Cruel and Unusual - serialised novel EXCLUSIVE to Steemit Part 44

OOPS! What a mistake! I accidentally titled #43 as #42 – I’ve corrected the error now and can only apologise for the confusion.

So, if you’ve missed the last episode, believing you’ve already read it – you haven’t.

The good news is, you have two to enjoy…

For the full list of episodes, please see this post: Episode List
And Then, 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
43

Images below from Google and Pixabay

Please read the start of the story using the links above. I promise, it’s well-worth the time to check it all out. At least then, this excerpt will make more sense

Back when Hazel was just starting on her long and arduous journey to become Sentinel, she was told of a Prophecy that she might have been a part of. The Prophecy had split and could have gone one of two ways. The first would have meant the destruction of Wolfkind and the other meant only hardship when the Clans had to flee England’s shores – losing almost half their numbers in the process.

If Hazel had chosen a different path, she would have become the cause of their destruction. She would have betrayed Wolves with impunity – until the time came that she was alone in her species, and then she would have no help from any quarter.

As it was, she chose the correct path in a decision-making process that she had no way of knowing she had any part of. The outcome was that another she-Wolf betrayed her kind and was hunted to the ends of Cumbria to collect the dubious title of the ‘Last Wolf in England’ and Hazel was proven to become the most loyal and trusted of the Lycaeon’s subjects.

After a few centuries, Wolfkind gathered itself together once more, some Ancients came back out of self-hibernation and the species rallied. New laws were added to the First Laws and it became forbidden to make another Wolf by biting or breeding without special dispensation. Never again would Wolf Society allow Humans to know that they existed. Wolves had to protect themselves by hiding in plain sight and not drawing any attention to their existence.

In ancient times, Wolf clans were valued members of any army, their strength and ruthlessness in battle was second to none and therefore was in demand for hand-to-hand combat. Legends of ‘Berserkers’ in ancient Celtic warfare have some basis in fact. Wolves enjoyed their battles and plundered the dead for added shock and awe tactics, but no more. With numbers depleted and kept low on purpose, Wolf Society prospered in a different way; they kept their own Counsel and infiltrated organisations where knowledge was power. Wolves hold high positions in Armed and Police forces, intelligence and sometimes Government and have done so for decades.

Chapter 4

A few nights on and Hazel was making her way to the docks again. She had a meeting.

Keme waited a while before making his own excuses to Anton and left for an assignation with Isabella, his new love. Had Keme known that he was stepping on the toes of some other paramour; he would not have cared, for Isabella had ensnared his heart. She was beautiful and amusing and she asked him questions of his old life in a way that did not make him homesick, but enabled him to relive his time – that other life - that once he lived. He had fallen fast and heavy for the petite young woman.

He told her of the hunting expeditions (though not of the one where so many of his tribesmen had been slaughtered by a Man-Wolf) and he told her of his Grandfather, the Shaman and what he had taught him.

Keme regaled Isabella with tales of his folk-lore and dismayed her when he recounted harsh winters when none but the strongest, wiliest or most fortunate had a chance of surviving.

Isabella most loved to hear of the long summer evenings when he would lie awake and listen to his Grandfather talking with the Elders of the tribe and infrequent visitors or traders that came by.

Then at last came the summer when Keme was allowed to sit in their circle and listen to the discussion of who was to be the Shaman’s next pupil. Keme hoped that it would be him but nothing was certain. Then the decision was made and Keme’s heart leaped as a salmon and soared as an eagle – his future as Shaman was assured. He knew that his Grandfather had preferred to tutor Keme – he had been tutoring him since he was born, Keme knew – but the respect he had gained during his short adult life so far had swayed the decision in his favour. A near-unanimous decision in Keme’s support was reached.

But Keme did not only talk of himself, he also asked many questions of Isabella’s life. He knew that she did not enjoy her profession as ‘Seamstress’ – the dangers were many and benefits few. He also knew that he handed over far too much money to her and she protested each time at the amount, but it meant that she did not have to ply her trade to the extent she once had and it also ensured that she and her room-mate, Mary, ate better than they had done for a long time.

Isabella’s mother came from Hungary; her family had come over to England many, many years before, when her mother was a babe in arms. They had worked hard and made a good living for themselves and all was well. Isabella was rebellious however and did not want to do as her mother told her. She did not want to go to lessons and eventually, she ran away from home. She was far too stubborn to think of going back, even though she regretted the hurt that she must have caused her family. Now, she was too ashamed to return. The career that she had fallen into had tainted her to the extent that she would not be able to show her face to her family again, they would turn their back on her. She was, she admitted, dead to them by now.

Keme declared his love for Isabella and asked Anton how he should go about making Isabella his wife.

Anton was at first, aghast at the notion but Keme spoke with passion and eloquence of his fondness for the Hume and Anton advised that it was, indeed possible for a Wolf to marry a Hume, but there were many things to learn and Keme must promise that until he had been appraised of all the facts, he would leave things just as they were for now. Keme promised on the condition that he could continue to give Isabella the money she needed to live and so keep her as protected as he possibly could from the monster that was stalking ‘Seamstresses’ without drawing undue attention to either her household, small as it was, or himself.