Mood

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.