Alejandro grudgingly tilted his head. “Sí, sí, te entiendo.”
“Well, Sheriff Pearson says they think there are at least forty black dogs outside Lewis right now. Forty!”
“Grayson was really angry with Pearson,” Natividad put in. “And Harrison said don’t call on Dimilioc. But forty black dogs, that’s too many. Grayson can’t just stay back and let them kill all those people, only I don’t know how long my mandala will hold because, I tried to tell you, it came out a little strange.”
“Doesn’t matter how it came out,” said Miguel. “Not during the full moon. Not if there are forty black dogs trying to take it apart – and Vonhausel.”
Alejandro scowled. His brother was right. But he doubted Vonhausel really could have recruited so many black dogs. He said so, adding “Especialmente cuendo su primero ataque pue un fracas. Black dogs follow a leader who wins.”
“Perhaps they still expect Vonhausel to win,” Keziah suggested behind him. Alejandro didn’t whirl around because he wouldn’t let her see she had surprised him. But she had. He hadn’t heard her approach at all, but she was poised, long and elegant and negligently scornful, in the doorway of Natividad’s room. He was furious that she had come up so quietly and he had not heard her. She knew it, too. She smiled. “Or perhaps this enemy of yours has made a lot of little moon-called wolves,” she said smoothly. “Those townspeople, perhaps they do not know the difference between those little crazy moon-wolves and black dogs.”
“That’s a really good suggestion,” Miguel said warmly. “That could be exactly right, and if that’s all Vonhausel’s got, Lewis isn’t in a lot of danger, which would be great.”
Keziah glanced his way, her lip curling contemptuously. Alejandro didn’t know whether he should laugh at his brother or snarl at Keziah, but before he could do either, Amira slid past her, met Natividad’s eyes, looked away – a black dog looking away from a Pure girl, she was a nervous creature – but then crept forward when Natividad held out a hand in invitation. She ducked her head submissively, afraid of Alejandro. Keziah straightened and glared at him, not submissive at all. The light from the window caught in the crystals of her earrings, scattering into pinpoints of refracted light, brilliant against the density of her shadow. But she stayed exactly where she was, in the doorway, not moving to follow her sister.
Alejandro, pretending not to notice Keziah’s aggressive stance, backed away from Natividad to let Amira come to her. Natividad gave him a warm smile, transferred the smile to Amira, and put her arm around the little girl’s thin shoulders when Amira came the rest of the way in a rush and tucked herself against Natividad’s side. Alejandro did not quite look at the child, in case Keziah saw his too-close attention as a threat to her sister. Keziah was not quite looking that way either, he saw – and no doubt for exactly the same reason.
Keziah said to Natividad, “All the time Amira asks, can she go visit the Pure girl? And I say no, she is not to have people visit her, she is being punished. But I think now you don’t care about that.”
“Well…” Natividad began.
Keziah glanced at Alejandro. She leaned against the doorframe, ostentatiously relaxed. “You said no one would hurt Amira. Because of your Pure sister. I thought, well, good, maybe it is even true. But now I think I will like your sister – because of mine.”
Alejandro gave her a short nod. “I almost think I might like you – because of my sister.”
Keziah smiled scornfully. “I will enjoy fighting you, Toland. Later. Now, of course, there are other black dogs to fight. It would be good if your enemy owns little moon-bound wolves and not so many true black dogs.”
Miguel said rapidly, with that air of meek stubbornness that meant he wasn’t going to back down to anybody, “I think we ought to plan for the worst case. If Vonhausel’s really got a lot of black dogs, Grayson’s going to have only two choices: either he’s going to have to go fight Vonhausel and his black dogs there in Lewis or he’s going to have to let them take Lewis apart and kill everybody there, and he can’t do that because it’d be wrong, but even more so because if Vonhausel gets a clear, obvious victory, he’ll get more dominant out there…” Miguel waved a hand, meaning out in the world, and continued rapidly, “and more powerful, which is obviously exactly what he has in mind, isn’t that right?”
“A moderately plausible analysis,” Keziah allowed. She was not quite laughing, but there was a savage humor in her eyes. “Obviously we cannot permit that.”