Free Shieldwolf Dawning by Selena Nemorin Page A

Wouldn't you miss me?"
    "I don't want to join the Shieldwolves."
    "But you would have died if you had stayed on Gaia. Nobody took the warning signs seriously; either that or they just didn't care."
    "Nobody could prove when it would happen, Sammy. For all we know, Gaia could have kept going for billions of years."
    "Just because you can't prove it with an equation doesn't mean it might not happen. That's such a weird way of looking at things. You sound like a cybot."
    "Don't call me that!" he spat out. "Weird or not, the Sairfangs are dead because of your stupid decision to run away with a scary old woman. And I'm stuck in some kind of army."
    "Are you kidding me? Coming here has nothing to do with them dying!"
    "Really?" he said dryly.
    "But… but the Sairfangs experimented on your head! Why would you want to live with people who treat you like a lab rat, huh?"
    Cassian fell to brooding again.
    Samarra went on. "They were supposed to care for us both on Kairuhan and they didn't. They might have loved you like their own son, but they sure didn't act like it when it came to their research. I won't even go into how they treated me. Cass, if I made a mistake by bringing you here, I'm really sorry, but I had to take my chances on finding a better place for us to live. We're here now and we can't leave — it is what it is. Let's at least give it enough time to see what it's like. Things won't be as bad as you think." She poured herself a glass of milk and convinced herself that her brother would be all right. "You should hurry up and eat. We have to go soon and we haven't started packing."
    "I'm not going." Cassian was seething.
    "I don't think we have a choice."
    They ate in an uncomfortable silence until Merganser reappeared. Her face had gone pale. Her tall frame was unusually hunched. She made for the sink and rinsed the fruit she had just picked. Samarra went to help her, but Merganser shooed her away. "I will be escorting you both to Shieldwolf Proper in one hour," she said in clipped tones.
    "I'm not going." Cassian rested his head in his hands. "I'm not joining the Shieldwolves."
    "You will begin basic training tomorrow," she said calmly. "It is time for you to learn about your duty to Kairuhan."
    Cassian slammed his hands on the table: "Didn't you hear me?" Samarra moved to comfort him, but he pushed her away. "I didn't want to come here in the first place. This isn't fair."
    Merganser pointed at his heart. "Child, you were marked at birth." She held open the door to the living room and gestured for him to leave. "You are the key to Aletheia's Vision. In accordance with the Book of Living, you will enlist with the Shieldwolves, and you will lead a battlegroup one day. You are born of the Kairu and this is our tradition. It is not in your best interests to resist your fate. The Shieldwolves will take you regardless of what I say or do."
    'Well…" Cassian sputtered. "I hate your stupid tradition." He knocked his chair to the ground and barged out of the kitchen. "I shouldn't be forced into doing something I don't want to do!"
    Merganser picked up the chair and turned to Samarra. "Get your things and be ready in an hour. You will not be permitted to have your own mount for a while, so we must travel on foot."
    Samarra groaned. "Isn't Shieldwolf Proper far from here?" The weather was already heating up, and the air was turning humid and sticky. The prospect of undertaking a long journey on foot didn't sound appealing in the least.
    "Our journey will take us through to the evening, but it will give you the opportunity to know your new environment. We will make a quick stop at the Grand Bazaar, which is where you and your brother will be fitted for uniforms."
    "Uniforms?" Samarra chewed loudly on her third helping of bread.
    "In one day you will be living as a swain, a youth in service to the Shieldwolves. Your uniform designates membership with us."
    Samarra slouched in her chair and undid the top button of her