As we headed to the healers’ common chamber, three human women jumped out of a small door I hadn’t noticed before. They bowed before Tilda without really stopping their trot toward my room, carrying all their cleaning elements.
Marla and the other wolves convinced me to lay down in one of the small side rooms. Tilda made me drink the speedwell tea and I couldn’t help dozing off.
I jolted awake in the middle of the night, still in the healers’ chambers. I ignored my aching cuts as a swung the covers away. Then I breathed deep and tried to calm down.
I felt numb. My splinted arm hurt and throbbed, the shawl tied so tight I didn’t feel that hand anymore. The fingers in my other hand tingled, and the movement to grab the covers sent shocks of pain up to my elbow.
I was alone in the small side room. No lights and no sounds coming from the main chamber. I waited till my eyes adjusted to the shadows. Then I got up and tiptoed across
I spent the whole day in my room, with Aine looking after me and Tilda’s periodic visits to check on me. She agreed to let me have my arms without any dressing, only keeping the splinted one in the sling.Aine turned out to be the best company ever. She helped me wash and wear a loose sleeveless petticoat she’d brought. The fireplace kept the room temperature so well, I only needed a shawl around my shoulders.While we were having lunch, she couldn’t fight her curiosity back any longer and started asking me questions. So I ended up telling her about Lily, Selene and Aurora.“So there’s still one of them roaming free in the castle?” she cried.“Remember the girl who brought us tea the other day?”“That’s why she stared at you like that!”“I’m afraid so.”In the afternoon, she helped me sit by the window with one of the books she’d brought, and tol
I straightened up, a hand covering my closed eyes, as he came closer. He rested his hands on my shoulders and brushed my hair to the side with his nose to kiss my neck. I shivered with a shaky sigh.“What happened to the ribbon I sent you?” he asked in my ear, gently moving my hand away from my face.“I don’t know, my lord. I can’t remember where I left it.”I was still speaking when he covered my eyes with a ribbon wider than the white one I’d found. He tied it behind my head and his lips brushed my neck again.“Open your eyes,” he whispered.I did and saw only darkness.“Did you have another black one with you?” I asked, surprised.“It was on the mantelpiece,” he replied, amused.“Oh!”I had no chance to speak any further, because he lifted me carefully in his arms to take me back to bed.“You’re supposed to res
“The other girl!” the princess growled through clenched teeth. “Aine says the girl tried to keep her from sharing your dinner.”I nodded, closing my eyes, and folded my arms against my chest, feeling cold. I heard a shuffle and something heavy covered me. The door opened again, and I recognized Tilda’s footsteps, coming up to leave something on the table. The princess pressed my hand.“You were right, child,” she said. “What’s in your leftovers is no clove. Rest now. I’ll take care of it personally. Those little bitches won’t hurt you ever again.”“Room…” I muttered.“Your guardian can’t come see you in broad daylight,” she whispered.I nodded and tried to shrugged. She scoffed.“Aye, aye. I’ll have it cleaned so they can take you back there.”I opened my eyes out of sheer surprise when she kissed my forehead.
“It was quite a racket,” Aine said in her merry way. “The humans almost have a mass heart attack when Mom summoned them and demanded them to tell who had poisoned our food. None of them hesitated to finger that little bitch. She fell down on her knees, crying and begging for mercy. She was so shameless to admit what she’d done, but insisted she only intended to harm you, not me. Picture that!”I shook my head, scoffing. It was so like Aurora. Of course she would. After abusing me her whole life, she didn’t see anything wrong about harming me.“So Mom sent all the cooks in that shift to the cleaning area, to scrub floors until further notice. And they should be thankful, because my uncle wanted to kick them all out, from the castle and even the Dale.” Aine noticed my questioning frown. “My uncle. You know, the Alpha.”Her words reminded me of something I’d seen.“He was at Tilda&
The next week was some kind of oasis after my arrival in the castle.I recovered from the intoxication, the cuts in my arm and face healed, and my other arm seemed almost ready to be free from the splints.I spent the mornings with the healers, the afternoons with Aine, and the nights with the wolf. For the first time ever, I didn’t miss the quietness of the cave, and I was starting to feel that living in the castle wouldn’t be as bad as I feared over my first days.It was during those quiet days that Tilda noticed I had the wrong idea about the human women serving in the castle. I thought they were exploited by the wolves, so she took the time to explain to me how the whole thing worked.They lived in Iria, which means fruitful land, a beautiful little town three miles south of the castle, in houses they shared with two or three roommates.Nobody worked more than six hours a day, five days a week, with two full free days. It w
“Am I in time for dinner?” he whispered in my ear.“They just brought it, my lord,” I muttered, tilting my head to give him better access to my neck.He made me sit on the bed and left me there. I heard him open the window, and if my ears were right, he climbed to the table. He went out the window and came back in twice. I waited, holding back my curiosity. Soon he was back, and I heard him take off his clothes and change.Then he licked my cheek, pushing my blindfold up. I took it off and scratched his neck, chuckling.“What are you up to, my lord?”He licked my face again and jumped onto the table. Thank God it was a sturdy piece of furniture and didn’t break, though it creaked under his weight. The wolf glanced at me with his fore legs on the windowsill, wagged his tail and jumped out. I followed.Just like the healers’ chambers, my windows too opened a few inches over the ground of the mead
The next morning, Tilda looked satisfied after checking my arm and removed the splints. I still needed the sling, but I was glad those hard sticks were gone. After breakfast, she gave me a sheet of paper, written in big, clear letters.“Can you read it?” she asked.Being able to read all the words almost without errors made me feel good. It was a list of kitchen condiments they didn’t grow in the medicinal garden.“Ronda is going to the kitchens. Go with her and bring me those, please.”I nodded with a big grin. They’d finally allow me to venture further than their chambers and my room! I grabbed the basket Tilda handed me and hurried out to the healers’ chambers, where I found Ronda waiting for me.She took me to the door to the garden and opened a big inner door to a broad bend in the hallway, that ran parallel to the outside wall. Windows opened in that door every few steps, letting in the daylight that
*Dale is an old English name for a narrow valleyThe distant sound of galloping hooves disturbed the deep silence of the night on the prairie, where the tall grass rippled in the cold northern wind toward the trees. The forest poured down from the hills enclosing the only access to the narrow valley, ending at the high plain like a wall of darkness under the clouded moon.Two dozen shadows climbed past the last slope to the prairie, staggering as they tried to run toward the woods, their trembling voices trying to encourage each other.“The Red Woods!”“The Dale is right there!”“One last run!”“Don’t stop now!”The fugitives stumbled toward the other end of the prairie, where the shadows of the forest promised shelter. Men and women, even children, they were all dirty and barefoot, injured, eyes wide in terror. The fittest runners sprinted ahead while families tried to stay together, pulling by the hand the weaker and younger ones.Among them, the smith pressed his wife’s hand, as sh
The next morning, Tilda looked satisfied after checking my arm and removed the splints. I still needed the sling, but I was glad those hard sticks were gone. After breakfast, she gave me a sheet of paper, written in big, clear letters.“Can you read it?” she asked.Being able to read all the words almost without errors made me feel good. It was a list of kitchen condiments they didn’t grow in the medicinal garden.“Ronda is going to the kitchens. Go with her and bring me those, please.”I nodded with a big grin. They’d finally allow me to venture further than their chambers and my room! I grabbed the basket Tilda handed me and hurried out to the healers’ chambers, where I found Ronda waiting for me.She took me to the door to the garden and opened a big inner door to a broad bend in the hallway, that ran parallel to the outside wall. Windows opened in that door every few steps, letting in the daylight that
“Am I in time for dinner?” he whispered in my ear.“They just brought it, my lord,” I muttered, tilting my head to give him better access to my neck.He made me sit on the bed and left me there. I heard him open the window, and if my ears were right, he climbed to the table. He went out the window and came back in twice. I waited, holding back my curiosity. Soon he was back, and I heard him take off his clothes and change.Then he licked my cheek, pushing my blindfold up. I took it off and scratched his neck, chuckling.“What are you up to, my lord?”He licked my face again and jumped onto the table. Thank God it was a sturdy piece of furniture and didn’t break, though it creaked under his weight. The wolf glanced at me with his fore legs on the windowsill, wagged his tail and jumped out. I followed.Just like the healers’ chambers, my windows too opened a few inches over the ground of the mead
The next week was some kind of oasis after my arrival in the castle.I recovered from the intoxication, the cuts in my arm and face healed, and my other arm seemed almost ready to be free from the splints.I spent the mornings with the healers, the afternoons with Aine, and the nights with the wolf. For the first time ever, I didn’t miss the quietness of the cave, and I was starting to feel that living in the castle wouldn’t be as bad as I feared over my first days.It was during those quiet days that Tilda noticed I had the wrong idea about the human women serving in the castle. I thought they were exploited by the wolves, so she took the time to explain to me how the whole thing worked.They lived in Iria, which means fruitful land, a beautiful little town three miles south of the castle, in houses they shared with two or three roommates.Nobody worked more than six hours a day, five days a week, with two full free days. It w
“It was quite a racket,” Aine said in her merry way. “The humans almost have a mass heart attack when Mom summoned them and demanded them to tell who had poisoned our food. None of them hesitated to finger that little bitch. She fell down on her knees, crying and begging for mercy. She was so shameless to admit what she’d done, but insisted she only intended to harm you, not me. Picture that!”I shook my head, scoffing. It was so like Aurora. Of course she would. After abusing me her whole life, she didn’t see anything wrong about harming me.“So Mom sent all the cooks in that shift to the cleaning area, to scrub floors until further notice. And they should be thankful, because my uncle wanted to kick them all out, from the castle and even the Dale.” Aine noticed my questioning frown. “My uncle. You know, the Alpha.”Her words reminded me of something I’d seen.“He was at Tilda&
“The other girl!” the princess growled through clenched teeth. “Aine says the girl tried to keep her from sharing your dinner.”I nodded, closing my eyes, and folded my arms against my chest, feeling cold. I heard a shuffle and something heavy covered me. The door opened again, and I recognized Tilda’s footsteps, coming up to leave something on the table. The princess pressed my hand.“You were right, child,” she said. “What’s in your leftovers is no clove. Rest now. I’ll take care of it personally. Those little bitches won’t hurt you ever again.”“Room…” I muttered.“Your guardian can’t come see you in broad daylight,” she whispered.I nodded and tried to shrugged. She scoffed.“Aye, aye. I’ll have it cleaned so they can take you back there.”I opened my eyes out of sheer surprise when she kissed my forehead.
I straightened up, a hand covering my closed eyes, as he came closer. He rested his hands on my shoulders and brushed my hair to the side with his nose to kiss my neck. I shivered with a shaky sigh.“What happened to the ribbon I sent you?” he asked in my ear, gently moving my hand away from my face.“I don’t know, my lord. I can’t remember where I left it.”I was still speaking when he covered my eyes with a ribbon wider than the white one I’d found. He tied it behind my head and his lips brushed my neck again.“Open your eyes,” he whispered.I did and saw only darkness.“Did you have another black one with you?” I asked, surprised.“It was on the mantelpiece,” he replied, amused.“Oh!”I had no chance to speak any further, because he lifted me carefully in his arms to take me back to bed.“You’re supposed to res
I spent the whole day in my room, with Aine looking after me and Tilda’s periodic visits to check on me. She agreed to let me have my arms without any dressing, only keeping the splinted one in the sling.Aine turned out to be the best company ever. She helped me wash and wear a loose sleeveless petticoat she’d brought. The fireplace kept the room temperature so well, I only needed a shawl around my shoulders.While we were having lunch, she couldn’t fight her curiosity back any longer and started asking me questions. So I ended up telling her about Lily, Selene and Aurora.“So there’s still one of them roaming free in the castle?” she cried.“Remember the girl who brought us tea the other day?”“That’s why she stared at you like that!”“I’m afraid so.”In the afternoon, she helped me sit by the window with one of the books she’d brought, and tol
As we headed to the healers’ common chamber, three human women jumped out of a small door I hadn’t noticed before. They bowed before Tilda without really stopping their trot toward my room, carrying all their cleaning elements.Marla and the other wolves convinced me to lay down in one of the small side rooms. Tilda made me drink the speedwell tea and I couldn’t help dozing off.I jolted awake in the middle of the night, still in the healers’ chambers. I ignored my aching cuts as a swung the covers away. Then I breathed deep and tried to calm down.I felt numb. My splinted arm hurt and throbbed, the shawl tied so tight I didn’t feel that hand anymore. The fingers in my other hand tingled, and the movement to grab the covers sent shocks of pain up to my elbow.I was alone in the small side room. No lights and no sounds coming from the main chamber. I waited till my eyes adjusted to the shadows. Then I got up and tiptoed across
“Tell me what happened,” Marla demanded.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Selene shook her head and shrugged.“I don’t know, my lady. I was here, scrubbing the floor, when that— the— she climbed on the stool and fell.”“And what did you do when she fell?”“My lady?”“Almond had time to come all the way from the closet and try to help Joy before we got here. But we found you here, still holding that brush. You didn’t even try to help her.”“I— What do you mean, my lady?”Marla snorted, her patience wearing thin.“How did she fall?” she asked.“I don’t know, my lady. She lost her balance?”“That’s plain to see. What made her lose her balance?”“I don’t know, my lady.”Marla sniffed the air and flashed a smirk that would’ve worrie