THE KING'S WAY

Before I can figure out what is going on, five soldiers rush at me, forming a circle around me and holding weapons, their torches burning brightly.

"Where do you think you are going?" Their leader asks, a big man with one eye. The eye stares at me as if it can look past my skin and into the inner parts of my body.

My heart thumps wildly within my chest, and I raise my hands in surrender. "I was only walking around, and I decided to take this path."

The man with the one eye stares around at his men, who exchange glances with him. Then he turns to look at me again.

I wonder if I can make it if I decide to fight them, bring their leader down and kill the rest, and this feels like an incredibly horrible idea. They are soldiers who outnumber me and who will be difficult to force an escape past. 

"Do you not know the law of this kingdom?" The one-eyed soldier asks me.

"What law? I have only been here for a few days."

"Everybody knows that no one is allowed to walk the King's Way in Suro Kingdom except the king himself. It is one of the first things all visitors to the capital learn, so they can be held accountable if they make a mistake. You are under arrest now, for being here."

He snaps a finger the moment he stops talking, and two men immediately grab my arms before locking it in a pair of cuffs behind me. 

"Ow. Where are you taking me?" I ask them in panic, while the wound under the bandage starts to burn and hurt again. 

"To the King. He will judge you." The one-eyed man replies.

I can't believe this. Ugh. I'm going to see him again, and so soon.

**

The soldiers take me to the White Crow's palace and lock me in a small cell that night, where I sit alone and nurse my hurting wound while listening to the chirping crickets. Inside me, my inner wolf moans and groans, while I wait for my turn to be taken before the king so I can see him for the third time in two days.

It takes hours, but eventually a lone guard shows up, and after a minute of jingling several keys in his pocket, takes one out and unlocks it. 

"The king has ordered for you to be brought to him. Come."

I offer my cuffed wrists up while wondering how easy it will be to kill the lone guard and make my escape. 

That will ruin my plans if I do.

I will be forced to return to the Akari without success in my portfolio.

I give up my plans and allow myself to be led to the courtroom, which is already empty except for the lone man sitting on the large white throne, watching us as we approach. His face, with its impassive expression, is the epitome of calm.

Finally, we reach the bottom of the steps leading up to his throne, where he watches from above. The guard who brought me turns around and leaves.

"Who are you?" He asks me when the door of the throne room is shot.

I raise my head to look, and an instant look of irritation shows on his face. "Not you again! Why do you keep showing up everywhere?"

Ouch. That hurts. 

And if that is not enough, my wolf starts to yowl from within me.

He calls for the guard, who comes in, and then asks them to remove the cuffs. They do as he asks and he then tells me to go off.

I get up, bow before him, and start out on my way out when he calls me back, looking at me with that countenance he first had when I came in, that image of composure.

"Come with me." He orders, and then leads me through a hallway that ends in a big double door. Two guards stand there, and they move aside for him the moment he draws close, pushing the doors open as well. 

What does he want to do with me...

"The guards were hard on you. Your wound has opened again." He tells me. 

I look at the shoulder where the now dead rogue bit into, and sure enough the newly wrapped white bandage is now soaked in red. Just as soon as I see it, the burning feeling starts again.

"Sit," he orders, and I do as he says, falling into a chair. My eyes observe the room we are in, and surely enough, it is the place I came to seduce him the other night.

"Breathe," he tells me again, and I do as he orders.

He is the king, after all.

"Tell me. What kind of rogue bit you?" He asks.

"He was big."

"What colour was his fur?"

"Brown. With scars."

"And his teeth?"

"I didn't notice them."

"Breathe again."

I do as he says, genuinely worried that there could be something wrong. His questions and procedures are far too practical.

"Tell me what your wound feels like? What is the pain like?"

"Burning. Mild burning.*

"Exactly. It was a venomous rogue that bit you. But don't fret. I know just what to do for you."

Oh fuck.

A venomous rogue.

I've heard of them while staying with the Willow Tree pack, and of how rare they are. They were introduced to me as a breed of wolves that bite into you and make you bleed out and then die, but the last thing I thought was that such a wolf could really attack me. 

"You have to relax," he tells me, his golden eyes so close to mine that for a moment I can see nothing but their honey colour. "You would have died walking if you started going to the pack hospital again, but you're here with me, and you're safe."

Does he care? He makes me wonder...

"Focus on one thing. Don't do anything that will make your heart race, as you could bleed even more if your heart pumps. Find something in this room and focus on it, while I drain the blood from you."

Suddenly, I realise that I can't focus on anything.

I'm falling into unconsciousness...