The Capital Visitor

Chapter 7: The Herb

I woke up to find savannah asleep next to me, our parents must have not retuned yet, I looked at the clock to find it was 6.30 am and grumbled ugghh even without mother as my alarm clock my body still woke up and decided it was time for my chores, surely mother and father would return soon and if they found me in bed and not doing my chores I would be in trouble.
I decided to leave Savannah to sleep and took off my silky blue dress and hung it in the wardrobe and put on my usual clothes, a pair of black leggings and a green long sleeve midi dress, I wondered when I would get to wear this dress again or if father would make me return it, I sat down at my dressing table and looked at myself my hair was still curly but the curls had dropped down into more of a wave now so I went into the draw and found a claw clip I put the top half of my hair to the back of my head and clipped it up, leaving my waves cascading down my back, the last thing I needed was hair all in my face while I was cleaning.
Downstairs everything was still the same as we left it yesterday I'm not sure why mother had the house deep cleaned, the visitors came to the town hall, I guess that it was just in case they decided to come and visit our home, that thought scared me, did I want Beta Kieron and Mr blue eyes in my home?, no probably not, I bet their homes are grand mansions with servants and gold banisters and grand ballrooms, I go into the kitchen and grab the bucket from under the sink put it under the tap and let the water warm, I fill it with bleach and find my rags and start my usual routine first the banister and hand rails then the skirting boards and then the floors, I don't know how long I had been doing it lost in thought before savannah came down, she had also changed into some of my everyday clothes, her hair still pinned back in the plait but now a little more messy than yesterday "morning Lizzy, are our parents not back yet?"
"No, it's strange isn't it, I hope they are ok, from the way Beta Kieron sounded last night they were in a meeting with the other visitors"
"Ahhh Beta Kieron, he's soo handsome, I dreamt of him in that tree all night!"she whispered still scared to be heard by our parents
"Why were you so mean to him then savvy, you have been obsessed with him from the first time u seen him in that bloody magazine and you looked at him like he was a stranger how did u do it?" I whispered back also paranoid of being overheard
"Well Lizzy if u had paid any attention to the Crecent Star Advice column you would know you have to treat them mean to keep them keen, apparently boys like that kind of stuff" she says her voice a little louder than before.
"Well it seems like it's working, 'I'd follow your scent to the end of the earth love'" I tease in my best Beta Kieron Impression, she laughs "but what did he mean about having wolf hearing? And following my smell? We are werewolves too but we can't do thinks like that" I shrugged in reply "maybe it's because he a beta but if that's the case our fathers might be able to do the same, being alpha and beta but I've never heard them mention it" she utters the last part more to herself as if trying to figure it out, I was no help I was just as confused as she was, she helped me finish the rest of my chores and then we made breakfast and sat on the porch swing to eat it, it was nearly 9 now and we finally saw our mothers coming down the street "good morning young ladies" my mother says with a huge smile "good morning mother, good morning Mrs Banks, we have finished the chores and made breakfast and tea for you" I say hoping that I could spend a little more time with savannah before she leaves "thank you dear but that won't be necessary" Mrs Banks says "Savannah and I will be going home to prepare for tonight" and with that she and Savannah leave "what's happening tonight mother, you look tired please come inside and have some tea" I move to open the door for mother she really did look exhausted, I sit her down on the sofa and go to the kitchen to warm the tea and put her weetabix into a bowl with some chopped berry's and cold milk, when I return to the sitting room mother looks deep in thought and only when I set the bowl down on the table she even realised that I was there "oh thank you darling, it's been a long night, after breakfast we need to have a little chat" she says "what about mother?" I'm so curious I don't think I can wait until after she has eaten her breakfast.
Ten minutes later she had finished her breakfast and tea and I cleared the plates away, we went up into her bedroom and while she changed her clothes and by the time she finally sat down to talk to me I was practically bursting to know!
"As you know Elizabeth, your father and the other elders decide on who will marry in town, even fated mates would be made to reject each other if the elders didn't agree with the matches made" she hesitated but I knew she wanted to tell me, she just didn't know how "well your father and the elders found a herb that would suppress our natural wolf instincts, they thought it would only stop people meeting their fated mates and therefore stop the pain and sometimes death that comes with the rejection" she paused again, maybe waiting for me to say something but when I didn't she continued "unfortunately it did much more, the people taking the herb then lost their ability to shift and their senses that come along with being a werewolf" it clicked now what beta Kieron said last night about hearing them coming and smelling savannah "one of the elders didn't agree with your father and sent a letter to the capital complaining about the use of the herb and some of the other laws we have here" she paused again, looking at me like she wanted me to say something but I had nothing to say my mind was racing with questions but I couldn't think which one to ask first "well it has caused your father to get into some trouble, we were in a meeting all night with the capital representatives, when they realised just how much damage the herb has done to the people here and how much of their wolf they have lost, they wouldn't allow us to leave until a solution had been found" she stood up and started walking around her bedroom
"What do you mean the damage it has done mother?" I finally managed to say
"Well it seems rather than suppressing just your wolf instincts it completely cuts you off from your wolf basically turning you into a human and they don't know if it's effects can be reversed" she sat back down
"But mother we all shift on our 18th birthday? How can we be human?" I ask her, I'm so confused it's not making sense I don't remember taking any herb I remember shifting on my 18th birthday but never since I just thought it was because we were ordered my the alpha not to shift "well when your 18 after your first shift you are given the herb in capsules in your food every morning to stop it from happening, we didn't know it would cause your wolf harm, we just thought it would stop you from fining your mate" she says I don't know weather she is trying to convince me or convince herself
"But mother why wouldn't you want me to find my fated mate? Why wouldn't you want me to be happy with the one who was made for me?" It's not until I feel the tears rolling down my face that I realise I'm crying
"It's not that I don't want you to be happy darling, it's quite the opposite, I didn't want you in pain and risk you dying if your father made you reject your mate" she says sobbing as well, we both sat there in silence for a while, crying, I don't know why I was crying, was it that my dreams of meeting my fated mate and running away were now gone?, was it the betrayal I felt that my parents had been basically drugging me for the last two years? I didn't know.
Finally mother broke the silence "there is going to be a ball tonight, the visitors from the capital have said they will stay until they can figure out how to reverse the effects of the herb, they want everyone in town to attend to announce the outlaw of the herb" she clears her throat and rubs the last of the tears from her face and stands up "I'm going to sleep for a few hours, Mrs bouquet is delivering our gowns for tonight this afternoon, go get a bath and relax for a few hours" I stood up silently and left the room, I went into my room and shut the door, I lay down on my bed and cried into my pillow I felt like I'd just finished running a marathon, all I wanted to do was run to savannahs house and talk to her, did she know? Was she feeling how I was feeling right now? I lay there for what felt like forever before I heard it, TAP on my window, the stone that usually signalled it was time for the Crescent star I knew it was savannah, I opened the window and made my way down the oak tree "I had to come" she whispered it was clear by the redness in her eyes that she had been crying too "oh Lizzy can you believe what they have done to us? What if the effects never wear off? What if we never find our fated mate?" She says sobbing "Savannah banks stop crying right now!" I tell her grabbing hold her her shoulders so that she is stood eye to eye with me "we are getting out of here, we will stay until the visitors figure out how to reverse the effects, then we are going!" I announce not sure where this new found confidence had come from, Savannah was usually the one I depended on but now I knew I had to be strong for her, I had to give her some hope, I had to try to fix what the elders had broken "tonight we will find Beta Kieron and Mr blue eyes, we will find out everything they know, WE WILL reverse the effects and WE WILL get out of here!" I'd never heard myself sound this way years of hearing my father command the town must have rubbed off on me, but I was determined more than ever before, we would run! I wasn't sure how just yet but I would figure that out later "go home and get ready for tonight, our mothers will wake up soon and Mrs bouquet will be arriving with our dresses, tonight we have a mission, we walk in there with our heads heals high and we find a cure" she nodded in reply and gave me a hug and made her way back home, I watched until she went out of view and then sat on the porch swing and cried again silently, this would be the last time I told myself, I will be the girl Savannah needs me to be, I will get her out, I will get us both out.