Megan walked slowly, one foot in front of the other. One of the many differences between this day and her wedding day five years ago was that she was walking down by herself. Her dad was in the audience, looking at her with sad eyes, very different from the love-filled eyes he looked at her with five years ago. Another major difference was she was wearing black, not white.She kept her head up high, refusing to look dejected or sad in any way. She was going to be remembered as the queen who did not show any emotion on the day of her divorce. She was going to keep her ‘heartless queen’ role until she dropped the crown officially.Megan got to the foot of the small flight of stairs where, on top was Richardson and the Priest who looked as though he could pass on any moment. That was how old the priest was.
Everyone’s mouth was moving and Megan could barely make out one coherent sentence. She would be lying if she said she did not feel overwhelmed. All her life she had acted and done as she was tole, she was never the recipient of the majority’s displeasure.She found her mother’s eyes in the ruckus and they held eye contact. She knew in that moment that her mother understood and that was all she cared about in that moment, nothing else.Rhode squeezed her hand as though to get attention. She had forgotten that he was right beside her and holding her hand.“Do we leave now?” A disinterested Rhode asked Megan. Noticing how bored he looked she giggled, “I would need to sign the divorce papers. I will be with you shortly.”She turned b
“I’m sorry. I do not know why I am crying,” Megan said. She removed her hand from Rhode’s and tried to catch the tears streaming down her face. She felt embarrassed to be crying in front of him.“It is okay. You are probably crying because you will miss your home, your Kingdom. Anyone would.” Rhode said, trying to console her.Megan looked flush and her face was beet red, with her nose an even deeper shade of red. He had no idea that a person could become so red and here Megan was in front of him.She caught him staring and looked down shyly. Her reaction made Rhode feel a type of way as it felt like she did not want to be seen by him but he quickly understood. She had probably never cried in front of anyone before. It was a vulnerable thing to do for anyone, especially Megan.
Rhode met Megan at the foot of the slope and stood beside her, “I would never get tired of this view.” He said, looking at the stream.“Neither can I.” Megan agreed with him, he turned his head to look at Megan. Her hair strands were moving across her face too.Her hair style was different today. It looked more natural and less regal, made up. Perhaps she had done it herself?Suddenly, the couple heard the sound of horses. The other carriages had arrived and stopped behind the last carriage that was parked.Megan turned her head to look, she was searching for her ladies, Brianna and Rosetta.Both ladies came down from a smaller carriage along with another lady from the West. Rosetta sighted them and wa
Rhode turned his head in the direction of the voice that just called his name. It was already dark out and the lampposts were not all lit. He could not exactly make out the figure of the person standing in the darkness.“Over here.” The lady said again as she stepped out from the shadows. It was a young lady with blonde hair and of a small stature wearing the clothes of the inn workers.Rhode stood, wondering who it was as her face had not yet come into view. When she was a few feet away from him, he finally caught the view of her face, “Melody.”“Hi.” The young lady said, smiling as she looked up at Rhode.“Fancy seeing you here.” She added, “It has been how long now?” She asked, trying to make conversation.“I am not sure.” Rhode responded, he was still surprised to have met her here.“I know it has at least been 3 years. You are King now, or so the rumors say.” Melody said.“So they say.” He said and paused before adding, “How long have you been here, Melody? You disappeared all th
She paused and said, “I couldn’t.”“I insist.” Rhode said and reached for his bag, bringing out a wrapped piece of pastry.Melody took one look at Rhode and Brian who gave a small nod, “thank you.” She said and took the food from Rhode’s hand.“You can sit.” Rhode said to her and she took a quick seat in front of both men. She unwrapped the pastry and the fresh scent of the pastry hit her nostrils, “it’s fresh!” She said excitedly and Brian smiled, “we use a special wrapper that traps the heat. It remains fresh for up to ten days.” He told Melody.“I see.” She said, “Thank you.”She bit down on the pastry an
Megan stood at her opened door visibly taken aback.“Hello.” Megan said awkwardly, who was this girl?Melody stood at the door, looking at Megan as if studying her features. The encounter made Megan greatly uncomfortable.Megan broke the silence and said, “Do you work here? Are you here for something?” She asked Melody, referring to her uniform.“No.” Melody simply said.Megan looked at the girl and was beginning to feel creeped out, Margaret assured her that the inn was safe and secure. There was a strange girl standing outside her door who was just looking at her and she was unsure of how to handle the situation.“Okay. Well, goodb
“How was your night?” Rhode asked as he took his seat opposite her.Megan was wearing a red dress that complimented her deep red hair. From what he say, it was a flowy dress with an accentuated neckline. The glimpse of her neckline he saw was exquisite. She was showing a bit more skin than she did when she was still queen of the East and he was not opposed to it.She looked divine in everything.“I slept well.” She said and took a breath, “How did you sleep?” She asked in return. Megan was unsure of how to ask him about Melody. If they were still lovers, she did not want to make it seem as though she was interrogating him on his history with women before her. She was married to a man just a day before after all.“I-”
Rhode had never been so glad to see the borders of the West before. He had never thought he would feel the pang of relief he was feeling now as he stared at the border sign half a mile away in clear distance. He was happy to know that he had delivered on his words. He was happy to know that he was finally claiming exclusive rights to the West's territorial seas. It was a piece of the West that was closely coveted by other packs, and now, by a stroke of luck and Richardson's gullibility, the seas were in the palm of his hands.It was something his grandfather had tried to attain even when the West was not at its peak and failed, his father the same thing, even down to his brother, he was just relieved that he could fulfill their dreams at last.He had also done it for Megan back home, the sea would be a gift to her as he finally takes her to the altar after his return. Ge briefly thought about what his council men would say, before swiftly shaking off the thought. He cared nothing for
“What in the moon above do you think you are doing, Lord Fuhler?!” Megan yelled in righteous fury as she rose up from her seat to descend upon Lord Fuhler in all her rage.He was such an imbecile, to strike a woman barely out of labor, and Megan was filled with a strange kind of disgust for him.“She called me a teller of tales!” Lord Fuhler yelled back, causing Megan to scoff as she turned her head to look at Marcel standing solidly behind her.“Restrain him!” Megan yelled again, her eyes burning with power. She was not usually this explosive generally, but striking a woman fresh out of the labor room was crossing the line.Marcel was quick to do as she commanded because In the next instant, he was next to Fuhler, and gripped his upper arm tightly, causing Fuhler's face to turn a furious purple.“Slow down, your majesty.” The cautious voice of Lord Rosebud roused Megan from her angry haze, and she turned around to glance in his direction, before giving him a subtle nod.“This lady is
“What is going on here?!” Megan yelled as she burst through the heavy doors that shielded the council room and was met with a horde of people as they pushed around and demanded justice.“Nice to finally have your attention, my queen.” Lord Fuhler grinned with a mocking bow, and Megan frowned. Everything about the statement and situation was wrong. He had never acknowledged her as queen before, and the entire court was in chaos when he finally did.When the crowd heard the word “queen” they turned their anger on her and demanded justice in garbled tones jumbled together. It was a disaster.Megan looked around her quickly for Lord Rosebud. He was the only council man she trusted after all, and the crowd were looking more than hostile as they threatened to lynch and destroy.With her head tucked forward with determination, Megan tried to use her eyes to locate Lord Rosebud quickly before Lord Fuhler found the time to launch his newest schemes that were undoubtedly designed to hurt her.“
The carcass of the dead beast was dragged in by a dozen wolves as they tried to reel it back to camp. The smell of blood was still heavy on the air, and Rhode was already back in his human form as he stood silently and watched the efforts made to thrust up their newest kill.Rhode could not help but smile. The kill was big enough to feed his men for the night, so it was a win. As he sat under the silver sky, he could not help but wonder how Megan was faring. His last decision to put her in power was born out of impulse, which shocked him, he was never a man of impulse after all, or maybe he was and just did not know it, but one thing was for sure, there would be consequences.William rushed over to stand beside him silently, but Rhode sighed in exhaustion, a sudden weariness creeping into his bones because he knew for a fact that if he continuously failed to get his affairs in order, then he would end up like his brother, leaving Megan widowed and abandoned in a foreign land. She ha
Rhode stared at the happy faces of his men under the moonlight. They were all at home right then, even if they were miles away from their families and loved ones. Being civilized was the price they all had to pay for the life they had, but at times they were all overcome by a deep and dark sense of nostalgia that urged them to throw everything away and become one with the moon and the untamed creature within.It was something every wolf experienced as they were often forced to suppress their primal nature in order to live as civilized men. But it was more prevalent in men, so he knew every man under the sound of his voice could feel what he felt.He turned to look at Brian and noticed the light finally coming back to his features after days and weeks of endless court intrigues.He could only hope that Megan was alright back in the palace. He felt selfish for enjoying such a feeling of freedom without her but knew that he shouldn't. It was not what she would want, he could tell.He had
Rhode was already exhausted as he could feel his thighs chapping with every move of the horse he was on. He was not a novice rider by any chance, in fact he had learned how to handle a saddle before he could even shift into the creature that resided inside of him, but even the most seasoned horse rider would have gotten sick of being on top of the beast by now.He knew that if he was feeling this tired, and yet shockingly restless, then his men must be having it worse. They had been on the saddle for three days and three nights with no breaks in between after all.“How are you holding up?” Rhode turned to ask the surprisingly young man that rode by his left hand side. The young man was responsible for holding on to his armor, and by rights should not be able to keep up with his men, but Rhode was shocked by the dogged determination the boy had been exhibiting.“I am alright, alpha.” The boy answered, his voice tight with strain, and Rhode had to smile at this. They could converse now
Richardson could not help but gloat at the sight of the left state counselor's triumphant face. The man believed he had won, believing that with a few well placed strikes he had managed to disarm Richardson, which almost caused the alpha to gloat at his beady face.“We are going to squash the Faes!” Right stare counselor yelled, his eyes alight with a fierce light, and Richardson could not help but grin at the sight before him.He knew why they were so happy, knew that it had nothing to do with submerging the Faes and everything to do with the planned coup they planned on carrying out against him, and he could not help but grin bitterly.“Alpha, this could only mean one thing.” His trusted advisor Roderick murmured in his ear. But Richardson was unmoved, Roderick was not telling him anything he did not already know, so it kind of dampened the whole dramatics.“It will be alright.” Richardson shrugged, his expression carefully blank, trying to give nothing away.He knew that any slight
It felt like Aspen had been travelling on the rocky roads for days. Some days they strayed towards civilization, but her scruffy companion for some reason insisted that they kept closer to the swamp. A fact that never failed to rouse Aspen’s ire. She was with child, and more filthy and disgusting than she had ever been, and what was worse? She was expected to be okay with it! She had once tried to voice her concerns, but her scruffy companion simply stared at her with beady unsympathetic eyes that were void of any true desire to make her life more comfortable.“Wait! Slow down you bumble head!” Aspen yelled out raspily. Her voice was gone from serious dehydration. At this point she was seriously beginning to fear for the health of her poor baby.“Look, you could dawdle here all you want and wait for our captors to catch up with you, but I'm not going to do that with you, so I think we should part ways here.” Rudolph said firmly, his eyes unwavering, and Aspen gulped. She had no idea
Megan watched as Rhode and his army of about five hundred soldiers mount their horses they were intending to ride to the west. A lot of petitions were made for him to increase the number of warriors going with him, especially from Megan herself, but he did not take heed. Megan knew he did not wish to leave her defenseless so he was going without the appropriate amount of protection, and her love for him grew.Be safe out there.She nodded as he turned to find her in the crowd, he heard her, and he showed her by returning her firm nod.I will.It was an exchange of trust, so Megan tried to bite down on her anxiety as she wished she was not pregnant at the moment. It rendered her vulnerable, and Vulnerability was not entertained in the East.“He is really leaving.” Brianna whispered from where she stood behind Megan, and Rosetta nodded, her face lacking its usual cheer and awash with somberity.Megan could not help but wonder what caused such expression to overcome someone like Rosetta