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He Lives

“...still unconscious. Breathing consistent with-”

“When is he going to wake up?”

Voices, one familiar...the second one...familiar….

The first...human, yes. Unknown.

“He might never,” the human said coldly. “He lost a lot of blood, one of the chambers of his heart was hit by the blade along with his liver. We’ve managed to suture up both of those as best as we can but we only have so much to work with and if his heart doesn’t pump enough blood it won’t mean anything.”

My mouth was dry, like sand had been poured across my tongue. It felt like I was floating.

Every second or so I would feel a little tickle in my arm or leg. I tried to move my mouth to speak, to let them know I was alive, but it would not move.

“There are rumors that your guild can pump another’s blood into your patient’s veins.”

“We have the knowledge but not the means,” the human scoffed, how arrogant of him. “We have no way of testing his blood type and the donor’s.”

“Blood type?”

“It will take far too long to explain but we’re all born with different blood types and if incompatible ones are donated it could kill him.”

“But if there’s no chance of him waking...”

“I never said that, General, and at this point we’ve waited too long for a donation for it to be effective. It is all in God’s hands now.”

“I’m sorry for suggesting it,” Vito sighed. “Thank you, doctor.”

Like a candle being lit, I was suddenly gifted new feeling and sensation in my body.

Unfortunately for me, that feeling was pure pain. Every single hide and hair on my body was screaming in agony but me, I could not merely scream. My mouth would not open, I could not move.

“RNNNNNNNNNG!” I groaned with my throat.

“Holy shit,” Vito exclaimed.

My eyelid was torn open and after the sharp flash of light, I was greeted by an old, pasty human with a gray goatee peering down at my eye.

“He’s awake,” the human whispered. “Dictator, can you hear me?”

“Hn-hm,” I moaned.

“Marco,” I rolled my eye over to the right. Vito was sitting in a chair by my bedside, “you’ve been unconscious for a week. You were stabbed by an assassin, you almost died.”

The cheetah...the one I had promised a place in my army…

“Laurent got him to talk before we killed him. That deal you made with the hyenas, it resulted in his relatives back in the tribes getting slaughtered. He was seeking revenge.”

I opened my mouth slowly. Nothing came out except an exhalation of air.

“We brought you to a surgeon, a member of the Medicus Guild. If it weren’t for him-”

“If it weren’t for Prince Lycanlong telling you about me, you mean?” the human snorted.

Vito flashed the doctor a glare. I gritted my teeth as another wave of pain came, this time in my head.

“I told you not to mention that,” Vito growled.

“I practically raised the Prince when he was a cub before he petitioned for my emancipation! I will not hide his honorable actions.”

“Pain...” I finally uttered out.

“Drink this,” the doctor prodded me in the shoulder and I slowly turned my eye.

He was holding a saucer with a light brown liquid in it. The doctor brought it under my snout and I shakily stuck my tongue out.

The grassy taste was very familiar and the moment I lapped it up, the pain began to subside along with a sensation of weightlessness.

I knew what it was before the doctor could speak.

“It’s opium and distilled spirits, it will take the pain away.”

Once again, the collar of opium was around my neck. I still had a choice to not lock it in place but to do so would involve unbearable pain, the likes of which I could not survive.

So I surrendered to the domination of the poppy and continued to lap up the soothing drug.

The memories of my recovery were cloudy due to a mixture of the drugs and the pain. I was in a stone building, a hospital of some kind, in an Alphate city along the coast. I could smell the sea breeze wafting through the sole window of my room, though I could see nothing more than many homes of wood and stone.

Prince Lycanlong...that little rat...granted us special permission to rest here and said he would petition and take care of all the diplomatic details with his Uncle, Alpha Aokus. Tricky though he was, we never ran into any incidents with the wolves while resting, so he had least had some concept of honor.

Naturally, like most people who try to appear honorable, he used it as a bludgeon and sent me gifts of flowers and fruit throughout my recovery. He made sure to give a letter with his regards just so he could constantly remind me of his trickery. There were no ill words in them, but his sweet words hurt far more.

A horrifying thought occurred to me while I was resting. That Lycanlong wanted me to be alive and well, just as I wanted him to live long and rule the Alphate because I thought him a simpleton.

Perhaps he viewed me the same way.

Pain shot through my chest and I yowled. The doctor rushed in with a fresh saucer of opium tincture and Galip followed him in, setting by my bedside and pressing his nose into my shoulder, whining pitifully.

In happier times, Galip’s scent and submission would be comfort enough to ease my agony. However my pain was far too great and all I could smell was alcohol and the poppy.

Once the bowl was drained, the doctor left, leaving me alone with my favorite slave.

“Slave...Galip...” I groaned, clutching at my chest as the last remaining bits of pain were blanketed, “...if anything happens...”

“Don’t say that, Alpha,” Galip whined.

“Luce will take care of you. I told her to make sure you’re not abandoned.”

“Thank you, Alpha, but...” Galip buried his face in my shoulder once again, “...you can’t die. I need you, we need you!”

I reached out weakly and scratched Galip behind the ear.

“Just in case...” I coughed, “...I’ve made precautions.”

“You’re the greatest person in the world, Alpha,” Galip howled. “You are the world, nothing else matters!”

The world? My world was now just a guarded chamber in an enemy town, surrounded by the smell of my own urine and feces. I couldn’t even lift myself to use a chamberpot, the nurses had to attend to me, many of whom were wolves and I half-expected one of them to be carrying the blade that would finish me off.

None ever did. Perhaps it would have been more exciting to have another assassination attempt to anger up the blood or put an end to my misery.

Instead I had to wait an agonizing period of time, drifting in and out of consciousness. Galip attempted to cheer me up as best as he could, even trying to excite my cock, but in my current state of affairs nothing would arouse it.

I had allowed myself to become weak.

And there was nothing to do but wait it out.

There was a knock at the door and I bade Galip to open the door. Vito walked in, dressed in black silk robes with gold-trim.

“Turning into a wolf, Vito?” I chuckled.

“I thought it would make a good costume for the next party you host,” Vito slapped some dust off of his long sleeves.

“If I ever get out of this damned cell,” I grumbled.

“I know it’s not ideal but the Alpha has assured us of your safety.”

“I wouldn’t have done the same.”

Vito narrowed his eyes, “I’m aware, but the war is over and there is no point to stoke the embers.”

“Yet.”

“...Yet,” Vito corrected.

I sighed and rubbed Galip’s nose, it was wet and healthy, “You and my slave have been the only visitors.”

“Laurent has been very busy.”

“I don’t suppose Livio...”

“I doubt he will show up. He is retired.”

“But not even for his old commander’s sake?”

“Marco...”

“I know, I know...” I closed my eye. “What about Guy, though? Surely he’s free?”

Vito did not reply. I opened my eye and found Vito’s ears folded back, biting his lip.

“Marco, Guy is dead.”

“Dead!?” I exclaimed, nearly tearing my sutures as I sat up in bed. “How!?”

“He fell on his sword a few days ago.”

“How...how…?”

I never fully trusted Guy, not even after all the times he saved my life. I felt he was doing it more out of mental dependency rather than true loyalty, which made people unpredictable.

But hearing of his death…

“I suppose he was looking for a place to die,” Vito sighed and sat down on a chair across from my bed. “Probably hoped to die in battle but with the war over and his commander in critical condition...”

“Beaumont dismissed him once before.”

“And we all know how much he respected Beaumont, I always suspected...” Vito leaned his elbow on the windowsill and stuck his muzzle out, sniffing at the air. “Well, the only person who can tell us why is gone now.”

First Livio leaves me and now Guy…

I felt like a kit growing into a fox, leaving behind their childhood friends, never to meet them again.

Who would greet me kindly when I return to Vulpezzia?

And for how much longer would they?

Eventually, I was cleared to leave by the doctor after a lot of begging and cajoling. He agreed only on the terms that I rest lying down in a carriage whenever possible.

Of course, since he wasn’t joining us for the trip home, I didn’t really have to obey that order. Still, I did, for the most part. Only when we passed by or through a city did I mount my horse and put on a brave face for all foxes cheering for my glory. I looked like an invincible avatar of foxen domination.

In realty I was in intense pain and drugged up on opium. I don’t even know how I managed to sit up straight on my horse during the parades.

I composed a letter for the time when we reached the Alphate border and instructed a wolven courier to take it to Lycanlong with my regards. The brat had been truly insufferable when I was on the mend but his letters were some of the only entertainment I had. I was waiting, just waiting for the cub to say something truly offensive that could provoke an insult from me but his manners were impeccable and I was forced to be as polite as I could in return. Had I unleashed my anger on him, I knew he would frame my letter on the wall and show others what a fool I was.

As a result, despite my utter hatred for the cub, if you had been an outside observer reading our letters you might come under the impression we were good friends. Rest assured, that is not the case.

My sexual appetites began to return when we were nearing Pest and just in time to run into Salvia, who had made quite a fortune off of my war. So grateful, was she, that she rented out a harem of she-wolf slaves for the evening, who tended to my every need before collapsing in a pile beside me in the carriage.

I was almost tempted to let Galip have his way with them and perhaps would have if he asked, but he was too shy or disinterested to ask.

After Pest, I started riding more often. The pain was still there but more manageable, especially after I began increasing my opium dosage, in lieu of an available physician. I felt ten years younger and the sutures were finally good enough to be removed from my chest fully.

The area was ugly and covered in dried blood, but it was finally healing well.

Still, as we approached Italia, I received word that there would be a Triumphal Parade, though it would not be held on horseback through the city streets via a train of boats through the canals. This was arranged by Luce for both security reasons and out of consideration for my injuries.

While I was not exactly eager to forgo tradition, for there is no finer symbol of rule than atop a horse, it was a fine compromise.

Instead of a typical ferry greeting me at the coast, a pleasure boat was moored at the docks. All ferries were paid off and no one could enter or leave the city for the evening of my arrival.

Dismounting my horse, I stepped up the gangplank leading to the deck of the boat. It seemed almost too large for the canals but I trusted in the crew.

A platform was raised on the stern of the boat with a tall-backed wooden chair with fox-heads capped with gold on the end of the arms. I sat upon it, noticing how it made me feel taller despite being below the streets of the city, and let Galip kneel on the deck next to me.

Crew members dressed in immaculate white cotton uniforms, clearly specially prepared just for this day, began hauling treasures from the war and placing them on the platform next to me.

“Where’s Vito?” I asked one, a fox whose fur was almost as pale as his uniform.

“The General will be riding a gondola ahead of you.”

“Ah, I see.”

I would still be center-stage, of course. Vito deserved his own time in the sun despite the times he aggravated me on the campaign, but what campaign didn’t have moments like that?

The boat pushed away from the docks and I could hear the sound of oars striking the waters below. The rowers were ferry operators and sailors from Vulpezzia but we spread a little tale that they were slaves we captured during the war to add a bit of spice to the story.

I adjusted the lace at the collar of my burgundy doublet, making sure it was tight, as the ship slowly approached the biggest entry canal to the city. I nearly tore the lace apart when a sharp whistle rang out followed by a bright light shooting into the air and exploding in red stars.

“What in Canis’ name is that!?” I shouted at a crew member, my fur bristled. Were we under attack? Was this some Wolven plot?

“Dictator, those are fireworks. A Sicilian alchemist created them with some mixture of sulfur they have in their mines down there.”

What an amazing invention! I could not contain my glee as another one shot into the air, this time bursting into green. Galip was clapping excitedly, an enthusiasm he rarely shared with any pleasures in life except for me.

Music greeted us as we passed through into the canal, energetic brass pipes and booming drums were accented by the cheers and yips of the populace. I scooped up a pile of gold coins from the treasures on deck and tossed them into the crowd, much more gently than Goliath had done during my unfortunate triumph years ago.

That drove them wild. Foxes began fighting over the coins that scattered to the cobblestones just as I grabbed a silver circlet and threw it like a discus.

I had never felt so alive during peacetime.

But like any joys in life, something had to come and disrupt it. My ear’s twitched as I heard something disturbing beyond the popping of the fireworks, the joyful cries of my subjects, and the clinking of Alphate treasures.

Wolves were howling.

There was, of course, a wolven minority living in Vulpezzia and I was aware they were supposedly more loyal than many foxes to my cause. Many were Iberian wolves who had never known the Alphate or were Alphate exiles like Gundulf…

But given the choice between their kind and foxkind, who would they choose?

A member of the crew, noticing perhaps my discontentment, spoke and assured me that they were howling in my honor, for my victory was theirs as well.

But to me it felt like mockery. I could even hear laughter in their howls, ha-ha-howling at me...teasing me for not finishing the job and grinding the Alphate into the dust where it belonged.

“If only someone would shut them up...” I muttered, rolling a gold coin across my palm, “...they probably stabbed us in the back...”

The fox left silently and I tossed another handful of coins. Several flew too low and fell into the canals, prompting a fox or two to dive into the filthy waters to retrieve them.

My mood was poor for the rest of the festivities though I dared not let it show. A proud smile was plastered across my face and my arm autonomously reached for and delivered silver and gold to the locals as they cried out my name.

I could have had so much more to give them if we had taken it all from the wolves.

There would be no speech from me and I was glad of it. The public reason was that I needed to relax and confer with my wife about the state of the Republic. That was not far from the truth, just omitting the fact that I was still recovering from surgery, even if my vigor was quickly returning as of late.

Leaving the city behind, we rowed back into the lagoon, passing the Senate building and towards my island manor with its imposing walls. It never felt more like home than now.

Awaiting me by the docks was Luce along with my six kits. I stepped onto the harbor, quickly walking up and picking up Cosimo and holding him high into the air.

The little kit screamed, as kits loved to do. Laughing, I spun around and put him on the ground and he immediately waddled over to Luce, hiding behind her leg.

“Luce,” I nodded.

“Marco,” she nodded back.

An army of servants filed forth from the side gardens and formed a wall leading along the path to the palace. Their heads touched the cobblestones as they bowed.

The nannies retrieved the kits and I linked arms with Luce as we walked.

“You brought a greater victory that I even imagined possible,” she whispered.

“I expected more.”

“I figured as much,” she sighed. “Foolish as ever.”

“Don’t do this now,” I forced a grin and peered over at the servants. “For what I lost, I expected more.”

“My condolences about Taj,” Luce said quietly. It felt almost sincere.

After reaching the manor, two guards pushed the doors open for us. Luce immediately motioned down a hallway leading to a quiet study.

She broke away from my arm and closed the doors behind us. A fire was lit in the fireplace, casting orange light along the empty desks and armchairs in the little-used room. We were alone.

“We discovered your little project in the basement,” Luce folded her paws across her lap. “How long were you going to keep Philippe a secret?”

“You found him!?” I exclaimed, there was no point in trying to deny it. “How?”

“Once his body started rotting we had to find the source of the smell. Tivoli was being carried by one of the nurses in a library close to the smell when he pulled a book out from the shelf, revealing the secret passage. Tivoli, Marco...”

“Tivoli? Who’s that?”

Luce sighed, “One of your kits. You only have six of them, can you not remember their names? Tivoli has shiny red fur, remember?”

“Ah, of course!” I rubbed my temple. “It’s been a long campaign...”

“I lied,” Luce slipped a pipe out from the leather satchel hanging from her shoulder and filled it up with tobacco. “Tivoli has black fur. Cosimo and Olivo are the males with red fur.”

“As I said,” I gritted my teeth as she began scraping sparks into her tinderbox, “it has been a long campaign and my head is still recovering from it and the surgery.”

“I suspect you don’t really care about them, just as you forgot about Philippe. He starved to death, Marco, you forgot to feed your pet.”

“Someone was supposed to feed him.”

“And now he’s dead, already rotten and dried up, so we can’t even use his death for propaganda. Do you see what happens when you keep things from me?”

“Hold your-”

A knock rang out at the door and before we could give the command to open, it flew open and Goliath stepped in, lowering his head underneath the doorframe.

“Marco, Luce,” he nodded.

“Goliath!” I smiled. “How are Sofia and the kits doing?”

“Very well, Violetta is growing like a weed,” he cleared his throat. “But I have urgent news. Gundulf is requesting entrance to the manor grounds, he’s waiting in the city and bothering the gondola leading to the manor.”

“No way,” I snarled. “I don’t need to see that wolf-dog right now. Tell him to wait until tomorrow.”

“As you will,” Goliath nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Luce blew a ring of smoke at me and blinked slowly.

“I heard your spy ring was compromised,” she kept her lips still but I could practically hear her laughing in her head.

“We think so.”

My paws were starting to shake. I retrieved a thin vial of spirit and opium, uncorking it and swallowing the bitter contents.

“Back on the opium as well.”

“It’s okay, I’m not smoking it, that’s healthier,” I leaned back in my chair as pleasureful echoes shook through my bones. “Besides, you try recovering from a knife wound without opium.”

“I wouldn’t have let an armed stranger in my room alone to begin with.”

“Shut-”

The door swung open again and once again, Goliath stepped in. The usually stoic fox was panting with exhaustion.

“Sir, Gundulf has been sending flag signals across the lagoon. He says it’s a matter of life and death.”

Luce opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off.

“I’m sure he’s just exaggerating!” I snapped. “I don’t want to see him!”

“Sir,” Golath frowned, “if I may...”

“You may leave!”

Even Goliath was beginning to question my orders. Was nothing sacred anymore?

Thankfully, the giant fox finally took this as the cue to leave. Unfortunately, as soon as he slipped out, another guard came running into the room, also panting.

“Dictator, sir!” he saluted, drool dripping from his tongue onto the wool rug on the ground.

“What is it now!?” I demanded.

“Reports from the city of mass riots!” the soldier reported. “The guards are overwhelmed with trying to keep it under control!”

“Riots!?” I snapped. “Why in the Gods’ name would they be rioting!?”

“A rumor has been going around that you wanted the wolves in town to be...” the guard licked his lips nervously when he noticed my cold stare, “...shut up. You wanted them gone.”

“You ordered a pogram!?” Luce snarled without regard to company. “Are you insane!?”

“I ordered no such thing!” I fired back. “All I said was I wanted those damned howls to stop, nothing more! I didn’t even say it to anyone!”

“So you were alone?” Luce narrowed her eyes. “No one was around? No one who could have possibly heard you?”

I was on the boat and indeed, one of the guards was there and walked away as soon as I whispered that. But there was no way he could have heard me.

“And why not keep such a thought in your head unless you wanted someone to do something about it?” Luce continued. “You’re not a fool, Marco. I know you.”

The guard had his tail tucked between his legs, no doubt fearing that he might end up being executed on a whim by the Dictator and his wife. I was not that kind of ruler though.

“You!” I pointed at him. “Alert General Vito, we need to bring in some soldiers from the army to help the city guard. Order must be restored!”

“Aye!” he saluted and turned tail, running out of the room.

“Save the local wolves by sending in soldiers whose jobs were to kill wolves,” Luce rolled her eyes.

“What would you have done?”

“I wouldn’t have been here in the first place,” she dumped the ashes from her pipe into a tray. “You created this mess, you clean it up.”

With that she left the room, closing the door behind me and leaving me alone. The new silence allowed me to hear the screams off in the distance back in town. Right now, Vulpezzia was a butchery and I turned it into that. I didn’t mean to, I swear it on my soul.

But at least the howls were gone.