Wolf Boy, Chapter 5, Part II

Will

Francesca said, “Will has given me information about Panfilo.”

Will, Asyrwllr, was Francesca’s Cubus.

“Will?” Lider said sharply. “What does Will have to do with Panfilo?”

“When we were on the station—Will came with me because of you, Lider—”

“I know that.”

“—to check on your situation, to sanction your presence on the station. And to oversee my research into a Mars’ saint. While he was there, he spotted Panfilo.”

“Panfilo wasn’t living on the station then. He was still living on Mars with Greg Aland.”

Rhys said, “His foster father works with Quin on occasion. Will might have seen the boy at the trading post. Did Will spot that Panfilo was an Anthros? His parents—the Alands—covered up the most obvious indicators. Panfilo didn’t manifest clear Anthros behavior until his teens.”

Francesca sighed. She made an abrupt dismissive gesture to her side, took a breath, and stared straight at the screen.

“Will thought he recognized Panfilo.”

“From Earth?” Lider’s tone was sharper now. “Did he see the abandoned boy there? And did nothing?”

“Not exactly. Will wants me to emphasize that all we have here is speculation.”

“Cubi Master fucking reticence can take a break,” Lider snarled and abruptly hunched his shoulders.

Rhys moved to stand beside him and gave the screen his pleasant, closed-mouthed smile. Will, he knew, was fully capable of pointing out that Lider’s short temper possibly came from sources other than Cubi reticence. But Lider wasn’t on trial here.

Will either kept his amused comments to himself or Francesca didn’t repeat them.

She said, “Panfilo reminded Will of his past. His distant past when he encountered a saint named Bettelin.”

“Bettelin? He’s an English saint,” Lider said, bewildered while Rhys was processing the information that Will, a Cubus Master, had been handling Cubi-human interactions for nearly a thousand years.

“Will says Bettelin was accompanied by a child, his son according to Bettelin. A wolf boy.”

Francesca paused, then frowned. She shook her head. Nobody spoke.

Lider said finally, “Anthros arrived on Earth two hundred years ago.”

“Stories of werewolves are older,” Rhys added.

“But that’s the implication, isn’t it?” Lider said. “That Panfilo is a descendant of an Anthros from medieval times?”

“Or the clone of one,” Rhys murmured.

“Or that Panfilo is an Anthros with a human ancestor,” Francesca said.

Three heresies for the price of one. But all entirely speculative unless—

Lider snapped, “And Will didn’t share this information earlier because it was too sensitive?”

“Will wants me to remind you that Cubi knowledge is not absolute knowledge. He noted the resemblance, including Panfilo’s special characteristics. The unusually long tail. The crown of gold along his hair line. The rings of purple and gold around his tail. His lavender eyes. He noted them. Aberrations. He reported—”

“To bureaucrats,” Lider said. “To Cubi holier-than-thou Masters who reduce real suffering to abstractions.”

Rhys could swear Francesca was gripping the table beneath the screen—not in fear. Francesca didn’t seem to fear anything. To stop herself making a rude gesture at Lider or at Will.

She said in measured tones, “Will wants to remind you that theological contemplations hardly lend themselves to concrete actions.”

“I do the pondering. Rhys acts.” Lider was practically spitting, and Rhys had to press a closed hand to his thigh to stop himself from trying to clasp and massage the back of Lider’s neck.

Rhys said, “Are you acting on behalf of the Cubi Council, Francesca, or on your own?”

“I thought it necessary that you have the information. Especially now. Will concurs.”

Rhys allowed himself a grin and wished he could nudge Lider. Will might be a Cubi Master. Francesca was a force of nature.

Lider said, “Do you have official Cubi authorization to tell us?”

“Yes. The assassination attempt is causing a number of ripples here, especially since Queen Artia sent her invitation to Panfilo.”

Queen Artia was an Anthros leader. The request was transmitted electronically to the station but Massey in station control printed out the attachment and applied official seals. The station ambassador attached to the General Diplomatic Corps would usually have done so, but he was currently on Earth. 

Queen Artia of Confederated kin groups in Reforested Greenland requests the presence of Panfilo of the Alands and the Tates within the protection of Raine and Ruella, also of the Confederation, to honor us with his physical presence at her court within two lunar years.

The transmission was leaked to the forums the same day.

Francesca said, “Cubi mainly focus on human politics. But Anthros’s politics—Anthros’s beliefs—concern them. Cubi leaders have delivered a statement in favor of Queen Artia’s actions.”

Rhys said, “Does Panfilo need Queen Artia’s protection?”

Lider broke in: “The truth, Will.”

Francesca said, “Honestly, Lider, we don’t know. But issues about Anthros’s place on Earth may be coming to a head, for our generation anyway.”