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Thirteen
Last Updated:
2024-12-11 08:47:42Related chapters
PAWN OR QUEEN One
“Again,” Morrigan grits out. Though the sun has begun its descent, it’s the warmest time of the day, meaning the perfect time to train. Traces of wet snow cover the ground, drenching Morrigan’s clothing; a plain t-shirt and leggings. She had just had the wind knocked out of her, but she forced herself to her feet. She clenches a small ball of soppy snow in her hands as she stands before it drips out. A few feet in front of her is Idris, her uncle and Gamma of The Summit Keepers. He watches silently as Morrigan raises her fists into a ready position before she gives an almost imperceptible nod. He repeats the same move he had before, one that Morrigan had seen in advanced training but had never had done to her. She responds differently this time and easily dodges the attack, even setting herself up for a counterattack.“Alright,” Idris calls before putting his hands down. He knows from past experience that if he doesn’t call his niece off, she’ll keep going until one of them is on the
Last Updated : 2024-11-16PAWN OR QUEEN Two
Morrigan was born during the worst snowstorm the pack had seen in decades, and coupled with other factors, the birth was too much for her mother. Her mother died after welcoming her second child into the world, and losing his mate was simply too much for her father to bear. He died a few days later.Taking a deep breath, Morrigan grabs her boots from where she had set them and carries them upstairs with her. The cabin is still quiet, meaning that Oskar and Anders must have left for dinner before she came home.Anders is only two years older than Morrigan, but that makes him next in line to be Beta. Oskar spends almost all of his time training and teaching him everything he knows.Stepping out the front door of the cabin opens up to a dirt street lined with houses similar to Oskar’s. In one direction, the street leads to the path down the mountains, and in the other direction, the street leads to The Commons. The latter is the direction Morrigan heads in.The Commons is a large, cleare
Last Updated : 2024-11-18PAWN OR QUEEN Three
After their first shift, every pup in the pack is required to learn basic defensive skills, though they all learn at their own pace. Once they pass basic training, the Elders decide if they are to continue further training or if they are better suited for another role in the pack. Morrigan shifted at the age of eight, only a few days after her brother, a sign of great strength for her age, but Oskar had brushed it off. She completed her basic training at the age of eleven, another feat, but Oskar had tried to dissuade the Elders from allowing her to continue training. It was only with the help of one Elder, a man named Barrett who had been a close friend of her father, that the Elders allowed her to train to become a warrior. In addition to group training, Morrigan had private sessions with Barrett, Idris, and Jasira. Morrigan turned eighteen a few months prior, officially becoming a warrior of the pack, though her dream is to join the Royal Guard. Since her mate isn’t in the pack, t
Last Updated : 2024-11-18PAWN OR QUEEN Four
“It’s your turn, Rigan.”Morrigan turns her head at the sound of her nickname, confused. She’s sitting on the floor of Idris and Jasira’s living room, taking in the sight of the sunlight streaming through the windows. The two had invited her over for breakfast, and so after making a meal for Oskar and Anders, Morrigan made her way to their cabin. After eating, Jasira was braiding her mate and childrens hair.“You don’t expect to train with the Royal Guard with your hair down, do you?” Jasira questions. She motions to a cushion placed on the floor in front of her. “It’s your turn, come here.”Hesitantly, Morrigan rises and makes her way over to her aunt. She closes her eyes as Jasira begins her magic, gently running her fingers through Morrigan’s hair and brushing it with an ivory comb. The care that she passes through her hands is very intentional, and it’s a sense of love that Morrigan can’t remember ever receiving. Oskar never let anyone braid her hair before, or teach her how to b
Last Updated : 2024-11-20PAWN OR QUEEN Five
In the entrance of the tent sit two members of the Royal Guard–a man and a woman. The man is the main focus, telling stories about the capital, as that’s where he was born and raised. He has olive colored skin and cropped dark hair. It’s almost too short to tell, but looking closely one can see that it has a curly texture. He has a large smile and bright white teeth, his eyes twinkling in the sunlight as he talks animatedly. Beside him, also sitting, is a woman with amber skin and dark hair cut at her chin. She stays quiet unless asked a direct question, though she’s obviously engaged in the conversation as her eyes dart around and a smile tugs at her lips. Around dinner time, elders begin bringing food to the Guard and ushering the youngers away to give them privacy as they eat. Morrigan hadn’t even realized hours had passed as she forced herself to her feet. As she makes her way home, she reflects on everything the man had said.The capital sounds like a beautiful place, where the
Last Updated : 2024-11-22PAWN OR QUEEN Six
Entering the large clearing used for group training, Morrigan finds that she’s one of the first ones there, and the most awake. Everyone appears to be asleep on their feet, except for the Royal Guard, of course. They look less intimidating now without their uniforms, instead taking on casual t-shirts and pants. Morrigan notices the two guards she had listened to the day before standing side by side, clearly mind-linking each other. The Summit Keepers don’t mind-link much since they’re all so close to each other. Oskar could have mind-linked Morrigan a reminder to make dinner the day before, but he didn’t actually care about dinner. The Alpha could mind-link all the warriors to make sure they’re on time for training, but Morrigan guesses that their punctuality is a test.Looking around, she realizes that she doesn’t see Ander anywhere. Her brows furrowed together, but she doesn’t have much time to dwell on the absence of her brother before Amira appears at her side.Her hair is still
Last Updated : 2024-11-26PAWN OR QUEEN Seven
Just as Amira begins to follow her cousin's lead, Takota holds up a hand to stop her.“When we aren’t training, please just call me Takota,” she says. “You can sit.”Morrigan slowly moves back into a seated position. She looks between Takota and Amira, still in shock. Amira raises an eyebrow at her cousin, which makes Morrigan realize her mouth is still open, so she closes it. “Nice to meet you, Takota. My name is Amira,” Amira greets. She motions to the person next to her. “This is Morrigan.”“It’s nice to meet you too, Amira and Morrigan,” Takota greets, a small smile on her face as she looks between the two girls. They don’t notice it, but her keen eyes are taking in every little detail. She takes a subtle inhale. “You are both ranked members?”“Yes,” Amira answers, not thinking Morrigan can answer in her current state. “My parents are the Gamma’s, Idris and Jasira, and my cousin here is the daughter of our former Beta.”“Beta and Gamma blood?” Takota questions.Morrigan swallows
Last Updated : 2024-11-30PAWN OR QUEEN Eight
Morrigan and Amira get through a few more ‘warm up rounds’ before Nicholas calls everyone's attention again. Amira is experiencing aches in places she has never ached before from falling on her behind so many times while Morrigan hasn’t broken a sweat. “As this is our first day together, we’d like to do a little tournament to see how each of you rank, so that on our last day, we can see how far you’ve come. Face your partner again, and whichever one of you is on the ground first will go take a seat at the edge of the clearing. Whoever wins will be paired with another winner, until there is only one,” he explains.Morrigan turns to her cousin, giving an apologetic look.“Don’t be sorry,” Amira says. “I’m perfectly content with sitting out and not being beaten around anymore.”And that is exactly what happens, as Morrigan takes Amira down yet again with ease. She feels a twinge of guilt. Amira is by no means a bad warrior–she’s one of the top female warriors in the pack. She could have
Last Updated : 2024-12-03
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PAWN OR QUEEN Thirteen
She swallows harshly. Her heart starts to race as she wonders what is going to happen, but she knows that there’s nothing she can do about it.“Yes, Commander,” she says softly.Without further prompting, she pulls off her t-shirt, folds it, and places it on the ground. Then, she reaches for her long-sleeve underneath. She keeps her eyes on the ground, avoiding the reactions of the two guards. Pulling the hem of the shirt up, the bruises littering her ribs are immediately visible. She continues, pulling the shirt above her head and wincing as she slides her right arm out of the sleeve. Again, she folds it and places it on the ground with her t-shirt before reaching for her leggings.Nicholas holds up a hand to stop her, causing her to look up. She feels sick at the sight of concern, or maybe pity, in the two guards' eyes.“What happened, Morrigan?” Nicholas asks.“I fell down the stairs, Commander,” Morrigan answers. She swallows harshly, trying to stop the bile rising up from her th
PAWN OR QUEEN Twelve
Everyone is well into their warm ups by the time Morrigan makes it to the clearing, which luckily means that most of them are too focused on themselves to notice her sneak in with her tail tucked between her legs. Unfortunately, Takota and Nicholas are not warming up, and she can feel their burning gazes on her as she’s obviously the last one to arrive. She makes her way over to Amira, who looks her up and down with concerned eyes. Morrigan does her best to hold her head high, but she can’t hide the defeated look behind her eyes. Amira goes to open her mouth, but Morrigan shakes her head before she can. She doesn’t want to talk about it.Morrigan begins her warm ups, as everyone was given the same warm ups to complete but can do in their own time. She tries to stretch, but there’s not much she can do without agonizing pain from her ribs or arm. She pushes through the pain as she does a sit up and does her pushups with only her left arm. She does squats and lunges without much issue,
PAWN OR QUEEN Eleven
Morrigan is awoken by her internal clock, meaning it should be around four o’clock in the morning, but still sitting in the dark stairwell, she has no way to confirm this. She could go back down the stairs to check her clock, but the moment she tries to move, her muscles cramp up. Her overall pain has greatly decreased since the night before–there’s almost definitely still a bruise on her cheek, though the swelling has gone down, there’s definitely still bruising around her ribs, considering they’re fractured, and her right arm still can’t hold any weight.Her heart pangs in her chest as she imagines Takota waiting for her in the clearing. She wants nothing more than to break the door down and run the entire way there, but she’s far from her full strength and the door is reinforced. If she wanted to break it down, she’d have to break it off its hinges. Tears sting her eyes and the feeling of powerlessness fills her entire being.The house is silent, so it can’t be any later than 5:30 A
PAWN OR QUEEN Ten
The one who had been kicking her backs up, and as Morrigan coughs out blood and focuses her vision, she sees her brother and uncle. Ander had been the one kicking her, and Oskar was the one to call him off.Oskar approaches her slowly, his figure blocking out the light from the room behind him, making him look like a shadow. He crouches down and grabs Morrigan’s hair. Before she can protest, he takes out the bonds holding her hair in place and roughly undoes the braids Jasira had taken such care to do. As her hair falls around her face and she realizes what her uncle just did, tears begin to prick her eyes. “What were you thinking, trying to upstage your brother in front of the entire pack? Have you forgotten your place?” Oskar asks, his voice deep and low, barely above a whisper. When Morrigan doesn’t respond, he grabs a fistful of her hair and grabs the back of her shirt with his other hand. He picks her up, Morrigan reaching for his hand pulling out her scalp, and throws her down
PAWN OR QUEEN Nine
In less than two minutes, Morrigan stands tall, breathing heavily, while Kaya lays on her back on the ground, a look of confusion on her face. Morrigan enters her vision, holding her hand out for the older warrior. Kaya takes it, letting herself be pulled to her feet, and she looks down at the young woman in front of her with newfound respect. Morrigan looks around to see the crowd is silent, clearly not having expected her victory.They knew that she was a warrior and had Beta blood, but no one outside the Gamma family saw her train. Oskar has spent her entire life telling lies that she’s weak and unfit in little ways that slowly crept into people's subconscious perceptions of her. Today, she shattered that idea of her.Takota is the first to break the silence, clapping as she walks towards Morrigan. Hesitantly, the other warriors start clapping as well, and they’re quickly spurred on by the Gamma family. Morrigan searches for yellow eyes in the crowd, but she can’t find any. Even as
PAWN OR QUEEN Eight
Morrigan and Amira get through a few more ‘warm up rounds’ before Nicholas calls everyone's attention again. Amira is experiencing aches in places she has never ached before from falling on her behind so many times while Morrigan hasn’t broken a sweat. “As this is our first day together, we’d like to do a little tournament to see how each of you rank, so that on our last day, we can see how far you’ve come. Face your partner again, and whichever one of you is on the ground first will go take a seat at the edge of the clearing. Whoever wins will be paired with another winner, until there is only one,” he explains.Morrigan turns to her cousin, giving an apologetic look.“Don’t be sorry,” Amira says. “I’m perfectly content with sitting out and not being beaten around anymore.”And that is exactly what happens, as Morrigan takes Amira down yet again with ease. She feels a twinge of guilt. Amira is by no means a bad warrior–she’s one of the top female warriors in the pack. She could have
PAWN OR QUEEN Seven
Just as Amira begins to follow her cousin's lead, Takota holds up a hand to stop her.“When we aren’t training, please just call me Takota,” she says. “You can sit.”Morrigan slowly moves back into a seated position. She looks between Takota and Amira, still in shock. Amira raises an eyebrow at her cousin, which makes Morrigan realize her mouth is still open, so she closes it. “Nice to meet you, Takota. My name is Amira,” Amira greets. She motions to the person next to her. “This is Morrigan.”“It’s nice to meet you too, Amira and Morrigan,” Takota greets, a small smile on her face as she looks between the two girls. They don’t notice it, but her keen eyes are taking in every little detail. She takes a subtle inhale. “You are both ranked members?”“Yes,” Amira answers, not thinking Morrigan can answer in her current state. “My parents are the Gamma’s, Idris and Jasira, and my cousin here is the daughter of our former Beta.”“Beta and Gamma blood?” Takota questions.Morrigan swallows
PAWN OR QUEEN Six
Entering the large clearing used for group training, Morrigan finds that she’s one of the first ones there, and the most awake. Everyone appears to be asleep on their feet, except for the Royal Guard, of course. They look less intimidating now without their uniforms, instead taking on casual t-shirts and pants. Morrigan notices the two guards she had listened to the day before standing side by side, clearly mind-linking each other. The Summit Keepers don’t mind-link much since they’re all so close to each other. Oskar could have mind-linked Morrigan a reminder to make dinner the day before, but he didn’t actually care about dinner. The Alpha could mind-link all the warriors to make sure they’re on time for training, but Morrigan guesses that their punctuality is a test.Looking around, she realizes that she doesn’t see Ander anywhere. Her brows furrowed together, but she doesn’t have much time to dwell on the absence of her brother before Amira appears at her side.Her hair is still
PAWN OR QUEEN Five
In the entrance of the tent sit two members of the Royal Guard–a man and a woman. The man is the main focus, telling stories about the capital, as that’s where he was born and raised. He has olive colored skin and cropped dark hair. It’s almost too short to tell, but looking closely one can see that it has a curly texture. He has a large smile and bright white teeth, his eyes twinkling in the sunlight as he talks animatedly. Beside him, also sitting, is a woman with amber skin and dark hair cut at her chin. She stays quiet unless asked a direct question, though she’s obviously engaged in the conversation as her eyes dart around and a smile tugs at her lips. Around dinner time, elders begin bringing food to the Guard and ushering the youngers away to give them privacy as they eat. Morrigan hadn’t even realized hours had passed as she forced herself to her feet. As she makes her way home, she reflects on everything the man had said.The capital sounds like a beautiful place, where the
