Chapter 54: The Golden Age
#54 of The Mating Season 4
Chapter 54: The Golden Age
Zaldon had a cold. Even though many months had passed since last summer's fiasco, the strain of the long journey through the northern forest, the mountains, and the meadows beyond (and not to mention all the screwing around with Kel) had weakened his immune system somewhat. He lay upright in bed, receiving a sound scolding from Julyan as he brought in hot soup on a tray. It was after the mating season, summer, and Yuri had finally moved out with Enya. Zaldon sighed as Julyan set the tray over his lap: his little girl was growing up.
"How are you feeling today, Grand Sorcerer?" Julyan asked playfully (for Grand Sorcerer is what Zaldon had become: in other words, he was now the top ranking magic practitioner of the village. Zaldon scoffed at this though: he may have possessed great knowledge where magic was concerned, but he could no longer use it).
"As long as no more hopefuls come knocking at the door," Zaldon moaned, dragging a paw across his eyes. He'd had would-be sorcerers begging him left and right for apprenticeship since he was given his new title.
"You're doing a sight better than Kilyan," Julyan laughed. "Enya received word from home: Lea gave birth to a son!"
They laughed together as dusk filled the room, splashing its purple and pink hues across the wall. Julyan settled quietly at Zaldon's side, and he watched him dig in with such a somber expression that Zaldon paused, spoon in paw, and asked what was wrong. Julyan's bright lavender eyes alighted on the tray, and looking at it, Zaldon noticed something he hadn't before: there was a brown parchment beside his bowl, rolled up and tied neatly with a black ribbon. Black ribbon on a letter usually meant someone had died, but there was something else about the parchment: it was also tied with a white ribbon, which was a symbol of hope. Zaldon stared uneasily at the parchment. Who could have sent such a strange letter?
"It was on the step this morning," Julyan said in a low voice. "It was glowing, so it must've come here by magic."
Zaldon lifted the letter carefully, and after glancing worriedly at Julyan, he swallowed and unrolled it. The letter read thus:
My dearest Zaldon,
I hardly expect you to remember me. After all, I'm just some wolf who fingered your daughter in front of you. Some wolf whose head you, no doubt, would still like to twist off. Ha, ha. I'd probably let you: anything to feel those burly paws on my body! But I ramble. The reason for my letter is something of a much deeper matter and goes well beyond my lusty admiration for you.
I send you tidings of the Golden Age. Here in the mountain tribe, there are no more stonings. We are civilized beings now: he have hearings, we hold trials, we gather evidence and hunt down witnesses, and we try to understand our fellow wolf before we judge them. We have turned our tails around.
How can this come to be, you may be asking. Zaldon, as you know, my sister was murdered by that angry mob you and your valiant friends stopped that dismal day on the cliff. And so was your friend and our most valuable warrior, Alea, who was like a sister to me. But their deaths were not unique. When Yuri unleashed her fury on the angry mob, a wonderful thing happened: they were shattered. Arms, limbs, and heads littered the cliff, and a silence filled the air -- a silence so chilling that my fur stood on end when I later witnessed it.
In honor of my sister, I killed the wolf who started it all, the wolf who led the betrayal against my sister and took her place as captain. My sister, being the captain of the royal guard, would have taken the place of the queen given her death or absence, but with my sister gone on to our ancestors, and with the death of her betrayer, I became king of the mountain wolf tribe.
Under my rule, we live in peace, Zaldon, and we tolerate each other even if we do not like each other: there is no more senseless bloodshed. And as a result, we have lived in peace for many months, we are stronger as an army and more productive as the skilled craftswolves we are famed to be. The city prospers and flourishes. Zaldon! The Golden Age -- it has come!
So cry no more for our loved ones. Because I know that somewhere, somehow, Teesa and Alea are looking down on us and smiling on what they have sacrificed their lives to give. This is a new beginning, perhaps a new era for wolves everywhere. If one village can evolve, why not another and another? I hope one day the Golden Age will spread to every village on the face of this good earth, but for now I'll just thank you and Yuri, Zaldon, for helping to make it possible. I think . . . Alea would have wanted me to.
Sincerely yours,
Talib.
_P. S. Tell my little blue wolf that she still has my love. _
Fin
Next: The Mating Season 4.5 : Before They Ran Wild