Their arrival on the Werewolf Kingdom was full of fanfare. King Davos himself came to the docks to meet the ship and Akari thought the king very handsome. He was tall and large, of course, like all the others, and his hair had much more gold in it than red, but he looked a lot like Nikolai. He had a strong jaw and a stern-looking face. That is, until he spotted Beatrice and held out his arms to her. Beatrice ran to him and he swept the consort off her feet, swinging her around in his arms. He leaned in close and whispered something in her ear that made Beatrice laugh and blush. Akari watched him with fascination as he kissed his consort tenderly. Then, keepingan arm around Beatrice, he came forward and gave Nikolai a greeting that Akari had never seen before, a kind of fist bumping with both his hands held up high in the air, almost like a high five, but with closed fists. Then he released Beatrice and grabbed his son for what looked like a bone-crushing hug. “Wh
Akari walked over and looked inside, Instead of the dark red and black of Nikolai's room, this room was done all in shades of pink. She turned with astonishment to Nikolai, who looked back at her blankly. “What? Don’t you like it? Beatrice had it done for you before we left. She said she thought your sister might like the color very much. Is it not to your taste?” “Pink is for little girls,” she said softly, turning to look at Nikolai. “I’m not one, as you may have noticed. It was a nice thought of Beatrice's for Allison, but…” “But not for you.” Akari sighed and stepped inside. “It doesn’t really matter.” Before she’d gone more than two steps, her arm was taken and she was turned around. “Of course it matters—I want you to be happy here. Now tell me your favorite color.” “I-I don’t really know. Blue, I guess.” Nikolai drew her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “Good choice. Then blue it is. I’ll have workmen to come in right away.” Akari felt herself blush again,
Nikolai kissed her and went to the door to motion someone in. A large werewolf doctor came in and nodded at Akari. The doctor had an injection appliance and motioned to Akari to lean over the end of the bed. “What the hell is that? Who is this, Nikolai?” “This is a doctor, of course. He has the first of your injections. They’re nothing to worry about.” “The hell you say. Look at that needle. Fuck, no.” “Akari, you know I would never let anyone do anything to hurt you. Humans that werewolves wanted to impregnate all take these injections and they won’t harm you. They just get your body ready to bear werewolf children.” Akari knew all about the damn things by this time, having done her research. The alterations were, after all, not as extensive as might be thought. Doctors would inject a potent combination of hormones, stem cells and other substances into her, and this enabled her uterus to become more stronger and durable so she can grow werewolf children inside of her. For at l
Akari woke later that evening, sticky and sore and all alone. She sat up and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her back. She didn’t feel too bad, considering, though she was a little achy. And very hungry.A soft knock came on the door and before she could answer, it opened to admit two young women. They came in and bowed respectfully to her and the oldest one stepped to the foot of the bed. “Consort Akari, may we draw a bath for you?” “Sure, I guess so,” Akari said, shrugging and pulling her robe around her more securely. She wasn’t used to servants, and it would take some getting used to. “I’d really like a snack, though, before dinner. Can you get me something while I’m bathing? Please. And where are my servants?” “They’ve gone down to the docks to get the rest of your luggage.” She bowed and then bustled into the bathroom, where Akari could hear the water running for her bath. The hot water would feel good and she couldn’t wait to get some of the
Akari always hated court dinner parties. Well, hate was a strong word, but she really didn’t like them much. And tonight’s dinner with the ministers of the court was certainly no exception. For one thing, Nikolai was at the table with his father, King Davos, along with all the other princes, even the youngest one. The ministers and the council members were there too, while she and Queen Beatrice, and all the other wives and husbands of the court were relegated to a separate table next to the king’s. When Nikolai first explained to her that they wouldn’t be able to sit together, she raised an eyebrow at him, but when he had given him the “It’s traditional,” line it effectively shut him down. The only saving grace to this boring dinner was Beatrice, who rolled would occasionally roll her eyes and made little faces and generally made fun of the men at the other table, whose loud voices drowned out all conversation at their smaller one. On this particular night, Akari had just about ha
Akari woke up with a start and then she wished she hadn't. When she was suddenly felt pain so intense she couldn’t breathe. She tried to take in air and gasped instead, her head is killing her, wrecking her, destroying her. She must be dying, do she weakly reached out blindly for help. A hand pushed her roughly away and then she heard voices nearby. Then other hands were poking at her, prodding her. Something wet, cold and stinging dabbed at the back of her head and a man’s angry voice was too loud next to her ear. “Why’d you hit her so hard, damn it?” A muffled voice answered her from across the room, but Akari couldn’t understand the words to make any sense. She allowed herself to sink back down in the darkness to get away. The next time she woke up, the pain was still intense but she could breathe again. She cracked her eyes open the slightest bit, but the light that hit her pierced her brain, and she closed them tight again. Where was Nikolai? What
Akari was sitting by the window in her room, gazing out at the stars. She was cold, like she had been since she woke up in this room several days before, and she couldn’t seem to get warm, no matter how many blankets she piled on. She had a woolen one wrapped around her shoulders now, but felt no warmth from it. She didn’t feel much of anything really, other than a dull ache in her head that didn’t seem to go away, which according to her doctors was a result of the concussion. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything emotionally. Not if she could help it. If Nikolai was dead, then… But she wouldn’t allow herself to go there, even in her own mind. If she didn’t think about it, it wasn’t real and that was all that mattered, at least for now. The one thing that kept running through her mind over and over on constant replay was that she’d never told Nikolai that she loved him. She’d never told him how her feelings had changed toward him since that first time she saw him in her father’
Akari was sleeping when an alarm sounded, waking her from her nightmare and the ship was suddenly rocked by explosions. Loud ones, coming from above decks and rocking the entire ship—it sounded like an all-out attack, like the end of the world. Something had happened, she thought, to the engines the afternoon before, and the ship hadn’t moved all night. She’d thought they must be working on the engines, but this sounded more like an attack. Had Davos finally caught up with them? The explosions threw her out of bed and made her heart bang loudly in her chest as the sound pierced right through her. She sat up on the floor, disoriented. She had bitten down so hard on her tongue when she fell that it brought blood. She could taste it in her mouth and gagged a little, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The door to his her was suddenly flung open and three swarthy looking men crowded in, dressed in brightly colored clothing with strips of cloth wrapped around their head