Wotan's Hounds Ch. 04

"Is there anyone here who isn't a Lord or Lady?" I asked.

"The head of the pack is called 'Lord' or 'Lady,' out of respect, as are any partners they have. So Dad is technically 'Lord Gelert.' But Uncle Bran is just Bran, he's not pack leader. Children aren't given titles either, unless they become heirs to the leadership, in which case they are Lords and Ladies too. Confused yet?" Du said with a smile.

"No," I replied, surprising myself. "Actually, it's all starting to make sense. So my dad is 'Lord Odin', and I'm his eldest daughter -- does that make me a Lady?"

"No. Once one of your litter is confirmed as Lord Odin's heir," Du explained, "then he becomes a Lord, or if it's you, then a Lady. But only the one chosen as the heir is given the title."

"So how come Lady Luta is a Lady if she's only a sibling to Odin?" I persisted.

"Because Luta is married to the leader of the Saxon pack in this clan, it is correct to address her as 'Lady Luta.' Uncle Dai became 'Lord Dai' when he married Luta after her marriage had earned her the title of 'Lady.' If they'd gotten married first, then he'd still be plain old Dai, even if she still married the pack leader. See, clear as mud," Du responded.

Tony looked up from his studies and said, "Now's probably not the best time to tell you I'm a republican is it?"

"Everybody round here is pretty relaxed about it all," Du replied. "There are a few that get uptight about it -- mainly Lady Jord and Lady Sif. I'll bet Dad didn't introduce himself as 'Lord Gelert' though."

"Nope," I confirmed. "Are you coming to the feast tonight?"

"Of course," Du said, "everyone has to. It's Lord Odin's chance to show off his first born daughter to the clan, and it lets everyone here get to know what you look and smell like."

"Right. Is it formal? Like posh clothes?"

"Oh yeah; very," Du said with another smile. "If you've got it with you, Tony, I would recommend you wear your dress uniform. That should impress some of them, especially if you've got medals."

"Yeah, I've got it with me," Tony said. "I've got a couple of medals from the Falklands war."

"Really?" I asked. He'd never told me about those.

"Yeah, that was when I was fresh out of Sandhurst, as a Lieutenant," Tony said.

"Tony, please, forgive my curiosity but how old are you? I thought the Falklands war was over 20 years ago," Du's brow was wrinkled as she tried to do the math in her head.

"Twenty-seven actually. I'm forty-five at the end of the year," Tony said with a chuckle. "Not looking too bad for an old man am I?"

"Personally, I wouldn't put him a day over fifty," I said with a cheeky grin.

"Oi, you behave!" Tony said. "This old man can still put you over his knee."

I sniffed and shrugged, looking totally unconcerned, "You'd have to catch me first."

Du looked at us in surprise. "That's like 27 years difference in your ages. That's nothing to a were, but to a human? Did your family not mind?"

"I think my brothers just thought, at least he's not going to get me pregnant then run off," I said. "And we've grown up with him."

"Oh dear," Du said, "I can just imagine what Mum would say."

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, she's sort of the estate shrink; looks after people when they get too stressed out and a good run wont fix it," Du explained. "Absent father, growing up with a stronger older man around . . ."

I looked at Tony, and said, "Eeewwwgggghhh, that's disgusting. You think I'm looking for a father figure in him? No! Big brother maybe, but then I had two of those, and they were enough for any girl. If anyone was a father to us it was Major Williams; he was great. Mum's gone off with him to Germany until he retires. But seriously, no. I think I was, what? Twelve, when Tony joined the camp, and apart from teaching me chess I don't think we had much to do with each other til I was seventeen and really starting to study strategies."

I looked at Du, hoping I could get her to understand, "I started bugging Tony to teach me. And he agreed, but only if I agreed to teach him how we hunted."

Turning back to Tony, I asked, "I don't think you really noticed me until then, did you?"

"I noticed you," Tony said, "I just didn't think of you in that way til that last night, when you put some decent clothes on and suddenly it was like 'Wow!'"

"And what was wrong with my clothes up until then?" I demanded.

"You mean other than the fact you looked like you dressed in your big brothers hand-offs?" Tony asked, "Nothing."

"OK, smart arse," I said, "and you just looked so debonair in your combats day in and day out. Actually, you did look kinda fit in them. When I let you keep up."

Turning back to Du, I said as an aside, "Boy, is he slow on a morning."

"At least my brain works after ten o' clock at night," Tony rejoined. "You acted like a zombie if you weren't in bed by then."

"Yeah, when I was like fourteen," I said.

"OK, then," Du interjected. "So are you guys gonna sit there and argue all day or can I ask what Flossi is wearing tonight?"

"Oh, you can ask," Tony said, "I doubt if she'll have an answer though."

"If I want sarcasm, I'll talk to my brothers, thank you very much," I replied.

"Am I right though?" Tony persisted.

I gritted my teeth. I hated when he won an argument like this. "Yes, you're right," I said. "I don't have anything pretty to wear tonight. It might have escaped your notice, but I really don't do pretty -- or elegant, thank you for pointing that out," I said, holding a finger up to stop Tony before he could say it.

I looked at Du, she was curvier than me. "Anyone here I can borrow a dress off?"

"Mmm, let me think," Du said. "You won't fit into anything of mine or anything from anyone in my pack, for that matter. The downside to having Mastiff genes, I'm afraid. Even Brunhilde is bigger than you; yet another thing for her to hate you over. You could try Isla or Blaire, even Cadha might have something from before the pregnancy that would fit ok. Come on, I'll show you where the Picts hang out and we can ask them," Du continued, turning with me before turning back to Tony.

"Are you staying here or shall I show you the way to the gym? I think Dad, Fane and Drem were going for a work out," Du continued.

"Sounds good to me," he replied. "Lead on."

The gym was in the basement beneath the kitchen and stretched the width of the house. Gelert and two of his elder sons were just warming up their muscles before they attacked the free weights that stood in neat rows against one wall. In the centre of the room, between the columns that supported the roof, was a boxing ring and over at the far end were bars and rings, vaulting horses and beams all set out with thick mats under each piece. Tony glance round to familiarise himself with the layout before he walked over to where the others were standing. Gelert looked up and saw Tony coming over, and then introduced his sons.

They were very much like their father, big stocky men, with flaxen hair and blue eyes, full of confidence in themselves and their abilities. You could see them standing at a pen in a market town discussing the price of cattle and straw over a pint or three of bitter, though when I mentioned this to Du she just looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"The only thing those boys know about cattle is you can make steaks out of them," Du said with a laugh. "Come on, let's go. I think Tony is going to fit in here fine."

We walked back out of the basement and up the stairs past the kitchen. Du led me away from the main house and over to the east wing, where the Picts had their quarters. She explained that the packs all had separate parts of the house to themselves, so that although they came under the rule of Odin and his clan, they could sort out pack issues in private. The Picts had quite a big presence in the house, with two of the Pict clan leader's sons, Talorcan and Drust, living here with their families, so they took up two floors. Lord Talorcan lived on the ground floor, with rooms that opened out onto the gardens, while Drust lived with Du's Aunt Bethan and her other husband, Tidor, above them.

As we knocked on the door to the ground floor apartment, we could hear yells and growls growing louder, then the door opened and we found ourselves face to face with a pair of wrestling fox pups, with a harassed looking girl just in her teens trying to separate them.

"Got! Ce! If you don't cut that out right this second, I'm telling Daddy and you won't get to come to the party tonight! Oh, hi, Du, who's this?"

"Hi, Maisie!" Du responded. "Are you on puppy sitting duty again? This is Flosshilde – Flossi. She was wondering if Isla or Blaire had a dress she could borrow for tonight."

"They're in the garden I think. Come on through," Maisie said. She managed to split the pups apart, and was scolding them as she dragged them away. "You see, that's Lord Odin's first born daughter, and what's the first thing she sees when she pays us a visit? You two acting like a pair of hooligans! I'm definitely telling Daddy on you."

I looked around as we walked down the hall. Like the rest of the house, this part had high ceilings and wide floors; in here though the colours were bright blues, deep greens and rich browns, reflecting the pack's earthy roots and connection with the land that gave them their magic. Most of the walls were covered in tapestries depicting animals and trees or bookcases filled with scrolls and leather bound parchments. Out in the private gardens, half a dozen girls were sitting around an old tree in a semicircle, listening to a petite red haired woman talking. She looked up as we approached and called a halt to the lesson. Du gave a half curtsy and spoke first.

"Greetings, Lady Catriona! Blessings on this place," Du said formally.

"And on you, young lady," Lady Catriona replied. "I take it this is Lord Odin's first daughter? Greetings and blessings upon you. I am Catriona, second wife to Lord Talorcan and teacher of the girls of the house, should they wish to learn our craft."

I didn't know how to answer that, so I simply copied Du and gave a half curtsy, replying with, "Greetings, Lady Catriona. I'm Flossi."

"Do you wish to join our group?" Lady Catriona asked.

"Mmm, possibly," I replied. "I actually was hoping to speak to someone about borrowing a dress for tonight. I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was going to have to go to formal dinners or I would have bought something when we went through the town."

"It is not a problem," Lady Catriona said graciously. "We were about to finish for the day in any case. Come and see me when you have the time, and we shall talk more about our craft, agreed?"

"Yes, thank you, Lady Catriona," I said.

"Very well," Lady Catriona nodded before continuing to speak. "Blaire, I believe you have some suitable dresses for formal dinners. Please show them to Flosshilde so she may pick one."

"Yes, Catriona," Blaire replied. "Follow me please," Blaire said to me. Her room was small but very tidy. In a corner, a huge wardrobe had been squeezed in and was packed with all her clothes. Most of them were jeans and tops, like what she was wearing now, and a few summer dresses. Over to one side were a handful of long slim sleek dresses in coarse silk and soft velvet, with colours that ranged from white to sky blue to bottle green and gold. Blaire reached in and pulled out a green and gold velvet dress, and held it up for me to see.

"This is what I'm wearing tonight," Blaire said with a giggle. "Daddy insisted that we all have our best clothes on to greet Lord Odin's daughter, so I don't know how pleased he'll be to learn you were here when I was in jeans."

"It's kind of a big thing this, isn't it, being Odin's first born daughter," I asked. "I hadn't realised everyone was going to be so uptight about it."

"This is nothing," Blaire assured me, still smiling. "If you were his first born son, then the whole place would be in uproar. There'd be petitions as to who was going to get to marry him first, always supposing that no-one from outside the clan wanted their daughter to get him. As it is, you're going to have plenty of suitors lining up to ask you to marry them."

"Poor Froh, sounds like his idea of hell," I said. "Siggi would love it though, all those girls fighting over him." I grinned at the thought of Siggi swaggering around the place like a peacock as girls swooned at his feet, and carefully ignored the last bit. I wasn't too sure about having men fighting over me.

"So there are brothers!" Blaire responded. "We didn't know if you were the only surviving child or not."

"No, I have two of brothers," I said. "They're off playing soldiers for a few years before they come here." I had been looking through the dresses on offer and pulled out one, a blue silk Greek style outfit that left most of my back bare.

"How about this one?" I said, holding it against me.

"Other than the fact it's way too short, not bad at all," said Du.

"Mmm, I know. Shame about that," Blaire said looking up at me. She was a good four inches shorter than my own 5' 8" height; nothing she had was going anywhere past my calves.

"I might have an idea though," Blaire continued. "I've got a wide shawl that goes with that dress. I could sew that onto the bottom and make it long enough."

"You can sew?" I asked in surprise.

"Part of Lady Catriona's craft is stitching, sewing, cooking, that sort of thing, as well as the more esoteric skills, like tree talking and mind stepping," Blaire replied.

"Are you sure that's OK then? I wouldn't want to ruin one of your dresses," I asked.

"It's fine," Blaire assured me. "Besides it'll make the dress look different enough that most people won't know it's one of mine. I'll lengthen the top straps too so it won't strangle you, OK? If you want to stick around for a bit, I'll do it now so I know it fits."

"This is great, thank you so much," I said.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Blaire and her sister Isla, gossiping and being stared at by the younger members of the household. They gathered outside the common room, peeking round the door and giggling. The older girls were a mine of information about pack and clan lore, especially my own pack and Brunhilde. I hadn't met the girl yet but her reputation made me want to. I wanted to see this girl who thought she was something special.

I got my chance later on that night. I'd gone back to my rooms with my new dress to meet Tony, and we'd had a couple of hours together before the feast started at nine. Tony had brought a bottle of red wine from the kitchen, and I lay in our big bath full of bubbles with a glass while he sat on one of our fat pillows on the ledge that ran along the wall. He'd already bathed, and was dressed in his black and red mess trousers and looking ridiculously yummy. He didn't have any grey in his hair and very few lines except around his eyes. We were listening to a Beach Boys CD – Tony had taught me to accept his strange music tastes over the years I'd known him, mainly by refusing to listen to anything I'd suggested if it hadn't been recorded before 1979 unless it was Queen or Status Quo – and we were just chilling before we had to head downstairs and meet everyone.

Once I was finished in the bath, Tony helped me into my dress, which now fell to pool around my bare feet. I couldn't do much with my hair, I only put a little make up on my eyes and I was ready to go. Tony shrugged his black jacket on and buttoned it up to his chin, the gold buttons shining in the half light from the oil lamps we had dotted about the room. His silver medals shone too, and I fell in love with him right then and there. He looked so tall and handsome as he offered me his arm to escort me to the meeting hall.

We met other people walking down the main stairs, and there was quite a group of us that entered all together. It gave me the chance to hide for a few minutes as no-one really registered my appearance at first. Then Odin made his way over to us, and heads began to turn. He was followed by his three wives: Jord, Sif and Ran, and seven of their children, allowing me my first glimpse of Brunhilde. She was wearing a high necked, long sleeved dress in purple satin and would have been stunning if it not for the pained sneer she had plastered across her face. Du was right; Brunhilde was curvier than me and slightly shorter, but then most girls were. She had long black hair twisted up in a complicated knot at the back of her head.

Brunhilde stood off to one side, looking bored at not being the centre of attention for once. To her left stood a boy, the mirror image of her, but without the disdainful expression. In fact he looked interested in us and I guessed he might be a little relieved that, with the revelation of two older brothers, he wouldn't have to assume the role of pack and clan leader in time. Odin held out his hand towards me, and drew me closer to introduce me to the members of his pack I hadn't met yet.

"This is my second wife, Jord and her children, Brunhilde and Thor, her first born," Odin said. "Balder, Geri and Gerd, her second litter. You know Sif; these are her first born, Vali and Vidar," Odin continued, indicating an identical pair of boys standing behind Sif.

"Ran's litter are running around here somewhere. We are not as strict with children as we are with those who are approaching maturity; we allow the children greater freedoms," Odin explained.

As Odin spoke, a tribe of kids descended on us, a mix of pups and children. They were all different breeds -- foxes, mastiffs, hounds like Odin and what looked like cross between him and deerhounds. The children were dressed in white trousers and dresses that didn't look like they would stay clean for more than a couple of hours at the most.

One little girl came barrelling into Odin and began tugging at his suit trousers. "Daddy, is this her?" she asked.

"Yes, Tola," Odin replied, "This is your new big sister, Flosshilde. Daughter, may I introduce you to Sif's eldest daughter, Tola?"

I crouched down to look at Tola and held my hand out, saying, "Hi, Tola! I'm Flossi. How do you do?"

Tola regarded me with solemn eyes, the way only children can. She cocked her head to one side and stared at me for a minute, and then made up her mind and slipped her hand into mine, shaking it softly.

"I'm OK," Tola said. "Who's that?" she said pointing behind me. I turned and looked to see who she meant.

Tony dropped down beside me and said, "I'm Tony. It's very nice to meet you."

"Are you Flossi's husband?" Tola asked Tony. "Coz I thought she wasn't old enough to have one yet. Mummy says I won't have to get married for years and years."

"No," Tony replied, "we're not married, yet.'

"Ohh," Tola went on, "is it true you can't change?"

"Yes, it's true," Tony said. "Though I'm hoping to learn how to soon. Do you maybe want to teach me?"

"Silly," Tola said with a chuckle. "I can't teach you. I'm not old enough yet."

"Oh, dear that's a shame. How old are you?" Tony asked, tapping into that fascination all children have about their age.

"I'm six and a quarter," Tola stoutly replied. "I'll be six and a half next month, and I'm the tallest in my class already."

"Wow," Tony replied, feigning impression well.

"Tola, run along now," Ran interrupted. "Don't take up all of Captain James's time."

"Yes, Mummy," Tola said, dashing off after the rest of her band, who'd disappeared off into the crowd.

I looked over at Tony and said, "Aww, she's a poppet."

"Don't you be getting broody on me now," Tony answered with a worried grin.

"Stop stressing," I responded. "You heard Sif earlier; I've got another twenty-one years before I can start thinking about babies."

Odin cleared his throat, and we stood up again. "If you'd like to come this way, the feast is about to begin."