Chapter 108: Enchanted Room

“Come, my primrose. I want to hear of your adventures since our last meeting.” The Great Mother says, turning towards me. If I didn't know better, I would think it was simply a grandmother’s genuine interest in my life. I know it is a command disguised as a request. A pretty face on a power move.

I dutifully follow her. Until I have control, I must be obedient. My brother is still in the pack house. He is there without me to shield him.

We walk towards the edge of the crowd. Red-robed figures are scattered around the bonfire, some close to the fire bathed in light and then others right along the edge of the bonfire’s reach. Their faces cloaked in shadow, keenly observing and murmuring within their small groups. Politics. Something Kai seems to abhor but I find entirely necessary. In order to survive within a system you must understand how the system operates. No one knows this better than my mother, who has willfully hidden and taken so much from me. She follows behind me, somehow e