I didn't know how long I stood at the same spot, just beside the entrance door, staring at the wall where Queen Aliana had just passed through, but when a resounding knock on the door reverberated through my ears, I was brought to attention to my environment again. “My Queen, can I come in?” I heard from the other side, and half expected the Queen to appear again through the wall, but my hopes were dashed; she didn’t appear. As the entrance door was opened, the former girl that had ushered us in, peeped into the room, a bit stunned—when her nose almost touched my cloth—at how close I was to the door. Behind her were Laura and Peter. They had been waiting all this while. How long had I stood staring at that wall? I didn’t know. I didn’t know either when I opened my mouth and asked the girl the first thing that rang in my mind. “How did she do that?” I asked, pointing at the wall. Now, Peter and Laura had stepped into the room. “Who is the she?” The clerk asked, her eyes furrowed,
‘Wife to their king.’ This phrase kept ringing in my ear, undaunted by my selection of clothes from the community’s mall. It was smaller than the malls in the human world, but at least they had one; my pack had none. Clothes were bought from the human malls. “Maya, don’t you like the clothes?” That was Laura. I wasn’t aware that she had been standing beside me all this while. I nodded, then shook my head when I thought that she might misinterpret my nod. I liked the clothes, all of them. They were comfortable and beautiful. Laura had mentioned at one time during the tour that some of them had been made with magic. They were of course costlier than the others, due to their value, but she had managed to snag me two. A sweater, and scarf. When I had touched them, I had felt peace. I had literally felt the magic running through them. Laura seemed to think that I could feel those because I had the magic trait. A normal person wouldn’t even notice. “I like the clothes, Laura. How c
We ate an early dinner, where talks about what had happened today were suspended and left until later. My new family took table manners seriously.The only time I had spoken was when Diana had come home from her classes, late afternoon. We had spoken because I was just so damn curious about what kind of classes would keep a girl of her age in the palace from morning till that time. Her enthusiasm whilst narrating all she had learnt slightly toppled my experience at the market earlier.When Laura and I had gone to the market, it had been my first time seeing so many sellers in a shade with their goods. Back at the pack, my mother had been in charge—I had never picked up groceries—and it was still from the human world. We usually got groceries that would last for two weeks and stock them up in the refrigerator. But here, the stalls were similar to those that I had read about in african books, about african markets. I’ve always had a diversified taste in literature. The market environ
A knock sounded on the door, bringing all our attention to the sitting room. Who could be knocking by this time? This question was drawn on all of our faces. Peter dropped his cutlery, and stood up from his seat. “You should continue. Let me see who is knocking. It might be a patient.” He addressed us before turning away and walking past the flimsy curtain into the sitting room; his strides were quite overconfident. My eyes perched on Diana, then strolled to Laura. Peter had told us to continue dinner, but what was going on here was far from it—it was a silent discussion between Diana and her mother. They were looking at each other, and Diana's eyes kept squishing and her lips kept pouting. What was going on? I was sure that they weren’t werewolves, but could part of their magical influence include mind communication, telepathy? My questions were answered in the next minute. “Diana, I am not a mind reader. Just tell me who you think is at the door.” Laura mentioned tiredly as if
“Who knocked?” Laura asked Diana again, taking a sneak peek through the curtain. We just noticed that Peter was no longer in the sitting room. “Uncle Dim. I don’t know why he is here though.” Diana answered calmly as if she was talking about the weather, as if she didn’t just utilize a gift that was impossible to humans, to ordinary werewolfs, to me. A gift of prophecy? I was not sure what to term it. When Laura’s mind processed the name that her daughter had given her, she stood up agilely from her seat and strolled out of the dining room. Well, I was unsettled too. If Dim was anything like his deranged wife, whom I had met in the market, then there was a need to be out there too. Who knows? Possibly Lourdes had reported to Dim what had transpired today at the market, or maybe he had come to lay his grievance on Peter for usurping the queen’s intention for me, or possibly both. I looked at a not-concerned Diana and furrowed my eyebrows. Why wasn’t the girl perturbed? From the
“I wasn’t vying for your position, Dim. I was just trying to grant the girl’s wish. She wanted to stay with us. She had lost her memories, and had no iota of who she is, except for her name. She was only forward with us because we had saved her. That was why we had appealed to the queen to let Maya stay with us, till she recovers fully; till her mind is totally restored. I have no interest in currying favors with the queen, nor do I have interest in politics. If I did, you wouldn’t be in this position of yours, you know right? You aren’t the chosen one. Don't forget that. Now, leave my house this instant, if you have nothing useful to say anymore, than cruel words and insults.” Peter commanded, his voice louder than ever as he pointed his finger toward the picket fence that surrounded his property. Dim huffed in anger, his chest rising and falling. I feared that he would raise his fist at Peter, but seeing a faint smile on Laura's face and the relaxed look on Diana who had left her
Diana has been tucked to bed. She had been reluctant though, not pleased that she had been sidelined from our discussions again. She had finally agreed, however, when Peter had promised that he would tell her a bedtime story with some demonstrations. He has been gone for fifteen minutes now, leaving Laura and I to tidy the dining and kitchen. “Are you done arranging your clothes and room? It’s possible that tomorrow, Peter will take you to some places like the school and the palace. He might introduce you to some of our friends that will look after you if we are not around.” I nodded, ruminating on Laura’s words. Diana had helped me arrange my clothes in the wardrobe after she had told me about her classes in the palace and what they entailed. Whilst we had been busy with that, Peter had returned with some people, carrying a table and a chair, a small sofa, a dressing table, mirror, a flower vase, and some other room rudiments. At first, I had thought the items wouldn’t fit in, bu
“What have you two been up to?” Peter queried immediately he stepped into the kitchen, reclining modishly by the doorpost as he stared lovingly at his wife, before sparing me a curious glance. “Girl’s stuff.” Laura replied, a short smile on her lips—the pride that had clouded her during her husband’s defense against his brother, still running in waves around her. She could fly at this moment. Peter pouted at his wife’s comment, and I couldn’t help but spurt out a laugh. If anything, his pout became more prominent. Dude had been doubly shaded now. But that was the least of my concerns. We were supposed to be talking now, they were supposed to be answering my numerous questions now. I thought, biting my lips, not knowing how to broach the topic without making them think I was impatient. Thank the goddess for Laura who could read auras or was it face expressions, because in the next moment she was asking that we move to the sitting room so that we could talk about myself and the ques
This week has been uneventful. I surmised as I watched the professor summarize her teaching for the day. Even my magic classes that had been slotted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays had been uneventful. Seeing as I had a better control of my magic, I just did as they asked me, without any extra flourish. There was not a note of extra in me, of having fun whilst doing magic—not with the threat of Adam and his brothers hanging over me. Since the week started, till now, I had been waiting for the drop of the other shoe, but so far nothing has happened. It was like last weekend didn't happen, like my scar hadn't shown itself. And for my neck, all efforts to cover the mark had been futile. So, I had taken to wearing scarfs around my neck, and since it was a cold season, no one had raised an eyebrow at the piece of accessory which had never been equated to me. I had also gotten more friends, than I would have liked, or rather acquitances—people who liked me because I wasn't an ordinar
As I walked out of the Queen’s palace which was now filled with suffocating air, my heart pounded like a drum. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Adam might have found out who I really was. I couldn’t shake off the fact that he might put two together—the mark and my accurate information on Maya—and conclude that I was she whom he sought. Maya. The thought of this possibility sent shivers down my spine, and my mind raced with fear and uncertainty.For months, I've hidden my identity well, keeping the truth open to my adopted family alone, keeping it tucked away from prying eyes and whispers in the community and the pack. But now, a careless slip, a moment of indiscretion on my own end, and everything had come crashing down—it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Could this be the reason why my significant other hadn’t wanted me to speak to their parents?‘Was it the reason?’There was no response; just the thrumming of energy I felt. She was choosing to keep quiet? Quite unde
Had I dug myself deep into a hole by bringing up the subject about Maya? I wondered, sinking into the tension that had surrounded us after Adam's last statement. Rachel's mouth has never gotten around getting closed, and Raul's grip had tightened on my hand. The triplets all had smirks on their lips, masking, almost completely, the uncomfortableness that the topic on Maya had brought up. I shook my head. Even if I hadn't talked about Maya, the triplets wouldn't have allowed Raul to leave here with me, without making some lame agreement. "Dora, is this right? Did you agree to it?" Raul asked, incredulity ringing in his voice. I hissed from irritation, before I could stop it, causing Noah's smirk to get more prominent. "Why would you think I will agree to such stupid suggestion made by egocentric fools to soothe their egos because a girl turned them down?" "I'm sorry, I just…" "You thought I will be way over my head because three fine ass boys were coming for me." I freed my hand
At my question, I noticed first that the boys became confused. They were still sporting looks that claimed that I was lying, that I was wasting time, but at the same time, I could see the doubt of their own selves, of their own story accounts, like they weren't sure of their earlier stance. I saw it in Adam's jerk, and his subtle staggering back, as if I had dealt him a blow. I saw it in Noah’s lip biting intermittent motions. I saw it in Daniel’s subtle shifting of feet, and twitching hands. Then, I saw Adam dart a glance at his brother, Noah, then at himself—an inward look into his mind—as if trying to recall something that seemed out of his grasp. His brothers were in the same turmoil, and if I wasn't hearing their heart rate, if I wasn't as confused as they are, I might have called them liars. But my ears were attuned to their heart rate, my eyes were attuned to the several emotions that ran through their face in split seconds. The triplets were confused.They were confused abo
I would have said no to Raul's request if we were alone in the hallway, considering the topic I had just bashed Duke for, considering the fact he had been aware of the matter, but for the Lycan boys. Rachel had no place in my thoughts. If I were to deny Raul his request, then the purpose of kissing him in the first place would be defeated. I couldn’t allow that. Not that I regretted the kiss though. "Yeah, sure. I would love that." I managed to say without gritting my teeth, even going ahead to clasp his hand in my mine, when what I wanted exactly, was to slap him for endorsing his family's misconduct. He must have known my thoughts on him, because he instantly made an apology with his eyes. I diverted my gaze, I wasn't going to forgive him that easily, not even with those cute eyes of his. I made no comment as I and Raul walked past Rachel and Adam, not until Daniel called me, right after I walked past him and Noah. "You must think me a joke, if you believed I was going to let y
"So where did I stop with my story?" I asked, ignoring the subtle tap on my elbow—Raul was handing me a lame warning, to stop with it. That would be expected, considering the hatred I was seeing in Duke's face now. I had taken a huge guess when I had mentioned the fact about the throne—it had come up when he had spoken of me after the throne-as if Raul had the potential of being the next one on the throne, even though there was no strand of white hair on his head. It told me that either the Queen had so much faith in her second son, or she had placed the faith on the bethrothed. That brought my attention to Diana, and her former classes with the Queen. Could Diana be the bethrothed one? If she was, then I hoped that Raul had really denounced it. I couldn’t bare the thought of Diana being plunged into this mess of a family. As much she was strong willed, she would be broken. I loved my sister too much for that. I would have taken this incident as a pointer to start speaking to her,
Three seconds into my kiss with Raul, I forgot that I was supposed to disengage from the kiss when the boys went through the bend and came to hallway we were in, I forgot that they were coming, I forgot that I had made a plan like that, I forgot that this was a kiss meant to deliver a piece of information, not for pleasure. When Raul grabbed my ass however, and squeezed, when I moaned into the kiss biting his lips, enjoying the moan that escaped from his, there was an intentional cough that brought reality into my vision again, that brought my attention to the burning mark on my neck. Oh my god. This was good. I concluded, when I remembered myself. Raul was a good kisser. Despite knowing that there were more than three people watching us, I was adept enough to still play the game. I smiled at a Raul who was shocked by my gutsy kiss and smile, but who remembered quickly how to smile flirty. Satisfied with our interaction, I disengaged from the hug. Slowly. With infinite flourish, I
This time around, the shock on the Queen’s face lasted for more than two seconds. It lasted until she croaked out a sound of amazement from her lips, which was similar to one in my head, which was similar to the ones I heard from our watchers, which had increased by the minute. “You…” She stuttered, unbelief in her eyes. She was still holding the offending hair, an offending hair that I vowed to cut when I got home. As I was still cussing the offending hair, the Queen pulled another one, and this time around, it was a little lower than a chunk. What the hell!Without much ado, I pushed her away from myself, held my hair by myself, and swerved to one of the windows of the castle—the windows could do the job of a mirror. My mouth dropped open in shock when I noticed that almost one quarter of my hair was white hair-not together-some were scattered, mixed with my black long hair. It looked like a trend, like a swag, only that it was not. I wanted it gone. It had appeared first when I
The surprise on the Queen's face, however, didn't last two seconds. As quickly as she had seemed fazed by the fact that I could add and subtract flames without needing to make a gesture with my hand, as quickly as the surprise had left. The only indication that she had been shaken had been the slight shaking of her hand as she returned the cup to the table, a shaking that led the cup to spill some of its content. Its content was a blood red liquid. Wine then. I thought, taking my eyes off the cup to her face when she stood up from her seat, dusted her hands on each other, and started walking toward me. "So, it seems that you can control the fire with your mind, at such a young age. That's huge potential, I will have to admit. Let's see how far you can go…" She said, staring at me, from my hair which was tied to a ponytail, to my tennis shoes. My significant other recoiled further into my mind, as if the gaze was scorching her. What exactly was with the both of them? I wondered,