Forgotten

Chapter 13

Cover to the side made by preserved_peaches.

Chapter Thirteen

Kale watched from his window as Dauphine hugged her Aunt goodbye. He doubted the Queens decision to let her sister take Pete home. He was afraid. What if Pete now shared in his curse? Lilith would be in grave danger. But how could he even begin to try and convince them to keep him here? He shook his head and turned away from the window.

Dauphine smiled as the carriage pulled away with her Aunt and Pete. He was still mostly unconscious and somehow the fact that his wounds had miraculously vanished overnight didn't make her feel any better.

She turned back and stepped into the castle. She stood in front of the door for a few minutes, mostly just listening. Her Mother had disappeared with Esme and Alexis and Eduar went into the kitchen, giggling among themselves. Dauphine didn't know how she felt. Her stomach was in knots and she had spent most of the night crying.

She started up the stairs on her way to her room, when Kale met her midway.

"Dauphine?" he looked down at her worried face, her eyes seemed puffy like she had been crying. "Are you okay?" she simply nodded, not trusting that she wouldn't cry again if she spoke.

Kale moved closer, reaching out and cupping her cheek with his hand. "It'll be okay." He tried sounding sincere, trying to keep his own doubts to himself. She whimpered and he immediately pulled her closer, folding his arms around her.

Dauphine closed her eyes, enjoying him so close to her. He was warm and smelled like the forest; it made her feel a lot better. She sighed and he pulled away. "I have to leave for a while, but when I get back, we have to talk about...us. Is that okay?"

Dauphine nodded her head, something in his voice made her feel uneasy. "Okay," she managed.

Kale also nodded and for a while they just stood there. Then he just left, moving past her and out the front door. She frowned making her way to her room.

—-

With the help of a neighboring farmer, Lilith laid Pete down in his bed. He grunted, but his eyes remained closed. She walked with the farmer out the door and waved him goodbye. "Thank you so much, Paul, send my greetings to your wife." She watched as he disappeared into the fields and walked back into her house.

She sighed, standing in her kitchen. She felt useless; she didn't know what to do. Sighing again she walked into Pete's room. Surprised, she found him awake and standing. "Pete!" he jerked his head up and stared at her. For a few seconds, Lilith thought that he didn't recognize her. But he opened his mouth. "Mother?"

Pete widened his eyes. Everything was different to him. He knew he was in his childhood room, but nothing felt or even looked the same. And when his Mother came in, her voice was different and she was different. "Pete, are you okay?"

He took a step towards her. "I feel...fine. What happened?" suddenly he remembered, he saw claws and felt them tearing at his skin. "Dauphine? Where is she?" he stormed out of the room. Lilith quickly followed, stopping him just as he was about to leave the house. "Pete, wait, Dauphine is fine, she's safe with her Mom and the King."

Pete turned to his Mother, a frown on his face. His heart was racing he held his hands up to his face, watching his pulse under his skin. "What happened?" a sharp pain suddenly erupted in his stomach. "Mom!" he screamed, falling to the floor clutching his body.

Lilith stormed forward. "What's wrong?" she touched his shoulder and he screamed again. Pete threw out his hand, sending his Mother flying into the wall. His vision blurred and his breathing quickened and then within seconds the pain was gone. He looked around him, taking in everything around him like he was seeing it for the first time. He moved forward and suddenly realized he was standing on four feet.

Lilith got to her feet, she whimpered as she watched her son, or rather the wolf that stood in his place. "Pete?" she couldn't understand, what had happened? How does this happen? His head snapped into her direction and he growled.

He leaped at her, pushing her onto the floor again. "Pete, what are you doing? Fight this!" her voice was demanding.

Pete growled again but nonetheless moved off of his Mother. He couldn't talk to her when he opened his mouth to try; the only sound that came out was a howl. He whimpered and whined, he was completely freaking out. He was a wolf. He was an animal. His body contorted and he unexpectedly changed back. His gazed moved to his Mother. "What? How...Mom, what's going on?"

Lilith got to her feet and draped a nearby blanket around her son. "Pete, it's time we talked about some stuff."

An hour later Pete looked at his Mother, he stared at her, shocked and really confused. "Wow." He pulled his hand through his hair. "So, Dauphine and Aunt Andrea, you are all...witches? But I'm not one, but it is in my blood and that's why I'm...a shifter?" Pete talked slowly, trying to convince himself that what he was saying was true. He laughed, "Now I know why Dauphine always goes so crazy when I mess with her plants."

Lilith also laughed. "Yes, it probably had something to do with that, but we also recently explained all of this to her. She's still new to her gifts."

Pete nodded. "So that...thing, that wolf that attacked us, it's also a witch?"

Lilith shrugged. "Shifters aren't really witches; they're men and woman who can change into a specific animal. I've heard of some covens where the female members possess some magic, but that's nothing like what we are. We can't cast spells, or even make potions, we only possess power over Earth, also we are pretty irresistible to animals, and they'll almost always obey our commands."

Pete nodded his head again. "So do you think I can control this changing thing?"

Lilith smiled, "If you practice, you'll most definitively be able to control it." She got up, "What were you feeling when you changed?"

Pete frowned. "I was worried, about Dauphine." He still was worried about her. There was a crazy witch or shifter or whatever on the forest! And he knew Dauphine, she loves the forest.

Lilith suddenly talked next to him, making him jump. "Don't worry about her, okay. She'll be okay." Pete shook his head. "Mom! You don't know! Dauphine almost died like three times since we arrived at that stupid castle."

Lilith gasped, "Really?" Pete jumped up; he seemed to be trying to get himself riled up. "I'm changing and I'm going to go keep an eye on her." Before Lilith could get a word out, Pete was a wolf. He howled at her and disappeared out the door, running for the forest.

—-

It has been hours since Kale left, and there was no sign that he was coming back soon. Dauphine had asked everyone where he went, but nobody knew. Her Mother had simply shrugged, vanishing into her room. In the end she had thrown in the towel. Nobody knew where he was or even when he'd be back. So she decided to keep her mind busy. She had stolen Alexis away from Eduar and they were in her room trying on dresses for dinner. That's what she had told Alexis anyway. They had gone through most of their clothes. Alexis grunted. "Why don't you just wear that?"

Dauphine looked down at the white dress she was wearing, it was the only thing she liked out of all the other possibilities she had considered. "Okay." She twirled around, the dress swaying with her as she moved. Alexis got up and excused herself. Dauphine smiled; she was probably off to find her fiance.

Sighing Dauphine decided to look for hers as well. Maybe he had returned while she was getting dressed? She followed her feet up to Kale's bedroom. Before she could knock she heard Esme's voice on the other side. Was Kale back? But it wasn't Kale who answered, it was Eduar.

"Esme, what are you saying? This is a disaster!" he grunted, taking a seat in Kale's chair. Esme nodded, it was a disaster. They were all in danger now. Especially since Kale was powerless against the Maid. "I know, but what is there to be done now?"

Eduar shook his head. "The King should have ended this madness. He should have scared that girl away in the beginning like we had planned to do from the start!"