{"sf1_id":777421,"sf2_id":null,"title":"A Biz-tsar Gathering","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2828,"posted_at":"2014-11-03T00:45:00.000Z","tags":["FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Transformation","Werewolf","back story","russia"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/777421-a-biz-tsar-gathering","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/777421","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=777421\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#64 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"               Maggie tried to stop him, but the woman demurred. \"Let him\ngo.\" She called to one of the other wolves, who approached and transformed into\nfull were form. \"Yes leader?\"\n                \"Mortalia,\nyou're in your breeding cycle aren't you?\"\n                \"Yes!\"\n                \"Would\nyou care to take this; uhm, man as your mate?\"\n                Edward\nwas sniffing the air and salivating. She sighed and replied, \"If you direct me to\ndo so, so shall it be.\"\n                \"Oh no.\nYou will have to consent to lying with this one. If you do, I will ensure that\nsurvive the process.\"\n                She\nlooked him up and down and licked her lips. \"I will do it leader.\"\n                The old\nwoman picked up Edward's ring and slipped it on the newcomer's finger. \"This\nwill protect you from permanent damage, though not the pain.\"\n                Mortalia\nbit Edward and looking over her shoulder, loped off into the woods. He was\nafter her like a bolt of lightning.\n                \"I'm\nsorry if you disapprove young lady, but he needs to be kept under wraps, and\nthe easiest way I could think of to handle him was to give him what he wanted.\nNow we shall have several days of peace while we bring each other up to speed.\"\n                \"Oh I'm\nnot mad. He went a little crazy on me on the trip here. I'm not ready for what\nhe has to offer in that form.\"\n                \"Yes,\nhe is rather extraordinary. I'll need to know everything about him before I can\ndetermine how to help his problem. We simply cannot have a mindless beast\nraging through the land, even in such a remote location as this.\" She turned\ntowards the woods. \"Follow me please.\"\n                Once\nthey got to where they were going, the old woman pulled aside an overhang of vines\nthat covered a hollow in the stone face. It wasn't much of a shelter, but it\nwas all the geology of the region could provide. That is, until the woman\npushed on the back wall and it rotated in place, showing a much deeper fissure\nbeyond.\n                \"I have\nhad need to hide myself for a long time. Even now, when the world has been\nassured that I am dead, there seems to be one who still seeks my destruction. I\nhave only gone into the great city a few times over the span of my life and\neach time I feel that there are eyes upon me.\"\n                Maggie\nagreed. \"We came here under the protection of the Vatican and we still were\nvery nearly killed. The priest at St Catherine's was little help to me, but it\nwas he who had the box.\"\n                They\nwere walking down into the darkness. After a little was the dark gave way to a\ndim light. It was provided by heavy glass imbedded in the cavern ceiling.\nApparently this whole cave had been modified into a secret chamber. \n                Inside\nwere chairs and tables, cabinets and other pieces of very old furniture. It was\nall ornate, but much worn. In some instances pieces had obviously been repaired\nor reupholstered in new material. The woman pointed to a chair and Maggie sat,\nwaiting expectantly for some answers.\n                \"Who\nshould go first?\" the woman asked with restrained excitement.\n                \"How\nabout you? I think you need to explain a few things so that maybe I can tell\nour story in a better context.\"\n                \"As you\nwish. First, allow me to tell you about my family, as I remember them. Father\nwas a kind and doting man. He loved us all very much. But he was very\npossessive of little Alyosha.\"\n                \"Who?\"\n                \"Sorry.\nAlexei, our little brother. Father had all girls except for him, and he was\nborn very ill.\"\n                \"Yes I\nknow the story. They say he had hemophilia.\"\n                \"Bah!\nThat was from the doctors. They had no idea what they were trying to treat.\"\n                \"So he\nhad complications from his werewolf genes?\"\n                \"So it\nseemed. Of course, the curse was never spoken of in the household, for no one\nelse had it. I mean to say, no one had it manifest itself in any form. Father\nfound someone who claimed he could help with Alexei's problem. I suppose you\nalready know about him,\"\n                \"Yes,\nGrigori Rasputin.\"\n                \"The\nvery one. After he came, little Alexei recovered.\"\n                \"How?\"\n                The old\nwoman smiled. \"How else my dear. He bit him and allowed the transformation to\ntake hold of him.\"\n                \"How\ndid that go over?\"\n                \"Not so\nwell. Mother and father were thrilled, since there had been no such\nmanifestation in the royal lines for a while. Mother's grandmother had it, but\nshe never ever let on about it to her subjects. People just weren't accepting of\nthe aberration as they used to be.\"\n                \"I take\nit word got out?\"\n                \"Yes.\nMany people had hoped that Alexei would die, bringing down the reign of the\ntsar. If there were no male heirs, then maybe a new ruling family would\ntakeover. With Rasputin saving his life, many people grew angry. They even\ntried to kill him.\"\n                \"I know\nthat story as well.\"\n                \"But\ndid you know he survived?\"\n                \"I\nrecently came to that conclusion.\" Maggie was leaning forward, hanging on every\nword.\n                \"They\ntried to kill him, and they very nearly succeeded. You see, my family had two\nof the rings. I have one, and the other is apparently missing. Father brought\nhim back from the apparent grave and had him hidden away, substituting the body\nof another who looked very like him. Few knew him personally since he wasn't\nfrom the city, and after a body had floated in the river, it got distorted. It\nwasn't too hard to convince people he was dead.\"\n                \"So he\ndid survive. After all they did to him...\"\n                \"Yes,\nand after the revolutionaries captured and held us, he came to us secretly.\"\n                \"I get\nit. He bit you, didn't he?\"\n                \"Yes,\nand I guess he did the same to Anna, though I never knew it.\"\n                \"Which,\nin the long run, meant that you two were able to survive being shot with\nregular bullets! Your dress!\"\n                \"Yes,\nmy dress.\" She looked down ruefully at the tattered material. \"I guess I've\nworn it for the last time. I have saved it for all of these years. As for you,\ndon't you think some clothing is in order?\"\n                \"Nah.  I don't mind; unless it bothers you?\"\n                \"It\ndoesn't. Now where was I? Oh yes. We were shot and buried in the middle of\nnowhere, but Gregori found me, dug me out and carried me to a farmhouse. I can\nonly guess he did the same for Anna, only to another location. It seems cruel,\nbut I guess he was hoping that at least one of us would survive.\"\n                \"What\nof your little brother?\" \n                \"I\ndon't know. I never ever heard word about him or Anna; about any of the family\nuntil a few decades ago. The government claims to have found the remains of\neveryone, but since I am still alive, and you say Anna is still alive, then\nwhose bodies did they find?\"\n                \"A good\nquestion, but then governments can lie to cover up the truth, or the facts, or\ntheir own ineptness.\"\n                \"Well\nspoken. So I have lived out in the wilds to survive being hunted down and\ndestroyed this whole time.\"\n                \"But\nwho was trying to kill you? And us for that matter?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know. For the first few decades I stayed away from the cities. Communism\ndid nothing to help my country. It only made everyone paranoid. A stranger was\nlooked upon with suspicion. I began looking for others like me, though I knew\nthe trait wasn't likely to extend too far into the population. The ability to\nchange came mostly through royal bloodlines. But Gregori had it, so there was\nhope a few others might also carry it. I suppose there was a good side to\nhaving bastard children.\"\n                \"So\nwhen did you know someone was trying to kill you?\"\n                \"I'm not\ncertain. You see, I was attacked often, mostly by piggish men intent on rape.\nThey all ended up dead. I suppose I left a trail of destruction behind for\nsomeone to follow.\"\n                \"But at\nsome point you must have known?\"\n                \"Yes.\nYou see, Gregori had managed to steal this ring, and maybe the other one, I\ndon't know. With it on, I was able to change from one form to another much\neasier, and with practice, I could even make my human appearance change. It was\nthe day I was struck with a silver bullet that I knew that someone with superior\nknowledge was hunting me down. No one wasted silver on ammunition unless they\nwere trying to kill one of us.\"\n                \"Yes,\nthose men at the bar had silver bullets. Who do you think they worked for?\"\n                \"I wish\nI knew, for then it would make tracking that someone down and killing them a\nlot easier.\"\n                \"So\nyou've been living out here for nearly a century?\"\n                \"Not\njust here. There are other spots that I have strung across the landscape. If I\nstay in one spot for too long I risk being found. When you and your fiends\narrived, I thought you were here to kill me.\"\n                \"As you\nnow know, that's not the case. But what of the other one who was with us? The\none called Kolzac. He said you didn't like him. Why?\"\n                \"I see\nhe's been changed,\" she said with a frown. \"I have nothing against him\npersonally, but he has no pedigree. I am trying to build a community of fairly\npure blood here.\"\n                \"That\nseems rather highbrow.\"\n                The\nwoman smiled. \"Well, I am from nobility my dear, as are you. The line has\ngotten diluted in the past one hundred years, and as the royal lines fail, so will\nthe kind.\"\n                \"I\nwould think you'd want everyone who had the blood in them to join together.\nJust because he doesn't meet your standards doesn't make him bad.\"\n                \"No, I\nsuppose it doesn't. But he was not of the proper type.\"\n                \"But\nnow he is. So give him a chance. Everyone deserves a chance.\"\n                \"I will\nbow to your compassion, though such kindness often backfires. So; now that you\nhave found me, what will you do?\"\n                Maggie\nsighed. \"I don't know. I came here to find out about my past, not find living\nrelatives. I had hoped to find some little trinket or clue, maybe some document\nor paper. I can hardly take you back with me, and father is a mess. If I tried\ngetting him on a plane in his present condition he'd probably go nuts and trash\nit in midair.\"\n                \"You\ncould stay here.\"\n                Maggie\nsmiled. \"I appreciate the offer, but it seems to me that I need to get back\nhome and see if I can find my grandmother.\"\n                The old\nwoman made a face. \"I thought you said she was alive.\"\n                \"Well, since\nmy mother died, I haven't seen or heard from her.\"\n                \"I think\nyou need to tell me your story dear. It's only fair. Maybe I can give you some\npointers. If she has the brains I know she has, she probably had a reason to\nvanish. But she'll still be looking out for you.\"\n                So\nMaggie launched into her own story, and for next several hours the women\nexchanged stories. Maggie related of how her and Edward first met, and how he\nhad first transformed, and how his change had been hindered by the small dime.\"\n                \"He\ncarried silver in him and he never knew it. That's extraordinary!\"\n                \"Yes.\nAnd another man, he had silver in him too. So it seems there's some flexibility\nin our ability to deal with it. It might account for why father hasn't died\nfrom the bullet.\"\n                \"I\ndon't know dear. There seems to be some agent acting here than we can fathom. Logically\na silver bullet directly into the brain should have killed him outright. Yet it\ndidn't. The ring would have had to have been on his finger at that exact\nmoment. So the only way I can think of for him to have been saved was if he had\non a second ring.\"\n                Maggie\nheld up her hand. \"We have two with us. The master has one and I left another\nwith the twins.\" They had already discussed all of what had happened in France.\n                \"It\nmakes no sense to me. So let's look at it logically. He is alive, but his mind\nis gone. So the bullet did do some damage to his brain. But he's alive, so it\ndidn't manage to kill him. And if the bullet is still in there, and he's not\nwearing a ring, what does that tell us?\"\n                Maggie\nconsidered the possibilities. \"Either that his body is fighting the silver and\nthat's why his mind is gone or...\"\n                \"Or\nwhat dear?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know. I'm telling you the truth. He had just slipped his ring on my\nfinger when the bullets flew. I wasn't wearing mine and I guess I was getting a\nlittle drunk.\" She started to cry.\n                \"It\ndoesn't matter. He didn't have a ring, and yet he survived. That is a trick of\nfate that I would love to be able to count on in a time on need.\"\n                Maggie\nwas thinking. \"All we have to do is touch the ring; right?\"\n                \"Yes\ndear. You wear it on your finger and it protects you.\"\n                Maggie\ngrinned. \"No, it just has to touch you. I had mine stuffed up my...\" She looked\nembarrassed as she pointed to her crotch. \"I kept it hidden and out of sight,\nand it still worked.\"\n                \"Are\nyou suggesting that he has another ring stuffed inside him?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know. It would make a certain amount of sense. Are all the rings\naccounted for?\"\n                \"Of\ncourse not! There's your two, this master you speak of, the twins you mention\nand, well that's it.\"\n                \"It may\nnot be that simple.\" Maggie got thinking about the boxes. \"I guess there is one\nbox at least that can't be opened, and you mentioned that your family had two.\"\n                \"We had\ntwo rings and one box. Father had a different box made for the other ring. But\nI digress. I'm just suggesting a logical solution to the problem. Maybe\nLeonardo did something he didn't mention.\"\n                It was\nsomething to think about. \"You could be onto something.  Can you explain then where the extra ring\nwould have come from?\"\n                \"I\ncould offer several explanations, but I will let you think on it. In the end\nit's not my concern; that is to say, if I can get you on your way again.\"\n                \"Let's\nhope so. But won't you consider coming with us? I haven't seen my grandmother\nin a while, but if we find her, I know she'll wish you were with us.\"\n                \"We'll\nsee child. I don't know how I would react in the world of humans anymore. Out\nhere I can do as I please without the worry of what anyone thinks. In society,\nyou always have to meet a certain approval of the masses.\"\n                \"Like\nyou're not guilty of that even out here. I say you should damn the torpedoes\nand go for the gusto.\"\n                The woman\ngave her a dirty look. Then she grinned. \"Maybe you're right. I have been\nrunning for years, and I'm not getting any younger. The question is, can you\nget me out of the country?\"\n                \"I'm\nnot certain I can get myself out at the moment, but that'll never stop me from\ntrying.\"\n                \"You\nhave spunk girl. I'll tell you what. If we can manage to get your friend, or\nfather, or whatever he is to you; if we can get him restored then I will come\nwith you. I long to see home again, and it's about time I handed the reigns\nover to one of my progeny.\"\n                \"It's\nsettled then. We need to get that bullet out of his head. Any ideas?\"\n                \"Only\none, and you won't like it.\"\n                The woman\nexplained it. Maggie only frowned. \"I think I'd rather leave him here than to\ntry that. I think that would be more likely to kill him than the bullet would.\""}