Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Diplomatic Rough Waters
Ravyn POV
Jude's stomach led them right into a diplomatic brawl!
After watching over Marieke and Melisande/Hades for a while, Jude's appetite became too loud to ignore. Ravyn felt his hunger, which fueled hers. They left Marieke and Melisande/Hades with new friends Lord (Alpha) and Lady (Luna) Blackthorn, as well as Morgana. Lord and Lady Blackthorn had experience dealing with the Dark Goddess, and Morgana felt responsible for Melisande/Hades. They all shooed Jude and Ravyn out of the Healing Wing.
Ravyn sensed and saw that Lady Blackthorn was pregnant with a shifter pup, and she gave the woman a stern lecture not to overdo. Lady Blackthorn's soft, loose pink dress couldn't hide her growing belly. Having nursed all the Cresta women through their pregnancies, Ravyn felt instantly protective of this woman, who only found out she was a shifter's mate a month ago. And to think she and her husband were Sinsworths!
Putting those thoughts aside, Ravyn sat down to a meal of roast boar, and smiled as Jude devoured half a plate in one sitting. "Odo, your instincts are noble. Your desire to open relations is exactly what the Dark Goddess doesn't want. She wants humans destroyed. For that matter, she wants shifters enslaved."
Giselberthe's eyes narrowed. "Charming."
"Welcome to our world," Jude said in-between bites of the savory, flavorful boar. "Are you sure you want to be part of it?"
"YES," Odo and Giselberthe chorused.
Ravyn felt a warm wave of affection. The couple had good hearts and open minds. "It wasn't easy when the elves first started talking to the humans. As I recall, many of the elves had seen too much human history, and they had the jaded view that humans liked fighting and killing, nothing more."
Odo's grunt told Ravyn that she'd made a point.
Jude added, "We shifters held that opinion for years. Granted, we needed to look in the mirror ourselves, with our packs feuding just because someone got their fur in a twist or someone crossed into another pack's territory without asking–a no-no among shifters."
Odo rested his chin in his hand, clearly eager to learn more. "But you formed a federation."
Jude pointed to Dane and Jiro. "Blame these two. They had the idea one night after the Nightclaw Howlers, a close neighbor, started something with the Crimsontails. And unfortunately, we started something with Evenhide over trade."
"Your terms WERE unreasonable," Dane grumbled.
Jude shrugged. "We needed the grain you Evenhiders were hoarding."
Dane made a rude sound. "We were NOT hoarding. We were stocking up because it was going to be a bad winter. But as it happened, we over-calculated how much grain we'd need."
Jiro added, "And Alpha Tyrell of the Nightclaw Howlers jumped to conclusions over increased sentries on his borders. He and I eventually managed to pull back and prevent a pack war."
Jude grinned wolfishly. "Dane and I worked out our, ah, frustration through a sparring match–but just think what would have happened if we didn't have a great relationship!"
"And now you're my father-in-law," Dane said with fondness.
Giselberthe stared in fascination, her food forgotten. "It seems like your three packs are the major players in your Shifter Federation–and now you're united by family ties."
"We are," Lilia said fondly. "Which can be fraught with complications–we were all wary when my mother and Jude realized they were fated mates. But since that's sacred to shifters, we all accepted it. The Moon Goddess chooses a shifter's mate."
Jude broke away from his eager eating and kissed Ravyn tenderly, giving her a taste of the delicious boar. They cleansed the juices from each other's lips before pulling apart.
"That sounds rather romantic," Odo said unexpectedly. "Soul mates."
Garnet smiled. "In Jiro's and my case, us being soul mates worked brilliantly, turning what might have been just a political alliance into a real love story. Warring clans united by true love, and all that."
"A bard couldn't invent anything better," Odo declared.
Giselberthe looked enchanted, too. So, your clans were at war?"
"Off and on, and then we existed in an uneasy peace," Jiro said. "Hades, through my brother-in-law Cyran, started a full-scale war when my brother found Lilia."
The lady herself grimaced. "Cyran was prompted to go after me by the Dark Goddess, who was using Hades as her puppet."
Odo's eyes darkened. "My people need to know about her!"
Clearing his throat, Jude said, "We agree–and so do our new friends Lord and Lady Blackthorn. However, as a partial shifter who has been living quietly among humans, Lord Blackthorn agrees that any human-shifter alliance must be handled with care."
Odo's eyes widened. "My mage, Lord Blackthorn?" He looked as stunned as everyone else.
Giselberthe was processing this revelation. "Does … does he approve of you sharing this?"
"Yes," Jude said. "Since he saw us being open with you on the island, he's fine with you knowing and will speak with you about it. Provided you and your inner circle keep his family's secret."
Giselberthe lifted her head proudly. "Of course we will."
Dane whistled. "A shifter living among humans? Now THERE'S a story."
"His ancestor ran off with a human a century ago. AND he's a Sinsworth," Ravyn declared. "So is his new mate, and their young son, and their baby-to-be."
Jiro and Garnet exclaimed loudly. It wasn't often that Jiro looked bowled over like this, and Ravyn could see Dane relishing his brother's reaction.
"Garnet," Jiro began. "Alpha Fremont stepped in because his brother–"
"Ran off with a human woman he met while hunting in the Battlecona Woods," Garnet said, breathless. "We never knew what happened to the former Alpha Talon Sinsworth."
Odo looked intrigued. "Talon is Lord Blackthorn's name, too. And HE mated with a human mage and seer. Actually, he mated with an ordinary human … political alliance. That ended badly. He was never as passionate about the former Lady Genevieve as he is about Lady Kelara. Could that be this soulmate business?"
"It's a good possibility," Jude said, looking relieved. Ravyn could feel the gratitude inside him. "Sometimes, we shifters have chosen political alliances over fated mates–it usually ends badly. Alliances may come and go, but family and fated mates are forever."
Odo sat quietly, deep in thought.
* * * * *
Jude POV
How foolish he'd been to reject shifter tradition! Thanks to the Goddess, he'd finally listened to wisdom and to his heart. And his fated mate had led them all to a much greater destiny–as well as hotly debating shifter-human relations at the royal dinner table in Aquitaine.
Ravyn said sensibly, "Odo, if one of your trusted people is telling you the same thing we are, doesn't it lend more weight to our advice?"
Pulling his hair absently, Odo thought aloud. "What you say makes sense. I know how hesitant Talon has been to engage with shifters. But I also know he yearns to reconnect with his heritage. And he and his wife have been battling the Dark Goddess for several months. Ever since they met, as a matter of fact. What does he suggest?"
Jude saw his chance. "He's in favor of letting your people know that the Dark Goddess stirred up trouble on Abandonnado Island. That she's been trying to pit people against each other. You can mention that she caused a civil war in the Wildefell Witch Circle–fortunately, Edna Chalice, Ravyn Rolfe Faolan, Lilia Rolfe Cresta, and Lady Anneliese Chalice Cresta wouldn't stand for it. This happened in reality. Melisande Bracknell, the Senior Healer, was an unwitting pawn of the fiend. She was the one that stirred the cauldron–but you don't want to mention her specifically."
Odo rubbed his chin. "Hmmm. If the witch community turned on each other, that gives me grounds to warn my people without mentioning the shifters."
Ravyn looked relieved. "I'd be happy to help you navigate this crisis in my role as a quiet bridge between the human world and the shifter world. And I'm sure our Jiro and Garnet would be happy to help you craft your address to your people."
Jude added, "Count me in."
"And us," Dane said.
With enthusiastic howls, Jiro and Garnet agreed.
Garnet looked at Lilia and Dane. "We may need the two of you to help guard Hades. I'm his blood, after all. The Dark Goddess might try to use me in her sinister schemes."
Jiro's turquoise eyes slitted. "Then I might arrange an 'accident.'"
Jude's blood ran cold. Remarks like that reminded him why Jiro was the most feared Alpha in the Shifter Federation.
Garnet growled, "I don't want to have to worry about you, either!"
"No 'accidents' in my palace," King Odo warned. "Besides, don't you need him to help you take down this demon?"
Grumbling, Jiro finished his dessert, a delicious cobbler. "I suppose."
Lilia thought deeply. "We can probably figure out a way to shield all the Sinsworths, including Lord and Lady Blackthorn, from Hades. Maybe they shouldn't be close to Hades for the time being, either."
Dane frowned. "That's a good point. He has shifter blood, and Sinsworth blood, and she's carrying his heir. We should protect them until we can come up with some way to shield the Sinsworths from Hades and the Dark Goddess. Lilia, you and I should go get them. Maybe Patch and Anneliese would stay and watch over Marieke and Hades."
"Then we all have our work cut out for us," Giselberthe said. "If we're all finished eating, let's go work on that address to our people."
Dane and Lilia stood up. "We'll go and look in on our patients," Lilia said, tugging at Dane's hand. "I can't wait to see what you all come up with."
Enthusiastically, the shifters and humans ran off. Jude held Ravyn's hand and felt profound excitement. The adventure wasn't over yet!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AmandaMadden
AmandaMadden Ravyn and Jude are the focus of this story, the two leads, and they're more experienced than Dane, Jiro, and Odo at leadership and statesmanship. It made sense that they would be the ones to step in and suggest a compromise.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone