched him with eagle eyes, but didn't say anything.
"He's submitted. Fully," Reth said quietly. "He came with a true heart. He wants peace, and he sacrificed his own Alpha power to get it. he cares more for the people than his own well-being. I cannot fault his intention."
Hollhye snorted. "Really? The male tried to kill you how many times?"
"Thankfully he did not succeed," Reth said with a warning look at her. "Also, apparently he was… blinded when that was happening. According to Suhle, as soon as he realized the darkness in his people, he started working towards getting them back to me. It takes a great deal of humility as an Alpha to trust your people to someone else at all, let alone, to submit your own power to achieve it. I… I find myself admiring him," Reth admitted reluctantly.
Hollhye snorted again, but Behryn just looked thoughtful. Aymora's face, however, was thunderous. "Too little, too late," she snarled.
"Be calm, friend," Reth soothed. "I'm not suggesting to free him. I just meant, he is no longer an enemy. The question is, what does he become now, and how do we deal with it?"
"You can't have him here," Hollhye snipped.
Aymora nodded. "Even if he doesn't want to harm you any more, he is a symbol to those who do. Even if he remains loyal, his own followers might as well. It is a recipe for disaster." She was cutting fruit on a board in front of her and the knife clanked down on the wooden board as if she had made a judgment.
Reth nodded. "I agree. In the long run he cannot be in the Tree City. But I am reluctant to banish him right away. He has a unique and unmatched knowledge of his people and how to reach them. I believe we can still use his influence for good in this transition… bringing the people together seems a near impossible task. I will be yearning for any assistance I can get. I will not deny him the chance to advise. And seeing him work with us… if his people remain on the fence, or are wavering, watching him come to us, to trust me, may press them to our advantage."
"Or just turn them on him and end in greater conflict," Brant interjected from the cot where he lay looking frustrated.
"I have no doubt that would have been true with the warriors. But he lost more than half of his fighters in the battle, and even a few others whose bloodlust took hold. While I wish it had not happened, I can't deny that it has solved a problem for us. They were wicked fighters. Trying to overcome them in strategic battle would have cost us dearly."
"Don't believe some of them were not calm enough and disciplined enough to stay with the people who listened to Lerrin," Brant warned. "Craye is an extremely intelligent and effective spymaster. Even among their people he would have placed spies and informers. Craye trusted no one."
"Craye is dead," Reth said quietly. "Suhle said Lerrin identified him as a rebel and a threat, Asta as well. He killed them both personally."
Aymora blinked and Behryn grunted.
"He was not broken by this, Brant," Reth said, but for all of them to hear. "He sits in that prison now, still with his heart. He has not lost his strength. He chose correctly, and he knows it. He walks in the light."
"But many of his people do not," Aymora muttered.
"And we will find them, and rid the Tree City of them," Reth said firmly. "But the only way to do that is to get them here, under our eyes, so we can begin to identify them."
"You would bring the enemy back under your roof?" Hollhye exclaimed.
Reth growled. "These people are not my enemies! They are my people! They were manipulated and scared and they have come back—or they will. I will not lose a third of my people for the sake of a small portion who are not. I have never ruled that way."
"You have never faced a rebellion before," Behryn said calmly. "You cannot expect everything to return to being as it was. We lost a hundred wolves today, easily. And dozens of our own fighters. There will not be a tribe or family group untouched by this. Everyone is shaken. That will lead to distrust and—"
"Precisely my point," Reth sighed. "I need Lerrin to hear his people and help me know how to reach them, and I need them to hear him and draw them back. I need our people to be willing to forgive at least enough to try to reconcile with those who were influenced to leave. And… and I need my own mate back. I need peace," he groaned. "Just peace."
The others all nodded, but Aymora tsked. "Bad feelings and tensions are inevitable. To ignore or brush over them would be deadly."
"I do not intend to ignore them!" Reth snarled. "But I want to soothe and remove them as much as I can before the people return."
"If you allow Lerrin to live, those who are wavering, or who find the transition difficult, will return to him at some point. No anima is perfect. If Lerrin's back was not broken by this, if he remains strong, he will only be more tempted to go along and return to his Alpha state if the people come for him."
"I don't know," Reth said, scratching the stubble on his jaw. "Lerrin was always a reluctant leader. I don't think he'd want to return to the position of power. He doesn't seem suited to it—or, rather, he doesn't seem to want the pressure of it. Plus, those who are still rebellious saw him submit to me. I don't know that they want to call on the leader that brought them to me in the first place. They would reject him now. No," Reth added, "I don't think he is a threat to my rule at all. I think his presence would be confusing for the wolves though."
"Kill him," Aymora said, plunging a knife into a large citrus fruit that she was cutting up to eat. "Kill him and remove the spine of the rebellion."
Reth growled. "So bloodthirsty my friend."
Aymora pointed at him with the knife in her hand. "Not as bloodthirsty as the wolves you're about to invite back into the city. Not by a long shot."
*****
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