Luna
Needless to say, our training stopped after Blaire chanced in on us. Indrik shuddered, his shoulders slumping once Blaire was gone. "That was a close call." He breathed. He straightened and looked around the yard, releasing another shaky breath. "We cannot continue to use this place for training. It is too dangerous." "Really? I didn't know you were scared of deers." I commented. He turned toward me with a dry look as though considering how my head would look on a stake. He sighed. "Of course not." He grumbled. "I was scared for you. If word gets out that you are training me..." He trailed off. "What are you talking about?" He sighed. The day was becoming brighter more quickly now which allowed me to see the tortured look he gave me. I knew more than ever now that there was something he was hiding from me. "What are you so afraid of?" I pushed carefully, afraid that he would cover his ears and start crying about voices again. He looked into the trees in which birds were starting to chirp and digged his hands into the robe which he had slipped back on. "One of the reasons why I took so long to unlock my wolf," he paused, giving me a look like he was scared I would pick offense. I nodded for him to continue, "I couldn't because no one would train me. There is a ban, a law, a curse? I don't know. It stops masters from training me on pain of death. With this hanging over my head, nobody dared to train me." He shrugged. "Wasn't worth the risk." "So..." I started, staring at the horizon which was starting to change from a dark blue color to a lighter shade. "You mean I am going to die for training you?" I asked simply. "No, of course not." He shook his head vigorously. "The curse or whatever it is is only binding on members of this pack or wolves in general which you are not, which is why I brought you here. Besides, you are my master." "What a relief. I am going to die because my master decided I wasn't as important as a wolf." I kicked a pebble which hit the giant tree in the center with a dull thump. "No, Luna." His eyes widened with terror. "I mean master. I would never let anything happen to you. The only way harm would ever come to you is if you were caught training me and that would never happen. I will make sure of it." "Great way of making sure of that." I waved around. I wasn't exactly happy about realizing my life was hanging on a pendulum for training my master. Sure, I had risked my life to free his wolf but I had chosen to do that. This? This felt like trickery. "I'm sorry. I didn't think..." He rubbed the back of his neck, something I had noticed he usually did when he was nervous. "I have a hideout, okay? Somewhere nobody knows about. I can take you there. We will be able to train without interruption there." He offered but I still fidgeted. It wasn't everyday you got to learn that you had been putting your life on the line with everything you had been doing without even knowing. "Please?" His eyes burned with misery. I looked up at the tree where two birds were chasing themselves around. The yard that had formerly had no sound except ours had now burst out into a cacophony of sounds. The sky itself had taken on an orange and golden hue. "Let's go get you ready. It is almost time for breakfast." He looked like he was going to argue but he changed his mind and blew air into his hands. "Alright!" He whispered faintly, looking rather crestfallen. I felt sorry for him but I myself needed some space to think. Even as I thought of the idea, I knew that it was ridiculous, considering that he was my master and I didn't really have many other choices but the thought that I had a choice made me feel good. "Come on." I urged. In the daylight, I could see just how much of a toll the training had taken on him which made me feel glad that Blaire had not noticed it. Dried blood caked his face, some smeared on his forehead, some on his nose and some on his chin. Due to his new found healing powers, he had no scars but he would be better off washing away all of that before someone else saw it. His purple robe was not spared from the assault as well. Having been tied around his head, it had soaked in some of the blood as well. Together with dried twigs and dirt that stuck to it, it managed to qualify for the look that would give its washer a lot of work to do. In this case, my humble self. I grimaced. "Let's go before somebody else wakes up." My heart was hanging on the tip of my tongue the rest of the journey to the room in fear that we would run into Jamil, or Ulo, or Blaire, or heavens forbid, Beta Green. I had no doubt that he would wring my neck if he saw his ward in this state, after all, who else would hurt Indrik if not his 'crazy maid'. Much to my relief, we did not run into anyone, or anything for that matter. Against the backdrop of the yard, the row of rooms seemed especially sleepy and silent. I ducked into Indrik's room, pulling him after me. I hurried to prepare his bath water, my exhaustion growing insignificant in the face of possible execution. The whole while, Indrik sat on the bed looking like he had just fell face first into a huge pile of horse poop. Trust me, I could tell you just how much of a bad mood that could work you into.LunaIndrik did not seem to appreciate my attempts to brighten his mood which included preparing bath water that was a little bit too hot. He had been so distracted that he had not noticed the rolling steam until he dipped a leg in. He retrieved it faster than a little child who had been playing with fire would withdraw once the fire burned too hot. I had been expecting a smile of sorts but the extremely cold look that I was gifted instead got me running to get more water. I gave up when my joke of replacing his robes with lady Blaire's pink gown did not work either. He just did not know much humour. I couldn't help feeling sorry for whoever his bride was going to be. Finally, I led a glum master to breakfast. He seemed to have decided that his first breakfast with the others after what seemed like ages ago would be better celebrated with a huge frown. Frankly, I couldn't blame him for that. If I had a family like that too, well... And no, I am not being sentimental. The Beta who I h
IndrikI was scared. More scared than I had ever been in my entire life which was saying a lot because I had spent my entire life living in fear. Fear of never being more than a weak wolf who was the butt of everyone's joke. Fear of always being tormented by my half brother. Fear of dying from a simple cold. Fear, fear, fear, that had always been a recurring theme in my life. Something that I hated but could not do without anymore than I could do without breathing. You would think I would have mastered the art of fear by now. Wait a minute, is there anything like that? Forget that. My point is, now, I felt so scared, it paralyzed me. I had only just started to get my life in order, started to reach my dreams and suddenly, my master tells me she won't be training me anymore? My whole world seemed to be crashing around me and it really wasn't a pretty feeling. And then, Leon had come along again, reminding me of my weakness and that even if I had my wolf now, I would still always be th
IndrikWords could not possibly begin to express how much joy flooded my heart when Luna told me that but another thought stopped me cold. "When you say that, you mean..." I gulped, not having the heart to put it into words. "Are you going to show me or not?" Her face was expressionless, leaving me dangling precariously on the precipice of uncertainty. "Uhh... alright." I muttered. It wasn't like I had that much to lose anyway. Well, except for the fact that I was taking her to someplace that no one else, not even my closest friends, was privy to. "So, should we go now?" I crawled out of bed. "No!" She made a gagging face as she looked pointedly at me. I looked down and would have crawled into the earth if I wasn't held back by my skin. I looked like a mess. My robes had become so soaked with dried sweat that white lines snaked across it like cobwebs. My hair felt like it had been glued to my head with tree sap. Everything about me felt sweaty and dirty. "You should go get yoursel
IndrikAs I led Luna through the winding paths that I had only ever walked by myself, it felt rather surreal. Like I was exposing a part of myself that only I had ever known. A part that I had been too scared to share with anyone else. And the most scary thing was that I did not care. If anything, I wanted to show her even more. Wasn't sure she would want to see more though judging by the hay straws that had threaded their way into her hair. Stepping out of the oaken door that led out of the other end of the palace, I stared at the row of tall, thick trees that formed a green and brown wall several feet away. I was hit, as I always was by the ethereal aura that filled this place. It had the ambience of a place that had been left untouched by anyone, both human and wolf for a long time. I could see signs of this place having been used by someone or some people before, a four feet wide entrance that was flanked by tree stumps that led into the heart of the trees. This entrance was easy
LunaWhen my master led me into the horse stables, I thought, "of course! What better place to have a hideout that no one else knew about than in the stables." (I mean, most people preferred their horses when they were outside, looking prim and proper and ready for a ride, not when they were here, reeking of hay, and well, horse. You would understand if I don't want to go into details about what the 'horse' part means. Not that I minded horses, I mean, I did stop by with Lea for a quick greeting.) Then, he had continued right on to the last stable and pushed in. I had hesitated, wondering if my master had meant horse fundament when he mentioned a hideout. Then, he had walked over to the wall and pushed a door open. I had been so shocked, I had gotten a mini vertigo. Sure, I hadn't really been a frequent visitor of the stables but I had taken in the compartment after he went in and could have sworn the door hadn't been there a second before. "You coming?" He had called, extending his
LunaI stared at Indrik like he had suddenly grown two horns before turning my attention back to the grove and studying them for any signs of them being damaged. I frowned as I noticed a break in the line of trees to the center of the grove. Where there were supposed to be trees, there were creeper plants instead. They had grown very thick and were barely moved by occasional gusts of wind but their presence still stuck out as what they were, a piece of skin that had grown to replace a wound. My heart bubbled with anger as I glared at Indrik, trying my best to keep my temper in check. "What did you do to the trees?" I growled. He stared at me in confusion but I was in no mood for that as I hissed in irritation. "Why did you cut those trees?" I asked again, barely able to hold back from hitting him so hard in his face as to send him back into a coma. "Oh, that." He started casually then froze as he realized I wasn't joking. "I found it that way. Promise. I have tried my best to not to
BlaireIf my chest were like a sack, I would cut it open and remove my heart. If my heart were not so good at serving two goals, pumping blood and making big deals out of nothing, I would have removed it and crushed it into a thousand pieces. If my heart could be removed, I would wash it clean, turn it inside out and wash it clean again before returning it into my chest. Maybe then, I would stop being hunted by these terrible emotions. Maybe then, I wouldn't feel so strongly about everything that I saw. Maybe then, I wouldn't spend every day stewing away in my own tears, but sadly, all of these are but thoughts. My body is made of flesh and bones, thoughts and feelings, things that were not so easily expunged. I sat in the swing, my legs dangling just above the ground, my head resting on its arm, my hand holding its weight. To say I was lost in thoughts would be an epic understatement. Right now, emotions were swirling within me like an overheated pot of thick soup. Each bubble sent
Blaire"What are you doing out here?" A voice asked, nearly sending me rolling out of my swing. For a very blissful moment, I thought that the voice was Indrik's. Maybe I wasn't so pathetic after all. My cheeks warmed as my heart started to beat like a drum being beaten by several hands in perfect rhythm. My lips curled in a brilliant smile as I jumped out of the swing and turned around certain that he had learned his mistake. His maid had shown him her true colours and he had returned to me, the only one who would ever truly accept him with open arms. I could barely hold my legs from knocking against each other in my excitement."Ind..." I started, opening my arms but the rest of the words died in my throat as I spotted the person who had spoken. I dropped my arms and my face froze as an involuntary scowl settled on my face. "Ulo!" I called coldly, the name rolling off my tongue like food that had undergone a major existential crisis in the kitchen. "Sorry!" He muttered, his hands s