Chapter 181: The Confession at the Mill

The whole of the mill yard was quiet and the whole of the line was in it and the whole of the east was on the ground and Silas was standing in the snow with the blade at his feet and his face gray.

And then the whole of the it was finished.

I did not feel it finish. I felt the whole of the it go quiet. It went quiet the way a room goes quiet when the last of a storm has passed and the whole of the it is the whole of the it.

And then the whole of the line went home.

We went into the mill and the whole of the line came with us and the whole of the pack and the whole of the territories and the whole of the east and the whole of the it was in the mill and the whole of the it was warm.

And then Maeve came.

She came across the mill floor with her bag and her face gray and she stopped in front of me and put her hand on my arm.

“Alpha,” she said. “The whole of the it is not finished.”

I looked at her.

“What?” I said.

“The whole of the it is the child,” Maeve said. “The whole of the it is not the child who is born. The whole of the it is the child who is not.”

I stood in the mill.

“What do you mean?” I said.

Maeve put her hand on my stomach.

“You are pregnant,” she said.

The whole of the mill went quiet.

“I know,” I said.

“You know,” Maeve said. “And the whole of the it is not the child who is born. The whole of the it is the child who is going to be born.” She put her hand on my arm. “The whole of the it is the child who is going to carry the whole of the it.”

I stood in the mill.

“The whole of the it is the curse,” I said.

“The whole of the it is the curse,” Maeve said. “The whole of the ground holds the whole of the it and the whole of the ground is going to give the whole of the it to the whole of the keeper and the whole of the keeper is the whole of the line.” She put her hand on my stomach. “And the whole of the line is the whole of the it. The whole of the it is going to come to your child.”

I stood in the mill.

“The whole of the it is not the child,” I said.

“The whole of the it is the child,” Maeve said. “The whole of the it is the whole of the ground and the whole of the ground is the whole of the line and the whole of the line is the whole of the child.”

I sat down.

And then Elias came and sat down beside me.

“Wren,” he said.

“The whole of the it is going to take the child,” I said.

“The whole of the it is not going to take the child,” Elias said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the ground,” I said. “And the whole of the ground is the whole of the it and the whole of the ground takes the whole of the it and gives it to the whole of the keeper.”

“And the whole of the keeper is the whole of the it,” Elias said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the line and the whole of the line is the whole of the it.” He put his hand on my face. “The whole of the it is not the curse. The whole of the it is the vow. The whole of the vow is the keeper and the Luna hold it together and the whole of the it is not going to go into the child.”

I looked at him.

“You made the vow,” I said.

“I made the vow,” Elias said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the ground and the whole of the ground heard the whole of the it.” He put his hand on my stomach. “And the whole of the it is not going to take the child. The whole of the it is going to take the whole of the it and the whole of the it is the whole of the line.”

I sat in the mill.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said. “And the whole of the it is not the child.”

“The whole of the it is not the child,” Elias said.

I put my hand on my stomach.

“Then the whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” Elias said.

And then the whole of the mill went dark.

It was the ground. It came up out of the mill floor and out of the whole of the mill and the whole of the mill was white.

And then the ground spoke.

It said: The whole of the it is the child. The whole of the child is the line. The whole of the line is the ground. The whole of the it is not going to take the child.

And then it went out.

The mill was dark.

And then the light came back and there was a wolf standing in the middle of the mill.

It was Ilse the grandmother and she had a cane and a shawl and she was standing in the middle of the mill with her hands at her sides.

“The whole of the it is not the child,” she said. “The whole of the it is the line. And the whole of the line is going to hold the whole of the it.”

I stood in the mill.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” Ilse said. “And the whole of the it is going to be held by the whole of the line and the whole of the line is going to hold the whole of the it and the whole of the it is not going to go into the child.”

I put my hand on my stomach.

“Then the whole of the it is the whole of the it,” I said.

And then the whole of the mill roared.

And then the whole of the it was the whole of the it.

And then the whole of the mill went quiet.

And then Ilse said a thing that made the whole of the mill go dark.

“The whole of the it is not the whole of the it,” she said. “The whole of the it is the whole of the ground and the whole of the ground is the whole of the line and the whole of the line is going to hold the whole of the it.” She put her hand on her chest. “And the whole of the it is going to be held by the whole of the line at the new moon.”

I stood in the mill.

“The new moon,” I said.

“The new moon,” Ilse said. “The whole of the it is the new moon and the whole of the it is going to be the whole of the line and the whole of the line is going to hold the whole of the it.”

I stood in the mill.

“The whole of the it is the new moon,” I said.

“The whole of the it is the new moon,” Ilse said.

And then she said a thing that made the whole of the mill go dark.

“And the whole of the it is not going to be the whole of the line,” she said. “The whole of the it is going to be the whole of the it.”

I stood in the mill.

“What is the whole of the it?” I said.

“The whole of the it is the whole of the it,” Ilse said. “And the whole of the it is the whole of the whole of the it.”

And then the whole of the mill roared.