Written by lilgirlsix and Archangel_M
Edited by Doctime
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lilgirlsix: I really do love writing for Zsálya, and am so sad it has almost come to an end. But this story has been a joy to write with my friend AA.
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Archangel_M: The music suggestion for this chapter is
"On My Way Home"
by Enya.
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{
Language Note:
Hungarian dialogue is in plaintext, <and German dialogue is in carrots.> Thanks once again to
Fräulein
Anne for her help with the German!}
September 27, 1859 (nearly twelve months later)
The two white-uniformed figures who strode into the Werewolf Council chamber were expected. The six dozen large, angry werewolves who followed them were not.
All but two of the Councilors were visibly confused and worried by the presence of nearly every alpha Were in Europe. <
If they cannot keep their ears to the ground properly, that is not my problem,
> Rudolf Metzger thought behind a thoroughly impassive expression. Guillame Bertrand did not seem at all surprised, he noted, which was curious. Rudolf spared a moment to wonder why, but quickly dismissed it as unimportant. It would have been worrying if it had been any other Councilor, but Bertrand was still very young and very new to the Council. He had little real influence as yet, and even fewer connections of any value. He was no threat to anybody.
Rudolf had known for some months that the thrice-cursed Blue Stars had been sniffing around the Council's business interests, and he knew that they would find many of them objectionable. Their so-called Order, with its foolishly idealistic sense of "morality," seemed to exist for the sole purpose of preventing great men like himself from conducting their affairs.
No matter. Rudolf had carefully nurtured the Order's lax attitude towards Weres for decades, keeping things calm and peaceful on his own behalf and that of his Sardinian... associate. Both his associate's enterprises and his own had thrived in the absence of enforced "morality," but nothing lasted forever. His associate understood that, and had taken pains to ensure that Rudolf understood it too. When word of the Order's probing had reached the Council Chairman, he had immediately taken steps to withstand the coming recriminations.
One of the Blue Stars at the other end of the table was a Helsing, Rudolf saw, and the members of that family were even more divorced from reality than the rest of the Order. This boy Wilhelm and Rudolf had loathed each other from their first meeting. The boy was here to burn him at a metaphorical stake, Rudolf knew, to expose him as some sort of "villain" and turn his own subjects against him. Rudolf could see it clearly in the human's vivid blue eyes as they stared at each other down the long table. He was welcome to try.
While they
were
expected, the visitors had not given the Council a formal notice that they were coming. Therefore, Metzger was not out of line when he asked them to come back later. He did so out of a sense of self-importance, and also simply to twist the Helsing lad's tail. It was difficult to spot the signs of Wilhelm's emotions, but Rudolf was a master at reading body language and enjoyed the tiny twitches that told him of the human's anger.
His enjoyment stuttered to a halt when Bertrand spoke up from the far end of the table, pre-empting Helsing's reply. "<I am curious to know what has brought so many Alphas to our door. Let
Monsieur
von Helsing speak.>"
The Chairman's gaze bored into the junior Councilor, taking in every little detail as he tried to discern what the younger Were was playing at. Before being sent to Hungary two years ago, Guillame had fairly worn his heart on his sleeve. However, since his return barely a month ago he was a complete cipher, as if his emotions had vanished. Was it possible that he knew something that Rudolf did not? No, that was not possible... but if it was true...
Rudolf began to worry.
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It took nearly two hours for Wilhelm to lay the Order's accumulated findings before the assembled Weres. He was calm, almost emotionless as he methodically reviewed each charge and piece of evidence. He started with the minor crimes, working his way up through financial misconduct, involvement with human criminal enterprises, abuse of power, and finally the enslavement of Were females. The fury of the assembled alphas increased palpably, and it was a testament to their self-control that none of them shifted and attacked the Council members outright.
"<These are the findings of our investigation,>" Wilhelm concluded at last, closing the last of the folios he had brought and setting it neatly on the pile before stepping back from the table. The pile was only about a foot tall—rather small to document such crimes, everyone thought.
Behind his ice-blue eyes, Willi was keeping himself under the most rigid of control. Every fiber of his being urged him to slay Rudolf as quickly and messily as possible. However, this was not possible, even now that the little
Hund
was damned in the eyes of his peers. Treaty obligations and Order principles both dictated that the Werewolves must be allowed to manage their own affairs.
Inside that same body, Zsálya's human-self was fighting hard to keep her wolf-self under control. Though the human was equally upset, she took her example from her beloved and stayed as calm as she could. The wolf could not understand the reasons to stay quiet, though, and it was only Zsálya's human-self that held her back from trying to tear Rudolf apart. Not only would that create a conflict between Zsálya's soul and Willi's (which would probably destroy them both), but the wolf would also disrupt Willi's self-control. That control was strong but brittle, Zsálya knew, and she used what concentration was not taken up by her wolf to send Willi feelings of calm and peace. She hoped it helped.
All three were looking intently through Willi's eyes and listening with his ears, waiting to see how Rudolf would try to wriggle out of this.
The room was deathly quiet for long moments as Rudolf turned his gaze on each of the other Councilors in turn. He just looked at each of them for a moment, his face locked in a thoroughly blank expression. "<How can you possibly excuse these crimes?>" Rudolf asked at last, his tone full of disappointment and controlled anger. He was speaking to the other Councilors, pretending that Wilhelm's revelations were news to him!
Every mouth in the room fell open at Rudolf's audacity as he began to remonstrate the Council for committing "<these shameful, dishonorable actions.>" Before he built up to the point of shouting, though, he was cut off by one of the alphas.
"
Discúlpeme, Señor
Metzger, <but do you expect us to believe that these crimes were committed without your knowledge?>"
"<Whether or not I expect it,
