Watch Wolf

free runner. I represent no one except myself.” Edme looked down at her front paws. She could not bear to meet the Fengo’s eyes.
    “Look at me, Edme,” he said sharply. And when she finally looked up, she did not see anger on Finbar’s face, only sadness. “It was the MacHeaths who did this to you?”
    “It was Dunbar,” Edme answered.
    The Fengo sighed deeply before speaking. “There have been rumors of this in the past. Now you have confirmed our worst suspicions. These MacHeaths are not true clan wolves. They deserve no place in the Beyond. As Fengo of the Watch, I invoke the privilege accorded only to myself as chieftain of the Supreme
Raghnaid
to call together a Court of
Crait.”
    There was a gasp from the wolves. Never in living memory had such a court been called. If the MacHeaths were judged
crait,
the entire clan would be cast out of the Beyond. From that moment, they would be outclanners.
    It felt as if all the air had suddenly been sucked out of the den. Edme staggered slightly, then dropped her tail, tucked it flat between her legs, and began to turn away.
    “Where are you going?” the Fengo asked. But she hardly heard him. “Edme, halt! I asked, where are you going?”
    She stopped and turned. An immense tear began to shimmer in her single eye. “The clan I came from is to be judged. I’m not welcome here.”
    “What absolute nonsense, my dear,” the Fengo said.
    Then another wolf stepped forward. She was a red wolf also missing one eye. Edme had seen her at the
gaddergnaw
and then again as they entered the Fengo’s den.
    “Pardon me, honorable Fengo.”
    “Yes, Banja. You have something to say?”
    “I only want to suggest that we not be hasty in our decisions. By her own confession, Edme is a
malcadh
made. So perhaps it is not quite appropriate that … that …”
    “That what?” The Fengo’s voice had taken on a frightening edge.
    “That she serve in the same capacity as the rest of us. Perhaps it would be advisable that she continue in her gnaw wolf status for a while, at least.”
    The Fengo stalked forward on stiff legs, his tail high,his teeth bared. “Banja, you have become as prickly as a burr. There is no purpose to be served in this youngster continuing as a gnaw wolf. She must train to become a wolf of the Watch. Do I have to invoke the privilege of the Sayer to discipline a Watch wolf? I have never used it before — please do not tempt me now!”
    Faolan and Edme watched as Banja seemed to shrink in her own pelt. She backed away, her single eye that only a second before glittered now seemed dull as a dry stone.
    The Fengo turned his back to Banja, who was slinking into the shadows at the rear of the
gadderheal.
“Edme, you are not
crait.
You did not do this to yourself. It was the clan, led by its chieftain, that did this to you. By calling them for a Court of
Crait,
we ensure that they will never again maim a wolf to make a
malcadh.
If they are found guilty, they will have no say in any councils held in the
gadderheals
of the Beyond. Let them destroy themselves. But you, Edme, represent no one except yourself. You have an amazing ability to carve bones. You performed beyond expectation in the
byrrgis
at the
gaddergnaw
when you plunged in for the kill rush.” He glanced briefly at Faolan, who cringed at the memory of his lapse of attention at that crucial moment.
    Edme,
he thought,
deserves to serve in the Watch more than I. She made no mistakes during the entire competition.
Faolan had simply excelled in carving, which seemed to have made up for his errors on the
byrrgis.
    “So I say to you, Edme, you are a true Watch wolf despite the deceit of the MacHeath clan. You are a loyal wolf despite their faithless desecration of our most sacred laws. You shall serve with honor and dignity despite having been raised in a clan marked by dishonor and disgrace. We welcome you as a free runner.” Edme felt her marrow trembling. The huge tear that had welled in her eye now ran down her face.
    The Fengo paused and looked at Faolan. “We welcome you as a free runner, Edme, and you, Faolan, as the best of your clan. Now Twist and Winks will lead you to your den. At the first phase of the newing, your training will begin.”
    “Newing?” Edme whispered as they followed Twist and Winks. “What’s that?”
    “It’s an owl word for the new moon. They call it
dwenking
when it begins to fade,” Faolan replied.
    “Where did you learn so much Hoolian?” Edme