Silver Moon: Bk. 02 Ch. 06

The remaining officers and senior troops really didn't like the threats since Maric came across as totally willing to implement them. After he had finished he dismissed them and informed them that they needed to inventory all equipment assigned to them. If any was missing they were to have an explanation on why they were missing. He would be starting inspections of the living quarters in the morning.

~~~

When they finally made it out of the palace grounds Pam heaved a sigh of relief. "God that place makes my eyes ache. I keep resisting the urge to tear it down and start over." One thing she had discovered was many of the hallways had a very adulterated gold. Only in the central spaces was the gold almost pure. The throne was close to being solid gold and that was the first thing removed. Xipil was currently using a very comfortable chair that looked like it had been found in a dumpster. Some of the looks he received while holding the morning sessions was great.

Mari snorted at her. "I don't even want to contemplate how many people the throne alone would feed." That was a slight growl from her since she had been taught by Dan to take care of pack. Geoff had reinforced it with taking care of the clan. "I am glad you had an emperor roast since he wasn't worth shit." She spat out the back of the truck.

As she and Pam were talking the local wolves that were going along with them were trying not to gasp. Even though they had hated and despised the Emperor they had been raised to think of him as almost a god. Hearing the two essentially say he was little more than the dirt on your shoes was almost horrifying.

Mari glanced at one of them. "There are far worse things I could say about him. The lack of concern for his people, all of his people, is repulsive. He was a selfish self-centered child who thought the world revolved around him. The sheer amounts of gold inside that building boggles my mind and believe me I have become used to having a nice stash of cash to take care of the manor and grounds. The roads are a disaster; the soldiers are undertrained and ill equipped. The officers and officials are rather corrupt. I could keep going but I won't. It is going to take some time but you will see this country organized and run as best possible."

That got some quiet muttering amongst the females that had come with. The guards simply smiled slightly and gave Mari and Pam a slight nod. One of the Kitsune guards was trying to figure out why the young girl who helped take care of Pam was sitting close to him. About the only thing he could sense from her was that she actually felt safe.

When he glanced at Pam she simply smiled slightly and nodded in his direction. That got a mental sigh from the young man and he mentally muttered to himself. Some days females were enough to drive him nuts. He was still muttering when the two trucks pulled up in front of a large material store. A wolf and Kitsune jumped out first and scanned the crowd for any threats before letting Pam and Mari out. Their protection included the female wolves as well.

Once they were out and a few guards were stationed around the truck they headed into the store. In the street the crowd was moving to the other side to avoid catching the attention of anyone. There were a number of stares since nobody was in any sort of uniform. The fact the Emperor was dead hadn't spread very far. If someone heard rumor of it they ignored it and kept doing their own thing.

When they walked into the store the local wolves stopped at the door. "We aren't allowed into this shop Lady Pam." The seamstress pointed at a sign over the door.

Pam walked back out and contemplated the sign and since it was hanging by a chain she snapped her sword out of thin air and there was a slight ting as the chain was sliced and the sign fell. "I don't see any sign do you?" She turned to the guards. "Two of you go in, chase everyone out and gather the staff."

The local wolves looked more than somewhat startled by her actions. They were looking rather concerned as well. This policy had been in place for a long time and it kept getting more stringent. "Are you sure it is okay ma'am?" The young girl asked.

Pam smiled at her. "Of course it is okay. The old emperor is no longer and anytime there is a change of command policies is reviewed. Some remain in place and others don't change. This policy no longer exists and Xipil agrees." As she was talking a number of people were shooed out and there was a great deal of angry muttering.

One female, obviously well off, noticed the local wolves and snarled some vile curses at them and spat on the ground. That didn't last long since the next moment Pam's blade was at her throat. "I strongly recommend you take that insult back. If you don't I will let the pups have your head to use as a kick ball." Her voice was completely emotionless though there was anger in her eyes and hints of flickering flames as well.

The old woman obviously thought she was better than everyone else and the rules didn't apply. "How dare you threaten me? You are just some foreign slut with no manners or breeding. My husband will hear of this and deal with..." Suddenly her head popped off her body as Pam's sword severed it.

"I am not a slut you cunt. I would say never try me again but that seems to be a moot case." She looked at one of the wolves. "I don't think her head would make a good kickball as ugly as it is. The face alone would probably give the pups nightmares."

The females who had been chased out were looking on with horror. Their eyes were flickering between Pam and the body. One lady turned and blew chunks over another's feet. A second one simply collapsed where she stood. Pam wiped the blade off and rested it on her shoulder. "Anyone else have a problem with us going into the shop?" Her cold eyes traveled around the group and they suddenly found other things to do.

When they had cleared out she found one of her wolves holding two house hold guards. Both were unconscious. "What shall we do with these two ma'am?" He was grinning big time since this was an alpha female a wolf could look up to.

"Drag the body off to one side, strip it of any valuables, and toss the guards next to her. Beyond that I really don't care." She turned and stalked into the store. "Get the manager of this flea infested shop now."

The girl behind the counter could only start at Pam till Mari spoke. "She is feeling a bit irritable. Something about her mate having death magic tossed at him has her somewhat upset. I would strongly recommend you find the manager. Let her see what happened outside and strongly suggest she be polite. I would hate to see any of the cloth in here stained red." She was checking out her fingernails. "Oh damn, I have a hangnail. We need to hurry this up Pam so I can take care of it."

The girl almost seemed to vanish as quickly as she left the front of the shop. It took her a while to find and come back with her manager. While she was gone they were looking through the bolts of cloth and discussing colors. "I think since the Red Kitsune clan is now in charge the uniforms will have a dark red front and back with light red for the rest of it. Since Rusty didn't really give us any instructions other than make it so we will design it ourselves." In the back of her mind she heard a 'Hey I am not rusty, I am red darn it woman.'

She snickered at that and everyone looked at her. "Sorry but Rusty was objecting to the name Rusty but since he didn't give me his name Rusty it is." That got even more grumbling in the back of her mind.

The seamstress kept going for the cheaper material till Pam told her to stop. "Look at it this way, you and your pack are now palace employees. I will not having you look like lower level citizens simply because the quality of material bothers you. You are going to have better material to make clothes, pillows, and uniforms with. I want you to be able to look in the mirror and feel pride in your new station and job." She rested her hand on the woman's shoulder. "There is another reason as well. With you nicely dressed and looking proud of your new station and being proud of being wolves it will have an impact on visiting wolves. I want the other packs in this land to look at you and know that they can strive to be as good as or better than those they are looking at."

The seamstress looked up at her and her eyes were moist with emotions. It felt so strange for someone outside the pack to care like Pam and Mari obviously did. "Yes Lady Pam, we will do as you ask and make you proud as well."

About then the woman came back with the manager who was looking like she already had one cup to many for the day. She had sunken eyes that were rather pig like, her face was almost bloated from drink, and there was a certain fragrance to her. "Who the hell let some dogs in here? No others are allowed in my shop." Her speech was slurred as well.

Pam wrinkled her nose. "Can someone get me a bucket? I might end up vomiting from the stench alone. It is amazing just how odiferous opinions and bad hygiene can be. Have you even considered bathing in the last month or so?" Her voice was as insulting as possible. "Oh, and they aren't dogs, they are wolves and even living in the slums they were far cleaner than you. I would be afraid to come near you since you probably have lice and fleas."

The woman snarled at Pam as her staff was quickly getting out of the line of fire. "Get your whore ass out of my shop you mongrel dog. I will not have you marking my material with your piss. I have the right to deny service to others as I wish. The Emperor had decreed it. Get out of my shop and go wallow back in the slums where you belong."

That really was the wrong thing for her to say since she now had a number of weapons aimed at her and all the safeties off. Pam turned to them. "Relax gentlemen. Why should I be insulted by someone who is the results of the coupling of an ugly monkey and a donkey? It is natural for such a result to bray their ignorance to the world. I will deal with this."

She turned back and the woman was starting to turn red. "For your information I killed the former mongrel pig who sat on the throne. I rammed my sword through his black heart and flambéed him. As of now this decree you mentioned has been revoked. Say one more vile word to me and I will flambé you as well to remove the stench from the room." She was doing everything she could to egg the idiot on so she could make another example out of her.

The woman had been in the middle of taking a drink from her cup when Pam spoke. She snarled in anger over the insults and hurled the cup at Pam. Before it even got close to her one of the Kitsunes snatched it out of the air and looked at it in revulsion. At one point it had been a valuable goblet but now it was coated with stains and residue of god only knew what.

Pam gave her an evil smile. "Everyone says my mate has a mean streak a mile wide when he is ticked off. I am working to match him and you are helping. Goodbye old woman." She shifted to her mid-form and her black tail snapped around and pointed at the woman. A beam the color of the black of night seemed to flow out of it and impacted the woman in the forehead and she froze.

When Pam spoke her voice had changed and there was a masculine over tone to it. *I am giving you either a blessing or curse depending on how you choose to look at it. You are no longer of the day and are a being of the night. Night has become your new world. The sun is no longer a friend of yours and where it falls on your body it will burn. It will not kill you but it will burn till you wished you were dead. If you make this a blessing when you are ready I will talk to my cousin of the sun to show you the light of the day again. Now go, flee the burning heat of the sun and the illumination of the darkest parts of you also by the sun." The voice was calm and collected though there was a hint of amusement as well.

The woman screeched when the curse was placed. In the middle of her forehead was a symbol in black. If anyone tried to do anything to the curse it would show the creators rank and person symbol. If they were stupid enough to keep trying to remove it then they would be cursed as well. She felt the command to run and she did though it was more of a fat waddle.

Pam's expression softened. "Now could we get some service over here? Be polite and professional and no harm will come to you. If you give the best service possible I will consider using your shop for the main source of material." The first woman came over and after a nervous look at Pam started talking with the seamstress.

Mari moved over and started talking with another female as well. Pam decided it would be better to stay to the side and simply let the others do the talking. Every now and then she was called over to check this type of material or her opinion on that color. It took several hours for the materials to be chosen and paid for. Once that was done she had the many bolts loaded into the back of one of the trucks.

"Well that went better than I expected. It was nice to see some good customer service." As she was talking she pulled a thin slice of rice paper out, mentally imprinted a symbol on it and stuck it to a window. "This indicates this shop has been added to the recommended places to purchase from. More specifically material to be purchased by the palace."

She turned and walked away and climbed into the back of the truck with the others. They made several more stops. A number of them were simply because Pam was still pissed off from the first shop. As needed she would stomp on anyone who insulted her wolves. In this case it was financially by informing them the palace would never do business with them again. By the time they made it back to the palace she was in a much better mood.

Her guards were smiling and laughing as well since they had a great time watching her stomp on the idiots. The female wolves were giving all of them odd looks except for the girl. She was leaning against the one Kitsune and giggling at his jokes. He was back to looking somewhat nervous and not sure what to do about her. It just wasn't something he had ever dealt with before.

Pam and the female wolves simply smirked at him which only made him even more nervous. Several times he considered running but that wouldn't be kosher since he was on duty. Once they pulled into the courtyard that now belonged to the pack he hopped out to get away from her. That didn't work since she hopped out as well and followed him to the second truck.

Once the gate in the back of the truck was down people started coming out and off loading the material and other items purchased. It was quite a load and took a while to unload. Since she had made a point of making sure they left several rooms open for supplies and as work rooms they had. Everything went into there and the women would sort it out later.

Mari stretched. "I have to go nurse. Would you like to have lunch with me Pam? There are some things we really need to talk about." She looped her arm around Pam's and they said good bye and headed to Mari's quarters.

~~~

Maric, Suzy, and several others were sitting in the officer's mess eating lunch. They were discussing how the morning had gone and what they wanted to implement. For this discussion it was specifically for the wolves and potential imperial troops. "This afternoon I am going to be going and watching the garrison troops train. That will give me an idea of..." He coughed for a moment and cleared his throat. "What is needed to bring their training up to some standard..." Maric started coughing again and then grabbed his stomach as a burning pain shot through it.

He whispered 'poison' before collapsing on the floor. He was still holding his stomach and coughing and twitching. His breathing wasn't good and his face was turning pale and his lips blue.

Suzy didn't even hesitate. *Someone poisoned Maric. I need a healer in the officer's mess. Close and secure the gates immediately. Do not let anyone in or out. If they try to get out stop them. If they keep trying restrain them. Do not and I repeat do not kill them." Once that was sent she started calling other orders out including all the kitchen staff to be secured. She had little hopes of that being of much use but better than sorry.

It took a moment for that to set in before the palace erupted in a hive of activity. Pam's wolves reacted first and all of them, including the females, headed to the gates to secure them. As Suzy was calling orders Kasai and Amarish appeared and Kasai started whispering quietly in Kitsune. Amarish had his hands on her shoulders and was whispering as well. A red glow formed around Maric and he started to still.

A few minutes later one of the Kitsune guards who was also a healer showed up and was followed in by the pups. They formed up on two sides of the door and all of them had their hair pins or knives out just in case.

The healer hurried over and rested a hand on Kasai to sense what she was getting from the shield. They were there for several minutes before he snarled something. "He has been poisoned with a mixture of Silver Nitrate blended with Strychnine. Something was added to make it odorless and tasteless. That has traces of magic in it. Save the food and send it to the clan for further research. Put it in ice and keep it as cold as possible though not frozen."

As he was talking he took over the shield and Amarish carefully picked Kasai up since she was very tired. He carried her over to the pups and handed her to Gianni. "Hold her please? She tired. Take her to Pam's room when done here." The expression on his face was not a happy one at all.

Pam finally showed up as did Mari and they settled down next to Maric and the healer. He quickly told her what was wrong and she snarled as well. It almost sounded like she was chewing the words and spitting them out in her anger. "Let me take care of him healer. When I tell you to remove the shield do so and I will take over." Pam's voice was again overlaid with another though this time it was a female.

Her eyes turned golden and traces of a golden foxfire flickered around her fingers. She started chanting in a form of Kitsune the others couldn't understand. When she got to a certain point she nodded at the healer and he withdrew the shield. A golden shield that resembled sunlight formed and settled over him. It was hard to describe what happened next but it was almost as if the light actually flowed through him.

When it did that Maric groaned and spasmed again, he was obviously in agony as she was working on him. Eventually the light finished flowing through him and Pam reached down and picked something up. It was hidden in her hand and vanished as the golden foxfire faded. She took a deep breath and shuddered. "I wish they would warn me about that. Take him to his quarters and give him plenty of water. It will take his body time to get rid of the poison but by tomorrow he should be doing much better.

~~~

In the dark cavern the creature was leaning over his scrying bowl again. He watched the events that went down in the dining facility and gave a good cackle. This would put a crimp in their plans. With the wolf in charge removed their ability to train nearly as well. They would have to find someone else to take charge. With the Alpha and beta gone it would throw the pack into chaos as well.

Once the wolf went down and started choking and dying he placed a drop of the venom of a demon on the water. Once it spread out he started whispering words that were so vile that any bird nearby died immediately. Others flew for their lives. A different scene showed in the bowl and there was a mid-grade officer looking through some books. He was making notations as well as recording numbers in a series of columns. More whispering and a spell one of his followers had placed on the man activated.