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ask why.
    â€œViradechtis isn’t big enough,” Grimolfr said, as if that should be the end of it.
    â€œWe’re bonded,” Isolfr argued. “I’m part of the werthreat.”
    â€œAnd that is why you will be taking on some of Hrolleif’s duties when he and Vigdis go out in two weeks’ time.”
    Isolfr felt his jaw sag.
    â€œIsolfr,” Grimolfr said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Your little girl has more promise than I’ve seen in a pup any time these past ten years. Vigdis throws good wolves, and good bitches, but this time I think she’s thrown better than good. She’s thrown true . You and Viradechtis will have to patrol, of course, and show your strength, and learn the pack. But later, when we have a better idea of what awaits. We can’t risk her without intelligence.”
    â€œYou think she’s …”
    â€œShe’ll be konigenwolf of her own pack in another few years,” Grimolfr said. “I didn’t mean to tell you yet. But you aren’t the sort to get a swelled head, and Hrolleif says he’s been talking to you about what you’re going to face as her brother.”
    â€œA little, but he didn’t say anything about …”
    â€œDon’t worry about it now,” Grimolfr said, without his
usual gruffness. “She’s young, you’re young. She won’t even come into her first heat for another year, most likely.” He turned away, for the wolfjarl was a man whose duties rarely allowed him to rest, adding over his shoulder, “And talk to Hrolleif.”
    Isolfr didn’t think he would be able to keep from worrying, but talk to Hrolleif he could and did.
    â€œGrimolfr said … her own pack?”
    â€œWe need to establish new wolfheallan,” Hrolleif said. They were taking inventory in the armory. “And it’s not every bitch who can be a konigenwolf. Asny, for instance. She’s a fine wolf and bids to be a fine mother to her pups, but she’ll never be able to stand up to her mother. And Ingrun and Kolgrimna wouldn’t be here if they could be konigenwolves themselves.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œYou will,” Hrolleif said dryly. “Isolfr, who rules the wolfheall?”
    â€œGrimolfr,” Isolfr said reflexively. “The wolfjarl.”
    â€œMeaning Skald is the leader of this pack?”
    â€œNo,” Isolfr said, and then his mind caught up with his mouth. He said slowly, “Vigdis rules the pack.”
    â€œYes. She is konigenwolf.”
    â€œBut you …”
    â€œI am Vigdis’ brother,” Hrolleif said simply. “As Grimolfr stands to the men of the wolfheall, the wolfjarl, so I stand to the wolves, the wolfsprechend. Or, rather, so Vigdis stands, and I stand at her side as Skald stands at Grimolfr’s. It is a weaving, like a net, do you see?”
    â€œI … yes, I think so.”
    â€œIt will become clearer to you as Viradechtis becomes older. She’s still a pup, and pups are granted a good deal of license. I’ve seen you watching the men in the roundhall, and someday you will tell me what you have observed. But for a while, try watching the wolves.”
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    T ry watching the wolves. A simple command, and one that Isolfr intended to follow, but time to do it was suddenly in very short supply. He spent his waking hours glued to Hrolleif’s side, soaking up the knowledge of everything the wolfsprechend did in a day’s span and trying to understand how he did it. It wasn’t the everyday tasks of household management—those fell to Ulfgeirr and Jorveig, the housecarl and the mistress of the kitchens—and it wasn’t the choice of where they would patrol and fight and when they would claim tithe, because Grimolfr—with the counsel of the werthreat and the consent of the wolfthreat—made those decisions.
    What Vigdis did was keep order among