Throne of Honey

Chapter 3: The Wolf and the Lamb

Torches blaze on either side of me as I hurriedly walk to the town square, the shadows dancing making me slightly more paranoid than I should be. But in my head, all I could see was the puddled blood and a man who was killed simply for losing something while daydreaming. Nothing could be as crucial as stealing a soul away from the natural course. I turn my head behind me to see a tall figure coming towards me.
I feel my heart beating harder in my chest, almost in time to the hard drums in the center of our city. I turn the corner to see the entire town gathered, drinking and singing tales of times gone by. I push my way through the folk, ignoring the glares and sneers as I do so. I scan the crowd and finally spot Ellasbeth, sitting next to the King himself. Cheeks pink from either excitement or drink. More than likely both. She is going to go forward with her plan to try and become queen of all the realms, I think to myself. The King is looking into her eyes, a pleasant smile on his face as he places a long tanned finger under her chin. His hair with a long braid down his back, a few strands loose, letting his curls fall into his face as he tilts her head up and says something to her that completely entrances her, cheeks turning even redder. I turned my head away. That felt a little too private for my liking.
Abruptly, the music changes and the folk around me begin grabbing random partners and swinging them around, the colors from the gowns and jackets illuminating brighter in the torchlight and pixie dust making a rainbow of color against the plants and stone walls in the town square. Finally, someone wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me to them tightly.
My heart beats against my ribcage as they grab my left hand, gripping it so tight, I think it might break. I struggle to look up and see a face, but all I can see is a masquerade mask shaped like a wolf. I feel the arm around my waist tighten, my lungs struggling to get air. I hear a slight gasp, a pathetic gasp, and instantly know it is me. I can hear his voice in my ear, the male's voice rough and low.
"I know what you saw, little lamb."  
I can smell earth and iron on his skin. I briefly wonder if it was what all murderers smelled of.
Anyone who could see me would think I was just caught up in a lover's embrace. It is not uncommon for full-blown orgies to happen among the high court if the situation is right. They all want to be entertained through jokes, ballads, dancing, blood, and sex at the end of the day.
I need to get out of this situation, so I do the only defensive spell I can think of.
Biting my cheeks harder than I intended to, I let the blood touch my tongue and whisper an incantation to burn his blood. A bright light fills the entire room, and there are cheers and sounds of awe—all except one, who curled himself up in a ball to try and stifle the pain. I walk backward, eyes on him until I reach the street leading out of town and into the woods. I need to run now and go to the only place I know I will be safest.
Before the spell wears off and the man comes after me again. I turn and begin running. I spot the stone wall and sprint towards it. I reach my hands through the vines and quickly find the most sturdy one before climbing up. I am almost to the top when I feel a sharp tug on the hem of my dress. I let out a scream of terror and looked down to see the wolf-masked man trying to pull me down. Kicking at him, I pray to the goddess for strength before letting one hand go from the vine to my belt loop. I pull the dagger charm and whisper for it to grow. The man yanks me again, harder this time.
"This would be a lot easier if you just came with me." He barks at me.
I slice at his hand, feeling the contact and enjoying his howl of pain once I am free.
I hurriedly climb over and jump down. The impact of the high fall sends a sharp pain up my legs. I will have to worry about this later; for now, I need to get to safety.

                                        ~~~~~~~~

The atmosphere in the Trickster camp was filling my lungs as I walked under two trees in the shape of a doorway, hiding a large amount of fae folk with illusion magic. Before going through, everything just looked like a dark forest.
Afterward. . . Well, let's say it is a glorious combination of food, wine, and colors from every tent blending in perfect harmony. The sky above us has stars magnified so close that it looks as if we could reach up and touch the sky dragons themselves as they weave and out throughout the galaxies creating stars.
They used a one-of-a-kind token to create these things, but something tells me they are only preparing to show it off to the High Court.
I come up to a mid-sized tent with shades of gold and burgundy and push open the curtain, the strands of bells jingling as I do so.